Sunday Slight

Hey, here's some news. It's snowing and snowing pretty hard at that. I heard Tom Sherry, the KREM weatherman, say a day or so ago that we're going to get "appreciable" snow midweek, the kind that might require a shovel. That's pretty scary cuz we've been using our shovels, snowblowers, blades and buckets nearly every day for weeks.

Fortunately, our Quanset storage shed is still standing, even though the vinyl roof once again separated from the frame about a week ago. We've tried to remove the snow, but the structure was built with no middle beam.

Instead, there's about six feet between the top two metal frames, and about three feet of frozen snow lounging between the frames, refusing and unable to slide off the roof. We tried putting a heater inside without much success. So, we pray, and as more snow comes, we'll have to rev up the "Hail Mary's" with each succeeding dump.

Anyway, it's Sunday. The Seahawks won, the Zags won and so did the Cougs of WSU. What a record they have amassed 13-0! I wonder if they'll rise up above 4th in the nation after last night's win over Washington. With all this snow, it's nice to have some good things happening with the sports teams on the tube.

And, it's also fun to have the Presidential primaries heating up. I tried really hard to watch the debates last night, but the old winter snooze control took over my brain, so I kept waking up and seeing bits and pieces of what people were saying to each other and about each other. I did catch the segment where Hillary said her feelings were hurt and Obama said, "We like you enough, Hillary."

The next few days ought to be pretty interesting with lots of good TV to watch when we come in from shoveling the next pile of snow.

I read in this morning's historical column that 50 years ago First Federal Savings purchased a lot on North Second Avenue from Mrs. Page. They were planning to construct a new bank here in Sandpoint.

I did my math after reading the piece of history and ciphered that I would have been about 10 years old when my folks arranged for Mike, Kevin and Marianne to open savings accounts at the new bank. We were each given ten dollars to get started supporting this new local competitor to the Idaho First National Bank and earning our life's riches.

As an aside, are there any other locals out there who still have those Idaho First National bronze log banks? I do, and it still shows the broken latch on the bottom where greedy hands tried to pry it open and steal my locked-up cash a long, long time ago.

If I recall correctly, First Federal didn't make a lot off from my investment. In fact, I think that ten dollars sat pretty lonely for a long time, and if I recall correctly, it was about four years later when we each took most of our First Federal Savings account and invested it in Schweitzer Basin Ski Area stock. Lots of folks in the community did the same. I owned a ten-dollar share.

I don't recall ever feeling like I had any clout over the years cuz I was a "stockholder" who owned part of the ski hill, but, like everyone else who invested, we felt like we'd done the right thing to support the community venture. About three decades later, in the early '90s, we had a chance to cash in on our Schweitzer stock, which, in my case, came from that ten-dollar savings account.

I sold my share for $15. Well, that's pretty typical of most of my life investments. At least I made money, even if it did take more than thirty years for that $5 gain through the miracles of "compounded interest." Once again, I guess it's like I said when I used that famous quote of my dad's the other day: Every little bit counts, said the old lady as she peed in the ocean.

If First Federal Savings hadn't gotten my ten dollars and a whole bunch of other people's ten dollars, they may not have lasted as long as they did on Second Avenue where they had one of the first time-and-temperature signs we ever saw in Sandpoint.

They've since been replaced by Bank of America, and they'd sure have to compete against a slough of banks in downtown Sandpoint these days. And for the trivia experts, how many bank names has that original Idaho First National had since it quit being Idaho First National?

If that same ten dollars my folks gave me for my savings in the late '50s hadn't gone into the Schweitzer stock holdings, along with little bits of cash from a lot of other locals, Bill and I might not be able stand with our binoculars at the kitchen window, watching those skiers ride up that fancy new lift and ski down the south face.

I guess that's what Mother Nature is figuring this morning, too, with her latest deposit in a growing snow investment. Every little bit counts, and those skiers up there at Schweitzer are just loving her cuz she keeps sending little doses of white stuff to them every day so they can have fun playing at that resort that I supported 40-plus years ago with my ten dollars from First Federal Savings and Loan.

It would probably be just fine with some of us weary shovelers if she'd go pee somewhere else for a while---like the ocean!