Gems of Coeur d'Alene's history

COEUR d’ALENE — In Coeur d’Alene, in the old days, kids knew it was time to get back home when they heard the mill whistles blow.

They walked miles in generous amounts of North Idaho snow to get to school. Before they left home in the morning, they had to shovel that snow, and when they got home, the fresh snow was waiting for another round of shoveling.

Sandy Emerson, Jim Hawkins and Ray Johnson know what kids experienced in those days because they were those kids.

"We would have to come home when the mill whistle blew, which is what’s been written about Coeur d’Alene, the mill whistle was a part of our life and our upbringing,” Emerson said. "We were playing Kick the Can or whatever you call that kind of thing. Today, I think there’s an ailment called ‘Nature Deficit Disorder.’ People don’t get outside and play like we did."

"I lived out in Cougar Bay, and we walked to school," Johnson said. "First we walked to the Sherman School the first six years, then the high school and junior high were on Seventh Street, so that added another mile."

Incidentally, the year Johnson graduated, a bus system was finally put in, "so that's kind of the story of my life," he said with a grin.

Johnson was born in 1924, Hawkins was born in '36 and Emerson in 1945. These three gems of North Idaho brought more than 250 years of collective wisdom and tales to their audience when they gathered Wednesday evening in the Innovation Den for an Innovation Collective Fireside Chat.

Hawkins was born in a house on Front Street, "then my dad bought a home at 627 Government Way," he said.

"It’s been on the front page of the paper here about five or six times," Hawkins said. "The county purchased it and decided they’re going to demolish it, and there’s, I guess, a little uprising, but that’s the home I was raised in, from 1941 to '59."

In about an hour, they shared stories of growing up Idaho, Johnson's heroic military service in World War II, going to Roosevelt School and Coeur d'Alene High School, attending the University of Idaho, making lifelong friends, chasing their dreams, building their career paths and ultimately deciding to stay in their beautiful home state.

They even shared a few memories of the old Elks building, which was a hub of activity in its heyday but sat vacant for many years until it was renovated and turned into the Innovation Den.

"I don't think we should leave this building without hearing some stories about what used to go on in here," an audience member encouraged.

"This was the Elks building and my grandfather was an exalted ruler here, my dad was an exalted ruler here and I was," Hawkins said. "And this is where all the social events in the community, in the '40s and '50s, it happened in the Elks. Between the New Year's Eve parties and whatever party you wanted to have, it was held in the Elks. We didn't have The Resort, we didn't have anything else. This was the place where people came."

Through all of their experiences and the changes that have taken place in the Lake City in their lifetimes, they ended on an optimistic note about their hometown.

"When I see what's going on here, in this facility, and the network that's here and around here, and people working together...I see the future here to be unlimited," Hawkins said. "We need to work together."

Innovation Collective director of global communities Chris Cochran, who moderated the Fireside Chat, thanked his guests and encouraged the audience members to spend more time listening to their elders.

"Any chance you get to talk to someone older than you and ask them questions about life...it will benefit you greatly," he said. "Do not allow people who are elderly people in our society to quietly move aside. They have so much to give back to all of us if we are willing to listen."