COEUR d’ALENE — Kiki Miller is Coeur d’Alene’s whirling dervish.

There is enough energy in her little 5-foot frame to launch a space shuttle. And she knows how to channel that energy to get things done. That’s what she does for a living — getting things done.

Take, for instance, the inaugural parade of George W. Bush. On Jan. 20, 2001, Miller found herself driving a music-blaring pickup truck down Pennsylvania Avenue past a presidential viewing stand with 90 members of the local Red Hot Mamas marching group in tow, boasting crazy hats and shopping carts.

But Miller didn’t just lead the Red Hot Mamas down one of the country’s most celebrated streets on a historic occasion. She orchestrated the whole thing.

With a five-month lead time, she raised thousands of dollars, arranged for air transportation to and from Washington, D.C., and hotel accommodations and bus transportation to the parade from Baltimore. She got everyone through three levels of security on parade day, as well as 90 shopping carts that were provided by a Baltimore supermarket.

“I had a cellphone in one pocket for incoming calls and another in the other pocket for outgoing calls,” she said. “I slept a total of about seven hours during the four days we were there.

“It was one of those things that is so unique. I knew I’d never have an opportunity to do it again,” she said. “It was really fun.”

She also got the Red Hot Mamas exposure in about 40 metropolitan newspapers nationwide. The group went on to march in the Fiesta Bowl, Rose Bowl and Orange Bowl parades.

Miller, a 57-year-old wife, mother, business owner and Coeur d’Alene City Council member, grew up in Dillon, Mont., south of Butte. She moved to Coeur d’Alene in 1974. As a 1978 graduate of Coeur d’Alene High School, she hit the ground running and has never slowed down.

She posed in her graduation photo with her dog, Happy, which was not quite conventional at the time, but she is convinced she set something of a trend. Succeeding graduates posed with their cats, horses and cattle.

She enrolled at North Idaho College and completed one year while also working two jobs. It was a struggle balancing both items, so she left school to make her way in the real world.

She worked at age 17 as a district manager in circulation at the Coeur d’Alene Press, then assistant manager, then manager in the late ’80s. She remembers, not so fondly, operating a forklift in the dead of winter with a skirt and dress shoes.

From there, she went to Hagadone Directories and took on the task of distributing phone books to every household in North Idaho and eventually to Moscow and Lewiston.

In 1991 she went out on her own again and created the marketing firm Kagey Co. with former journalist Gretchen Berning. Miller’s energy again kicked in. Her list of credits is extensive. Among them are:

• Named Volunteer of the Year for the Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls chambers of commerce as well as serving on the board of both organizations

• Member of the Women’s Center board of directors

• Chair of the Panhandle Kiwanis steering committee to build the wooden playground in City Park

• Founder and driving force of the Coeur d’Alene Balloon Fest for six years

• Publisher of several publications — The Guide to North Idaho, North Idaho Family Magazine, and Action Map

• Organizer and orchestrator of the Hands Around Tubbs Hill fundraising event

The list goes on and on.

“I just see things that need to be done. So I figure out a way to make it happen. I’m still doing that,” she said. “It’s just a part of my nature. I don’t know if you can call it personality. I’m just hard-wired to do that stuff.”

In 1997, she married Craig Owens. The couple has an 18-year-old son, Oskar, an aspiring professional actor.

Three years ago, Miller took Oskar to a city council meeting and was astonished at the discord and divisiveness among citizens, mostly over the plan to transform McEuen Field to the multi-use McEuen Park.

“The community was so angry. I was so sad,” she said. “I thought that something has to happen to bring us back together. We can disagree, but people need to stand up and do the right thing for everyone.”

So she ran for office — with reservations.

“I’m just average. I didn’t know if I had the qualifications and the skill set,” she said.

Her supporters urged her on and she won against two other candidates.

She has no regrets, and no plans to rein in her energy.

“I’m not a politician. I’m just an average person who really cares,” she said. “It’s just about working hard for this community. Maybe that’s my lifelong hobby.”

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Know a longtime local we should feature? Send your suggestions to Ric Clarke: clarke_ric@yahoo.com