Huckleberries: Humps, lumps and disco dancing

Midge Smock fondly recalls winter 1968-69 when she rushed after school to exercise with her mother at the Krystal Plunge.

Midge, then a sophomore at Coeur d'Alene High, and her mom, EvaMae Kline, weren't the only ones drawn to the fitness hot spot.

According to the Coeur d’Alene Press, more than 100 women enrolled in the center’s twice-weekly Keep Fit with Exercise program “to do something about their lumps and bumps.”

“It was such a big deal to have a real swimming pool and a real exercise place,” Midge told Huckleberries.

The workout class at the Krystal Plunge was so consequential that, Feb 27, 1969, The Press devoted a page to it. The Klines were shown on exercise bikes. Future state senator Mary Lou Reed wobbled on the slimming belt. And Nancy Flagan, wife of Hagadone Corp. exec Art Flagan, tackled the “tummy roller.”

The Press said: “Some come to lose weight, some to tone up, and others for the feeling of well-being.”

The Crystal Plunge, on River Avenue, was the brainchild of John and Dee Fullwiler, who also owned the Robin Hood Campground across the street. In 1965, they built the business for about $100,000 ($895,000 in today’s dollars). It included the town’s only Olympic-size pool and a restaurant on the second floor. Later, the upper story was converted into an exercise space and a pool viewing area.

Among other activities, North Idaho Junior College students earned P.E. credits for swimming and exercising. Grade schoolers enrolled in Junior Red Cross courses. A swim program was offered for grades five through eight.

Sue Myers, one of the Fullwilers’ four children, grew up at the Krystal Plunge. She learned to swim from instructor Lorraine Ursaki and joined the swim team in fifth grade. She was 2 years old in 1957 when her parents bought Bert’s Cabin Campground, changed its name and moved the family in.

In 2017, Sue told The Press that her father “was about 20 years ahead of his time for a health club.”

In 1970, the YMCA bought the Plunge. Now, it houses the Kootenai Bridge Academy alternative school. And happy memories.

Disco Fred?

Fred Murphy loved Lake Coeur d’Alene — and disco music.

And his family and friends loved him back.

Forty years ago today, Fred celebrated his 76th birthday with a crowd at the old North Shore Motor Inn, which included his brother, Hap, 72, and a Coeur d’Alene Press reporter. A plane launched the annual event by pulling a sign above the water, with happy birthday wishes.

Fred was an eighth grader when the call of the tugs lured him away from school. And he never looked back: “My life has been tugboats. If you make your work like play, you’ll never stop working.”

According to The Press article, Fred began constructing and running his own tugs in 1936, “crisscrossing Lake Coeur d’Alene while pulling timber, heavy machinery and other material.” In the 1980s, he focused on marine construction, building docks and pilings.

“I’ve pulled helicopters out of this lake, several airplanes and many, many boats," Fred told The Press. “I’ve been a skipper for 60 years, and I’ve loved every minute of it.”

The highlight of Fred’s birthday celebrations was the dancing. And that’s where disco comes in.

 “Oh, I love that disco music,” he grinned. “I really do.”

O Canada

Canadian ski royalty lived among us for a while.

During the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, The Press tracked down Gerry Sorensen Lenihan, who was living in Coeur d’Alene surrounded by her medals, trophies, photos and memorabilia.

In 1984, in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, she was favored to win gold in downhill skiing but finished tied for sixth when a wide turn thwarted her. Two years earlier, the Kimberley, British Columbia, native became the first Canadian female downhiller in 24 years to win the World Cup title. She was Canada’s top female athlete that year. And later was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame.

In 1992, she and her young family moved to Coeur d’Alene. She told The Press that she had no regrets about her career, with “the possible exception of missing out on the big bucks that champion skiers (later) made.” The Lenihans now live in Palm Springs, Calif.

Huckleberries

• Poet’s Corner: Old Uncle Harry’s full of cheer/to have an extra day this year./"I’m getting older now,” he’ll say,/”so I can use an added day,/and there’s no doubt at eighty-three/I’ll take all the time they’ll give to me" — The Bard of Sherman Avenue. (“Leap Year”).

• Loose Moose: Twenty years ago, moose overran Coeur d’Alene. As part of EXCEL Foundation’s “No Moose Left Behind” fundraiser, local artists painted 25 fiberglass moose to sell, with clever names and flamboyant themes. Sagle artist Bryan Ross sculpted the lifestyle original. On Labor Day weekend 2004, the herd began popping up in parks, businesses, condo balconies and streets. Some are still with us.

• Get ‘Er Done? Three months after John Kennedy’s assassination, Coeur d’Alene’s Kennedy Commission decided that the town should build a combined recreation center and auditorium to honor the late president. In February 1964, a Junior Chamber rep said, “We should do something outstanding or not at all.” Seems the “not-and-all” sentiment won by default.

• Pat’s Motto: On Feb. 20, 1989, The Press published a mini-profile featuring the late Pat Acuff. Among other questions, Pat was asked about the key to his success. He responded: “Try to give back to the people, organizations and community that have given to you.” Words to live by.

• Has It Been — 40 years since Duane Hagadone bought the “Penney’s Block?" On Feb. 21, 1984, Duane announced the purchase of the south 200 block of Sherman. And said he planned to build a mall of 10 to 15 stores on the site or a major department store. Penney’s decision to remodel and stay was the key to purchase, he said. The Resort Plaza Shops remain today. Not so much Penney’s.

• Honest Helen: Some considered the late congresswoman Helen Chenoweth to be “a poster child for the militias.” Others were miffed by her “endangered salmon bakes” during fundraisers. But Helen, who spoke at the Kootenai County Lincoln Day Dinner on Feb. 20, 1999, was also a pledge keeper. Unlike most GOP politicians of her era who campaigned on term limits, she kept her word and quit after three terms.

Parting shot

The house sitter is hired, and I’m off to Portugal for a multi-week trip. All four grandparents hailed from Portugal’s Azores Islands in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. But we’re headed for the mainland: Lisbon, Porto, Sintra. And that means Sunday Huckleberries will be missing from this spot until the end of March. Then, I’ll again search old issues of the Coeur d’Alene Press to find nuggets that explain why this place is so special.

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

    EvaMae Kline and her daughter, Midge (Kline) Smock, ride exercise bikes at the Krystal Plunge.
  

    Fred Murphy
  

    Gerry Sorensen Lenihan
  

    Artist Marie Ryan presents her paint scheme for “Coeur d’Moose” to Sagle artist Bryan Ross and his wife, Kaye.
  

    Kennedy Commission officers L.L. Gardner (seated, left), James McKinnon (right) and John Hunt consider ways to honor JFK.
  

    Pat Acuff’s mini profile.
  

    Boy Scouts view a photo that was taken of them with Congressman Helen Chenoweth, left, at the 1999 Lincoln Day Dinner.