Our communities give and give again
“This year everything has felt magnified and amplified while the passing of time has a distortion, like a funhouse mirror without the fun.”
I wrote these words a year ago this week in Main Street. Unfortunately they are applicable to 2021, as well. But thankfully what also is unchanged is the extraordinary and ongoing kindness and generosity in every corner of our community.
This past weekend friends and family of teen Payton Begovich gathered for a benefit spaghetti feed, raffle and auction at the Hayden Eagles. Payton is waging a battle with brain cancer and the $17,000 raised is a blessing for her family.
This coming Saturday, friends, family and former students of much-loved, long-time Post Falls High School teacher and coach Marc Allert are invited to rally to raise funds related to the expenses for his continued treatment and a future bone marrow transplant at the Mayo Clinic in Minneapolis. Join the cause at Corby’s Bar in Post Falls from 2-6 p.m.
In advance of Thanksgiving next week, American Legion Post 143 in Post Falls is hosting a free community turkey dinner with all the fixings this Saturday at the Post, from noon to 4 p.m. at 1138 E. Poleline Avenue.
With Christmas just 39 days from today, here's a reminder on why it's a good idea to shop local. Local businesses, who struggled mightily throughout the pandemic, pay local taxes, provide paychecks, donate and contribute to organizations and events throughout the year. If not for local businesses, who would be donating to the auctions, raffles, scholarships, grad night parties, senior centers, charitable causes, youth sports sponsorships etc., etc.?
This Christmas season let your gift-giving pay it forward in our communities ... SHOP LOCAL!
Owning my age in 2020, I stopped using chemical intervention to remain the brunette of my birth. Now the follicles sprouting from my head are salt and pepper ... heavy on the salt. My mother, however, is not happy about me going gray. She said it makes her feel old to have a gray-haired daughter. LOL! My silver-haired mother is 90.
And as of today with the golden birthday of middle daughter, Melani, I am now the mother of two children in their fifties. I earned each and every gray hair for sure!
Happy birthday today to my daughter Melani Oleson Gonzalez (50!), Susan Weathers, Al Hassell, Sally Richards, Kareen Link, Maddie Kate Hansen, Neil Oliver and Laura Simon. Tomorrow my very first nephew Leighton Scharf, Joe Krutulis, Dennie Thorpe, Gina Mote and Michelle Rielly blow out the candles. On Friday Nate Ziegler and Debbi Thostenson turn the page. On Saturday Kim Jacklin, Kristina Jacklin, Sandi Bloem, Dave Oliveria, Dr. Bob West, Michael King, Brian Smith, Kristin Hoppe, Linda Alby, Pat Thyssen, Chase Blakley, Rob Clark and Kayla Pleger take another trip around the sun. On Sunday Maureen Dolan, Chrissy Kaye, Bob Driscoll, Noel Adam, Kaci Medlock, Bill Storlie Sr., Susan Martin, Barbara Bryan, Gary Schwalbach and Vonnie Satchwell celebrate. On Monday TJ Barnhart, Dustin Ainsworth, Sam Inman, Kim Anderson, Rodney Duncan, Noel Adam, Tyeson Bennett, Brenda Hanson and Leland Johnson share a birthday. David Eachon, his daughter Dana Ortega, Dennis Hall, Dee Dee Morris, Julia Hopkins, Ronda Mitchell, Stephanie Morrison, Tim Williams and Carol Daniels will have their cake and eat it, too, on November 23.
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.