Never count them out

Never count the Fabulous Shadows out.

The teenage musicians who saved a DeMolay dance in the 1960s have performed for “a final time” on several occasions since — only to be coaxed back on stage.

They last played for a community birthday bash in August 2025, hosted by Jim Gray of the Rhythm Dawgs. Jim promoted the event to celebrate his wife’s birthday. Dexter Yates, the Shadows keyboardist, also observed a birthday that month — his 80th.

Gray and other local musicians opened for the large crowd. Then, the six Shadows, known for their grand entrances, hobbled toward the stage, dressed in hospital gowns, leaning on canes. They didn’t perform long.

“There’s nothing left when you’re 80,” Dexter told Huckleberries last week.

Formation of the band is legendary.

In 1963, four members of the future Shadows and their dates attended a Demolay dance. When the scheduled band failed to appear, Dexter volunteered to play the piano. And his friends rushed to grab instruments.

They were an instant hit.

For 4 ½ years, the Shadows played at fraternity parties, proms and teen-age slab dances at City Park (think: “Grease” and “American Graffiti).” As their reputation grew, they landed regular bookings at venues from McCall to Canada, from Seattle to Missoula.

They cut a 45 record with “Walk the Dog” on one side and “Puff Stuff” on the other. And the storied KVNI announcer Bob Hough redubbed them: “Fabulous Shadows.”

The Vietnam War broke up the band. Four enlisted in the military, three served in Vietnam.

And that’s how matters stood until 1985, when Kay McGruder of Hospice talked the band into a fundraising reunion. A crowd of 2,200 packed the county fairgrounds pavilion to stomp and roar to the band’s version of “Louie Louie,” “Gloria” and other ’60s hits.

The concert raised $8,000 for Hospice and Kootenai Medical Center. The Fabulous Shadows reprised the event in 1986. And they continued fundraising reunions until 2005.

In 2016, the Shadows were cajoled from retirement by Jerry Jaeger of Hagadone Hospitality. Jerry arranged a “double-boat float.” And the 600 tickets sold out immediately.

If the fabulous ones are truly finished this time, Dexter Yates has one regret. He once told The Press: “The only wish we didn’t fulfill was we didn’t outlast the Rolling Stones.”

Hippy Hippy Shake

Imagine a Farragut State Park setting where public nudity is rampant, free love abounds and imbibers are directed to the drugs of their choice.

According to newspaper and fact-finding reports, such was the scene during the 1971 Universal Life Church Picnic, attended by some 15,000 hippies, Jesus Freaks and partiers.

And Idaho went nuts.

It started simple enough that May, when the Universal Life Church asked the park for permission to hold a picnic during the Fourth of July weekend for “at least 200 people.”

Park officials shrugged. Two years before, nearly 35,000 Boy Scouts packed Farragut for six days during their national jamboree.

As the Fourth of July approached, however, rumors circulated that the picnic was a ruse and that the church was planning an “Idaho Woodstock.” On July 3, a Press headline warned of the Flower Child invasion: “Farragut Growing at Car-A-Minute Rate.”

North Idaho leaders asked Gov. Cecil Andrus to stop the event. But he said their concerns were speculative. He welcomed the young people who came with “peace and goodwill.”

The three-day event featured drugs (but few arrests), open sex and underwhelming rock-and-roll. Historian Rick Just said the bands were “a who’s who of who’s that.”

For three days, an Age of Aquarius reigned despite the large turnout. Park manager John Grieg said later: “The picnickers left the park cleaner than the Boy Scouts did.”

After the “church picnic,” Idaho banned large-scale concerts at Farragut for four decades.

Home Range

Dentistry and buffalo united in the person of Dr. Richard Morris 45 years ago in Hayden.

Morris was an orthodontist who dreamed of owning the largest buffalo herd in the country. But he had a long way to go in July 1981 when he talked to The Press.

He and his wife, Linda, owned 150 buffaloes, 50 of which roamed on their 60 acres in Hayden. The rest grazed in Montana. The largest private herd in the country then was 3,000.

The Morrises and their White Buffalo Livestock Co. raised beef bison.

“Some people won’t have it,” Morris told The Press. “But the meat is catching on mainly because buffalo meat is high in protein and low in cholesterol.”

It brought top dollar as a gourmet item, too — $20 per pound.

