I’m often asked how to have a name appear in Main Street birthdays. What started as an occasional birthday shout-out a couple of decades ago has grown to include nearly two thousand best wishes annually to the newly-arrived, centenarians, and everyone of every age in-between.

The one thing we all have in common are birthdays. Everyone has one, and it’s the one day of the year that the anniversary of your birth is a big deal.

I’ve collected birthdays through the years that people send to me or tell me about, and the sheer volume is sometimes a bit overwhelming, even with the help of an electronic birthday reminder program — and in recent years, the addition of Facebook.

Something that wouldn’t occur to readers is that I also routinely look through obituaries to see if someone who’s been included in the Main Street birthdays has passed away. Sometimes a family member will contact me but more often than not, it’s caught in the perusal of the newspaper’s published obituaries. Not a foolproof method, as once or twice a year I wish a happy birthday to someone who is no longer living.

If you’d like to add birthdays to this column, the best way is via email, mainstreet@cdapress.com. Similarly, if you’d like to remove a birthday, same method.

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Things to Do: Thursday at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library Community Room, 7 p.m., author Jonathan Mueller will present the history of Coeur d’Alene City Park as told in his book, “Private Park, Public Park.” Friday is Music Art Walk, from 5-8 p.m. in downtown Coeur d’Alene. Also on Friday, Kootenai County Young Professionals present Elevate 2018 networking and recognition at the Hagadone Event Center, 7 p.m.

On Saturday at the Athol Library, a free self-publishing workshop will be held from 12:30-3:30 p.m. The session will include cover marketing, social media and formatting for paperback and Kindle. No reservations required.

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Another new Main Street Birthday Club member arrived on Jan. 1. Wilder Jack Fouché weighed in at 9 pounds, 10 ounces, and is enjoying lots of love from his parents, Tracey and Tyler Fouché, big sister Olivia, and big brother Asher. Grandparents are Bill and Debbie Brown, Bill and Christi Fouché and the late Colleen Fouché.

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Happy birthday today to Mary Jane Hahn, Shelley Rosenberger, Nathan Johnson, Katrina Jaeger, Jan Harris, Tom Iverson, Paul Matthews and Ronan Kennedy. On Thursday, Kathy Kress White, Chris Hansen, Susan Thomas, Luke Gonzales, Tim Elder, Cora Cole, Amy Morfitt, Ivan Bosanko, Nathan Johnson, Jim Deffenbaugh and Cindy Mitchell celebrate.

Friday Deborah Shaw, Pat Russell, Mike Baker, Wendy Wallin, Debbie Oliver and Ryan Wichman celebrate. JJ Dion, Joni Clevenger, Janice Myers, Mike Jorgenson, Karen Gage, Judy Manley, Tory Lee (70!), Karen Holt, Teddi Johnson and Andy Irgens take another trip around the sun on Saturday.

Teresa Wasileski, Addison Baltzell, Judy Eichelberger, Anita Weaver, Claudia Elliott, Jason Wereley and Jaden Alexander blow out the candles on Sunday. Rex Grace, Gayle Erickson, Paula Laws, Betsy Anderson, Kelli Ormesher and Jim Roberge will celebrate on Monday. Kenny Peterson, Anita Millward, John Keener, Shelly Robson, Kelly Blaski, Charlie Kimball, Mary Mort, Nick Dimico, Bill Miller and Elaine Cook share Jan. 16 birthdays.

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Kerri Rankin Thoreson is a member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and the former publisher of the Post Falls Tribune. Main Street appears every Wednesday in The Press and Kerri can be contacted on Facebook or via email mainstreet@cdapress.com. Follow her on Twitter @kerrithoreson.