HUCKLEBERRIES: Candy and chaos

The late George Cecil compared the 1975 “Rabbit Riot” at City Park to his day’s pell-mell Vietnamese evacuation of Da Nang.

“It was brutal, horrible,” wrote the hard-boiled editor of the Coeur d’Alene Press.

Cecil witnessed the frontal assault at the annual Lions Club Easter Egg Hunt.

“The howling, screaming mob descended on two (Lions), forcing them to retreat to the back of the truck,” Cecil columnized the following day, April 1, 1975. “Others tried to come to their rescue, but they too quickly were engulfed in the surging mass of humanity.”

Cecil urged in good humor that the bold Lions receive “the highest civilian award for valor.”

The Rabbit Riot began harmlessly, The Press reported, when Chairman Gil Yates ordered 24 prizes for the annual event from Woolworth’s. However, when his son, Dexter, picked up the prizes Saturday evening, store manager Robert Morrell threw in his remaining Easter inventory — $500 (about $2,952 in 2025 dollars).

The Woolworth surplus included stuffed bunnies and other animals, chocolate rabbits, plastic eggs with toys inside and candy bars. The generosity of Woolworth’s, said Gil Yates, “added enormously to the prizes and gifts we were able to give at the park.”

It also hyped up a crowd of playful kids who braved cool temperatures that Easter Sunday.

According to The Press, the children cleared the park of 80 pounds of eggs in two minutes. Then, they fixated on the prizes being lobbed by the Lions.

“No matter how fast they dispensed the goodies,” Cecil said, “they could not satiate the mass of candy snappers. It was as if the smell of candy had driven the kids wild. Even parents drew back in fear as their youngsters fought and scrambled for just one more marshmallow rabbit.”

Cecil wondered what would happen when the Lions ran out of “ammunition.”

So, he grabbed his camera, fearing a massacre like Custer’s Last Stand.

But the kids retreated, Cecil said, and “tore into their lot with savage grace.”

Taffy to the rescue

Television's Lassie wasn’t the only pooch in the 1950s adept at saving its master from harrowing situations.

On April 4, 1955, less than a year after the Hollywood collie debuted on CBS-TV, a 4-year-old cocker spaniel named Taffy rescued a tot from drowning at Fernan Lake.

Taffy and Stephen Wilson, 2 ½, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Perry Wilson, of Coeur d’Alene, were “constant companions,” according to The Press.

On that pivotal Monday, Stephen’s father, Perry, was helping a friend with livestock when Taffy began tugging on his pants leg. Perry Wilson followed Taffy to the lake, where he saw Stephen’s red coat floating in 4 ½ feet of water.

The toddler had been in the water a few minutes before the elder Wilson pulled him out unconscious and started CPR. The boy was breathing when the firemen arrived. And a doctor later pronounced that the boy “would be all right.”

And Taffy?

In a Page 1 cutline, the Coeur d’Alene Press reckoned that there weren’t enough juicy steaks to properly reward the devoted spaniel.

Pedal pushers

The City Council, Centennial Trail Foundation, and Pedestrian and Bicycle Committee supported the idea — two firemen giving rickshaw rides around downtown and to Riverstone,

So, firefighters Matt Tosi, 30, and Bill Dodd, 29, spent early spring 2005 jumping through bureaucratic hoops, buying equipment, and preparing to launch a new business: Coeur d’Alene Pedicab.

“I thought Coeur d’Alene would be the perfect place for this kind of thing,” co-owner Tosi told The Press.

The friends decided to work for tips. But they would charge if a rider wanted to go farther — say, for example, to the Beachouse at Silver Beach.

“Shark Tank” material it was not.

But here’s hoping Matt and Bill had fun, got tans, and enjoyed pedaling visitors around.

Huckleberries

• Poet’s Corner: Our legislators and their flunkies/are more laughs than barrels of monkeys;/but speaking frankly, heart to heart,/I fear they may not be as smart — The Bard of Sherman Avenue (“Congress”).

• Purple Heart: From catching footballs for Lake City High to the battlefield, 2000 grad Aaron Welch represented his hometown well. On March 29, 2005, Army Spc. Welch was back home from Iraq with a purple heart after a roadside bomb exploded near his Humvee, injuring others and himself. Once home, he itched to return to the fight “and really put a hurting on them.” With such protectors, we can sleep well.

