‘It was a miracle’

Christmas 2006 arrived early for Sandi Bloem and Coeur d’Alene.

On May 1, 2006, then Mayor Bloem and 100 supporters jammed the old City Council chambers to learn the fate of the city application for a Salvation Army Kroc Center.

In jest, Lt. Col. Harold Brodin of the Salvation Army said: “I’m trapped.”

Then, according to the Coeur d’Alene Press, he ignited cheers and a standing ovation by announcing: “I can only make one decision.”

Coeur d’Alene, easily the smallest city among the six successful applicants in the Salvation Army’s western region, was awarded a $65 million Ray and Joan Kroc Community Center.

“It was a miracle,” former Mayor Bloem told Huckleberries last week. “We were matched against Seattle, Tacoma, Boise and other big cities. And we didn’t have a Salvation Army center here.”

Some had quipped that a small herd of deer swayed Salvation Army dignitaries when they met with Coeur d’Alene officials at Lake City High two winters before. The deer did appear, as though inspired from above, and they provided a pastoral setting for the discussion.

But Commander Brodin credited something more relevant than nature for the decision: Coeur d’Alene’s diligent advisory board.

Mayor Bloem agreed.

“We needed the Salvation Army and everything that a Kroc Center has,” she said. “And we had a community that would support it.”

Coeur d’Alene proved its widespread support by raising millions of dollars locally and providing 12 acres for a 109,000-square-foot center at Ramsey and Golf Course roads. But there were hiccups along the way before the center opened May 14, 2009.

A few cranks questioned the legality of a land swap that provided the property for the center. And a pesty gadfly claimed that there was something amiss about the cost of the dirt used to fill in the old dump site. And anonymous grumps contacted Americans United for the Separation of Church and State in a vain effort to stop the project.

The center beat estimates for members and daily visits from the start.

By 2023, it had the largest membership of all 26 U.S. Kroc centers: more than 17,000.

Mayor Bloem declined to say if the opening of the Kroc Center was the highlight of her record three terms. But she admitted: “It certainly was one of them.”

Still Rocking

Thirty years ago, a front-page headline in The Press summed up The Renovators: “Midlife musicians still have (the) beat.”

The adjoining story told of six men in their 40s who had finally scratched the itch to play in a rock band: high school principals, a counselor, a teacher, a wood worker and a contractor.

“We were nobodies who didn’t know what we were doing, but we had a lot of fun,” said Darrell Dlouhy, now 71 and owner of Daft Badger Brewing in Coeur d’Alene.

The band name fit.

In late 1994, when the group formed, Darrell and keyboardist David Groth, an elementary school principal, were each grieving the loss of a spouse. They needed repair.

“I was home and playing the guitar for two hours straight, just playing,” Darrell told The Press. “It was incredible therapy.”

The Renovators began by performing for friends and enthusiastic crowds at Capone’s pub. And Darrell stayed with the band for about 16 years before hanging up his guitar.

His desire to play again was rekindled in 2023 at an Eagles concert in Denver.

About a year ago, he and keyboardist Lane Sumner formed a new band, Burning Embers. It has attracted good crowds at the Linger Longer Lounge at Spirit Lake.

And it has one guaranteed venue.

Said Darrell: “We can always play at Daft Badger, It’s my gig. And I’m paying everybody.”

Marriage Capital

Coeur d’Alene was known as the marriage capital of Idaho in 1955 — for good reason.

Of the 8,879 marriages performed in Idaho that year, 3,322 happened in Kootenai County — or 37%.

And of Kootenai County’s cut of the wedding cake, 75%, occurred at three little white structures within the shadow of the courthouse — two operated by a justice of the peace and the third one, the “Hitching Post,” by Dr. Victoria Carbury of the Church of the Truth.

The trio relied on wedding fees for their salaries — a $5 minimum set by law. So, the competition to oversee wedding vows was fierce.

“The situation means the difference of my being able to make a livelihood for my family or not making one,” Justice of the Peace M.E. Humphrey told The Press in April 1956. “And, certainly, I’m not making a living now.”

Complicating matters, Humphrey was forced to conduct ceremonies in a wheelchair after breaking his hip. Also, he and Justice Anna Rose Braune had lost business to Canadian transplant Carbury, who moved to Coeur d’Alene in June 1954.

