Good Morning All & Happy Friday!
It was “National Thrift Shop Day” this past Wednesday and here’s to all of you thrift shop/antique store lovers out there! Remember…”one person’s junk is another person’s treasure” (or as my wife would say…”one person’s junk is another person’s junk”). I must admit, I feel like “a kid in a candy store” when I get a chance to check out a thrift shop and/or antique store and we’ve got some great ones in the Spokane area…”Marilyn’s On Monroe” in Spokane (stop in and say hi to Dick & Debi and tell ’em Mark sent ya); Treasure Towne in Post Falls (stop in and say hi to Dorothy and tell ’em Chris Newbold sent ya); Pine Street Market in the Spokane Valley; the Union Gospel Thrift Stores and Goodwill Industries Thrift Stores. All are fun and fascinating to visit and all support great business models that help others. Take it from me…you’ll be glad you stopped in for a visit. Let me know of your thrift shop/antique store adventures, won’t you?
Speaking of pleasurable experiences, do yourself a favor and get ahold of the book “First Lady: The Life of Lucy Webb Hayes” by Emily Apt Geer, published by the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center in Fremont, Ohio (1995). While her husband Rutherford B. Hayes might not go down in history as one of our country’s greatest presidents, Lucy and Rutherford conducted themselves with honor, integrity and warmth and helped heal the nation’s wounds after the Civil War. She was a gracious and humble First Lady and had a winning way about her, not to mention she was the first First Lady to have a college degree. The book about her life is a good read indeed. Daniel Huntington, who painted Lucy’s portrait for The White House wrote: “When high moral worth and courage combine with gentleness, matronly dignity, graciousness, genial wit, and sweetest charity, the charm is complete.” Lucy and Rutherford were dedicated to their family and it showed in the closeness between all of the family members. Should you ever be close to Fremont, Ohio, stop and visit the Hayes home there. Lucy & Rutherford did much for our country and served it well during the time they were in The White House (1877-1881).
Speaking of inspirational people, you’ll want to check out the recent story in the “Hungry Horse News” and/or “Flathead Beacon” about the lives of Jack Beard and Brian Kennedy, two 67 year old long-time mountain climbing friends, who lost their lives a few weeks ago while climbing Dusty Star Mountain. Brian Kennedy had been the editor of the Hungry Horse News from 1978 to early 1999. Jack Beard owned Beard Cabinets in Kalispell. There are 234 named peaks in Glacier according to the Glacier Mountaineering Society. Brian Kennedy had summitted 230 of them. It was a tragic accident that took their lives, as the rope to which both were tethered gave way when the rock to which it was anchored broke off. As Greg Notess, president of the Glacier Mountaineering Society wrote:
“Brian and Jack were two extraordinary mountaineers with an incredible knowledge of the mountains of Glacier National Park and surrounding areas. They inspired others with their stories and willingly shared routes. They will both be greatly missed. Brian and Jack were companions, guides, and teachers on many a Glacier Mountaineering Society outing.”
Local mountaineers Jeff Young and Dennis Bonawitz had fond recollections of Beard. They recalled one incident in particular in June while climbing Chief Mountain some 22 years ago. After summitting the mountain, the weather rolled in and it was blizzard conditions. Beard did a head count and one man was missing. Beard, Young and Bonawitz turned around in the snowstorm and headed back up the mountain to look for him. They found a set of tracks going the wrong direction and gave a yell and found the man. He was soaking wet and freezing. They got him into some dry clothes and they all made it out OK. “He was the kind of guy who would give you the shirt off his back, when he only had one shirt..”
Here’s to the memory of Brian Kennedy and Jack Beard, two kind-hearted and generous people who loved Glacier National Park and gave so much back to their community.
I read an article in the most recent edition of “Rural Montana” that described the commissioning of the new nuclear submarine the USS Montana at the naval shipyard at Norfolk VA. The former Interior Secretary Sally Jewell spoke at the event: “Carry you mission forward with pride and with the spirit of resiliency and ruggedness that befits her name — Montana.” Gary Wiens, the editor of “Rural Montana,” wrote that “Ms. Jewell’s words to the crew truly do embody the spirit of the people of Montana: Tough and strong, ready for anything, and equal to anything. Is it any wonder Montana has the highest per-capita number of U.S. military veterans of any state in the nation?”
Here’s to the captain and crew of the USS Montana and to their families who serve all of us in the defense of freedom!
