HUCKLEBERRIES: How sweet the show that starred a local like me

After centuries, “Amazing Grace” remains popular as a hymn among the local church crowd.

In 1995, “Amazing Grace,” the NBC series filmed in Coeur d’Alene and Spokane, was short-lived.

However, both are love stories, of a kind.

Written in 1772, “Amazing Grace,” the song tells of the grace and joy John Newton received from God, prompting him to reject his life as a slave trader to become an ordained minister.

First aired April 1, 1995, “Amazing Grace,” the television drama starred Patty Duke as Rev. Hannah Miller, a newly minted minister addicted to painkillers.

Originally, producers planned to call the show, “Heart of the City.” Then, “Wing and a Prayer.” Finally, “Amazing Grace” won out before filming for the series began. It would last only five episodes. A pilot program was filmed earlier.

The series was one of Patty Duke’s earliest efforts to give back to Coeur d’Alene.

She and her husband, Mike Pearce, a Silver Valley native, loved Coeur d’Alene, their adopted city.

“This felt like home to her,” said nephew Mike Kennedy, a former Coeur d’Alene city councilman.

After years of dealing with the stress, pain and trauma of show business, Kennedy said, his aunt “enjoyed that Coeur d’Alene wasn’t the rat race of Los Angeles. She loved sitting on her porch or going to the store. She was left alone and treated like a neighbor.”

Out of respect, locals called her by her real name: Anna Pearce.

Thirty years ago (Sept. 18, 1994), Coeur d’Alene was abuzz after learning that NBC had acquired the old First United Methodist Church, 618 Wallace Ave., for the new series. A house on a nearby corner would serve as the home for the actor’s character and her TV children.

In an editorial, the Coeur d’Alene Press applauded Patty Duke for throwing herself into community life, unlike other celebrities who had come here. The edit noted that she and her husband had in the previous month performed a benefit play for the Lake City Playhouse: “Love Letters.” And that she had joined Gov. Cecil Andrus to co-host the Governor’s Awards in the Arts at North Idaho College.

“(Anna) could use her home here as a hideaway,” the paper said, “but she decided to be a neighbor. She’s decided she wants to do her work here, instead of flying to Southern California or elsewhere to act. Coeur d’Alene will benefit as a result.”

The Press also addressed some grumbles from locals that filming would tie up traffic and “let even more people in on the secret that this is a pretty good place to live.” Said The Press: “The production will bring a lot of money into town … all without destroying any views or clouding the sky.”

Of note, nephew Kennedy said the second episode of “Amazing Grace” featured Burt Reynolds as “a traveling Elmer Gantry-type pastor” who targeted a parishioner’s savings. After filming, the Coeur d’Alene actress took Reynolds and the crew to the Wolf Lodge Inn for dinner.

For years, an autographed photo of Patty Duke, Burt Reynolds and the crew hung at the Wolf Lodge Inn, one of the many memories that was lost Sept. 2 in the terrible fire that razed the historic restaurant.

Mouse that roared

The Kootenai Tribe of North Idaho is the little tribe that could.

On Sept. 20, 1974, stifled by grinding poverty “300 per cent below” the national level, the Bonners Ferry area tribe declared war on the national government. And to back up its bravado, the 67-member tribe posted roadblocks and exacted tolls of 10 cents at all four major highways entering its aboriginal lands.

The tribe’s beef? In 1855, when the feds were negotiating treaties with other tribes, they ignored the Kootenais and took 1.6 million acres of their land without compensation. The tribe was left with zilch — no reservation, no standing as a tribe, no benefits.

When Chairman Amy Trice and tribal members declared war 50 years ago, they had nothing to lose but their lives. They weren’t looking for violence. But some tribal members sent their families away to be safe.

The tribe blinked when Gov. Cecil Andrus assigned a police force of about 100 to quell the unrest and ordered blockaders arrested.

But the gambit worked. The feds gave the tribe 12.5 acres near the Kootenai River and all-important recognition.

The Kootenais used that toehold to build a thriving lodge and a casino — and to acquire 2,500 acres of wildlife habitat. Today, the tribe, now numbering 150, is a major employer and player in Boundary County.

All this without firing a shot.

