Make your mark in McEuen Park
Coeur d'Alene High School graduates are issuing a challenge to other local grads to inscribe their classes and years on the donor walls in McEuen Park to support the Panhandle Parks Foundation. Seen Wednesday at the donor walls, from left: Connie McGee, Sharon Strobel, Rolaine Brunelle and Tinka Schaffer, Class of '61, and Bill Delyea and Corky Meyer, Class of '65.
DEVIN WEEKS/Press
A donor wall in McEuen Park is being reserved to honor veterans. Seen Wednesday in McEuen Park, from left, Corky Meyer, Lew Allert, Ron Brunelle and Bill Delyea.
Graduates of Coeur d'Alene High Class of '61 and '65 have issued a challenge to fellow Vikings and Lake City High School grads to support the Panhandle Parks Foundation by having their class year etched onto the donor walls in McEuen Park.
Graduates of the Classes of 1961 and 1965 have made their mark on McEuen Park, and now they are challenging other Vikings and Timberwolves to do the same.
Etched in white on glossy stone in the heart of the park, “CHS Vikings” accompanied by the class years can be seen on the Panhandle Parks Foundation's donor walls, between black and white photos showing North Idaho’s history.
Plenty of space is left on the walls, so the Vikings of yesteryear are calling on other graduating classes to pony up the $500 to be eternally represented while supporting local parks.
“Coeur d’Alene classmates spent their whole lives in these parks,” Corky Meyer, Class of '65 and Panhandle Parks Foundation secretary, said Wednesday. “Come and support them.”
“I don’t know anybody even close to my age that didn’t play ball of some kind in one of the parks, girls or boys,” Meyer's classmate, Bill Delyea, said.
The donor walls feature family and corporate names, but they can also serve as a gift or a way to pay tribute to loved ones by etching their name into a wall for all to see. Wall space is limited to 380 lines.
“Come on, come get your names on here,” said Tinka Schaffer, Panhandle Parks Foundation volunteer director, said Wednesday. “And wouldn’t it be a fun gift to give to your children that are graduating this year? Put their name on the wall.”
Class of '61 graduate Connie McGee said she is thankful to the city of Coeur d'Alene for keeping the park by the lake such a beautiful place to go, for tourists and for locals.
"We played here, we attended hydroplane races here," she said, adding that she even remembers when the fairgrounds were in McEuen.
"This gave us a lot to do in the summer," she said. "Kept us out of trouble. We always went to the lake."
One donor wall is being reserved as a veterans plaque, to honor those who have served their country.
"I think it's a wonderful idea," said Lew Allert, a Vietnam veteran and member of the Marine Corps League Pappy Boyington Detachment.
The Panhandle Parks Foundation works to enhance healthy and vibrant communities across North Idaho by facilitating the acquisition, support and preservation of parks, open space and recreational facilities.
Info: panhandleparks.org
