Celebrating life and friendships never gets old
From left, couples Ed and Mike Hatter, Art and Nancy Flagan and Warren and Linda Bakes pose for a photo at Tony’s on the Lake for their annual birthday celebration Monday.
Kerri Thoreson photo
On Monday, I met up with the Birthday Boys and their best girls on the lakeview patio at the iconic Coeur d’Alene restaurant, Tony’s. For the 51st year, they were celebrating their August birthdays together and graciously invited me to join them for happy hour. When I first began penning this column for the Tribune in the early 1990s and later The Press, I would occasionally wish friends a happy birthday, especially if it was a milestone. Through the years, readers began sending me birthdays to include and for the past couple of decades, the Main Street Birthday Club has grown to over 2,000 annually. I love birthdays and being alive is certainly something to celebrate!
Early on, I learned that my friend, Art Flagan, and a couple of his good friends shared August birthdates close together. In 1974, these fellows were in their 30s when they first began marking the occasion together over half a century ago.
As I can attest, octonigarians Art, Ed Hatter and Warren Bakes are still going strong. On Monday, the stories flowed, along with the laughter, the easy companionship and shared memories of adventures past.
Over the years, with their wives, they’ve taken trips including to Glacier Park, Leavenworth, Priest Lake and even to the opening of the Sheraton Hotel during Expo ‘74. They’ve cruised on the Sizzler and partied in the Hagadone Suite at The Coeur d’Alene Resort.
Art, Nancy, Ed, Mike, Warren and Linda remind us of the blessing and beauty of enduring friendships and celebrating life while we’re living it. I look forward to wishing the boys many more happy birthdays.
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September signals the return to routine after a summer of adventure and leisure, with a Labor Day last hurrah. September has long been one of my favorite months. We should have some still summer-like weather coming and more elbow room at boat launches, campgrounds and beaches.
The autumn equinox, when day and night will be the same number of hours, will be at 11:19 a.m. Sept. 22 this year, so we have 27 days to enjoy the best season of all before we’re bombarded with all things pumpkin spice. For those keeping track, there are 120 days until Christmas.
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Happy birthday today to Jan Berry, Peggy Sawicki, Ed Mitchell, Mike Wood and George Forgacs. Tomorrow, Dirk Scott, Freya Jensen, Jack Reiswig, Marissa Leupold, Steve Slaney, Michelle Garcia, Samantha Dirks, Becky Fletcher, Darlene Johnson, Judy DeTar, Karen Huber, Laurie Sutton, Loretta Richards, Pearl Brown and Spencer Messina take another trip around the sun. Best wishes Aug. 29 to Jeannie Peugh, who shares the date with Ashley Smart, Stacey Holley, Randy Marmon, Cindy Foulk, Bob Myklebust, Lori Barker, Cody Jewell, Merle Bartlett and Arvada Schmacher. Marking another year Saturday are Cyndie Lempesis, Luke Sommer, Carrie Kralicek, Jarin Bressler, Bjorn Handeen and Stefany Mealey. On the last day of August, Andrew Houser, Ron Nilson, Jill Delavan, Patti Shea, Gen Twete, Craig Wilcox, Jamie Ostbert, Dan Poole, Donna Euler, Mike Gerber, Nicole Stark and Rondi Renaldo are blowing out the candles. On the first day of September, Labor Day birthdays for Kathy McKahn, Terry Lee, David Mills, Kim Routh, Sharon Latimer, Missy Hansen, Paul Ebert and Travis Best. Sept. 2 birthdays for Doug Wheeler, Tammy Kelly, Bonnie Miller, John Parmann, Kelley Inman, Stephanie Foster, Kelley Taylor, Dale Borley and Debbie Pohlmeier.
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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 [email protected].