"Thank you again, and watch the sun come out now," a smiling McIntire said Friday afternoon. "That's a good sign."
And one more good sign was celebrated that day — the new stone monument at the park entrance to let the world know the Hayden City Park will forever be known as the McIntire Family Park, in recognition of the kindness and dedication the McIntires have shown to the people and city of Hayden.
"For 45 years, Hayden has benefited greatly from the generosity of these wonderful people,” said Hayden Mayor Steve Griffitts, a tinge of emotion in his voice. "Joanne, Ron and family, on behalf of all the citizens of Hayden, we again want to thank you for all your years of service, for your love and for your kindness. There is no greater legacy than to be able to have the McIntire Family Park."
More than 50 people witnessed the historic moment, including citizens, city staff and Hayden elected officials. City Councilman Richard Panabaker joked Ron's work for the city "was for the money. He never lets too much of it get that far away."
"We really had to borrow from him just to keep the city going," Panabaker said, causing many to laugh.
"But really, people don’t know what goes on behind the scenes and why people are doing this," he said. "They don’t do it for the money, they do it because they care about where they live. And I think you find that with the employees that work here and the elected officials — because, certainly, it isn’t the money — it’s just because you give a darn about where you live."
Panabaker also highlighted the work of the late Bob Croffoot, for whom Croffoot Park in Hayden is named.
"We lost Bob a few days ago," he said. "Bob was on the council for many, many years and always active in the city and did a good job and did it for the same reason most of us do, because he cared about where he lived and he cared about the people he worked with."
"I was the mayor when we made Croffoot Park for Bob," Ron said. "There's a lot of real good people that live here. It's been fun."
In her response to the park being named after their family, Ron's wife, Joanne, said it's an honor.
"We’ve raised a lot of kids, a lot of grandkids here. They love this area," she said. "We love all of you."
Ron served as Hayden's mayor for 16 years. He opened his first supermarket more than 45 years ago at Hayden Avenue and Government Way and is still active with many Super 1 Foods and others. He served on the Coeur d'Alene School District board of trustees for nearly two decades and has made countless contributions to the community, including recently more than $1 million to Kootenai Health.
Suzanne Cano, community services director for Hayden, said everyone loves the McIntires, too.
"He has just been the most generous man and we wanted to honor him and his family for all that they've given back to the community," Cano said.
The newly dedicated park will be welcoming visitors all day today during Hayden Days, which continues with a pancake breakfast at the Northern Lakes Fire Station and a parade on Government Way starting at Hayden Avenue at 10 a.m. Vendors, food, music and activities will be in the park all day.