At the time, the Morrises had raised buffalo for four years.

They described the massive mammals as graceful as deer and unpredictable. Morris knew from personal experience that buffalo charge humans without provocation.

“They’re mean,” he said.

Dr. Morris was an active dentist here until at least 2009. Meanwhile, buffalo numbers grew. There are about 500,000 bison in the U.S. today — in commercial and conservation herds.

Huckleberries

• Poet’s Corner (in response to Dick Cheney’s infamous hunting accident Feb. 11, 2006): “On a Texas / hunting journey / bagged three quail and / one attorney — The Bard of Sherman Avenue (“Dead Eye Dick”).

• Name Game: A Coeur d’Alene woman learned her surname had become infamous after teaching English in Japan in the early 1980s. Her students were amused that it meant “violence” in their language. Then, airline personnel smiled when they asked if she was heavily armed. Once home, Nona Rambo watched Sylvester Stallone’s “Rambo” movies to try to understand the hubbub. She didn’t like them. Too violent.

• Answer Man: And the answer is — Rocky Bridges. The question? Which 1958 National League all-star moved his family to Coeur d’Alene in 1970? Bridges was a versatile infielder who hit .247 with 16 homers over 11 seasons. A self-deprecating person, he described himself as a one-man version of the “Bad News Bears.” His son, Cory, coached the 2007 state champion Lake City High baseball team. His son, Lance, was the longtime director of the Post Falls Parks & Recreation Department.

• Time Flies: Has it been 15 years since Hospice of North Idaho opened Idaho’s first inpatient hospice facility? After 10 months of construction, the Schneidmiller Hospice House opened July 26, 2011. The first patient arrived in August. Compassionate and professional, Hospice and its officials are a godsend for families during crisis, including mine. My mother-in-law passed there in 2024.

• Fifth of July: We take so much for granted in our City with a Heart. Our city’s cemeteries are immaculate on Memorial Day. Baskets overflow with beautiful bouquets above Sherman Avenue. And, on July 5, City Park is squeaky clean by noon, after tens of thousands of celebrants enjoyed the annual Independence Day celebration. Here’s a major tip of the hat to the city Parks & Recreation Department.

Parting Shot

The late Scotty Shawver and his business partner, Sharon Sorenson, knew how to say thank you — to Body by Scotty customers and Post Falls neighbors.

For 18 years, the body shop owners treated the town to a block party.

Free food. Free beer. Free music. Free games.

The event attracted about a hundred early on. By 2012, about 4,000 attended.

“It’s kind of like Mayberry R.F.D.,” Scotty told The Press during the 2011 event. “It gives us an excuse to get the shop cleaned once a year.”

Neighborhood concerns, however, prompted Scotty and Sharon to cancel the scheduled July 26 event in 2013.

“We’ve got to figure out how to give back in another way,” Sharon told The Press.

But fate intervened. Scotty Shawver, 57, drowned in Lake Coeur d’Alene on Aug. 2, 2014.

• • •

D.F. “Dave” Oliveria can be contacted at [email protected].

    The Fabulous Shadows perform during a 2016 “two-boat float” on Lake Coeur d’Alene. They are (from left): Mike Bolan, Dr. Jack Fullwiler, Jim Frame, Pete Shepperd, Doug Wanamaker (drums) and Dexter Yates.
  

    An attendee (standing) signs the roster of ministers during the 1971 Universal Life Church Picnic at Farragut State Park. Church founder Kirby J. Hensley, of Modesto, Calif., (second from left) is shown in the background.
  

    Shown with his Hayden herd of 50 buffalo, Dr. Richard Morris dreams of bigger things in 1981.
  

    After returning from Japan in the early 1980s, Nona Rambo learns that her surname attracts attention.
  

    Rocky Bridges, who moved his family to the Coeur d’Alene area in 1970, was a solid utility infielder for 11 seasons in Major League Baseball.
  

    Amanda Miller of Hospice of North Idaho pauses while guiding a tour in 2011 as workers put the finishing touches on the new facility.
  

    Scott Miller of the Parks & Recreation Department, with summer help from Coeur d’Alene High student Seth Oliveria, tidies City Park on the morning after the 1996 Independence Day celebration.
  

    Scott Shawver, right, enjoys hosting the Body by Scotty 2011 block party in Post Falls.