HUCKLEBERRIES: Steering into — then away — from the skid

Jim Fromm was for hydroplane racing before he was against it.

The late Coeur d’Alene mayor is recalled for casting a tie-breaking vote 40 years ago that vanquished hydroplanes from Lake Coeur d’Alene for decades.

On Oct. 15, 1985, Fromm broke a 3-3 City Council tie in favor of an advisory vote on a contentious plan to resurrect hydroplane racing.

He did so, despite a threat by Don Jones of the Unlimited Hydroplane Racing Commission to rescind Coeur d’Alene’s invitation to join the race circuit if a vote took place.

Jones followed through on his warning the next day.

In casting his vote, Fromm fumed: “We’re going to have a ballot whether we have the races or not. And I hope like hell the people of Coeur d’Alene vote to have hydroplane racing and shove it down his (commissioner Jones’) nose.”

Fromm’s tie-breaking vote was an about-face.

On Aug. 23, 1985, Fromm was enthused when the hydroplane news broke. He said, “I’d be 100% in favor of bringing them back, and I’d do anything I could do to help.”

Many business owners backed the idea, too, including Duane Hagadone.

In a front-page story in the Coeur d'Alene Press, Hagadone said promoter Bernie Little, owner of the Miss Budweiser hydroplane, had asked him about restoring the races.

Hagadone told The Press: “With the advent of turbo or jet engines, the sport has taken on a very exciting and large following. It would be a very terrific thing for the Northwest.”

Originally, Hagadone helped bring the races to Coeur d’Alene for a 10-year run, from 1958 to 1968. The races in the early 1960s were popular but plagued by downtown disturbances.

In opposing the idea, some residents remembered the trouble. Also, opponents raised concerns about possible noise, pollution, crowd control and damage to Tubbs Hill.

On Nov. 5, 1985, 74% of voters opposed the return of hydroplane racing. But the large turnout didn’t help Fromm. Challenger Ray Stone beat him in a landslide.

Fast food mecca?

Curbside fast food began in downtown Coeur d’Alene, not with McDonald's.

So said the Coeur d’Alene Press of Aug. 19, 1985, and Smithsonian historians.

Seems love-struck Fort Sherman soldiers in the 19th century began the practice. Suitors would ask the Lakeside Hotel to have five-cent sandwiches ready when they and their dates arrived in carriages.

The orders of beef, ham and cheese sandwiches were delivered to the curb by hotel owner H.L. Bancroft’s wife, whom some have dubbed the nation’s first “car hop.”

And, yes, the sandwiches came with drinks and a special sauce, consisting of sour cream, pickle brines and horseradish.

The Smithsonian contacted retired barber Marv Jones, known as “Coeur d’Alene’s King of Historic Trivia,” to confirm its suspicions. Jones had talked to other old-timers who affirmed the story from their parents’ accounts.

Concluded the Press: “Though it is doubtful that Coeur d’Alene’s Lakeside Hotel (later named the Bancroft Hotel) fostered a billion-dollar industry, the hotel and its amorous army customers have found a place in the history books.”

More Cristopher

Cristopher Lucas of The Rub had little choice but to become a talented musician.

It’s in his DNA.

His mother was part of a singing trio that toured the world. His father was famous, too.

Deanna Rae Sylte and David (Helfman) Lucas met in Europe and, on Aug. 7, 1965, married on the Rathdrum ranch of Cristopher’s grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. John Sylte.

Old-timers will recall Deanna and “The Sylte Sisters,” a trio also consisting of older sister Joan and twin Deanda. By 1965, the trio had recorded “Ballad of Lover’s Hill” for a Disneyland subsidiary and had appeared on shows featuring Roy Rogers, Arthur Godfrey and Liberace.

Lucas, meanwhile, composed, produced records and wrote jingles, including such memorable ones as AT&T's “Reach Out and Touch Someone” and GE’s “We Bring Good Things to Life.”

Also, he advised Blue Öyster Cult to add a cowbell to its song, “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper.” The instrument was made famous by “Saturday Night Live” comedians Christopher Walken and Will Ferrell in the iconic April 2000 skit: “More Cowbell.”

