Father/daughter duet finds harmony
Brady Campbell is a professional photographer and father of five; Jaxson, Vance, Ellie, Lilah and Elyce. On Monday night he added acoustic guitarist / singer to his resume when he took to the open mic stage at Calypso’s Coffee House with his talented 13-year-old daughter, Ellie and brought the house down.
Nearly two decades after picking up a guitar and teaching himself to play and a lifetime of singing along, Brady made a resolution last year to perform in front of an audience that wasn’t his family. It took until this week and a lot of encouragement from Ellie to make it a reality. Their sweet harmonies were spectacular. I love that Brady set a great example for his children in facing fear as a grown-up and embracing the unknown.
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David Townsend, a former newsroom colleague, has served in the role of communications coordinator for the Coeur d’Alene Public Library for 17 years. Since then he’s coordinated the annual Writers Competition and always reaches out to his network of writer friends for judging. I’ve enjoyed reading the entries from aspiring writers aged 6 through adult for quite a few of those years.
This year I was very impressed with not only the talent but the imagination evident in the fiction category. The winners of the 28th annual Writers Competition will be celebrated on May 20 at the library. Congratulations in advance to everyone who participated.
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Back in my youth, growing up in the Ninth Street/Sherman Avenue neighborhood we knew a lot of kids who attended Immaculate Heart of Mary Academy. The school has been home to a different kind of learning for the past decade. This week I took a tour during the school day of Sorensen Magnet School for the Arts and Humanities with the school’s arts director, Carrie Scozzaro. What an incredible environment of creativity and enthusiasm. I sat in on a first-grade class in progress and was awed by the children's engagement and focus. Kudos to the faculty, staff and parents for providing this enhanced education!
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The Laura Little-produced Broadway show, Come from Away, was nominated Tuesday for Tony Awards in these categories: Best Musical, Best Featured Actress, Best Book, Best Director, Best Choreography, Best Score and Best Lights. Congrats to Laura!
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Had a fun visit recently with Bill and Judy Drake in which the topic of this column came up. I joked that I was glad that so many new people have moved here through the years since after a couple decades of weekly musings and my approaching 65th birthday I may be prone to repeat myself. Quipped Bill, “at our age you could write the same column every week and we wouldn’t know the difference.”
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Those in the know are putting out the hummingbird feeders now as the little darlings are in the process of their spring migration and will be grateful for an abundant food supply. Not many flowers in bloom in this late arriving spring season here so we put ours out last week. So far no sighting of the pretty little hummers at our Post Falls home but others in the area have.
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Rest up, there’s quite an array of events coming up on Saturday, starting with Idaho STAR Motorcycle Awareness Rally with ABATE of North Idaho, 10 a.m. Kootenai County Courthouse at the R.D. Rankin Veterans Memorial Plaza followed by a motorcycle parade on Sherman Avenue at 11 a.m.; Family FunFair at Silverlake Mall, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Lewis Clark State College-Coeur d’Alene’s Swinging for Scholarships golf tournament at Avondale, 11:30 a.m.; Opera Coeur d’Alene Kentucky Derby Party at the Hayden Lake Country Club, 1:30 p.m.; Kentucky Style Derby Fundraiser for Running W Therapeutic Riding Center, 6147 W. Harvest Road in Rathdrum, noon; TESH Fiesta at the Coeur d’Alene Inn, 5:30 p.m. and the second Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre Dancing with Celebrities at the Coeur d’Alene Casino Resort, 6 p.m.
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Happy Birthday today to Randy Bates, Tracy Flaa, Peter Willits, John Hayes, Robbie Canfield, Brooke Harris and Becky Camarata and Kenley Link.
Tomorrow Kay Poland, Jeanette Bangs, Garrett Brown (50!), Scott Hayden, Rand Wichman, Brittany Smith and Scott Jacobson take another trip around the sun.
Happy Cinco de Mayo birthdays to Faith Brodwater (13!), Robert Cliff, Ben Miller, Joni McCroury, Carol Toomy, Lisa Peterson, Teri Farr, Angela Erickson and Andy Fischbacher.
On Saturday Dusty Flamand, Tamatha Dougal, Kristi Pope, Connie Clark, Steve Eachon, Jeff Rhodes, Meagan Guerreo, Dave Tester, Jerry Shriner, Karen Ouren (75!) and Kathy Sims (75!) celebrate another year.
Kris Phillips, Chris Moore, Randy Williams, Pete Shepperd, Kathie Brack, Lisa Aitken, Rob Rinard, Jr., Rena Pruitt, Ramona Kaiser, David Dasher and Phil Pyseky blow out the candles on May 7.
Wish Olivia Backs, Matt Barkley, Stephie Clinton (40!), Julie Adamchak, Tiffany Teal, Dave Walker, Lindsey Sales, Nic Riorden, Jared Raynor and Mary Rednour a happy birthday on Monday.
On Tuesday Tara Dagastine, Carrie Holdren, Valerie Emery, Bonnie Clark, George Larsen and Carla Noonan are putting on their party hats.
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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.