Passing the parade baton

No matter how the town has grown or changed, the Fourth of July parade is a constant, a slice of Americana that for a couple of hours on Coeur d’Alene’s “Main Street” all of the things that our community and country once was and still is, is right there displayed in red, white and blue.

If you’re new to the area and want to see the best of our communities, just look at the spectators and entries in the parade. These are your neighbors, your local businesses and organizations.

After 14 years, last year was my much-ballyhooed swan song in the announcer’s skybox. One of the hardest aspects of stepping away from something that has brought me so much joy is hoping the next person with the skybox microphone will share that affection.

Well, I’m happy to announce that the microphone has landed in the hands of the perfectly perfect person. The role of announcer is so much more than reading the intros as each entrant passes by. It’s like being a ringmaster, air traffic controller and stand-up comic all rolled into one. You need a genuine fondness and enthusiasm for parades, the community and tradition. Having lived here long enough to know many, or most, of the people who will pass by the skybox and give them shout-outs by name is a plus. Pivoting to quickly engage young and old when a gap in the parade creates the dreaded “dead air,” as the years went by I became a master at local Independence Day trivia to fill just such space.

It’s not rocket science, but enthusiastically talking with outside voice volume to project into the microphone for about 90 minutes, non-stop, in summer heat above the asphalt is harder than it looks.

This year, the voice you’ll hear from the skybox, located between Third and Fourth streets on Sherman, belongs to the phenomenal Amy Pollard Bartoo. Amy’s a lifetime resident of Coeur d’Alene, growing up in the family home at Fernan Village. I first knew Amy as the darling 9-years-younger little sister of my senior high classmate, Steve Pollard. She’s still darling!

Amy recalls her very first appearance in the Fourth of July parade, as a third grade baton twirler, inspired by Jena Hyenga (now Patzer). That first appearance was followed by several years as one of the original gymnasts of Coeur d’Alene’s very first gymnastics team. During high school in the late '70s, Amy marched with the Coeur d’Alene High School band as a member of the Vikettes drill team.

She was an inaugural member of the famous and iconic Red Hot Mamas and delighted paradegoers for a decade in that role. Several years ago, my amazing friend Amy had the distinction of being the oldest member of the Snake Pit Derby Dames roller derby team, displaying her talent with that group in the parade.

Amy said she’s excited to hopefully instill the wonder and excitement of parade attendance to the young people, now from the skybox vantage point.

“Hopefully I can continue my predecessor’s example by ensuring the feeling of patriotism and pride in our community,” she says with a wink. “Nothing builds community like an old-fashioned, colorful and music-filled parade.”

I’m deliriously happy that Amy said yes to the Coeur d’Alene Chamber’s invitation to take on the role of skybox announcing on the Fourth of July. She gets it. And everyone within blocks of the skybox speakers is in for a genuine treat!

• • •

Happy Main Street birthdays today to Sam Davis, Rick Rasmussen, Alecia Warren, Shannon Fish, Chloe Hutter, Ben Wolfinger, Karen Hanson, Cathleen O’Connor, Sheryl Snyder and Ernie Hunt. Tomorrow, Trigger Weddle, Todd Banducci, Gayle Bolton, Leslie White, Scott Hamilton, Terri Mercer, Cherry Jones, Nathan Gubbe and John Goodlander blow out the candles. Gene Tillman, Connie Gridley, Dave Stutzke, Janet Smith, Jack Danielson and Sheryl Sipe take another trip around the sun Friday. Saturday birthdays will be celebrated by Jessica Zazueta, Brandan Stone, Neil Conner, Kiley Archer, Krystal Gordillo, Kiley Nick, Lyndon Harriman and Carolyn Havens. On the last day of June, Patty McGinnis, Kyle Rutley, Terry Williams, Katie Disney, Kimberly Carlson and Rosie Brown put on their birthday hats. First day of July birthdays are celebrated by Tim Riordan, Arlene Reichenberg, Bill Brown, Terry Alexander, Chris Harrison, Byron Hamby and Mark Johnson. On Tuesday, Tonya Glinsky, Jim Dennison and Ted Wright will mark another year.

• • •

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.