Fan mail

University of Idaho alumnus Donna Harvey responded to the tepid dig in Huckleberries (Aug. 17) about the Vandals' mascot name: “Being a proud Vandal, I always take offense at someone making fun of our mascot. My husband does it all the time. However, HIS mascot is a Beaver. Who is afraid of a Beaver? No one. Nor does a Duck strike fear in the hearts of an opponent. Grizzlies strike fear as do Vandals.” (Er, my mascot was a scary roadrunner.)

Huckleberries

• Poet’s Corner: There are few things that farmers hate/like arthropods that masticate,/and so to stem the insect tide/they fill the skies with pesticide — The Bard of Sherman Avenue (“Summer Travels: Crop Dusters Near Moses Lake”).

• Where’s the Beef? You know Gary Schneidmiller as the owner of Coldwell Banker Schneidmiller Realty. And the son of a pioneer Rathdrum Prairie grass-seed family. But did you know that Gary showed his Black Angus, Shady Sam, at the 1965 county fair? He was then 16, a Post Falls High junior and a Pine Hill 4-H Club member. Gary isn’t the first achiever who learned to work by mucking manure.

• A New Start: Bob Templin didn’t take long to return to the hospitality business. He broke ground on Templin’s Resort in Post Falls on Aug. 21, 1985, two-plus years after selling his Western Frontier empire to businessman Duane Hagadone (including the old North Shore Resort Hotel). Then, Bob successfully lobbied the state to build an interchange at Interstate 90 and Spokane Street to access his new resort.

• Lost Calories: Believe it or not, the Coeur d’Alene School District removed soda pop, mochas and chocolate from vending machines in 2005-06 — and student athletes ate it up. At Lake City High, football and volleyball players OK’d the plan to sack “bad stuff” for snacks like PB&J sandwiches, Gatorade and jerky. Before the purge, Pepsi reps reported that Mountain Dew was the No. 1 seller at LCHS, followed by water.

• Slice of Heaven: Art Manley trended toward prickly rather than sugary pie. Yet, his name is synonymous with conservation and huckleberry pie. The late state senator helped preserve Tubbs Hill, McEuen Park and Upper Priest Lake. Huckleberry pie socials were his specialty — to raise money for his legislative races and later the local Democratic Party. Art left this world a better place when he died in 2004 at age 88.

Parting shot

Late actor Patty Duke surprised onlookers by kissing dirt at the groundbreaking ceremony for a Coeur d’Alene Homes addition Aug. 19, 2005.

She was thinking of her mother as she did.

She told the Press: “My mom, before she passed, lived in a nursing home. It created great strife and guilt.”

The actor helped raise money for the new center, which would be designed to house dementia/Alzheimer's patients.

The project gave her purpose.

On New Year’s Eve a few years before, she lamented to nephew Mike Kennedy, a former Coeur d’Alene councilman, that she lacked motivation. So, Mike gave her a list of ideas, including the Coeur d’Alene Homes project.

Moral of this story? If you lack purpose, call Mike?

• • •

D.F. (Dave) Oliveria can be contacted at [email protected].

    Owner Bernie Little prepares to test Miss Budweiser on Lake Coeur d’Alene in 1965. In 1985, Little floated the idea of restoring hydroplane races.
  

    The Lakeside Hotel, later named after owner H.L. Bancroft, was located at the southeast corner of Second and Lakeside.
  

    Deanna Sylte and New Yorker David Lucas married on the Sylte family ranch in Rathdrum in 1965.
  

    Sixteen-year-old Gary Schneidmiller exhibits his Black Angus, Shady Sam, at the county fair in 1965.
  

    Bob Templin, second from left, breaks ground for Templin’s Resort in Post Falls in 1985. Pictured from left: Resort manager Jim Dobson, Templin, Mary Templin, Post Falls Mayor Kent Helmer, chamber president Linda Judd and Gary Swartout of Bancshares Mortgage Co.
  

    Football players Mike Bessey and Cory Tanner loaded snacks into their helmets during a sampling session at Lake City High in 1995.
  

    Art Manley ate huckleberry pie during a fundraiser in 1980.
  

    Actor Patty Duke reaches for freshly turned dirt at a groundbreaking ceremony for a Coeur d’Alene Homes addition in 2005.