MOVING HISTORY FORWARD: Getting good stories

The Museum of North Idaho, or MONI, continues to be blessed by the unwavering support of the Coeur d’Alene Press. We continue to use all resources available to put before our community the importance of shining a spotlight on our past to better understand our present. The Press remains one of our best resources.

Initially Robert Singletary and I went to Mike Patrick with a proposal to coauthor a twice monthly short column on notable persons and events that shaped our present lives. The Press, now under the editorial leadership of Maureen Dolan, has continued the wonderful support that has come to be so important to MONI’s efforts. Sadly, Robert had to drop out of the writing and now Deborah Mitchell has brought to the column her wonderful writing skills and in-depth knowledge of the history of North Idaho.

My first column was published Jan. 3, 2020, under Tammy Everson’s recollection of a tragedy occurring in Post Falls. I have continued to find great pleasure in utilizing local help in writing these columns.

My last column was especially fun. To obtain the story, my grandson Dylan Opp and I “off-roaded” up to Lower Roman Nose Lake to get the story. Dylan, an avid mountaineer, had told me about the lakes. He “bushwhacked” up to the site of the burned-out fire lookout to photograph the site so as to compare it to the 1930s photo of the building.

Which brings me to the reason for this departure from the usual column content. If any of our readers have great (interesting) short stories they would like to have published in this column, please contact either me or Deborah at the MONI with your stories. We will give them a critical look to be sure of their content accuracy. If you have photos, we can scan them into the Museum’s database and thereby ensure their preservation.

The Museum of North Idaho is at 115 Northwest Blvd., Coeur d’Alene. Info: 208-664-3448 or visit museumni.org.

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Richard Sheldon is on the MONI board of directors.