CHS: The water is blue!

I started this letter over a year ago … soon after the dedication of the new competition gym at Coeur d’Alene High School in 2018. I put my issue on hold to see what happens.

My wife told me to “let it go.” My friends told me “to let it go.” But my heart won’t let me.

Fast forward to today.

My family has been associated with CHS for 42 years — as employees, parents of CHS graduates and current grandparents of CHS students. Over the years, our family has seen and experienced many changes. Some call it progress; others have a different opinion. An example is the change in the Viking “head” and the use of black, gray and red as “accent” colors to the traditional blue and white, to name a few.

My heart was warmed when reading an article regarding Nancy Runge, the first Homecoming Queen of CHS in 1957 and the grand marshal of this year’s homecoming parade. The marching band played loud and clear and the streets were filled with “blue and white Viking Pride.”

On Nov. 6, I had another heart-warming experience when reading a CDA Press article accompanying a photo of the CHS girls’ soccer team posing for a photo after winning the consolation championship at the recent state soccer tournament. Their comment: “Throughout the season they held strong to their mantra … “Bleed Blue.”

I was present at this year’s state football championship game at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow, when the football team was led into the stadium by two CHS students carrying blue Viking flags and surrounded by the cheers of many Viking fans.

The CHS mascot was given the name “Vikings” by the 1927 football team on their way home from a game in Spokane. They chose “Vikings” because of the many Scandinavians, including themselves, working in the area mines. The school color blue was chosen sometime in the ’30s by Principal C.O. Phippeny because it reminded him of the “blue” waters of Lake Coeur d’Alene.

The previous paragraphs act as a backdrop for my following comments. The lettering in the new competition gym is red. The Viking “C” on the center of the floor is red. The girls’ volleyball team wore white uniforms with the red “C” emblem at the state tournament. The Viking girls’ basketball team recently wore red warmups for a home basketball game. A recent article and picture congratulating a CHS student for receiving an athletic scholarship was back-dropped by a banner covered with the red C’s.

Prior to the construction of LCHS, red and white were the colors of our No. 1 rival, Sandpoint High School. Maybe that is why I am so passionate about this issue. The Vikings are blue and white … with some different accent colors used throughout the years.

Let it go? I can’t. For some, this may be a trivial concern. However, for me, a CHS booster for 42 years, I encourage the CHS leaders to review the longstanding history of CHS and reach some type of compromise regarding the use of the color red.

CHS alumni, the Booster Club and the public in general have supported “VIKING BLUE” for decades. I believe that a discussion with the CHS administration, the CHS Booster Club and local alumni would be a very positive step toward solving this issue. CHS alumni have been a very strong influence on the history of CHS and should be considered when such a drastic change in the display of school colors is considered.

I could live with the accent colors of black, gray and even red, if that was all they were — accent colors. However, I strongly believe the letter “C” should remain blue, our primary color, out of respect for the generations of alumni and the hundreds of alumni yet to come.

GO VIKINGS! BLEED VIKING BLUE … OAVAAV!

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Steve Casey is a Hayden Lake resident and former Coeur d’Alene High School principal.