The Thong Man debate

Tim Bowman sunbathed in a thong swimsuit at City Beach for three years without attracting attention. In summer 1993, however, his sun-kissed bliss ended when he was noticed by a church group that was waiting for a cruise at Independence Point.

Letters protesting Bowman’s bare bottom were sent to City Clerk Susan Weathers, and then outraged residents bombarded the Coeur d’Alene Press editorial page, pro and con. Thus began a cultural slog through the city bureaucracy that ended at the City Council.

Reporter John Firehammer of The Press dubbed the hubbub “The Thong Hot Summer.”

The uproar created one of Coeur d’Alene’s best-known minor celebrities: “Thong Man.” And it eventually led enterprising artist Marcus Bausch of Sprague, Wash., to create T-shirts with thong-wearing characters and titles like “Hanging Out in CDA” and “Buns Not Guns.”

In his own Press letter, Bowman claimed most people either supported or accepted his decision to don the thong. The tourists, he said, “enjoy the non-stuffy atmosphere here.”

But two women wrote to The Press that Thong Man’s schtick was better suited at the French Riviera or in California. Conservative activist Ron Rankin suggested that the anti-thong throng collect 2,962 signatures to force a public vote. But a petition drive didn’t happen.

Initially, at a June 1993 meeting, the City Council debated a thong ban at City Beach, which included a $100 fine for violators. And five of the six council members appeared ready to pass the measure, according to The Press. But the matter was tabled for a while.

Bowman appeared at the meeting wearing a shirt, Levis, boots, and a belt instead of skimpy swimwear. His pockets were stuffed with photos of women in swimsuits at City Beach and a sample bikini bottom. If the City Council outlawed thongs, Bowman cautioned that he would wear the next, larger-sized swimsuit.

But it didn’t come to that. In the end, the council rejected the ban on a 4-2 vote.

On July 6, in a surprise move, Mayor Pro Tempore Dixie Reid, subbing for ailing Mayor Ray Stone, switched her stand. At the earlier meeting, she had seconded a motion to ban thongs. But Reid decided that legislating swimwear isn’t the city’s responsibility.

“As a city councilwoman, sometimes my personal views are in conflict with what I believe is right for the city,” she told The Press during a break.

In voting against prohibition, Councilman Mike McDowell noted that only three cities in the country had a similar ordinance — and that only one enforced it: Long Beach, Calif. “Sunbathers aren’t injuring other citizens,” he said.

Councilman Steve McCrea said that his personal poll of random people on the street was met with ridicule. He said, “People can’t believe the city would spend time thinking about this when violent crime has doubled in the last year.”

Councilmen Ron Edinger and Al Hassell favored a thong ban.

Bowman was surprised by Mayor Pro Tempore Reid’s about-face. So was Edinger.

After announcing her vote, Reid pounded her gavel for order when Edinger shouted at Bowman: “Now you can wear your thong to City Beach.”

And Thong Man did, pausing at times to take photos with well-wishers seeking them.

Feed Me, Seymour

The story of “Jack and the Beanstalk” is well-known. A poor boy swaps the family cow to a stranger for five magic beans — and ends up with a fortune after outwitting a giant.

Well, Lee Ray and her Giant Pumpkin plant didn’t have a dramatic ending. But there was some magic in the pumpkin seed she and her husband, Bob, planted in July 2001.

It grew and grew — and grew. “We call it the Mystery Plant,” Lee told The Press.

By October, the front-yard pumpkin had sprouted 24 feet and was growing a foot every two to three days. The amazing growth captivated neighbors, and motorists gawked.

The Rays had moved into the Prairie Falls Golf Course neighborhood in Post Falls too late in the summer to plant a garden. So, they sowed the three seeds left behind by a giant pumpkin five years before — two by the driveway, one in front. The driveway seeds didn’t do much. But the one in the front yard fulfilled Lee Ray’s desire for foliage — and then some.

She planned to give the eight small pumpkins on the plant to Halloween trick-or-treaters. “It’s been perfect,” Lee said. “Next year, I’m going to plant my zucchini out front.”

Shuttering Wilma

Although the historic Wilma Theater had closed eight years before, Coeur d’Alene residents were still shocked when workers dismantled its marquee.

On Sept. 30, 1991, an oldster watching S & E Maintenance of Rathdrum remove the sign at Second and Sherman told The Press, “Well, I guess it’s gone for good.” Other downtown pedestrians were equally resigned. When told that owner Coeur d’Alene Mines wanted to make the corner more appealing, a woman said, “The marquee is the appeal of the corner.” Originally known as the Huff Theater when it opened in 1936, The Wilma fell into disrepair slowly. In 1983, by the time the old theater closed and was sold to Coeur d’Alene Mines as an investment, it was no longer profitable.

