HUCKLEBERRIES: 'Coeur d'Alene was different back then'

Christa Manis Hazel was 19 going on 20 when a community firestorm engulfed her.

The controversy raged for months in winter 1993-94 after a group of North Idaho College students asked to form a sanctioned club: The Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Alliance.

At the time, Christa was the college’s student body president.

“We were just 18- to 20-year-old kids when we were thrust into the middle of this,” said Christa, now a leader of the North Idaho Republicans. “I did a lot of soul-searching because I’m friendly and open and tolerant. I had to figure out where my values were and what the law was.”

Christa didn’t vote on the matter because there was no tie. But she agreed with the Senate majority, which voted 6-2 on Jan. 21, 1994, to reject the club application.

The reasons for the denial varied.

Some senators said there was no need for a club on campus that was based solely on sexual orientation. Christa and others were concerned that proponents hadn’t supplied all the required information for club membership: a membership list, constitution, list of officers, and budget. Also, the board majority said its application denial reflected the expressed will of most students.

Meanwhile, letters poured into the Coeur d’Alene Press, overwhelmingly backing the students’ stand. And the two senators who voted to sanction the club received hate mail and threats.

“It was a snapshot of the community at the time,” Christa told Huckleberries last week.

On the other side, alliance supporters accused the student government of discrimination and threatened to sue. Before the issue died down, the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Alliance had recruited a lawyer and was backed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the University of Montana student government.

Additionally, Larry EchoHawk, Idaho’s Democratic attorney general, advised student representatives that they must recognize the alliance. EchoHawk’s office warned college administrators that “knowing and intentional refusal to intervene raises the prospect of personal liability … for their actions.”

On Feb. 18, 1994, despite all that pressure from both sides, the student senators voted again to reject the alliance’s application. Linda Payne, president of the Equity Club, responded: “If you don’t sanction the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Alliance, you violate the United States Constitution. It’s that simple.”

Ultimately, the hot potato landed in the laps of the NIC board of trustees.

On Feb. 24, 1994, after meeting with their lawyer for 20 minutes in an executive session, trustees adopted a resolution that overturned the student senators’ action. At a meeting two days later, the senators grumbled about the trustees’ decision and admitted defeat. But they stood by their decision.

Christa Hazel just celebrated her 50th birthday. She now has children who were about her age 30 years ago. She wouldn’t ask her children to face the kind of pressure that she did three decades ago.

“Coeur d’Alene was different back then,” Christa said. “I’m grateful I grew up free from social media.”

Watergate ties

Although tenuous, a connection exists between Watergate and Coeur d’Alene.

On Feb. 11, 1974, U.S. Sen. Howard Baker, the vice chairman of the Senate Special Watergate Committee, attracted 1,000 to an NIC Popcorn Forum.

The Tennessee Republican wouldn’t comment on the scandal while there was a chance of impeachment.

But he called the Watergate affair “a high-water mark in courage and determination” of the American people to examine themselves and their leaders carefully and calmly. And he minimized the negative impact of Watergate: “No other country would have or could have done what we did in 1973, and no other country would have inquired into the affairs of state in full public view.”

Students gave Baker the red-carpet treatment, reported Press editor George Cecil: “There were no rude comments or asides and not even a derogatory sign to enliven the evening.”

How would America, with its toxic partisan politics today, handle another Watergate? (Lift rug, begin sweeping.)

Fan mail

“Some people” say the old downtown Penney’s had the town’s first elevator, according to last week’s Huckleberries. But those people aren’t Cathy Rubow or Bill Hamilton. Both recall riding earlier elevators to visit their fathers at work — Cathy in the Federal Building at Fourth and Lakeside and Bill in the Elder Building.

Cathy says she had “many ups and downs” while riding the Federal Building elevator to her father’s office on the second floor. Her father was a U.S. marshal: “I loved to visit him at work, which led to my first and only time in jail. He got tired of me (one day) and locked me in his holding cell for a spell.”

Huckleberries

• Poet’s Corner: The FBI should check its list/to see if he’s a terrorist,/for he went out and took a stroll/and did not watch the Super Bowl — The Bard of Sherman Avenue (“UnAmerican”).

• Now We Know: On Feb. 17, 1999, Duane Hagadone announced the purchase of the Johnston Building, Second and Sherman. But didn’t unveil plans for the site. Now, 25 years later, we know that the building and former Bonsai restaurant nearby will give way to a tiered-tower addition, from five to 15 stories to The Coeur d’Alene Resort. Sometimes, progress takes time.

• Let ‘Em Join: On Valentine’s Day 1979, businessman Charlie Nipp and others were asked this Man on the Street question by The Press: “Should women register for the military draft?” Said Charlie: “Yes. Many skills and functions in the military service could be accomplished more effectively by males and females working together.”

• Locks of Love: Vienna Gutierrez, of Hayden, then 12, had two reasons for donating 18 inches of her hair to Locks of Love on this day in 2004: It was hard to fit her long hair into a swim-team cap. And she wanted to help young cancer victims in need of a hair prosthesis. “I’m glad to give to kids,” Vienna told The Press. And Huckleberries is glad to spotlight this selfless act 20 years later.

• Dreamless in Cd'A: The opening of Penney’s in the 200 block of Sherman Avenue in February 1964 had a ripple effect. Within days, First Security Bank of Idaho announced plans for a new bank building after buying the adjacent Dream Theater. Former owner Carl Gridley hoped the new bank building and Penney’s would ignite more construction and expansion downtown.

• It’s A Draw: In 1999, high school principals John Brumley of Lake City and Steve Casey of Coeur d’Alene delighted the first Fight for the Fish crowd with a terrific skit. The two, longtime friends wrestled/perspired to a draw in inflated sumo outfits. But Principal Casey was awarded a nice consolation prize for his school later that night: the first Fight for the Fish spirit prize.

Parting shot

Valentine’s Day 1979 was a birthday to remember for Sandy Lewis of Post Falls. She awoke that day thinking only that she was a year older. But that was before she opened the drapes and looked outside. In her front yard, posted with love in the snow, was a 4-foot wooden birthday Valentine, courtesy of friends John and Francie Thaxter. According to The Press, the Thaxters knew that Sandy enjoyed getting cards on her birthday. But the swell surprise had one downside. Said Sandy: “I’m going to have trouble putting it in the sack I usually save my cards in.” Here’s hoping you had a Valentine’s Day to remember, too.

• • •

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

    NIC Student President Christa Manis (Hazel).
  

    At North Idaho College, U.S. Senator Howard Baker fields questions about Watergate.
  

    The Johnston Building is shown to the left of the old Wilma Theater.
  

    Charlie Nipp
  

    Vienna Gutierrez gives her hair to young cancer victims.
  

    Manager John Hunt of First Security Bank, left, and Roger Dedman of the Dream Theater, background, hobnob.
  

    John Brumley, standing, prepares to body-slam Steve Casey.
  

    Sandy Lewis and her birthday surprise on 1979 Valentine’s Day.