News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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It was another whirlwind weekend of projects, friends and graduation celebrations. As we visited with friends and people we call family these last few days, some things came to light, and smiles settled in to our faces that will be there for awhile. So travel with us … Friday night a neon, rainbow colored unicorn named Humphrey slipped into our lives again (an obvious mystery person). We reminisced and laughed hard about the adventures and memories of this mythical creature and will cherish this...
In our school history we have retired and put to pasture some of our mascots. Soon a Pirate will join them. Please, a moment of silence for our fallen identities of the past. Grand Coulee Tigers, Coulee Dam Beavers, Center School Dolphins, Grand Coulee Dam Junior High Panthers and now joining them are the Center School Eagles and the Grand Coulee Dam Middle School Pirates. If you have not heard yet, next year in the new school it will be Lake Roosevelt Raiders from K to 12. A giant ship load of Raiders. Arrrr (in my Jack Sparrow voice). United...
When I was younger, a cemetery brought visions of ghosts and creepy monsters. Not to mention a music video by Michael Jackson that made all the ghouls dance in unison. It was a place you did not want to go and always felt a little uncomfortable. As a kid it also brought back visions of death and that can make it all the scarier for a child. But as we grow and mature, we learn and experience, and the cemetery becomes something else. For me, it is a place of memories. If you think about it for a moment, like I did this weekend, it’s kind of a s...
There is a kid in town who is racing his way to NASCAR. That kid is Lucas Bird, a home grown product of the Coulee area who has won races in just about every car he has been in. Last year he was racing with the adults and won the championship hands down. Did I mention that this kid is only in the eighth grade at Grand Coulee Dam Middle School? 4.0 student. Class president. Not to mention a leader, not just on the track but in the halls at school. I personally have seen him be the voice of...
There is a job out there that never gets the recognition and respect it deserves. You are all guessing right now, but let me help a bit. It’s not a firefighter, law enforcement or military. Although those are slighted at times, too. No, it is not a teacher, pastor or any other high profile position. OK, let me give you a hint. They work 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, never get a pay check and are responsible for every person in the world today. Figure it out yet. Yep, they are mothers. In a r...
This last weekend we took a last-second trip to Liberty, Wash. Never heard of it? Well, if you google it you will have a hard time, too. It used to be a town near Cle Elum, a mining town, and in its heyday they had a pretty large group of residents. They even had a post office. But now you will only find the remnants of a cool little town that the current residents are very proud of. The miners still have their claims and the remaining buildings are part of the Historical Society. Liberty is a...
Well, about two years ago I started writing this column for The Star. It started with missing the missing trees and we have covered many subjects along the way. In the beginning I was doing a monthly column, then every two weeks, and before I knew it I was doing it on a weekly basis. Yes, sometimes it is very difficult to come up with a subject that I can spin into my style of writing. If you have not noticed, I always try and put a positive spin on things. That in itself can be difficult and I...
One of my most trusted readers and a small friend of mine, (even though she tells me to Shut Up every time she sees me) wanted me to do my column about the Easter Bunny. So since I don’t want to make one of my most valued readers angry, I will write a column about the furry little guy that hopefully delivered you a basket full of goodies last Sunday. If you got a look at the middle school field last week, you might have got a peek at the thousands of eggs the Easter Bunny and the Lions Club s...
OK, sometimes when I look around the Coulee I see things or hear things, and I cannot help but dwell on these things for a while and just think. For example, “I won’t buy a house below the dam. What if the dam breaks?” I always laugh a little on the inside when I hear this. This dam is not going anywhere. I remember a teacher, years ago, doing research on how much firepower it would take to put a hole in the face of the dam. Even with a perfectly placed shot of the most powerful weapon known...
We decided to visit my family in North Dakota over spring break. We had never done this in all these (almost 20) years of being together. Mom and Sis were excited to have us, as was Gage (turning 6 during our visit) and Kash, who was just born in December. We soon found out why we have never visited. A landslide on one of the passes and a blizzard on another left us going about 25-40 MPH for a big chunk of driving, and leaving us 200 miles short of our first night’s destination and searching f...
Her name goes hand in hand with the food bank and hugs and kisses. Those by themselves are enough to put her on the list of local gems, but this small-in-stature lady has a heart that is bigger than even possible. Fern has been around the area for a long time, although no one I chatted with about her could pinpoint the time or date. She has just always been around. The food bank is now her passion; well, it is, at least, where we all see her the most, ordering her army of volunteers in...
The birds are chirping, the trees are budding, bugs are making an appearance and the kids are getting rambunctious. Spring is here and summer just around the next bend. So that means a few things are about to get going full swing. One is tourism, and we all know that means dollars in our community. From the parks to the hotels to the restaurants, it is a trickle-down effect. Even if you are thinking it does not impact you. It does. Hotel/Motel taxes go into our city coffers and get spent back...
