No silver lining in March 2020 memories

Like millions of others I’ve spent the past few days reflecting on life one year ago when we were experiencing the first inkling of the ramifications of the coronavirus, around the world as well as up close and personal in our communities. Admittedly it’s brought on a touch of PTSD at the simple recollection of the collective trauma to come. In hindsight it’s a blessing that we had no idea how the virus would ravage not just our physical and mental health but our relationships, our jobs, our schools, our families … every aspect of our lives.

In this column one year ago this week I had listed in Things to Do the following events, all of which were canceled within a day or two of publication as limits on gathering size were ordered by the Governor: 18th Annual Wild and Scenic Film Festival at NIC, sponsored by the Kootenai Environmental Alliance; bell ringing to mark the 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote in front of NIC’s Edminster Student Union Building; Coeur d’Alene Symphony presents the National Young Artists Winners Concert at the Kroc Center Theater; St. Patrick’s Day parade in downtown Coeur d’Alene; Coeur d’Alene Rotary Coeur d’Irish at The Coeur d’Alene Resort; CHS Viking Booster Club Country Auction; Big Man of Cd’A to benefit Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre at the Coeur d’Alene Casino Resort, 100th Anniversary of the American Legion at the Steven H. Nipp American Legion Post 143 Birthday Banquet; Bingo, Brews and Blarney to benefit the Hayden Senior Center at the Greyhound Park Event Center.

Not only did the cancellation of many of these events create a loss of fundraising dollars for the sponsoring nonprofit organizations, the venues and their staff lost revenue and jobs. This sampling is just a single weekend and as the weeks and months went by in 2020, fundraisers disappeared and event venues and vendors suffered incredible financial losses.

Since March 2020 I eliminated the Things to Do listings in Main Street.

In the fall of 2019 our beloved Red Hot Mamas received an invitation to appear in Ireland’s largest and most prestigious St. Patrick’s Day celebration and parade in Dublin in 2020. Just days before the gals were flying off to the adventure of a lifetime the Irish government canceled all St. Patrick’s Day parades in the country and the Irish were sheltering in place.

The members of the renowned comedy troop had worked for months to scrape together thousands of dollars each to pay for the trip of a lifetime. My dear friend Mikki Stevens, leader of the group, shared a year ago this week ... “The concerns are, of course, much larger than our sweet little troop of precious women, yet; for each one personally, it is crushing emotionally and financially."

This past year has definitely taken a toll on everyone, especially those of us determined to be cock-eyed optimists.

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Final Word: Mark McKenzie, Brenda Groene, Slade Groene, Dylan Groane and lone survivor Shasta Groene. In recent days the monster who murdered, kidnapped and tortured these adults and children has been in the news. He deserves not a single bit of attention beyond public notification that he’s no longer breathing.

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Happy Birthday today to Nancy Frazey, Mary Akers and Jon Dingman. Tomorrow Jim Booth, Ed Robar, Heather Callahan, Mindy Newby, Jim Faucher, Travis Jank and Rachel Burkhardt put on their party hats. Friday DeAnn Johnson, Will Henderson, Sylvia McCormick, Josh Vesser, Faith Hazard Wiley, Ali Hanson, Kim Maksen, Jan Daugharty, John Neirinckx, Christel Fredericks and David Wegner will have their cake and eat it, too. Lucky March 13th birthdays will be celebrated by Kim Maksen (50!), Paula Sharp, Robin Karrick, Laurie Boeckel and Erich Eickmeyer. On Sunday Tom Capone, Wayne Cofield, Bud Evans, David Cehr, Candace McEnespy, Teri Rouse, Fabian Medina, Ina Bressler, and Sheila Kemmis do the birthday dance. Bill Haughton, Terie Huston, Len Crosby, Barry Rubin, Zack Yost, Pam Humphrey and Penny Brownell put on their party hats on Monday. On March 16 Colleen English, John Bujosa, Cindy Marcella, Cathy Riorden, Kelly Moore, Ken Kress, LauraLee Johnson, Laurel Rollins, Daniel Schelske and Dottie Pichard take another trip around the sun.

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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.