Garden space honors longtime county official
A beautiful new space has been dedicated on the lower level between the Kootenai County courthouse and administration building. Created with private funding, the Richard Houser Memorial Garden features benches and new landscaping to provide a place of contemplation and camaraderie for county employees and the public.
Rich Houser was Kootenai County assessor when he died on May 3, 2020, at the age of 59. His widow, Pam Houser, said that Rich worked for Kootenai County for more than half his life and his co-workers were like family. Together with the Houser family, friends and fellow assessors from around the state and country contributed to make the garden space become a reality.
Last week’s cold and blustery Thursday saw the clouds part and the sun shine on the dedication ceremony. Thanks Rich!
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Just an FYI that even though Mother Nature is bringing the warm weather the water temps in area lakes and rivers are still on winter mode. Lake Coeur d’Alene on Monday was at 56.5 degrees … just 25 degrees warmer than ice. So when you’re doing early season splashing and swimming exercise caution. Hypothermia can happen even when the air temperatures are sizzling.
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‘Tis the season for those who own RVs and travel trailers to put them to use. As an FYI, in both Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene any vehicle, including RVs, can only remain parked on a city street for 24 hours. The bad guys tend to take note when people are loading up getting ready to head out of town, making your home vulnerable to burglaries.
If you’re going to be on vacation you can also contact either PD so they can make patrol officers aware that the homeowner is out of town.
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We enjoyed a long weekend visit from our daughter and grandson who live in eastern Montana. We visited my mother, four generations gathered in her assisted living room. She was watching the PGA Memorial Tournament. Surprised, I asked her how long she’d been interested in golf. Since she discovered Jordan Spieth several years ago, she replied. Spieth held the tournament lead at that moment but ended up in second place.
So at age 90 my mother fan-girling on a 27-year-old pro golfer is a discovery that tickled me. Had I been a game show contestant with a million-dollar prize at stake asked which sport does your mom follow, golf would never have crossed my mind.
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As we enjoyed a quiet dinner on the patio Monday evening, off in the distance we heard fireworks. What? Wait! It’s a full month from the Fourth of July people. I’m not a curmudgeon and do love a good patriotic celebration of America’s birthday but the incessant sound of neighborhood bottle rockets for a month is a bit much.
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Happy Main Street 90 degree birthdays today Al Williams, Mike and Mitch Alexander, Nancy Mueller, Drake Foster, Brenda Walters, Irene Seidler and Nels Jensen.
Tomorrow JoAnn Nelson, Mitch Heid, Scott Osburn, Matthew Huthinson, Kathy Larson, Devin Weeks, Sharon Timmons, Susan Mensching and Matt Boseth see sunshine for their celebrations.
On Friday Natalie Wyant, Lynsie Odd, Jay Sadler, Kirk Dady, Jessica Downs Anundson and Nikki Downs will celebrate.
Alec Steele, Evelyn Bevacqua Howe, Harold Appleby, Jr., Joel Semanko, Helen Elder, Dale Rounsville, Ron Hodge and JaNee Newby take another trip around the sun on Saturday.
Wendy English, Don Bradway, Dallas Dixon, DeDe Tondee and Kim Normand put on their party hats on Sunday.
June 7 is the birthdate of my better half and best friend Bert Thoreson along with John Hough, Brad Corkill, Rick Alden and Susan Lewis.
Blowing out the candles on Tuesday are Tammy Rickard, Courtney Everson, Dustin Pilcher, Jaymie Starr, Emma Hoffman, Dave Haugen and Ted Pryor.
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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 [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @kerrithoreson.