Back in January I recounted some of my journey to become fit and lose weight, which prompted a reader to communicate his own struggles. He shared a touching story of how last summer he'd taken his daughter to Silverwood but was unable to accompany her on the roller coaster due to his size. He promised her that day that he could do something about his weight and would. And that this summer they'd take that roller coaster ride together. A promise made is a debt unpaid, he said.
We chatted through the winter and spring encouraging each other to push through. I mentioned the story to my friend, Nancy DiGiammarco, who happens to be the marketing director for Silverwood. She mentioned it to owner Gary Norton. They were both as moved as I was with the story and long before the park opened for the summer, gifted the father with passes to the park.I was thrilled to hear that Tom Hamilton kept his promise to his soon-to-be sixth grade daughter, Lizzie this past Sunday. Tom is 70 pounds lighter and fit quite comfortably in the Timber Terror coaster seat. He gave his daughter a memory for a lifetime, far beyond a roller coaster ride for sure.
***Kudos to Governor Butch Otter for the Capital for a Day program that brings the state's officials to smaller, rural communities for town hall meetings. Today Governor Otter and Lt. Governor Brad Little will meet the public at the Spirit Lake Senior Center and join in for lunch at the park. I love that we have such routine access to our elected officials here in Idaho and encourage people to come out and ask questions.
***The second annual Super Market Dash with Chef Jon Ashton pitted three pair of competitors racing through the isles of the Coeur d'Alene Super 1 Foods. I participated last year, coming in at a solid last place by a mile, losing to the fleet of foot Ben Wolfinger so I didn't give advice to this year's contestants, except reminded them that there was no need to comparison shop and that chatting with other shoppers does tend to slow you down.
Ryan and Jame` Davis are good friends so I was cheering for them, but also KXLY's Colleen O'Brien and Ben Kaplan are colleagues so I cheered them on, too. My new friends Derek and Shannon Garcia live in Post Falls so I had to cheer for the home team there. I figured I couldn't lose no matter who won.Team Davis filled their cart fastest with the contest ingredients but alas, they had the wrong mustard and had to run back to make an exchange. Colleen and Ben were next in the gate and what are the odds that they'd have picked up the wrong mustard, too. Coming from behind Team Garcia had all of the correct ingredients in their cart and took home the bragging rights as well as a check from store manager Jeff Hamley to donate to their favorite charity.A good time was had and tasted by all and I highly recommend attending the Relish Cooking Show on Sept. 15. Chef Ashton is an absolute English delight and as the saying goes ... easy on the eyes, too.
*** Summer's not going anywhere anytime soon but it looks to be a fabulous forecast for the upcoming Labor Day weekend. It's back to school on Tuesday and we'll all have a bit more routine to our lives. For those who toil in summer's tourism-related businesses, their vacation will just be starting!
***Happy birthday today on the last day of August to my wonderful friend Ron Nilson, who is now as old as I am. Mary Sorenson turns 90 today, joining Craig Wilcox, Jill Delavan, Jen Twite, Jamie Ostberg and newlywed Andrew Houser in celebrating another trip around the sun. The first day of September tomorrow (did I just type that?) is the birthday of Terry Lee, Kathy McKahan, Michael Green, Kim Routh, Sharon Latimer and Missy Hansen. On Friday former Coeur d'Alene mayor and musician Ray Stone turns 88, sharing the day with Kelley Inman, Bonnie Miller and John Parmann. The Post Falls Chamber's info lady Willi Buerge is Saturday's birthday girl and good guy Dave Bobbitt, Jeff Tyler, Jeremy Moser, Patty Jacobs, Leslie Martin and Kris McIlvenna were also born on September 3. On Sunday Bernie Koepsell, Nicole Hawkins and Maggie DeTar will blow out the birthday candles. Dave Pulis celebrates his big day on Labor Day and on Tuesday Evelyn Wegner and longtime friend, Claudia Dixon Pryor are the women of the hour, and veteran, firefighter and all around nice guy Carl Riegert will turn another year older.
***THERE'S MORE: New stories and photos at More Main Street. Add your birthday to the Main Street Birthday Club on the link there!
***Kerri Rankin Thoreson is a member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and the former publisher of the Post Falls Tribune. She was voted Best Local Writer for 2010 by the readers of the North Idaho Business Journal. Main Street appears every Wednesday in The Press. More Main Street blog is at http://moremainstreet.blogspot.com. Listen to Main Street on KVNI AM1080. Kerri can be reached at mainstreet@cdapress.com
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