Main Street: Matching milestone birthdays on horizon

This year my Coeur d’Alene High School Class of ‘70 classmates and I will mark our 70th birthdays, matching our ought graduation year. An uncommon feat, becoming less common. The classes of ‘80 and ‘90 and 2000 will need to take their longevity vitamins.

In 1970 I’m reasonably sure few if any of us were thinking about one day being 70 years old. We had places to go, people to see and worlds to conquer. Yet here we are. We’ve aged differently than our parents’ and grandparents’ generations. There’s not much whittling in a front porch rocking chair going on with my peers. Parts may be wearing out or being replaced but engagement, even in retirement, is still on the front burner.

I’m not sure what my preconceived notion of a 70-year-old once was but now that I’m soon to experience it first-hand, I’m thinking any age we’re blessed to achieve is the best one ever!

I’m often asked how to have a name appear in Main Street birthdays. What started as an occasional birthday shout-out a couple of decades ago has grown to include nearly two thousand best wishes annually to the newly-arrived, centennarians and everyone of every age in between. In this column’s weekly birthdays I note milestone birthdays if I’m aware of them. There’s the first teenage birthday, Sweet 16, 18, 21. After that it’s the decade birthdays that are celebrated big as in the Big 3-0, etc. I’ve collected birthdays through the years that people send to me or tell me about and the sheer volume is sometimes staggering, even with the help of an electronic birthday reminder program and in recent years the addition of Facebook.

Something that wouldn’t occur to readers is that I also routinely look through obituaries to see if someone who’s been included in the Main Street birthdays has passed away. Sometimes a family member will contact me but more often than not, it’s caught in the perusal of the newspaper’s published obituaries. Not a fool proof method as a few times each year I wish a happy birthday to someone who’s no longer living.

If you’d like to add birthdays to this column for 2022, the best way is via email, mainstreet@cdapress.com.

Happy Birthday today to Mike Baker, Deborah Shaw, Pat Russell, Wendy Wallin, Debbie Oliver and Ryan Wichman. JJ Dion, Joni Clevenger, Janice Myers, Mike Jorgenson, Karen Gage, Judy Manley, Tory Lee, Karen Holt, Teddi Johnson, Tasha Holmes, Mike Patrick and Andy Irgens take another trip around the sun tomorrow. Teresa Wasileski, Addison Baltzell, Judy Eichelberger, Anita Weaver, Claudia Elliott, Jason Wereley and Jaden Alexander mark the day of their birth on Friday. Rex Grace, Gayle Erickson, Paula Laws, Betsy Anderson, Kelli Ormesher and Jim Roberge celebrate Saturday. On Sunday Kenny Peterson, Anita Millward, John Keener, Shelly Robson, Kelly Blaski, Charlie Kimball, Mary Mort, Nick Dimico, Bill Miller and Elaine Cook will blow out the candles on their birthday cakes. On Monday Eden Irgens, Michelle Martens and Charles Newman are putting on their party hats. Jan. 18 is a red-letter day for Kenna Scott, Travis Chaney, Aubrey Davis, Mike Webb, BJ Holinka, Suzanne Courtney, Amanda Kralicek, Kristy Walsh, Mike Taylor and Nina Tikalsky.

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.