A penny saved

In 1958, Alice Huseby, 84, a longtime patient at Kootenai Hospital, sent out her Christmas cards in July, including one to President Dwight Eisenhower. She told The Press that she mailed her cards early to save money; the cost for stamps was going up from 3 to 4 cents Aug. 1.

Said she: “I just said to myself why not send President Eisenhower a card, too, and tell him what I was doing. So I did.”

In her card, Alice added a snapshot of herself so Ike could see “what one of (his) children in the wild of Idaho looks like.”

In response, Ike thanked her for the photo and hoped that the year ahead “will unfold new happiness for you.”

An admirer of the president from his World War II days as a U.S. general, Alice told The Press: “He is the first Republican I ever voted for president, and I voted for him both times.”

Huckleberries

• Poet’s Corner: Come January we’ll remember/how bright the sun shone in September/The Bard of Sherman Avenue (“Autumn Thought”).

• Dog Dare You: You shouldn’t pick summer sausages over standard wieners if you’re trying to break a hotdog record. Bob Kiser of Coeur d'Alene found that out 40 years ago when he gobbled only 2.4 pounds of a 10-pound dog, with trimmings, at the Incredible Edible Dog. The restaurant record was 4 ½ pounds. Defeated and sweaty, Bob said later: “It was too spicy. The spices got to my stomach.”

• Gotcha: Tax activists Ron Rankin and Rex Morehouse were half right 40 years ago when they opposed the $5.5 million jail levy. They saw the need for a new jail. But feared the county would ask for more money for a new sheriff’s office, a charge county officials denied. The levy passed. A jail was built near the fairgrounds, as was — eventually — a sheriff’s office.

• Writin’ & Singin’: Christian fiction fans know that Frank Peretti wrote the 1986 bestseller “Piercing the Darkness.” But how many know that he and Barbara, his wife of 52 years, live in the area and form half of the T & Company quartet? The eclectic group performs regularly, including this summer at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library’s Monday concert series. The band is fun and worth listening to.

• Birling Queen: In September 1954, Congresswoman Gracie Pfost, a Democrat, competed with Republican foe Erwin Schwiebert in a birling — log rolling — contest at Lumberjack Days in Orofino. Both fell in the water at about the same time. But incumbent Pfost, the first woman to represent Idaho’s 1st District, laughed longest when she won reelection in November. Political races back then weren't as toxic as they are now. Alas.

Parting shot

Lake City High opened to mixed reviews 30 years ago. Oh, almost everyone thought the building was beautiful. But, according to the Coeur d’Alene Press, staffers were frustrated by the lack of equipment. Some students were disappointed after being separated from their friends at Coeur d’Alene High. And students and staff agreed that class sizes were larger than at CHS. “I think it looks like a mall,” complained student Kali Karnes. “I wish we were all together,” said student Alicia Eastwood. “There are no mirrors in the bathrooms,” griped student Shannon Messerly. That was in September 1994. Thirty years have passed. Now, public high schoolers here identify mostly as Vikings or Timberwolves. And few remember the birth pangs of those early LCHS days.

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

    In September 1974, Ron Abraham, left, and Jimmy John, of the Kootenai Tribe, formed an informal picket line as an Idaho State Police car passed by.
  

    In September 1974, spokesman Doug Wheaton and Chairwoman Amy Trice, of the Kootenai Tribe, explain why the tribe declared war on the government.
  

    In September 1958, Alice Huseby received a response to her early Christmas card to President Dwight Eisenhower.
  

    In September 1984, Bob Kiser of Coeur d’Alene is shown with his mountainous hot dog feast at the Incredible Edible Dog.
  

    In 1984, Rex Morehouse, left, and Ron Rankin, of the Kootenai County Property Owners Association, admitted a new jail was needed but opposed a levy for one.
  

    In summer 2024, Christian writer Frank Peretti and his wife, Barbara, the couple on the left, performed with T & Company at the Coeur d’Alene Library.
  

    In 1954, Democratic Congresswoman Gracie Pfost, right, competed in a birling contest against Republican challenger Erwin Schwiebert in Orofino.
  

    In 1994, Terri Hammar, left, and Melody Shaw painted the new school mascot for the opening of Lake City High School.