Extraordinary gathering

I met a lot of interesting people yesterday, and that was BEFORE my mother and I took a drive to Libby and back. I ran into some inventors, a park ranger or two, a great Nez Perce chief, a nurse, a First Lady and Laura Ingalls Wilder’s husband Amonzo. I even met the man who trained the Thoroughbred great, Swale, to Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes wins. He lives up the Grouse Creek Road.

Yup, it was a fascinating morning and truly a reporter’s dream. I really had to be on my toes, though, because there were well-organized competing reporters with yellow press hats all over the place. What can one expect when Walt Disney, Florence Nightingale, Chief Joseph, Albert Einstein and J.R.R. Tolkein all show up in a small country school in my neighborhood!

I was a bit surprised, however, that Laura wasn’t there keeping track of all her students. Instead, Mrs. Sturm, Mrs. Kohal and some others were walking around, pleased as punch with all the guests and their individual venues. Must’ve been that Mrs. Wilder was out ill yesterday. I would liked to have met her too because I’m a big fan of her books. That disappointment paled in comparison to the awesome gathering of phenomenal people in our world and Idaho history.

I learned about the Basques who came from Spain to live in Southern Idaho. This information came from a young lady who learned of a Basque relative in her family and decided to study more about the people known for their sheepherding and traditional dancing. I was even able to share my knowledge that our former Secretary of State in Idaho was Basque.

I ran into Chief Joseph twice wearing two different Nez Perce costumes. He gave me a quote too---something about fighting no more forever. I’ve got that recorded in my notes somewhere and will have to re-visit it because I was struck with its eloquence as he allowed me to interview him. It was especially nice to talk with him because one of my former students is a descendent of his. She's an aquaculturist in Alaska, and I bet all those teachers would love to have her come and tell about salmon farming.

Florence Nightingale was one of my favorites. She even had her lantern there and told me all about what it was like to take care of wounded people and even a wounded dog. I felt honored to meet her because I’ve always admired nurses, and she’s definitely a stand-out among the vocation.

Of course, I zeroed in on all the horse stuff---saw lots of Appaloosas, including one that was giving a bluebird a nice ride past a Western white pine tree. I think that has something to do with our state symbols; in fact, the more I think about it, that’s right because the young forest ranger told me so.

She brought a nice display of Idaho stuff, including a picture of the syringa, which makes me long for early summer when its blossoms dress up our roadsides all over the state. The forest ranger told me about why the Appaloosa got its name---it had something to do with someone catching a band of spotted horses drinking out of Palousee Creek down by Moscow. I know there’s more to the story, but I’d never heard that tidbit before.

I was really excited to meet Mitchell Griffin. He’s a fellow horse lover who knows how to urge a horse down the speedway. In fact, I got to see lots of pictures of Mitchell with lots of fine Thoroughbreds, including some great shots from the Kentucky Derby. Mitchell and I talked for a while, and I was glad to see he’s driven by my sisters’ roadside pasture and seems quite impressed with their horse herd. That’s quite a compliment coming from a Derby winner who trained for Claiborne Farms.

Speaking of people with extraordinary life accomplishments, somebody at Paris Hair Salon really needs to get ahold of Albert Einstin cuz he still hasn’t combed his hair. I know he’s a busy man, but I’d be willing to bet he could see what he’s doing with all those experiments if he’d just put a little wax in his hair like one of the school district administrators who was there. I was about to take Doug over to Albert so the latter could see what a difference a little butch wax makes, but there was too much else to see.

Eleanor Roosevelt looked pretty dapper except she wasn’t wearing her famous hat with all that netting hanging off over her head. She told me it was getting hot so she took the hat off. The First Lady was kind enough, though, to put it back on so I could get a picture. Naturally I was thrilled cuz I’ve never met a First Lady before.

It was a great day meeting all those Extraordinary People and learning so much about our state. I bet not many people knew that Walt Disney got married in Lewiston because his bride was from Lapwai, but now a few more do. There's a neat high school track down there in Lapwai which Walt's wife donated to the school. Walt was really nice to me and he showed me some of his drawings. No wonder he’s done so well with those theme parks and all those wonderful Disney characters.

I could go on and on, but I don’t want readers to get too jealous about the wonderful opportunity I had yesterday to meet all these accomplished individuals. I really appreciate the tip I received the night before from Karen Remmetter. It means that I even scooped the Bee on this event, which I understand has been happening for ten years now---ever since Mrs. Sturm had one of Thomas Edison’s lightbulbs go off in her head and decided it might be nice to invite these people to her school.

It’s the best kept secret in town, and if you’re really nice, I can maybe pass out some advance notice the next time these famous folks show up out there at Northside. It could be another year or so. Stay tuned. Yesterday's event was an extraordinary gathering, for sure.