Three decades plus three is a good run

Jan Lindquist is keeping the tissues handy at work this week. “I’m the kind of person who cries at commercials and for game show winners,” she said. After 33 years in the Kootenai County’s Assessor’s office her last day on the job is Monday, July 16.

Jan’s excited about her pending retirement, which will allow her to do projects and travel with her also-retired husband, Chet, but knows how much she’ll miss her work family and friends at the county.

Jan started at the county in 1985, when the late Tom Moore was the assessor and Mike McDowell was deputy assessor. Mike’s been the assessor for the majority of Jan’s career. which she began in the role of “librarian” and customer service clerk. She’s retiring as the administrative manager, a position she’s held since 1992.

Jan said that in her 33 years the technology and tools the department uses in the course of their day has changed significantly, but the one thing that hasn’t changed is the priority of providing good customer service. She has high praise for her boss, McDowell, who’s retiring at the end of 2018.

Nearly 20 years ago Jan established the annual Soup and Bread contest for the Assessor’s office and county employees. The proceeds from the contest provide several Christmas baskets each year for citizens who qualify for the circuit breaker program. She’s gratified that the event will continue on after she’s gone and looks forward to attending in support come October.

Jan will be honored at an open house on Monday, from noon to 2 p.m. in the county’s meeting rooms on the lower level of the administration building if you’d like to come wish her well. We all might want to bring her a tissue.

•••

Move over Jennifer Lopez, Alex Rodriguez, Kim Kardashian, Kanye West and Harry Styles. Another North Idaho celebrity sighting on Sunday at GW Hunters in Post Falls by Diane Wahl ... Noah Brown and his fiancee Rhain Merrill, from The Discovery Channel’s reality show “Alaskan Bush People.”

•••

Hoping that the third time’s a charm with Ancestry.com for me. I’ve spit in a tube twice over the last several months and been informed that they could not successfully analyze my DNA. They sent another sample kit so now I’m awaiting the results. Has anyone else ever “failed” the test?

•••

This week’s highlights:

Tonight, Live After 5 in McEuen Park featuring The Powers. 5 to 8:30 p.m.

On Thursday night “Guys & Dolls,” a production of Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre, opens at the Kroc Center and will run through July 29. www.cdasummertheatre.com

Also on Thursday, Concert in the Park in Hayden with the Rhythm Dawgs, 6 to 9 p.m. and Riverstone Summer Concert Series at Riverstone Park with Mandy Fer and the Dave McGraw Band from 6 to 8 p.m.

Friday through Sunday, the Great Northwest Barbecue and Beer Festival is at McEuen Park in Coeur d’Alene. Food and live music.

Post Falls Festival Days community Friday through Sunday with live music, food and craft booths all three days at Q’emiln Park. Parade Saturday at 10 a.m. on Seltice Way between Fredrick and Idaho streets and Free Movie in the Park showing “Cars 3” at dusk at Q’emiln Park.

Saturday, From the Ashes, An American Smoked and Fired Foods Adventure, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Settlers Creek, W. Riverview Drive in Coeur d’Alene.

Also on Saturday, Free Movie Night in the Park, showing the film “Wonder” at Coeur d’Alene’s City Park in the Rotary Bandshell, 8:30 p.m.

Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Coeur d’Alene Garden Club’s Annual Garden Tour. Tickets available at local garden centers.

•••

Happy Birthday today to Betty Ann Henderson, Richard Jurvelin, Jeri Lee, Bill Graves, Scott Mote and Larry Wendt. Tomorrow BeBe Fletcher (94!), Jadd Davis, Cheri Burila, Emily Hodgson and Jim Welborn will hear the birthday song. On Friday Renee Lusby, Ingrid Yates, Mark Daanen, Julia Koontz, Becky Rider, Kris Mans, Brooke Hayden, Shirley Jarrell, Lisa Goodwin and Karen Applebee will mark their birthdays. Blowing out the candles on Saturday are Bri Gilge, Dee Barnes, Kathleen Esquibel, John Lasher, Jim Lyons, Nancy Seright, Jaime Vanderpool and Dawnelle Garvey. On Sunday Logan Virgil, Kris Siebers, Katie Mans, Laurel Flerchinger, Loretta Lyon, Angela Olson, Andreas John, Julie Ingram, Marisa Buffaloe, Brian Bunch, Wayne Huckabee and Glen Collins take another trip around the sun. Sandi Morrison, Yvonne Smith, Marcy Clutter, Loretta Lyon, Angela Olson, Andreas John, Rich Doughty, Cindy Wiedmer, Patrick Ryan and Doug Jaworski celebrate on Monday. Steve Roberge, Terry Werner, John Malloy, Erik Nelson, Rick Souza, Janet Brock, Belinda Rowe, Amber Flinn, Lori Larkin and Emily Crawford will blow out the candles on 7/17.

•••

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.