For motorists, she's a true gyro

Despite the sweat shining on her face, Celia Turner grins as she hoists a blue and white sign in her arms. She doesn’t wilt under the late-afternoon heat — if anything, she seems to bloom, offering her signature circular wave to the cars that rumble past on the highway.

Some people wave back at Turner. Others honk. Many smile. And for Turner, that’s what it’s all about.

“I love to see people smile,” she said. “When they smile, I smile.”

Five days a week, armed with a blue sweatband and a water bottle, Turner holds her sign outside The Gyro Shack in Ironwood Square, on the corner of Ironwood Drive and U.S. 95. Intense heat doesn’t deter her, nor does construction or any other obstacle.

“I just keep on waving,” she said.

More than a sign-spinning technique, it seems almost like a way of life for Turner.

Turner was a regular at The Gyro Shack when she found out they were looking for a “shaker boarder” to draw attention to the Greek eatery. After five seasons of spinning signs for Domino’s, she already had the experience. (Her circular wave, it so happens, was developed while she worked for Domino’s. “People love it,” she said with a smile.)

Since she started working for The Gyro Shack in June, Turner has made a bigger impression than anyone expected.

“We get calls all the time,” said Garrett Hunt, general manager.

Some callers voice concern, worried about an older woman holding a sign in the heat; Hunt assures them that he makes sure Turner is hydrated and as comfortable as possible. Others call simply to say that Turner brightened their day with her sunny enthusiasm.

Hunt said he gets multiple calls per day about Turner. Customers often tell him they just had to come in after noticing “the lady with the sign.”

“I didn’t expect anyone to care like that,” he said. “But everyone loves her.”

Turner, who has lived in the Coeur d’Alene area for most of her life, said that her positive attitude buoys her during the hot summer months. If she can make someone’s day a little better with her smile, then it’s all worth it.

“I’m glad I’m making a positive impact,” she said. “It keeps growing. I love to do it.”

Turner can be waved at outside The Gyro Shack on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

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Press intern Zandria DuPuis contributed to this report.