Exchange created lifelong bonds of friendship
LaDonna Beaumont is a Renaissance woman, last year earning her private pilot’s license among other things. Her sense of adventure took root in the stories she heard from her father, who served in the Army and was based in the German town of Kitzingen. LaDonna’s family hosted a Jewish exchange student from Brazil in 1980 and the seed was planted. In 1987 LaDonna spent her senior year at Gonzaga Prep as a foreign exchange student in Germany. She had received a scholarship through the U.S. Congress and the German Bundestag, and was one of two recipients from Idaho.
“I spent my exchange in a town called Muelheim a.d. Ruhr, between Dusseldorf and Essen, and upon arrival I couldn’t speak a word of German. The exchange, unlike many other programs, was for an entire year, with just one host family. I was placed with the Kuhl family,” recalled LaDonna.
“Their name is pronounced ‘cool,’ and is very fitting, ask anyone. Father Olaf, mom Baerbel, brother Oliver (two days my senior), and sister Meike. I loved my time with them and was really embraced as a member of their family.”
The following year when LaDonna was a freshman at St. Mary’s College in Notre Dame, her family hosted her German “sister” Meike, who attended Coeur d’Alene High School, forming lifelong friendships. In the years that followed there were several trips to and from Germany but the last time LaDonna visited her long ago German family in person was 2005.
Fast forward to January of this year and LaDonna’s 21-year-old daughter, Emma, a 2015 CHS grad, found a deal on Air Canada and planned a trip to Germany for both she and her mom. LaDonna said she couldn’t resist the chance to have her daughter all to herself for a dozen days of travel and adventure.
Of course, the trip included a visit to the Kuhl family in Muelheim where a decades long relationship still flourishes. LaDonna did learn to speak German and while she’s forgotten a lot, it comes right back she says.
“I have always felt that I am never more American than when I am overseas. I feel very fortunate to be able to travel, see some wonderful places, and then, of course, return to my Coeur d’Alene home, the best place of all!”
Dorothy couldn’t have said it better.
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Update on my better half: Bert’s been home from the hospital for a week and so far we’re still speaking. It’s a lot of togetherness and a lot less independence for him while he heals from open heart surgery. I’m trying to balance being protective and vigilant with giving him space. We’ve had a few laughs, too. His patience was tested while trying to talk me through the simple assembly of a shower chair. Bert’s also now the owner of a grabber stick to reach things he’s not able to reach, which just might be the one tool my tool time guy did not previously own.
He’s grateful to be alive and finding the positive. This week the positive is the beginning of March Madness and he’ll have a front row seat in his recliner to watch college basketball to his heart’s content.
Thanks again to everyone for your good wishes and concern.
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I’m happy to report that Hudson’s Hamburgers re-opened on March 1 after being closed for renovation for about three weeks in February. I stopped in on Monday to check it out and it looks fabulous. New lunch counter and floors, but everything familiar to fans of the 100-plus-year-old business are still in place. The cutting board in front of the grill with the indentation from slicing thousands of dill pickels is right where it’s always been.
The best thing about Hudson’s might not be the hamburgers, although those are world-class. I love the lunch counter ambiance of being seated next to strangers who are never strangers for more than a few minutes. I always see familiar faces of Coeur d’Alene longtimers, as well as people from everywhere enjoying their first Huddy burger. Another noteworthy aspect is that the customers are engaging with the counter help and cook and each other and about the only time you see anyone with their phone out is when they’re taking a photo of their iconic hamburger.
We need more of that in our lives!
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Here’s to my personal unsung heroes, my sisters Janna Scharf and Ronna Park. Since February when our mother, Alice, fell and injured her back, she was hospitalized, spent several days at a rehab center and then no longer able to live on her own and needing to move into assisted living, it’s been an emotional upheaval for all. Janna has been tireless and dedicated to all of the myriad of details and paperwork, especially when my world became focused on my husband’s health two weeks ago. So we sent for fresh horses and to the rescue arrived Ronna and her husband, Kerry from Blackfoot to assist with the cleaning and moving out of Mom’s apartment.
These transitions in life are hard but made easier by the camaraderie of family. I love my sisters!
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Things to Do: The 7th annual Health and Wellness Fair today, 4 to 7:30 p.m. at The Coeur d’Alene Resort, with over 115 exhibitor booths, raffles, door prizes and free admission.
Celebrate Spring with the Full Moon Bike Ride tonight with the pre-party from 6 to 7:59 p.m., bicycle riders leave at 8 p.m. Slate Creek Brewing Co., 1710 N. 4th St., Coeur d’Alene.
Lake City Playhouse presents True West, Thursday to Sunday through March 31. 7:30 p.m. 208-676-7529
Saturday is the 26th Anniversary Powwow at the Coeur d’Alene Casino Resort in Worley, 1 to 7 p.m.
Also on Saturday is the Spring Benefit for Children’s Village at The Coeur d’Alene Resort. 5 to 9 p.m.
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Happy first day of Spring birthdays today to Pam Houser, Kristi Granier, Aaron Sadler, John Blanchette, Tad Thompson, Julie Clark, Carolyn Anderson and Matt Hansen and tomorrow to Brandie Chapman, Luke Paul, Michelle Lewis, Marla Lopez, Trudie Chamberlan, Julie Billetz, Steve Hanson, Jacque Kress, Derek Teal and Jack Crawford. Friday Jessica Bonar, Beverly Larsen, Rich Anstine, Greg Cook, Jack Budvarson, Julie Perry, Katie Vaughan, Bernie Currie, Pam Adams, Boston Pierce, Cole Jaworski and Rob Carpenter will mark their special day. Saturday Tad Leach, Paul Ray, Herb Huseland, Lori Weaver, Julie Perry, Linda Lewis, Landon Stepro and Jacey Brockhoff enjoy a piece of birthday cake. March 24 birthday celebrants are Dick Harris, Esther Paul and Nichole Frank. Taking another trip around the sun on Monday are Jamé Davis, Ray Oliver, Colleen Brown, Jerry Ausburn, Brenda Buckingham, Alyssa Romero, Mike Carle and Alexander Carle. On Tuesday Dave Fair, Julie Harris, Julie Readel, Nancy Noordam, J.B. Romero, Lorna Griffin, Mike Bennett, Cyndy Griffin, John Hart, Mistie Cooper and W.J. Lazerus put 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.