HUCKLEBERRIES: An artful legacy

As a teen, approaching her senior year of high school, Anne Solomon was elected national president of Girls Nation, something no other Idaho girl had done before.

And, in August 1968, Coeur d’Alene rolled out the red carpet for its newest celebrity.

Upon her return from her heady trip at Washington, D.C., Anne was greeted at the Spokane airport by family, the American Legion Auxiliary, Miss Diamond Cup Linda Dreschel and Congressman George Hansen. Surprised, she told the Press: “I wasn’t even sure the people at home knew I had been elected.”

The stirring welcome continued in town, where her parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Solomon, held an informal reception, and a neighbor attached a sign to the garage: “Anne Solomon, you’re the greatest.”

“I am so grateful for all these gifts and experiences,” said Anne, now a longtime Coeur d'Alene attorney.

The Aug. 5, 1968, Press described Girls Nation as “a citizenship training program conducted annually by the American Legion Auxiliary to give high school juniors practical experience in the processes of government and a clear understanding of their approaching citizenship responsibilities.”

Girls Nation was started in 1947 and continues today.

Not only was Anne, an Idahoan, elected president by the 98 girls in attendance, but she made Girls Nation history a second time when Marla Ann Holyoak, of Burley, was elected vice president. For the first time, two Girls Nation officers were chosen from the same state.

Among her duties, Anne presided over Girls State and laid wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, as well as the graves of John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy. A month later, she addressed the national convention of the American Legion and its auxiliary in New Orleans.

And, in January 1969, she attended the inauguration of President Richard Nixon.

“I wore my sister’s prom dress to the (inauguration) party,” Anne told Huckleberries.

At Girls Nation, Anne received a tip that would change her life: “Apply to Stanford.” She did. And she attended the California campus almost on full scholarship and work-study. With her undergraduate work complete, she attended law school at the University of Idaho. Meanwhile, her sister, Sue Flammia, resigned from teaching English to attend law school at Gonzaga University.

The sisters graduated one day apart. And, in 1980, opened the law office of Flammia and Solomon. Although Sue died in 2015, the practice is humming along. Anne’s son, Beck Roan, joined the office three years ago after working for four years with the Court of Appeals.

Anne’s sister and her husband, Pat, were among the founders of Art on the Green in 1968-69, when it was held on the McEuen Playfield tennis courts and was so hot that paintings melted. As she was dying, Sue made one final request of Anne — that she keep Art on the Green going.

“The family thinks of Art on the Green as Sue and Pat’s legacy,” Anne said.

Anne was wrapping up another successful Art on the Green when contacted last week. She continues to honor her sister’s memory and serve the town that provided a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity long ago.

The thong thing

It has been 30 years since thongs on City Beach were a thing that roused City Hall and made Tim Bowman, of Coeur d’Alene, into a minor celebrity.

Tim (aka “Thong Man”) had worn a thong suit on the beach for three years before a protest was raised by a church group at Independence Point.

And then came the letters to the editor, pros and con. Two mothers wrote that Tim’s thong was more appropriate at the French Riviera or in California. In response, Tim claimed that most people he contacted at the beach either supported or accepted his decision to don his thong.

The tourists, he said, “enjoy the non-stuffy atmosphere here.”

Ultimately, the City Council backed Tim’s right to bare buns on a 4-2 vote. And Marcus Bausch of Sprague, Wash., tried to cash in on the tempest from a G-string by designing T-shirts with a thong theme. One drawing showed a back view of two females in thongs with the words, “Hanging Out in CDA.”

Because you asked

For years, Tim Gerlitz, of Spokane, heard a family story about a blast on the Fourth of July that killed people on the fireworks barge — and wonders if it’s true.

The answer? Yes and no. Yes, there was an explosion on a barge July 4, 1962. But there were no deaths.

Most of the 13 Jaycees handling the pyrotechnics suffered powder burns and cuts when a bomb exploded in a mortar tube as the fireworks display was starting. Jaycee Andy Callahan was the most seriously injured, suffering cuts and burns and a possible broken ankle. Dick Haegele, who was blown off the barge, suffered cuts to the eyes. Fred Murphy and his tugboat came to the rescue.

Later, small mortars were set off, but the large bulk of the pyrotechnics were removed for future use.

Huckleberries

• Poet’s Corner: Bright sun on the water,/bright sun on a sail,/bright sun on much skin that’s/exceedingly pale — The Bard of Sherman Avenue (“City Beach, Midsummer”).

• Did You Know … that the Coeur d’Alene Fire Department started a Life-Net crew in the summer of 1953? The 22 volunteers didn’t fight fires. Their job was to manage a 9-foot-in-diameter net to catch people who jumped from burning buildings. And, to test their mettle, drill master Lee Vanden Berg jumped into the net several times from different floors of Old City Hall. Ah, that was eight years before OSHA.

• Small World: The late Don Sausser wore many hats during his time as a North Idaho College advocate: Trustee. Booster Club president. Photographer. But he and wife Sue enjoyed hosting athletes, too. In 1979, they invited two, 7-foot basketballers to Thanksgiving dinner, one of whom was Greg Wiltjer. Never heard of him? Greg's future son, Kyle, would star for the Gonzaga Bulldogs (2014-16). (Courtesy Don Sausser Facebook)

• Glass Half Full — The North Idaho Centennial Trail was far from a fait accompli in mid-August 1988 when Congress OK’d $1.36 million in federal funding to help build it. Yet, supporters, like Commissioner Evalyn Adams and Councilman Bob Macdonald, hustled to City Beach to erect the first of the now-familiar Centennial Trail signs. Obviously, their optimism was rewarded.

• End of the Line: Billy Schumacher, piloting Miss Bardahl, became the last Diamond Cup winner when he shot past stalled Warner Gardner (Eagle Electric) in the final heat Aug. 11, 1968. No one knew then that the 1968 Diamond Cup would be the last one of 10. Or that Gardner would be fatally injured less than a month later during a hydroplane race on the Detroit River.

Parting shot

In August 2013, the city awarded a contract to artist Howard Meehan of New Mexico for an art piece to grace the entrance to McEuen Park. And the public has buzzed about “Under the Rainbow” since. Late Councilwoman Deanna Goodlander was an early defender. She explained why the selection committee picked the work from 194 entries. The four finalists were excellent, she said, “but I love this one because it is transparent. You can see Tubbs and the lake through the wires.” The design features color-changing cables attached to two modernistic pillars, forming an arch. Artist Meehan said the design “was intended to give the illusion of a vibrant rainbow.” And it does — at night. But most residents visit McEuen during the day when the unlit archway resembles, as one critic put it, “a couple of chopsticks sticking up in the air.” With all the swell public art in Coeur d’Alene, “Under the Rainbow” remains a $110,000 conversation piece. Art, indeed, is in the eye of the beholder.

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Dave Oliveria can be contacted at dfo@cdapress.com. You can find more of his old photos and stories of Coeur d’Alene on his Facebook page: D.F. Oliveria.