Carbury offered a service the other two didn’t: a religious ceremony instead of a civil one.

Huckleberries

• Poet’s Corner: In warm April sun / while birds sweetly sing, / there — on that tulip — / the first slug of spring — The Bard of Sherman Avenue (“Spring is Now Official”).

• Poster Boy: Barry McHugh has served as Kootenai County prosecutor and a 1st District judge. But 60 years ago, he helped advertise Daylight Saving Time. Barry, 8, and sister, Maureen, 6, appeared on Dr. E.R.W. (Ted) Fox’s lawn with clocks. Barry was holding a giant one and frowning. Maureen was delighted with a sundial. It appears the annual “springing forward” and “falling back” was confusing then, too.

• Soda, Anyone? And the answer is: Dixon’s Drug. The question: Which local drug store was the last one with a soda fountain? On the Fourth of July 1945, Mr. and Mrs. Leroy Dixon stopped at the Rathdrum store for a cold drink. And bought the place. Leroy became a top trap and skeet shooter with the Rathdrum Gun Club. By April 24, 1971, however, they wanted to retire. Perhaps the soda fountain retired with them.

• Pet Peeve: In April 1986, Bob Templin was miffed at the grand opening of Templin’s Resort in Post Falls. And his 200 guests, including Gov. John Evans, learned why. He’d built his $4 million resort on the Spokane River with credit from a Washington bank. No Idaho bank was willing to lend a hand. Said Bob: “We’re hoping the finance industry in this state will look more favorably on the hospitality industry.”

• Grand Day: On April 27, 1966, with the snip of a giant pair of scissors, Montgomery Ward and the Coeur d’Alene Mall opened at 101 Appleway. Ward’s office manager Catherine Roche did the honors. She had worked at the original downtown store since it opened Oct. 5, 1929. Other stores were tentatively scheduled to open in the new mall in the weeks ahead, including Buttrey Foods and Kinney Shoes.

Parting Shot

Visionaries Duane Hagadone, Sandi Bloem and Bob Templin transformed this place.

And former Mayor Don Johnston was another trailblazer.

On April 24, 1971, Don is shown in The Press working on the façade of one of his family’s downtown buildings.

Don said: “I believe the business future in Coeur d’Alene lives in the downtown area.”

Don and many other old-timers lived through times when more than 50% of the downtown store fronts were empty. But things were looking up in 1971.

“They used to say, ‘Fourth Street is dead,’” Don said. “But look at it now. All the street level locations on Fourth are occupied.”

Don is still around to see the incredible change in downtown today, with its ongoing construction of high-rises and townhouses. To use Don’s words, “Look at it now.”

• • • 

D.F. (Dave) Oliveria can be contacted at [email protected].

    Three of the original six members of the Renovators are shown in April 1996. They are, from left: Tom Husby, Darrell Dlouhy and Mike Burkholder.
  

    Shown in April 1956, Dr. Victoria Carbury of the Hitching Post officiated at nearly 1,000 weddings the previous year.
  

    Holding a marriage license in his left hand and his fiancée, Peggy Beadles, 18, in his right one, Wayne Leroy Trenary, 19, is ready to marry on April 13, 1956.
  

    Barry McHugh, 8, and his sister, Maureen, 6, are pictured in The Press on April 23, 1966, promoting Daylight Saving Time awareness.
  

    Mrs. Leroy Dixson of Dixon’s Drugs in Rathdrum prepares an ice cream soda in April 1971.
  

    Templin’s Resort in Post Falls opened April 1, 1986. But the official grand opening was held three weeks later. Shown cutting the ribbon are, front from left: Bob Jr. Blythe and Barbara Templin. Watching in the back row are, from left: Gov. John Evans and Bob and Mary Templin.
  

    Office manager Catherine Roche cuts the ribbon at the grand opening of Montgomery Ward and the Coeur d’Alene Mall on April 27, 1966. Pictured are (from left): Miss Coeur d’Alene Susie Wolden, Karen Sand, Roche, Ward’s executive Ray Struve, Katie Brodie, Kathy Guindon, and Ward’s executive C.E. O’Laughlin. The young women hosted the opening.
  

    Don Johnston works on a downtown building façade in April 1971.