Merris and the pizza factory

Let's see. It's hard for me to remember just where Merris fits in the long line of Kay Kiebert's kids that I taught over the years. I know had a lot of them. Brian, Marci, Mason, Megan, Merris, Tyler. Didn't teach Kim or Adam, but I did teach Kim's husband Ryan, and he's a doctor now. He's one of those academic doctors; seems like it's chemistry or something like that.

Now for Adam---he garnered an honored spot in my storehouse of forever memories about two days after he was born. I think that would be about March 30, 1977. Adam has a phenomenal memory that should be tested by the experts. He remembers when he was two days old and living in a nursery bed down there at Bonner General when this new kid showed up in the bed next to him.

That kid was a lot bigger than Adam, and they kept calling the poor little guy a fool. Then, a little later, another big kid showed up and joined the crowd of baby boys. They called him a fool too. Adam somehow figured out right away that the first fool's name was Willie.

Both Willie and their fellow classmate Aaron were born on April Fool's Day, just when Adam was about to head home with his mother Kay. Later, they learned to drive together, and nobody yet has figured out which one of them did NOT stop at the stop sign and had to buy ice cream for the instructor Ron Hunt and the other student drivers.

So, Willie and Adam go way back, and I'm impressed that a kid can remember that far back into his infancy, but he swears he remembers the nurses bringing Willie in there. And, I'm not going to argue because Willie's the kind of kid folks tend to remember. Of course, this is a mother talking, so maybe you can cut that in half.

So what's all this stuff about all those kids of my friend Kay's? This whole clan, who grew up out at Southside but cling to their strong Hope roots, sport senses of humor rivaling any blood relative of the Sandpoint Parkins/Bopp clan. And, I guarantee that's better than "Saturday Night Live" any day of the week.

Well, Merris went on to the University of Idaho after taking my senior English class and later spent some time teaching in Louisville, KY. But she came back last year, and she's in to pizza now. She told me about it last fall, but I forgot exactly where she was so in to pizza until reading her comments yesterday on the www.sandpointhigh.com website.

Seems the pizza business in Rathdrum, Idaho, is buzzing, so well, in fact, that brother Brian, the lawyer and oldest of the clan, is setting up another business in Coeur d'Alene. I feel bad because I drove right by Merris' take-out restaurant last week and completely zoned the fact that she was there.

So, as her admiring teacher, I'm going to make up for that and feature her comments today and encourage everyone who's going through Rathdrum from this day forth to stop at Nick-n-Willy's Take and Bake Pizza to add to her collection of Sandpoint patrons. So here goes:



Hello Everyone,

Just wanted to let everyone know how cool it has been to see so many people from SHS at our pizza shop in Rathdrum.

I have had such a blast working with my family. We all pitch in: Mason works on weekends along with his daughters, Kaylee and Nan(Kaylee is usually in charge of sampling pizza, and Nan has a fascination with cleaning the bathroom).

And, we even get a helping hand from Becky now and then. Becky, as many of you know, is the SHS high school principal and doing a kick @$$ job. We are very proud of her. However, what many of you don't know is she also tosses a mean pizza and can wash dishes like no other.

We also get help from my mother, who graduated from SHS a hundred years ago, chopping vege's and trying to boss the bosses around. My sister Marci is one manager/owner, and her kids Madison and Connor, come in and help Grandma Kay with vege's and dough. Brother Brian is now opening his own shop in CDA so he comes in to learn the ropes and throw dough all over the store. Anyway, it has been a fun family reunion of sorts.

Back to my point---the family thing is fun, but I wanted to tell everyone how awesome it is to see people from Sandpoint at the shop.

We've had Michelle (Dexter) Marley, Ann Thurlow (can't remember her married name), Bob Jacobson, Katie Vanderzwan and her parents several times, Jay Peterson and family, Dave Demers and family, Doug and Patsy Olin, Larry Vandenburg, Jamie Stewart (don't know her married name), Melody Deeter (don't know her married name either), Duanna Williams cousin Rich and family, Ali Nieman and her mom, and a few days later, Wendy and Jim came back again! Michele Pecukonis was in last week.

John and Connie Burkhart have hassled us a few times, (remember Mr. Burkhart and his damn rubber racket ball at Stidwell?) Uncle Kermit Kiebert is always good for a $100.00 sale when wife Susan is writing the check. Mindy Hunt (what is her married name?) was in not too long ago, and Dennis McIntyre stopped by for pizza and to leave an inappropriate message for Mason.

We've also had Doug Hawkins and his wife, Lodi, long time substitute teacher from SHS. Tami Carlson (don't know married name) and her son Brock also stopped by for some pizza with Grandma Lodi recently. Ryan Carlson, who is married to my sister, Kimmy, also stopped in for pizza and wanted the family discount. We honored it the usual family way; we charged him. :) :) I think that is it, but if I forgot anyone, I apologize. It has been a whirlwind.

I just wanted to say thanks for all the support, and mostly, WOW!! It is so fun to see all of the familiar faces; I never imagined our little pizza shop would be such a great place to reconnect and catch up with so many wonderful people from good ol' SHS! It is incredible to see what you have all been doing, and seeing your families.

Merris Long