• So-so Debut: “Amazing Grace,” the NBC-TV drama featuring local actor Patty Duke and filmed in Coeur d’Alene, started slowly. The debut April 1, 1995, attracted an 8.2 share of the audience or 7.9 million homes. It ranked No. 53 of 96 programs. But it beat its Saturday night competition: the movie “Family Reunion: A Relative Nightmare.”

• Up & Running: At the end of the first quarter of 2005, Buck Knives, a new Post Falls manufacturer, operated at 70% capacity with a grand opening set for May 21. The former San Diego firm already cranked out 16,000 knives weekly, with an engraved outline of Idaho. And company officials expected a 20% increase in business. Said CEO C.J. Buck: “That’s not bad after a move.”

• Flashback: Some know that June 2, 1972, Tom Robb, Phil Graue and Barb Renner opened the iconic Iron Horse Restaurant downtown. But fewer recall that Barb managed Profs Coffee Shop in the Coeur d’Alene mall before that. Owned by Coeur d’Alene High teachers Graue and William Rhodes, the shop offered “a friendly lesson in eating.” Barb, of course, is best remembered for her superb management of the North Idaho Fair and the Kootenai County Fairgrounds.

• Open for Business: On April 6, 1965, The Press reported, “the bright lights of the spacious foyer of the new post office building greeted the first customers.” Postal employees had worked into the early morning to prepare the post office at Seventh and Lakeside for opening day. Not much has changed since at the post office, other than a huge increase in population

• Time to Dance: Residents were told to scour grandma’s closet for an old Charleston outfit or grandpa’s prospector duds — and prepare to dance. Vintage costumes were encouraged for the Idaho Centennial Dance during Fort Sherman Days (April 20-21, 1990). Tickets to listen to the Junior Hoedowners and the Mica Grange Band were affordable, too: $5 per individual or $10 for a family. Hee-haw.

Parting shot

In 1965, after seven years of roaring engines and rooster tails, Coeur d’Alene almost lost the Diamond Cup races — to Sandpoint. On April 5, 1965, a divided City Council stunned local hydroplane boosters by nixing a request for a one-week lease of the pit area and west shore of Tubbs Hill, for races tentatively set for Aug. 15. In opposition to the lease, Councilman Del Breithaupt cited the 1964 cost for crowd control ($4,011) and petitions signed by 1,266 residents opposing a lease of the park, nearby streets or City Beach. Afterward, Mayor Floyd Gray of Sandpoint said his city was “definitely interested” in hosting the Diamond Cup. But he couldn’t understand why Coeur d’Alene was killing such an “economic boost to any community.” The Coeur d’Alene Unlimited Hydroplane Association and community leaders agreed. They lobbied the council for reconsideration. And the races were staged July 11 and thundered on for a few more years.

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You can contact D.F. (Dave) Oliveria at dfo@cdapress.com.

    Editor George Cecil
  

    Stephen Wilson, 2 ½, is shown in 1955 with Taffy.
  

    Firemen Bill Dodd, left, and Matt Tosi in 2005, displaying their pedicabs.
  

    Aaron Welch is shown in 2005 with his Purple Heart.
  

    Kathleen Smith, a Buck Knives supervisor in 2005, prepares for another batch of blades.
  

    Manager Barb Renner of Profs Coffee Shop serves co-owners William Rhodes, left, and Phil Graue in 1970.
  

    USPS employee Jim Ransom shows Larry Thorsness a sheet of stamps in 1965 after the new Coeur d’Alene post office opens.
  

    Coordinators of a 1990 Idaho centennial dance at North Idaho College model vintage outfits. They are, from left, Robert Singletary, Nancy Heffter, Don Sausser and Mary Waggoner. Idaho became a state July 3, 1890.
  

    Optimistic Coeur d’Alene Unlimited Hydroplane Association officials view a hydroplane replica in 1965. From left, Doug Downing, Joe Acuff, Carter Crimp, Tom Richards, Don MacDonald, Vern Swoboda and Don Lewis.