Speaking of accomplishments, I read where fellow Cherokee Nation member Jason Christie had a final day limit of 17 pounds, 9 ounces that made him the champion of the 52nd Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic at Lake Hartwell near Greenville, South Carolina. Now, I’ve never been a bass fishing afficionado, but Jason’s feat is mighty impressive. After all, 154,932 fans attended this event! Wow! Not to mention Jason, a 48 year old from Park Hill, Oklahoma, winning the $300,000 prize, which pushed his career earnings to $1,668,011. According to the article about Jason’s exploits that appeared in the “Cherokee Phoenix” newspaper, he “certainly found plenty of fish throughout the week as he alternated between deep and shallow water patterns that were about as different as two techniques can be. He caught half of his weight targeting bass on Garmin LiveScope in a 15 to 30 foot drain that he said held “hundreds of fish” the first two days. He used a spinning rod with a 3/16 ounce jighead and a prototype lure from Yum that only this week earned an official name, the FF Sonar Minnow, which stands for Forward Facing Sonar Minnow.” “It’s a bait that I can cast to the fish and work the rod and keep it on him; the bait does not move forwared,” Christie said. It’s a technique that I’ve been working on for about five years now.
All of this just goes to show that there’s another world out there…a “sub-culture” if you will. It seems as though I learn something new every day. Although I must admit I was introduced to professional bass fishing by a fellow I sat next to on a flight to Houston, Texas who was on his way to a bass fishing tournament and I made the mistake of asking him about his sport and he spent the whole flight from Seattle to Houston telling me about bass fishing techniques and adventures he’s had as a bass fisherman. He was a terrific guy and he got me all enthused about a sport I knew absolutely nothing about!
Here’s the funny thoughts for the day, courtesy of the Police Blotter from the “Flathead Beacon” newspaper:
Saturday 7/16:
11:23 a.m.: A woman was concerned about banging noises coming from upstairs, especially since the guests staying at the house had checked out several hours earlier. The caller was embarrassed when she figured out it was the dryer causing the ruckus.
12:42 p.m.: Someone was concerned their neighbor was putting in a firing range on their property.
11:08 p.m.: A man was tired of walking home and called 911 to ask for a ride.
Sunday 7/17:
2:00 p.m.: A man called 911 and said his friend was going to run his truck out of fuel, call a tow truck, and try to get free fuel.
Monday 7/18:
8:07 a.m.: Someone suspected a corner piece of his house was cut off with a knife.
Tuesday 7/19:
10:48 p.m.: A woman found some “extremely nicely placed” dollar bills on the ground and thought she was getting high after she picked them up.
Wednesday 7/20:
8:39 p.m.: A person broke into a vehicle, but only took bear spray (which just goes to show what’s considered valuable in “bear country”!)
Speaking of weird happenings, what do you think about the recent so-called Federal “Inflation Reduction Act”? I don’t know about you, but I think it’s mighty suspect that the Federal government is going to hire 187,000 more IRS agents with all those salaries, benefits and retirement programs for them to supposedly audit companies and wealthy individuals. Isn’t that what the IRS was supposed to be doing with all of the people they currently employ? Shouldn’t we be shrinking the size of government, not adding more and more to it? It seems to me that the bigger government gets, the less freedoms we have as a people. What do you think?
How about going with a flat tax with no loopholes and have folks submit their tax returns on a postcard? Novel idea…
Here’s the trivia question for the day:
Question: Who was inspired to play music as an inmate by seeing Johnny Cash play at his prison?…Kenny Rogers?…Merle Haggard?…Conway Twitty?…or Glen Campbell?
Answer: San Quentin is where Johnny Cash played his first-ever prison concert on January 1, 1958 — a concert that helped set Merle Haggard, then a 20 year old San Quentin inmate, on the path toward becoming a country music legend. In 1957, at the age of 18, Haggard was arrested on a burglary charge and sentenced to 15 years in San Quentin. He ended up serving only two years of that sentence, though, and credits Johnny Cash with giving him the inspiration to launch a career after prison that included a string of 38 #1 hits on the country charts.
How about that???
Here are some thoughts for the day:
Experience is a wonderful thing. It enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.
By the time you can make ends meet, they move the ends.
Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves for they shall never cease to be amused.
—“Kalispell Kaleidoscope,” distributed weekly by Valley Advertising, LLC, January, Week 4, 2022.
And last, but not least, here’s to Hal & Janie on their wedding anniversary on August 20th and here’s to Matt & Val on their wedding anniversary on August 21st!
Here’s to a great Friday and lots of love & good wishes always!
Press on,
Papa ‘a (Dad, Uncle Mark, Mark, etc.)