Huckleberries

Doug Clark wasn’t looking for a sign when he visited Coeur d’Alene Tuesday.

But he found one as he waited for a burger at Hudson’s – a colorful poster advertising the 20th Street Music Week on the restaurant wall.

“Seeing the poster at Hudson’s was a real unexpected bonus,” Doug told Huckleberries. “It was like someone handed me a platter of tasty French fries to go with my double-cheese pickle.”

Doug knew event coordinator Jenny Wayman had done her job alerting the Lake City to the annual event. During the noon hours June 13-17, local buskers will serenade pedestrians on Sherman Avenue to raise money for the 2nd Harvest Inland Northwest Food Bank.

Street Music Week, which began as a lark in front of Spokane’s City Hall in 2002, has raised more than $290,000 to feed the poor. Ten years ago, it spread to Coeur d’Alene, where Doug worked for the Press (1976-83) before becoming a Spokesman-Review columnist.

Doug enjoys the vibe of downtown Coeur d’Alene, from motorcycles parked in front of the Iron Horse to diners eating along the sidewalks. He appreciates the bustle of visitors window shopping, queueing up for ice cream, popping into taverns for music and/or a drink, holding hands, greeting friends.

The lack of such synergy in Spokane two decades ago launched Street Music Week.

During a 2002 family trip to Seattle, Doug was riveted by the downtown street talent. He recalls a drummer playing “like Gene Krupa” on plastic buckets. A guitarist mimicking Jimi Hendrix. Piano music and jazz competing for ear space. And break dancers wowing passersby.

All he found in downtown Spokane, upon return, was an elderly man on a stool playing a toy recorder poorly while reading a book in front of the Bon Marche.

The retired newspaperman described that Spokane street music simply, “It sucked.”

Doug knows music. An accomplished guitarist, he is the lead singer for Spokane’s Trailer Park Girls.

Doug told his column readers that he would perform on Spokane streets during his lunch hour for a week. And then grabbed his guitar. He gave the food bank some $400 he raked in. Twelve other buskers joined him in Spokane the next year. That number has grown at times to more than 300 and has spread to Spokane’s Garland District, Coeur d’Alene, and even Appleton, Wis.

Doug has played every day since the beginning of Street Music Week – and will reach 100 consecutive performances at the end of the 2022 week. Any musician, regardless of talent can perform.

“It’s not about virtuosity, it’s about generosity,” he said.

Fish Story

That world-record rainbow trout destined for President Truman’s table 75 years ago has another tale.

As you may recall (Huckleberries, May 8), C.C. Shepherd of Opportunity, Wash., landed a world-record, 36-pound rainbow trout on Lake Pend Oreille that was shipped for dinner to Harry Truman.

Well, there’s more to the story.

Jim Worst reports that Shepherd and his father, R.C. (Bob) Worst were fishing partners that day, May 1, 1947. Seems they were trolling on their way to Garfield Bay when their lines started reeling out. Both thought they’d hooked a fish. Then, they realized that their lines had tangled. And they had one big fish.

They untangled the lines and fought the fish for 45 minutes, not knowing whose line had caught it. Later, they decided that Shepherd had snagged the Big One.

Jim Worst doesn’t know whether President Truman really ate Shepherd’s record catch. But he does know what happened to that world-record Dolly Varden that his Dad caught two weeks later near Bayview. Jim and another fellow were fishing with the senior Worst that day.

“There certainly wasn’t the hoopla that Shep’s fish had gotten for I have only one photo of my two sisters and I holding this fish,” Jim tells Huckleberries. “I also know for a fact that President Truman didn’t feast on this trout. My family ate it for dinner.”

Women Fish, Too

By the way, Mrs. O.G. Olson of Post Falls also caught a huge rainbow on Lake Pend Oreille in 1947, about a month after Shepherd’s. She landed a 33 ½-pounder, which would have set a world record if Shepherd hadn’t snagged his monster. Coeur d’Alene angler Wes Hamlet bested them both with a 37-pound rainbow six months later. At the time, Mrs. Olson’s rainbow was the largest caught by a woman.

Huckleberries

·Poet’s Corner: She loves to hear the robin sing/his song up in the tree,/and yet the little garden worm/would likely disagree – The Bard of Sherman Avenue (“It’s All Relative”).

·A reader, named Judy, spotted an oft-seen window sticker on a Pathfinder on Prairie last week: “Women who behave rarely make history.“ However, the woman at the wheel was applying mascara while driving, prompting Judy to add: “She's gonna BE history! Hope she doesn't take anyone with her.” Huckleberries seconds that emotion.

·Benewah County Coroner Ron Hodge and his lady, Molli, were traveling Highway 95 to Coeur d’Alene to decorate the graves of family members when they pulled behind a blue Mazda with California plates. And this disclaimer chalked next to the license plate: “7B (Bonner County) local rental” with a smiley face. Ron and Molli honked and gave the female driver two thumbs up. She laughed and waved back. You can’t be too careful these days.

·The Coeur d’Alene High Class of 72 has invited former Vietnam POW Fred McMurray to participate in all color guard activities for its 50th reunion in early August, even though he attended IHM Academy. However, he is connected by marriage to CHS reunions of 50 years or more. His wife, the former Judy Reiswig, is a member of the CHS Class of 1965.

·Two signs along 9th Street Tuesday illustrate USA’s Great Divide. The Venture High readerboard read: “Don’t Hate Appreciate.” And a block later, a huge banner on a trailer responded: “Trump 2024: (F-bomb) your feelings.” What we have here is failure to communicate.

Parting Shot

On the Nextdoor app recently, a Dalton Gardens woman had a message for a woman in an RV northbound on 15h Street toward Hayden: “You’re not Sandra Bullock. This is not ‘Speed.’ Nothing will happen if you go under the posted speed limit, I promise. Also, (it) wasn’t wholly necessary to blow through 2 – yes, 2 – stop signs.” Be careful out there.

D.F. (Dave) Oliveria can be contacted at dfo@cdapress.com.