Decades fall by wayside at reunions

There's magic in the annual gathering of vintage Vikings whose high school years were a half-century or more ago. We see each other as we once knew each other, while the reality of some wrinkles, pounds and graying of hair is merely amusing and inevitable.

The Golden CHS All Class Reunion is Saturday, July 27, from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Hayden Eagles. For info, see CHS Golden All Class Reunion 2024 on Facebook or contact Patricia Richardson (CHS '69) at LaTourrette’s Salon.

The Golden All Class Reunion tradition began in the early 1980s when the CHS classes of the 1930s reached 50+ year status. The classes back then were much smaller so a couple of classes combined for a 50-year reunion banquet at the North Shore, now The Coeur d’Alene Resort.

At some point, likely in the '90s, the tradition of the class that was five years past their 50th reunion would take responsibility for organizing the Golden All-Class reunion that year.

When vintage Vikings from Coeur d’Alene High School gather July 27 for the all-class reunion it will be an afternoon and evening of experiencing the phenomenon of decades falling away magically. The cool upperclassmen of yesteryear are still cool. The underclassmen are still perceived as kids, despite qualifying for Medicare or Social Security. It’s magic!

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Recently, Evalyn Adams visited with her longtime friend, Sherry Krulitz. I knew that in the 1980s Evalyn had the distinction of being the first woman elected to the Kootenai County Board of Commissioners but I didn’t realize that Sherry also held that distinction for Shoshone County.

Evalyn served two terms, six years, and Sherry served for 20 years. According to Sherry, at that time out of 132 county commissioners in the state of Idaho, only 12 were women.

More trivia: In records dating back to 1932, Evalyn was the first woman elected to the Kootenai County Commission, Katie Brodie was second, Jai Nelson was third and current commissioner Leslie Duncan is only the fourth!

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Reality check ... Jon Bon Jovi graces the cover of AARP Magazine for July!

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Happy Main Street birthdays today to Jason Faulkner (50!), Collin Coles, Ryan Starr, Amber Blanchette, Gene Gertson, Jan Ryan, Mike Stevens, Heather Wichman, Darren Olson, Pat Fuller and Michael Garrett. On July 11, Claire Allred, Richard Jurvelin, Jeri Lee, Bill Graves, Scott Mote and Larry Wendt blow out the candles. On Friday, Cheri Burila, Emily Hodgson, Syafiq Fuller and Jim Welborn take another trip around the sun. Renee Lusby, Ingrid Yates, Mark Daanen, Julia Koontz, Becky Rider, Brooke Hayden, Shirley Jarrell, Lisa Goodwin and Karen Applebee celebrate Saturday. On Sunday, Bri Gilge, Dee Barnes, Kathleen Esquibel, John Lasher, Nancy Seright, Jaime Vanderpool and Dawnelle Garvey have their cake and eat it, too. Logan Virgil, Katie Mans, Laurel Flerchinger, Loretta Lyon, Angela Olson, Andreas John, Julie Ingram, Marisa Buffaloe, Brian Bunch, Wayne Huckabee and Glen Collins put on their party hats Monday. On July 16, Sandi Morrison, Yvonne Smith, Marcy Clutter, Rich Doughty, Cindy Wiedmer, Patrick Ryan and Doug Jaworski (60!) have their cake and eat it, too!

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Kerri Rankin Thoreson is a member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and the former publisher of the Post Falls Tribune. Main Street appears every Wednesday in The Press and Kerri can be contacted on Facebook or via email rkthor52@aol.com.