A day in the life of prairie farmers
Spring round-up started early Sunday morning for the McLean family and friends at their farm house on the Rathdrum Prairie. Just a couple of miles north of I-90’s Greensferry overpass surrounded by subdivisions but amidst about 800 acres of crops and grazing land, four generations of the Satchwell / McLean family make their life and living. Octagenarian Vonnie Satchwell lives next door to her daughter and son-in-law Wanda and Wade McLean. The McLeans’ three adult children, Mike, Jeremy and Jennifer, along with their spouses and children, were participating in the annual round-up of spring calves for branding.
There was little wasted motion and something for everyone of all ages to do. The five bulls had been secured and about 200 cows with calves were in the pens. That’s when the fun began, separating the calves to the holding pen for branding. Clipboards with spreadsheets helped direct specific cows to pens according to which bull had fathered the calves.
The calves were then ready for the well-orchestrated entry into the chutes where one by one they would be restrained and branded before being reunited with their mamas.
About 130 calves were moved through the process which is a bit messy and very physical. Mid-afternoon was a break for a barbecue lunch in one of the barns but no dawdling as there were still about 40 calves to brand.
Bert and I came home about 6 p.m. but the day wasn’t over by a long shot. Before the McLeans would fall into bed they would transport the five herds to pastures on the prairie and in Spirit Lake. It was fascinating to witness for this city slicker but just another day in the life of the McLean Cattle Co. I loved seeing this big multi-generational family work together, no complaining from the young ones and everyone pitching in. I also loved that many of the calves had names and stories that just about anyone there could tell you. A favorite was as one of the calves came through the chute Mike McLean told me that his son, Blake, a Post Falls High School senior, had used the calf to ask his girlfriend, Ashley, to the prom. The calf’s ear tag still bore the word PROM with a ?.
It was like a walk back in time for those of us who may not always remember the beginnings of our town and area, when farmers weren’t a rarity. When teenagers like Wade and Wanda met over a shared involvement in 4-H and have continued that love of the farm and ranch life for over four decades of marriage and into the next generations of their family. I hope that there are always crops and cattle on the Rathdrum Prairie and a McLean or two driving a tractor or a cattle hauler.
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Give where you live is exactly what nearly 100 Keller Williams agents and affiliates did last Thursday for the company’s RED Day of Service. Employees gave their time, talent and treasure to benefit the Post Falls Food Bank, Community Garden and Black Bay Park. At Black Bay they put down 100 tons of gravel on the trails and cleared out debris from this past winter’s storms. The Community Gardens received two concrete patios, raised planting beds and newly graveled walkways. The Food Bank’s shelves were stocked after being constructed by volunteers.
Thank you Keller Williams for showing the love to Post Falls this year!
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Small world last week at the Coeur d'Alene Inn. I was in the conference center with the River City Leadership Academy class when a beautiful 80-something woman comes up and asks, "Kerri! Do you remember me?" I didn't so asked her name. She says, "Mrs. Monaghan, your high school math teacher."
How fun is that? I had to admit I didn't pay too much attention in that class at Coeur d'Alene High School (in the 1960s) and certainly wasn't her star pupil in math or science. I’m sure I haven’t seen Jean Monaghan for over 40 years and she looks fabulous!
Small world, literally, when Shirley Thagard was enjoying a tour of Cinque Terre in Italy and began chatting with a man from Colorado. When she mentioned being from Idaho he said he graduated from Coeur d’Alene High School in 1989. John Phillips said he plans to come to his next CHS reunion in 2019.
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I was asked this week if Cailey Rankin, Tyler Rankin and Ryan Rankin were relatives, as Rankin is about as uncommon a name as Thoreson. Cailey, Tyler and Ryan graduated from North Idaho College with associates degrees and all made the Dean’s List and Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. Congratulations! I would love to claim them all but alas, we share a surname but no genealogy.
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Things to do:
The oldest standing building in Post Falls (circa 1890), now the Jacklin Arts & Culture Center, will be the site of a celebration hosted by the Post Falls Historical Society on Thursday evening at 6 p.m. It’s Idaho Archeoligcal and History Month and the public is invited for refreshments and tours of the JACC.
Christian Youth Theater-North Idaho (CYT-North Idaho) performs "Shrek the Musical" at the Kroc Theater the next two weekends. Seventy local children ages 8-18 are featured. Tickets cytni.org or (208) 277-5727.
On Saturday morning at 9 a.m. Scout Troop 213 will be cleaning up at historic Pleasant View Cemetery in Post Falls. This has been a spring service project for the Scouts for decades and they would welcome others to join in. Bring a rake, shovel and if you have a pickup truck to haul some debris that would be appreciated, too. The project should last just a couple of hours. The cemetery is the final resting place of many local veterans and founding families and is located off W. Riverview Drive on Goldfinch Road. Info: Scoutmaster Brian Buckle, (208) 818-8782.
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Happy birthday today to Vicki Isakson, Jeanne Helstrom, Amy Corbett, Larry Carstensen, Tom Ball, Corky Chadderdon, Richard Alderman, Shaun Johnson and Tina Haskin.
Putting on their party hats tomorrow are Laura Stensgar, Tom Lien, Alison McArthur, Vera Brown, Julie Kohut, Jessica Smalley, Tammy Rupinski and Rick Nowoj.
On Friday Jeannie Steele, Heather Hart, Barry White, John Goedde, Shawn Nash, Tina Smith, Jana Hull and Lindsay Herbert blow out the candles.
Jessica Bauman, Ruth Fullwiler, Jessica Capaul, Dick Epstein, KV Nelson, Pam Freeman and Carter Hamby celebrate the day of their birth on Saturday.
Kalil Barkie, Michelle Fehling Purcell, Fred Glisson, Ken Keast, Tasha Seath and Jonathan Larson celebrate on Sunday.
May 23 is the date of their birth for Denise Durflinger, Margie McGaughey, Theresa Williams, Tom Morgan, Susan Ballinger, Joel Riner, April Needham, Steve Vick, Cathyanne Nonini, Elaine Pandolfi and Marlo Faulkner.
Wish sunshiney birthdays to Richard Wilson, Shirley Galloway, Adam DeLuca, Amy Moffat, Ruth Ware and Michelle Pfennigs on Tuesday.
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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.