Small moments define community
There are probably very few of us who aren’t overwhelmed by the uncivil discourse that is becoming the political norm, locally as well as on the national stage. Even outside the realm of politics, everyday people are tending to be mean-spirited and sharp with their words.
I’ve always been a follower of current events but in spite of being a cock-eyed optimist, the world can lay heavy on our hearts.
Late Sunday afternoon, I had occasion to be parked across from a group of people — parents, siblings, friends — waiting for the school bus filled with the Post Falls High School wrestling team to arrive home from the state tournament. They carried signs and waved pom-poms. And then off in the distance down Seltice Way the flashing lights of a police car and a fire engine could be seen, followed by a caravan of honking vehicles. Behind the police car was a big yellow school bus with the smiling faces of young men waving out the windows.
In those few moments as I watched and took a photos I realized that it’s moments like these that we need to focus upon. The small things that provide us with that touch point, sense of community. The world is changing and life moves at breakneck speed. Take a breath, look around and find what’s right in our corner of the world.
Post Falls has grown to a city with a population of 30,000 but it’s my hope that we will always be the kind of town where the police and fire department escort a victorious high school team home from a state tournament.
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Tom Morgan describes himself as a guy who likes to fix things and that includes used bicycles. On Sunday a young man, about 12 or 13, who lives in Tom’s Coeur d’Alene neighborhood, walked by the house. Tom said the boy walks by every day after school, always with a smile and often pausing to look at all the bikes and parts next to the Morgan’s garage.
So on Sunday, Tom struck up a conversation with the boy, asking why he always walked instead of riding a bike. I don’t have a bike, the boy told him. Tom asked him to call his mom so he could talk with her.
About an hour and a half of yard work later the young man rode home on a bike with a new bike lock and a big smile.
We can add this to the list of the really wonderful little stories that define our communities.
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Saturday is the annual Wine, Stein and Dine to benefit the Post Falls Education Foundation’s classroom scholarships, 7-10 p.m. at the Greyhound Park and Event Center. Longtime volunteer Val Wilcox said the foundation originally held bake sales and sold Post Falls sweatshirts to fundraise. Twenty years ago when Wine, Stein and Dine was launched, then-superintendent Dick Harris and then-mayor Jim Hammond had their doubts. Only 200 people attended the first year and the silent auction items were purchased by the foundation at the Factory Outlet Malls.
Today more than a half-million dollars has been raised at the event for grants and several hundred people enjoy more than a dozen restaurant appetizers with dozens of wineries, microbreweries and cider breweries serving their wares. The super silent auction really is super. Kudos to Loretta Reed and Jack Sjostrom, two volunteers who’ve been on the committee since the first year.
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In keeping with Saturday’s theme of adult beverages and good causes, the Matt’s Place Foundation Pub Crawl in downtown Coeur d’Alene, beginning at 5 p.m. at Coeur d’Alene Eagles, Moose, Ironhorse, Beacon and the Rocker Room benefits PALS (People with ALS).
The Bartender’s Ball, from 6-10 p.m. at the Resort Shops, features libations and appetizers from several local businesses and benefits H.E.L.P. (Help Every Little Paw).
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Happy birthday today to LeeAnn Cheeley, Conrad Nelson, Sharon Menti (75!), Rhonda Shippey, Ginny Easterly, Alexander Endo (30!), Randy Hurt and Nickolas Aker.
March 3 is the birthday of Rebecca Kilmer, Rich Henning (50!) and Gail Kinlock.
On Friday, Michael Ward, Chris Guggemos and Jon Newcomb are the birthday boys.
Saturday, Natalie Eckstein, Becky Funk, Jim Riley, Amy Tolzmann, Paula Ryan, Nicole Barnhart, Kelly Lattin, Hallie Gennett, Allison Mehan, Stacy Veach, Carly Hall and Matt Matthews celebrate.
Billie Dust, Rich Winter and Adam Johnson mark another year on Sunday.
Monday is a special day for my sister Janna Scharf (60!), Heidi Rogers, Jaime Jaworski, Todd Gilkey, Wayne Larson, James Barfoot and Julie Sandstrom.
Tuesday birthdays will be celebrated by Cyndie Hammond, Lisa Ferguson, Robert Page, Linda Koehler, Joni Morrow, Chelsea MacEntee (30!), Kylie MacEntee, Veronicka Peacock and Catherine Brown.
Kerri Rankin Thoreson is a member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and the former publisher of the Post Falls Tribune. Main Street appears every Wednesday in The Press and Kerri can be contacted on Facebook or via email mainstreet@cdapress.com. Follow her on Twitter @kerrithoreson.