I've been meaning to post the photo below for some time now, but all those family birthdays got in the way. About ten days ago, Jeralyn Lewis Mire made good on her yearly Christmas card pledge that she, Kari and I should get together for lunch. She's been pledging that for about five years. This year, she made it a New Year's resolution, and we actually carried it out.
Kari had not yet arrived when the side door of Slate's opened, and in walked Colin Moody. I wrote a slightdetour posting about him on his birthday, March 10. So, with this wonderful gathering of three of my past yearbook/newspaper editors from Sandpoint High School, we had to get a picture.
Colin eventually went on to lunch with his Cedar Hills colleagues while Kari, Jeralyn and I shared time catching up on our busy lives. Like Colin, Jeralyn and Kari both hold very special places in my heart. When you work closely with students for three years out of their lives and yours, they become a part of your life forever. Again, as an aside, I feel so fortunate to have scenes like this with other treasured students/friends repeated often.
Jeralyn came into my life long before she showed up at Sandpoint High School as a good friend and classmate of my brother, the cartoonist. I still remember the hot July afternoon in 1975 when she, as an 10-year-old joined the troops on her pinto and rode HWY 95 from the end of the Long Bridge to Granite's roadside park near the Kootenai County border.
I was chairman of the Bonner County Bicentennial Committee at the time, and we were putting on a Pony Express Trail Ride to transfer Bicentennial scrolls from Bonner to Kootenai County. Jeralyn and about ten other riders took part. I was amazed at the resiliency and independence of this ten-year-old.
Later, I continued to be amazed as she worked on my yearbook staff and then took the reigns as editor. She was one of the most brilliant diplomats that I've ever met, making every member of the staff feel like they were the most important person on earth. I think that diplomacy earned her a chance to serve as president of Gonzaga University's student body and later as an recruiter for the university.
She's now a mom and a Lake Pend Oreille School District student counselor. She's got the inside scoop on the DeeDee Bars too, cuz her hubby Marty owns Dub's Drive-In here in Sandpoint.
I got to know Kari when she came to the high school. Again, talk about hard work and dedication. Besides being an all-around outstanding athlete, Kari had leadership skills and a heap of photographic talent. That might be attributed to genes and the influence of her dad Erik, who's an Academy Award-winning cinematographer.
I felt so fortunate to have this association, and I can recall having many folks comment that our yearbook at the time looked more like it was produced by college students. We had a crop of wonderful photographers, who worked with Kari. Several went on and used their skills in some high-profile situations.
Kari earned her degree in film from Montana State University and later worked as a production manager for national television commercials. For the past six years, she's been coordinating photograpy work for Coldwater Creek here in Sandpoint, and from all accounts at our luncheon, she loves her job.
She's also a mom to two adorable young ladies, one of which plays on the same soccer team as Jeralyn's daughter. Kari's married to another of my former students, Clay Saccomanno. He flies helicopters.
Not a day goes by that I don't pinch myself about the many opportunities I've had as a teacher of students like Colin, Jeralyn and Kari who remain lifelong friends. Picture below: Jeralyn, Kari, M.Love, and Colin.
Kari had not yet arrived when the side door of Slate's opened, and in walked Colin Moody. I wrote a slightdetour posting about him on his birthday, March 10. So, with this wonderful gathering of three of my past yearbook/newspaper editors from Sandpoint High School, we had to get a picture.
Colin eventually went on to lunch with his Cedar Hills colleagues while Kari, Jeralyn and I shared time catching up on our busy lives. Like Colin, Jeralyn and Kari both hold very special places in my heart. When you work closely with students for three years out of their lives and yours, they become a part of your life forever. Again, as an aside, I feel so fortunate to have scenes like this with other treasured students/friends repeated often.
Jeralyn came into my life long before she showed up at Sandpoint High School as a good friend and classmate of my brother, the cartoonist. I still remember the hot July afternoon in 1975 when she, as an 10-year-old joined the troops on her pinto and rode HWY 95 from the end of the Long Bridge to Granite's roadside park near the Kootenai County border.
I was chairman of the Bonner County Bicentennial Committee at the time, and we were putting on a Pony Express Trail Ride to transfer Bicentennial scrolls from Bonner to Kootenai County. Jeralyn and about ten other riders took part. I was amazed at the resiliency and independence of this ten-year-old.
Later, I continued to be amazed as she worked on my yearbook staff and then took the reigns as editor. She was one of the most brilliant diplomats that I've ever met, making every member of the staff feel like they were the most important person on earth. I think that diplomacy earned her a chance to serve as president of Gonzaga University's student body and later as an recruiter for the university.
She's now a mom and a Lake Pend Oreille School District student counselor. She's got the inside scoop on the DeeDee Bars too, cuz her hubby Marty owns Dub's Drive-In here in Sandpoint.
I got to know Kari when she came to the high school. Again, talk about hard work and dedication. Besides being an all-around outstanding athlete, Kari had leadership skills and a heap of photographic talent. That might be attributed to genes and the influence of her dad Erik, who's an Academy Award-winning cinematographer.
I felt so fortunate to have this association, and I can recall having many folks comment that our yearbook at the time looked more like it was produced by college students. We had a crop of wonderful photographers, who worked with Kari. Several went on and used their skills in some high-profile situations.
Kari earned her degree in film from Montana State University and later worked as a production manager for national television commercials. For the past six years, she's been coordinating photograpy work for Coldwater Creek here in Sandpoint, and from all accounts at our luncheon, she loves her job.
She's also a mom to two adorable young ladies, one of which plays on the same soccer team as Jeralyn's daughter. Kari's married to another of my former students, Clay Saccomanno. He flies helicopters.
Not a day goes by that I don't pinch myself about the many opportunities I've had as a teacher of students like Colin, Jeralyn and Kari who remain lifelong friends. Picture below: Jeralyn, Kari, M.Love, and Colin.
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