A dream is a wish your heart makes
Admittedly, I don’t personally know each of the nearly 2,000 readers who appear throughout the year in Main Street birthdays but I do know quite a few. One of those friends IRL, as they say, is Sophie Medlock and her parents, Jake and Nicole Medlock. Miss Sophie is celebrating her Sweet 16th birthday today, which is always a special day, but in her case it’s not only special, it’s a miracle.
In May 2011, at the age of 2, Sophie was diagnosed with leukemia. The community rallied around the family, providing support and love. The grueling but life-saving treatments went on for over three years. When Sophie returned from a Make-a-Wish trip to Disneyland, I invited her on the air for my KVNI morning radio show. The darling girl arrived at the studio fully decked out in princess finery, including a tiara and magic wand! She was a fun interview for sure.
Everyone was cheering her on, wishing for a return to health and a normal life for her and her family. Those wishes came true. And today that darling little girl is celebrating her Sweet 16th birthday. Life is good.
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Former Shoshone County Sheriff Mitch Alexander set a unique goal for himself this year. The 55-year-old plans to read the No. 1 book from each year of his life, beginning in 1970. The first book? "Jonathan Livingston Seagull." Mitch says he’s through 1973 so far. What a really great way to revisit what the world was like each year of your life!
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Feeling lucky? No need to buy a lottery ticket, just visit yourmoney.idaho.gov to see if you have any unclaimed dollars. I found two refunds for myself, totaling $15.34. I think I’ll invest my windfall in Idaho Lottery tickets.
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Super Bowl Sunday is just a few days away. I enjoy the hoopla of the Super Bowl despite knowing very little about the game of football, but what’s not to love about a day dedicated to consuming a week’s worth of carbs, calories and cholesterol, camaraderie and some of the most outrageous and creative television commercials. Oh, and football.
Although the 2025 Super Bowl has a bit of a "Groundhog Day" feel to it. The Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles met at the Super Bowl just two years ago in an exciting down-to-the-wire 38-35 victory for the Chiefs. I really don’t have a dog in the fight but I’m rooting for the Chiefs to do something no other NFL team has ever achieved ... a consecutive year championship three-peat!
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Happy birthday today to Sophie Medlock (Sweet 16!), Susan Jacobson, Leslie Deubner, Sharon Anderson, Vicki Johnson and Jeanette Dunn. Tomorrow, Barb Kobs (100!), Marie Widmyer, Quinn Widmyer, Jimmy McAndrew, Samuel Nolting, Randy Oaks, Rich Morrow, Carole Fredekind, Cris Burnham, Rick Altman, Pat Clevenger, Stephen Scott, Lisa Hunt, Duane Justus, Matt Ormeshed and Mike Grabenstein take another trip around the sun. On Friday, Amanda Miller, Pat Coffield, Lori Malin, Angel Duthie, Terry Ellis, Shawn Aldrich and Charlette Johnson Smith celebrate. Hagen Peugh, Barb Bradley, Linda Davis, Natalie Forsyth, Pamela Thoms, Lynn Hayes, Henry Hildreth, Rocky Brockhoff and Larry O’Leary blow out the candles come Saturday. Celebrating super Super Bowl Sunday birthdays are Linda Wilhelm, Marc Eberlein, Brandie Shofner, Buddy Le, Marian Crumb, Greg Smith and Alta Steele. On Monday, Kiki Miller, Julia Pierce, Melanie Lambrecht, Judy Riba Nelson and Tate Merry turn the page on another year. Feb. 11 birthdays belong to Jeff Carlson, Carole Tabakman, Trevor Smith, Eleanora Capaul, David Clark, James Shepperd, Jarryn Siebers (30!), Sharon Link, Gordon Leigh, Chad Salsbury and Heather Frayer.
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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 thoreson.kerri@gmail.com.