I don’t have all the answers. There, I said it. Kids are now smiling and so is my wife. Now, with that being said, I think it is about time I wrote about the big issue in our community, the situation at the hospital. I use the word “situation” because that’s exactly what it is. The thing about a situation is that it can be changed and we usually allow it to happen to get to this point, either knowingly or with closed eyes. I must be honest, Coulee Medical Center is not where I go for my primary...
This past week was a busy one. So here is a recap of the week in a glimpse. The week started with a “Man Date.” Jeremy Hanson and I traveled to watch the Raider Boys B-Ball play in the Regional Tournament. The boys were in it the whole game but a couple missed shots here and a turnover there, along with an opponent’s hot bench caused us to just fall short. The Raiders once again played with a huge heart and the few fans that made the journey left with great expectations for next year. Chall...
This morning I got the news, the kind of news that no one wants to get, whether it’s expected or not; my uncle had died. Ninety-nine percent of you don’t know him; he did not live here, never did. He had visited a time or two, and I reminisce now on those times. But I don’t want to hash out memories for you about someone you did not know and had little impact if any at all in your life. He did impact mine and my family’s but what I want to write about today is that he did serve us all and you...
So the Olympics are done passing out medals for another year, but there was a very big medal passed out this weekend, and boys’ Raider Basketball moved one step closer to get their chance at a coveted medal of their own. If you wanted to watch team play at its finest this year, all you had to do was watch a local LRHS Raider basketball game. Both boys’ and girls’ teams developed into great teams as the season wore on. Both teams are young, only one senior dribbling for Raider Basketball this...
Have you been watching the winter games in Russia? We have, on and off, and something has changed for me. In the past I would be cheering for the USA all the way and be disappointed if we did not get some hardware. I also did not care for all the junk in-between the events. I just wanted to see the flips, falls and finishes in all the events. But something different has happened to me over the past 10 years of watching, not just the Olympics, but all sports. I love the stories behind the...
What happened to the good old days when we could just drop a superhero Valentine in the handmade pink heart taped to our secret valentine’s desk? Or we could just give her a stuffed animal or a small box of chocolate and our intentions were known. It’s harder and harder to find that special gift for your special girl. If you are reading this now and just said, “OH NO, I FORGOT!” no fear, it not till Friday and we’ve got some time. So here are a few ideas for you, some won’t make it here before...
This is a different kind of Gem in the Coulee. The man I speak about today is a father, first and above everything else. He prefers to work behind the scenes and let others be the face of success and importance, but make no mistake, Jim Barry is a Gem. He has raised 12 kids here in the Coulee and has established himself as a dedicated father, husband, grandfather, employee and volunteer. In 1985, a family moved in to a house very close to my grandmother's. All we knew then was that they had...
It seems that ever since the Grand Coulee Tigers and the Coulee Dam Beavers turned into the Lake Roosevelt Raiders, a new school has been a dream. So right around 50 years of school boards, superintendents, students, teachers and parents have been talking, dreaming and trying to find a way to accomplish this dream as we watched every school in our surrounding area and in our sports leagues build a new school while we were just stuck dreaming. I had the honor to go on a tour Friday, with a small...
As I was standing in line at Safeway the other night, the young lady at the register was trying to buy a few things and apparently she did not have enough money. She was embarrassed and a look of worry covered her face. She was trying to get her husband/boyfriend’s attention without causing too much of a scene. He was talking with a friend and was pretty much ignoring her needs. I have been there. Not having enough to pay for what you got or, for whatever reason, your card decides it doesn’t want to work. Embarrassment is an und...
Advice from hunting divas Haley Neddo and Olivia Ludwig As you may know, my success rate for harvesting anything this last hunting season was poor. Honestly, it was less than poor because I did have opportunities but failed to execute. So I searched high and low for local experts in the field of hunting, to give me tips and advice for next season. The rumor was they killed everything this year from lady bugs to Sasquatch, but as I sat down with Olivia and Haley and asked for advice for not only...
I sometimes wonder, “What is going to make our history book that is happening today?” So I researched the last 365 days to see what I thought would be written for future generations to study and to decide if it was a pivotal moment in history. Although Paula Dean, Miley Cyrus and Duck Dynasty made other people’s top-ten lists of the news for 2013, they did not make mine. (But I guess they just made the column.) Two people stepped into the spotlight this year that will probably have impact for g...
You have heard of New Years Resolutions. Well, I have never believed in making these statements when I know in my mind I am going to break them. So I am going to look into the future. Yes, I am putting on my red wizard’s hat and holding the envelope up to my head and looking into the 2014 tunnels of a new year. Oh, here come the first images from 2014. I see a local fisherman, on a rickety old boat. Fog has packed in the lake and it is bitter cold. Wait a second, I see something else, too. But i...
This column started off last year as a twice-a-month, slap-you-in-the-face, get motivated, make-you-think piece in the paper. It soon became an every week read-at-the-coffee-drinking station of your choice. So let’s look back at what was written that brought tears to your eyes and anger to your lips. We started off the year comparing sports (sorry John) to our lives. How can we cheer on our neighbor to be better? Do we understand why a coach coaches the way he or she does? Can we be a coach f...