Bits and pieces of local life
On Sunday morning while most people were preparing for the Super Bowl parties, Mike McLean was feeding cattle in the back pasture. The McLean Cattle Company off Greensferry is a four-generation farm and ranch on the Rathdrum Prairie. Chores are part of daily life when you run hundreds of head of cattle over several hundred acres.
A simple misstep off the pickup bed resulted in a foot tangled in a wire fence and a fall to the muddy ground for Mike. The Post Falls High School varsity boys basketball coach fractured his ankle and dislocated his tibia and fibula. Friends and family are rallying to help the McLeans on the farm while Mike mends. I’m betting he’ll be courtside on crutches Thursday night when the Trojans play the Vikings in The Arena in Post Falls.
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Speaking of The Arena, it was a first for most of us who were in the bleachers just before 7 p.m. on Friday night during the end of the girls’ game with Lewiston. The boys were set to play the next game. Then the lights went out. Auxiliary power gave some light for the girls to finish but quickly plans were made to move the boys game to Lake City High School. Not an easy feat for two teams, coaches and a gymnasium filled with fans to hop in buses and cars and make the drive over to Coeur d’Alene. Kudos to all responsible for a well-executed Plan B.
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When legendary major league baseball player Don Larsen passed away on New Year’s Day at age 90, he was remembered all across the country as the only pitcher to pitch a perfect game in World Series history for the New York Yankees in 1956.
On Saturday Don’s life was celebrated locally by friends and family at Christ the King Lutheran Church in Coeur d’Alene. A truly special floral arrangement featuring a baseball mitt and well-used baseball was displayed in the church. The senders were the families of Mickey Mantle and Billy Martin. That’s an impressive lineup of baseball history right there.
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Post Falls Chief of Police Scot Haug retired in 2018 after 32 years with the department, stopping to smell the roses of retirement for about two minutes before joining his son in business with Selkirk Construction as CFO. And in January, Scot was installed as the president of the North Idaho Building Contractors Association.
According to Merriam-Webster, retirement is withdrawal from one’s position or occupation or from active working life. Scot and so many others in this era are examples of retirement signaling a second act instead of a front porch rocking chair.
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Things to Do Highlights:
Friday, Aspire Community Theater’s production of “9 to 5, the Musical” opens at the Kroc Center at 7:30 p.m. and runs through Feb. 16. Info: www.aspirecda.com.
Cabin Fever Party to benefit local 4-H programs, Kootenai County Fairgrounds on Saturday, 6 p.m. in the Jacklin Building. Info: 208-765-4969.
Post Falls High School Senior Class grad night party benefit dinner and auction at the JACC on Saturday at 6 p.m. Tickets available from senior parents or at Barn 31 in Post Falls.
Saturday the Post Falls Community Volunteers’ Annual Sweethearts Balls with Tuxedo Junction is at the Greyhound Park and Event Center, 6:30 p.m. Ticket info 208-502-0132.
Family Promise of North Idaho’s annual NW Fest on Saturday at the Cd’A Eagles, 5:30-9 p.m. Info: 208-777-4190, www.familypromiseni.org
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Happy birthday today to Susan Jacobson, Sophie Medlock, Leslie Deubner, Sharon Anderson, Vicki Johnson and Jeanette Dunn. Tomorrow Marie Widmyer, Quinn Widmyer, Samuel Nolting, Randy Oaks, Rich Morrow, Carole Fredekind, Cris Burnham, Rick Altman, Pat Clevenger, Stephen Scott, Jimmy McAndrew, Lisa Hunt, Duane Justus, Matt Ormeshed and Mike Grabenstein celebrate.
Friday Amanda Miller, Jim Thyssen, Lori Malin, Angel Duthie,Terry Ellis and Shawn Aldrich take another trip around the sun. On Saturday Barb Bradley, Linda Davis, Natalie Forsyth, Pamela Thoms, Lynn Hayes, Henry Hildreth, Rocky Brockhoff and Larry O’Leary put on their party hats. Sunday birthdays belong to Linda Wilhelm, Marc Eberlein, Brandie Shofner, Buddy Le, Marian Crumb, Greg Smith and Alta Steele.
On Monday Kiki Miller, Julia Pierce, Melanie Lambrecht, Judy Riba Nelson and Tate Merry will do the birthday dance. Carole Tabakman, Trevor Smith, Eleanora Capaul, David Clark, James Shepperd, Jarryn Siebers, Jeff Carlson, Sharon Link, Gordon Leigh, Chad Salsbury and Heather Frayer share a Feb. 11 birthdate.
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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.