COEUR d’ALENE — At the base of Tubbs Hill is a bench that invites passersby to rest, take in the site’s natural beauty and reflect on the lives of the people who preserved this place for all time.

More than 100 people gathered there Sunday for the unveiling of a tribute bench honoring Scott and Mary Lou Reed, known as two of North Idaho’s most dedicated civic leaders. The Greater Coeur d’Alene Community Foundation, an affiliate of the Idaho Community Foundation, led the tribute campaign.

While friends embraced Mary Lou Reed after the unveiling, people of all ages climbed up and down Tubbs Hill and families played in McEuen Park under sunny skies — a living testament to the Reeds’ legacy of conservation and fighting for the best for Idaho.

Ruth Pratt, a member of the Reed Project Committee and longtime friend of Mary Lou Reed, said the couple has been a force for good in North Idaho ever since they made this place their home in 1955.

“This tribute in the form of a beautiful piece of art that can also be shared by everyone is a way of expressing our love and gratitude for all the incredible gifts Scott and Mary Lou have given to us for 70 years,” Pratt said, her voice wavering with emotion.

Scott Reed, an expert in environmental law who practiced in Coeur d’Alene for decades, died in 2015. Saturday would’ve marked his 97th birthday. Former six-term Idaho senator Mary Lou Reed is approaching her 95th birthday.

“He is not here, but he is very here,” Mary Lou Reed said of her late husband. “He’s definitely wherever Tubbs Hill is.”

The same is true, she said, for the late conservationist Art Manley, a former legislator and another champion of Tubbs Hill. Many others joined the Reeds and Manley in their crusade to preserve Tubbs Hill for the public, as well as the land where McEuen Park now sits.

Mary Lou Reed recalled the efforts to raise the funds needed to secure the land in the 1970s.

“We had quite a bit of fuss at the time because it was pretty exciting that there was enough money to make sure that Tubbs Hill would be in the public forever,” she said.

The couple’s son, Bruce Reed, spoke warmly of his parents and their conservation work that has served generations of North Idahoans.

“This amazing bench will be a wonderful place to sit a spell and count our blessings that we had people like Scott and Mary Lou to save Tubbs Hill,” he said.

Local artists Mary Dee and Allen Dodge designed the bench, with its colorful depictions of animals and trees that resemble stained glass. Beneath the bench, a fox and some quails frolic. The inscription on the bench reads: “With love from Coeur d’Alene, to Scott and Mary Lou Reed.”

“It really boiled down to wilderness and outdoors and water,” said Allen Dodge. “It was an honor and privilege to us to do this for a couple that we’ve loved for a long time.”

Tubbs Hill is Coeur d’Alene’s greatest work of art, Bruce Reed said, and its pristine nature illustrates what makes this place and its people special.

“You can’t find a boomtown that had people with the wisdom and the foresight to make sure that the prettiest, choicest, largest piece of property would stay untouched, unspoiled, for all time,” he said. “Coeur d’Alene did what no one else has done.”

    Local artists Mary Dee and Allen Dodge designed the tribute bench near Tubbs Hill.
  

    The design of wildlife and trees represents the lifelong dedication of Scott and Mary Lou Reed to preserving North Idaho's natural beauty.