‘Come at your own risk’

Moviegoers to the Coeur d’Alene Drive-In that summer evening didn’t see Linda Blair’s character vomit thick Andersen brand split pea soup on Father Karras.

On Aug. 6, 1976, motorists were still entering the drive-in, which featured “The Exorcist,” when a “powerful electric storm” toppled the screen — and shut the venue permanently.

No mention was made of possible refunds in the subsequent Coeur d’Alene Press story.

The drive-in was charging $2 for adults and $1 for children during the six-day run of the R-rated horror show and a second feature — pioneer slasher film “Black Christmas.”

Released on Dec. 26, 1973, the movie cast Linda Blair as 12-year-old Regan MacNeil, who was possessed by a demon after she played with a spirit board. In the famous bedroom scene 78 minutes into the film, the demonized child spewed green fluid on the Jesuit priest.

A Coeur d’Alene Drive-In advertisement in The Press warned: “Come at your own Risk.”

“The Exorcist” opened to mixed reviews. But the public turned out in droves to see it. Viewers waited in lines for hours during the winter to watch the blockbuster hit. They screamed, cried, ran from theaters and sought mental health treatment.

In Coeur d’Alene, the drive-in — opened in April 1953 by Howard Hudson, his son, Bert, and Roy Dahl at 3625 Government Way — had shown the movie twice before the fateful Friday.

Just before the movie’s scheduled 8:50 p.m. start, a storm rocked Coeur d’Alene.

“Apparently,” The Press reported, “a combination of rotted wood anchoring the screen at its base and the force of the 50 miles-per-hour winds caused the collapse.”

Rainfall was considerable — about half an inch at Spades Mountain, east of Hayden Lake, but fire damage was minimal. Three small fires burned about an acre total, according to the Fernan Ranger Station. Thunder showers, wind and possible hail remained in the forecast.

A drive-in employee told The Press that she was in the concession booth when lightning flashed all around. She felt the building shake, heard a crack and saw the screen fall.

Inventor Dwight Finney, then 16, was the drive-in theater projectionist that night.

In 2023, he told Huckleberries a slightly different version of events.

Dwight said he had just changed over to a second reel for “The Exorcist” and had his back turned to the screen when the lightning crashed. According to Dwight, the bolt hit the upper right corner of the screen and followed a rod into the ground.

Said Dwight: “I heard a big crack and turned around just in time to see the screen come down and Linda Blair’s head spin around and vomit pea soup.”

Dapper Goose

A stylish clay goose debuted in U.S. Marine camo fatigues in the front yard of a Dalton Gardens couple during the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

And then Starlene Staudt (pronounced Stout) began dressing her 2 ½-foot, 80-pound goose in a rotating ensemble of about 15 outfits.

Sometimes, Starlene would adorn the goose in Elvis, Santa or Easter Bunny attire. At other times, she might show it off in a peach-and-white bikini, a cap and gown, or a tuxedo.

Starlene and her husband, Don, received the faux fowl as a house-warming gift from Starlene’s mother, Dorothy Roberts, when they moved from Kingston to Dalton Gardens.

Starlene first displayed her inanimate pet as a Marine to honor grandson Doug Staudt who was serving in Kuwait at the time — and to please neighborhood children.

The goose was an instant hit.

The Staudts received complimentary letters, addressed to “Duck Tailor” and “Miss Goose.” One fan wrote: “My drive to work each morning used to be humdrum, but not anymore.”

Eventually, Starlene sold the goose when she moved nearer to Canfield Mountain. In 1997, she told The Press: “I thought people would kind of get tired of it, but they haven’t.”

Tiny Jackpot

Did you hear the one about the bored kid who painted his initials on a quarter, used it to buy candy and then found it among his loose change 24 years later?

That describes what happened to Tim Kirk.

On Aug. 12, 2011, Tim, then 36, was the assistant manager of Ziggy’s in Post Falls.

As a 12-year-old kid, he told The Press, he whiled away a summer day at the family cabin on Lake Pend Oreille by painting his initials on quarters — “T” on one side, “K” on the other.

He used his mother’s nail polish.

“I was a kid looking for something to do,” he said.

