Listen to the writers

While we’re staying at home, our Coeur d’Alene predecessors were getting together in the midst of their global challenge, World War II.

And a favorite gathering place was the Civic Auditorium, especially as a USO club in 1942.

What — you haven’t been there? That’s because the gorgeous log facility, in City Park overlooking Lake Coeur d’Alene, burned down less than a decade after it opened in 1937. An arson fire started by a young sailor destroyed the auditorium on Oct. 10, 1945.

In its heyday, Civic Auditorium was so well-known that ads like this one, from the April 25, 1942, Coeur d’Alene Press, included no address or telephone number. Everyone knew where the auditorium was.

Often packed to the rafters with patrons from the naval training base at Farragut, one of Civic Auditorium’s primary attractions was authors brought in by the local Republican club. How’s that for entertainment! My, how times have changed.

One thing that’s remained consistent, though? The scourge of newspapers everywhere: Typos. See if you can find the obvious one in this ad.