Pickled herring inspires memories

Last week I accompanied my sister, Janna, on a shopping trip to Costco. In the interest of full disclosure, I may be one of the very few people who don’t have a Costco card or shop at the store. No particular reason except Bert and I are empty-nesters and have little desire to buy in bulk. It’s a sensory overload with aisle after aisle of things I could easily convince myself I can’t live without.

Case in point was the large jar of pickled herring and 3-pound bag of pistachios that ended up coming home with me. I posted a picture of my treasures to Facebook with the tongue-in-cheek comment that this is why I can’t shop at Costco. Many friends responded about some of their favorite Costco guilty pleasures but most interesting to me was how that jar of pickled herring generated shared memories of long-ago family outings to Tony’s Supper Club, east of Coeur d’Alene.

The restaurant, once owned by the Carnerio family, is still there and open but no longer features the appetizer trays on every table as it did a half-century ago. Bret Bowers was the first to mention Tony’s ... “the pickled herring reminds me of the fun carousels at Tony's Supper Club when many of us knew where to go have that amazing a dinner.”

David Thompson ... “I discovered pickled herring at Tony's in 1964 just after our family moved to Cd'A.”

Sherry Mundt ... “I loved the tuna crackers, and we kids all knew the pickled herring was for our grandpa.”

Deanna Goodlander, Tracie Olin and Lois Wechsler were just a few who also shared their fond memories of the 2-foot-tall appetizer carousels at Tony’s that included vegetables, crackers and pickled herring on every table.

Spaghetti dinner at Tony’s in the 1960s was a family treat. Coeur d’Alene Lake Drive was then I-90, a two-lane highway that hugged the lake shore. So after church locals could go for a scenic drive and then enjoy dinner with a beautiful view of the lake.

And the last word on pickled herring from Toni Diedrich ... “ I work at Costco and a few days ago a Member came through my line with 12 jars of pickled herring. She had them nestled in a box and I pulled each one out to scan it individually because I thought, no way each one of those jars is pickled herring — and I’m a Lutheran!”

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Jensen Elliott is a fifth-grader at STEM Charter Academy. A recent homework assignment brought a chuckle to his parents, Erin and Thomas. Jensen correctly calculated the answer to the question — Penny broke 8 pencils during the math test. She broke half as many during the spelling test. How many pencils did she break in all? Jensen’s answer was 12 but he added this comment ... “The real question is why is Penny so mad?”

Hopefully his teacher will be similarly amused.

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Sincere thanks to all of the veterans organizations who coordinated a number of Veterans Day ceremonies throughout the county. I know that I was moved by those that honored the Greatest Generation of World War II veterans. We’re blessed as a community and as a country.

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Things to Do Highlights: Tonight 5:30-7:30 p.m. Tails Foundation Spaghetti Dinner and Quarter Auction, Shilo Inn Coeur d’Alene.

Tomorrow is the seventh annual Souport the End of Homelessness luncheon event to benefit the St. Vincent de Paul warming centers in our communities. 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Jacklin Building at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds, just $10 buys sampling of more than three dozen homemade soups.

Wild Turkey Dodgeball Tournament, Friday, 6 p.m. at Mullan Trail Elementary, official National Amateur Dodgeball Association rules. Info 773-3511 or www.postfallsidaho.org.

A free community Thanksgiving dinner will be from 3 to 8 p.m. on Saturday at American Legion Post 143 at Poleline and Syringa in Post Falls.

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Happy birthday today to Wayne Manis, Peter Smith, Colleen Allison, Jim Morris, Sue Spinazza-Halliday, Chris Fillios, Cathleen Lenon, Karen Pichotta, Kilie Ellison, Dan Ripley and Stan Purcell (60!).

Nov. 17 birthdays belong to my daughter, Melani Oleson Gonzalez, Susan Weathers, Al Hassell, Sally Richards, Kareen Link, Maddie Kate Hansen, Neil Oliver (50!) and Laura Simon.

On Friday my very first nephew, Leighton Scharf, Gina Mote and Michelle Rielly will celebrate.

Aaron Baldwin, Nate Ziegler and Debbie Irby blow out the candles on Saturday.

Sandi Bloem, Dave Oliveria, Dr. Bob West, Michael King, Brian Smith, Kristin Hoppe, Linda Alby, Kim Jacklin, Pat Thyssen, Chase Blakley, Rob Clark and Kayla Pleger will have their cake and eat it, too on Sunday.

Celebrating on Monday are Maureen Dolan, Bob Driscoll, Kaci Medlock, Bill Storlie Sr., Susan Martin, Barbara Bryan, Gary Schwalbach (60!) and Vonnie Satchewell.

11/22 is special for Hazel Fox who’s celebrating her 102nd birthday, sharing the date with TJ Barnhart, Dustin Ainsworth, Kim Anderson, Rodney Duncan, Noel Adam, Tyeson Bennett, Brenda Hanson, Tresa Wheeler and Leland Johnson.

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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. She was voted Best Local Writer by the readers of the North Idaho Business Journal. 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.