The polish was barely dry when he blew his two-bit pieces on sweets. Then, he forgot about the personalized coins until 2011 when he tossed some pocket money into his office change dish. And there, staring up at him, was a quarter with a “T” painted on it. And, sure enough, on the other side was a “K.”

A banker friend compared Tim’s chance of getting that coin back to winning the lottery. But Tim’s “jackpot” was still only 25 cents, hardly enough to buy a bite-sized chocolate.

So, he kept it.

Huckleberries

• Poet’s Corner: Expect hot air / to blow our way / from now until / Election Day — The Bard of Sherman Avenue (“Extended Forecast”).

• Numbers Game: In the 1980s, most Coeur d’Alene residents were thrilled when the Lake City made one of those national “best places to live” lists. But the feeling soured in the 1990s, when Coeur d’Alene’s population jumped 40% from 24,561 to 34,514. Well, don’t look now, but the town’s current population is an estimated 58,555, a 6.5% growth rate since 2020. And they keep coming.

• Helping Hands: State prison inmates played a small part in opening the first public library in Athol on Aug. 8, 1971. The convicts constructed the sign for the new library, which was placed out front, along Highway 54. The library project was spearheaded by James McMurray. The new library was housed in the lower level of the old Athol School gym, which became the Athol Community Center.

• Pranked: Roscoe Fuller wasn’t laughing when he discovered that the front tires of 11 Coeur d’Alene School District buses were flat. Someone(s) had let air out of them during the night of Aug. 6, 1956. So, the transportation equipment supervisor told assistant Bob Neider to grab an air compressor. Fuller had but one comment for The Press: “Apparently, this is someone’s idea of fun.”

• First in Line: On Aug. 15, 2011, Henry Thompson, 89, was happy to be the first-ever patient at Hospice House on Prairie Avenue, Idaho’s first inpatient hospice facility. He liked the food and had the place to himself for two days. He was on a short-term visit to hospice to give a respite to his family caregivers. And, like many to come, he liked Hospice House’s touches of home — gardens, fountains and a fireplace.

Parting Shot

Coeur d’Alene has long been a special place for dogs as well as humans. And it isn’t just our Chamber of Commerce that said so.

Dog Fancy magazine did, too.

In August 2011, the publication named Coeur d’Alene as winner of its annual DogTown USA contest. In other words, Coeur d’Alene was the most dog-friendly city in the country.

In presenting a plaque to Mayor Sandi Bloem on Aug. 16, magazine editor Ernie Slone mentioned the town’s dog-friendly features: numerous walking areas, three off-leash dog parks, 11 canine events and 13 welcoming lodging places.

Also, Slone was impressed that no Coeur d’Alene laws targeted specific breeds, like pitbulls and Rottweilers, and that an ordinance was adopted to protect animals.

At the time, the city had 46,000 residents and 17,000 dogs.

“Maybe someday,” Parks Director Doug Eastwood told The Press, “the dog population might exceed the human population here.”

Now all we need is mandatory training for some dog owners to pick up their pups’ poop on walks and to obey signs that prohibit dogs in some public places, like City Park.

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

    In 1976, in The Press, the Coeur d’Alene Drive-In advertised the double horror feature, “The Exorcist” and “Black Christmas.”
  

    In 1991, Starlene Staudt of Dalton Gardens began dressing the Staudt Family Goose to honor a military grandson and to delight children.
  

    In 2011, Tim Kirk, then 36, displayed a quarter with the initials he’d written on it as a 12-year-old boy.
  

    In 2001, Coeur d’Alene Sign supervisor Greg Miller changed the population sign to show Coeur d’Alene had grown by 40 percent in the 1990s.
  

    In 1971, project manager James McMurray, left, Robert McMurray and Charles Poland posed with the highway sign for the new Athol library.
  

    In 1956, Bob Neider, left, and Roscoe Fuller inflated Coeur d’Alene school bus tires after a prankster(s) had let the air out of them.
  

    In 2011, nursing assistant Lynda Poplin cared for Henry Thompson, the first patient ever at the Hospice House, 2290 W. Prairie Ave.
  

    In 2011, Nick Cox played with his 9-week-old blue nose pitbull at City Park. Coeur d’Alene had just been named as the nation’s most dog-friendly city.