After the removal of the marquee, Coeur d’Alene Mines boarded up the building. And that’s where matters stood until heavy snow caved in the old theater’s roof Dec. 31, 1996.

As a result, city building inspectors condemned the structure and ordered adjacent Hudson’s Hamburgers to close temporarily. Eight days later, Hudson’s reopened. And then, Coeur d’Alene Mines demolished The Wilma.

In 2000, Hagadone Corp. bought the vacant lot.

Huckleberries

• Poet’s Corner: The sun is sliding southward, / the autumnal line’s been crossed, / you better find your long johns / cause we’ll soon see Old Jack Frost — The Bard of Sherman Avenue (“He’s on His Way”).

• East Meets West: Now, a driver can go west on Hanley Avenue from 15th Street in Coeur d’Alene all the way to Highway 41 and Poleline Avenue in Post Falls. But, in October 1991, motorists faced a frustrating maze of roads to get from east to west in town. Mayor Ray Stone addressed the confusion by appointing council members Nancy Sue Wallace, Mike McDowell, and others to fix the problem. They did.

• Perfect Game: Roy Hayter, 80, of Athol, wasn’t nervous in 1996 when he rolled the 12th ball of a 300 game at the Sunset Bowling Center. “It’s going to happen or it isn’t,” he told The Press. With the final strike, Roy became the oldest person in Idaho to bowl a 300 game, according to bowling official Ron Koontz. Roy began bowling at 43. “My wife started,” he said, “And I got tired of sitting around the house after work.”

• We Liked Ike: President Dwight Eisenhower didn’t visit Coeur d’Alene during his successful 1956 re-election campaign. But his bandwagon bus did. One of six buses sponsored by the National Citizens for Eisenhower, the Ike Bus, with three local “Ike Girls” on board, rolled into Lake City on Oct. 3, 1956. Sixty-one percent of Idahoans jumped on Ike’s bandwagon as he easily won the Gem State’s four electoral votes.

• Full Confession: The first-rate police response to the 1986 Coeur d’Alene bombings surprised the culprits. They had planned to rob banks and the National Guard Armory in the turmoil, according to bomber-turned informant Robert Pires. But they abandoned those plans due to the “heavy response.” Pires turned state’s evidence in exchange for protection and helped federal agents solve the case quickly.

• Did You Know? In fall 1966, the parents of 26 Spirit Lake school children protested a Lakeland School District plan to bus their kids to Athol 9 miles away. The adults and their kids stood daily and watched as a district bus pulled away with few riders. Then, parents took the children to the Veterans Memorial Hall, where they were taught by a teacher that they’d hired. The ’60s were turbulent, even in Spirit Lake.

Parting Shot

“No Wed, No Bed.” That’s what the front-page headline said in The Press on Oct. 5, 2002. And it summed up the policy of the Sandman Motel on East Sherman Avenue perfectly.

A 1972 state law banned adultery and fornication in Idaho. But Dave and Liz Boerner of the eight-room Sandman didn’t need the law to tell them what to do. Their Christian beliefs and business sense guided them. And an occasional prostitute at the motel motivated them.

“We’d have unmarried couples arguing, waking up other guests, and throwing stuff out on the street,” Dave Boerner said. “We had to draw the line somewhere.”

The Boerners wouldn’t rent rooms to guests whose last names didn’t match their photo ID.

 The Idaho American Civil Liberties Union didn’t like the policy. Nor did the occasional passersby who posed, thumbs down, in front of the “no unmarried couples” sign. But the Boerners didn’t mind the mild pushback.

The policy improved the quality of guests and didn’t cost them business, they said: “We don’t mind passing the business down the street.”

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

    In 2001, Bob and Lee Ray introduced their new Post Falls neighbors to their “Mystery Plant.”
  

    In 1991, Bob Hill and Joe Hill of S&E Maintenance of Rathdrum prepared the historic Wilma Theater marquee for removal.
  

    In 1991, council members Nancy Sue Wallace and Mike McDowell discussed extending Kathleen Avenue to Government Way.
  

    In 1956, the Eisenhower Bandwagon bus rolled into Coeur d’Alene with three “Ike Girls” on board. And the city helped re-elect Ike.
  

    In 1996, Roy Hayter, 80, of Athol, was unfazed after reportedly becoming the oldest bowler in Idaho to roll a 300 game.
  

    In 1986, Robert Pires, then 22, was led to the Kootenai County Jail by Bailiff Dick Murphy, left, and a federal agent after admitting that he took part in the September neo-Nazi bombings in Coeur d’Alene.
  

    In 1966, protesting Spirit Lake parents and their children watched as the Lakeland School District bus left for Athol.
  

    In 2002, owners Dave and Liz Boerner of the Sandman Motel banned unmarried couples from staying at their East Sherman Avenue business.