Saturday Slight

Ten days of life in the 40s and little precipitation ahead. Doesn't get any better than that in February, especially when much of January felt like spring. Could be by this time next week those sheets of ice that keep hanging on around the yard and the fields might even disappear.

The mood is good, and our good-times-ahead platter is overflowing with other positive offerings----a ZAGS game today vs. Memphis. The ZAGS played with finesse and determination Thursday night after coming off an overtime defeat against the University of San Francisco last Saturday.

Fans, coaches and team viewed that first ZAGS loss in ten games pretty much the same: a wake-up call. And, it certainly looked like the Bulldogs came to play Thursday as they hosted Portland in Spokane. Today's match-up could be a tough one for Gonzaga, but that also signals a great afternoon of sports action.

And, tomorrow's Super Bowl. Bill always has a party for the Super Bowl. Now, the parties put on by Bill are somewhat low key compared to a lot of others, I'm sure. It's usually a pizza and a bottle of beer, along with lots of munchies. Bill forks over for the food and makes sure it's here before the game.

Last year's pizza came from the Loading Dock. Well, the Loading Dock on Bridge Street is no longer open, so he'll have to patronize someone else. Time will tell who gets the nod for this year, or maybe it won't. Bill's been threatening Gumbo instead of pizza. I have a feeling that this household will be happy to see both pizza and gumbo offerings.

Gumbo or not, it's gonna be a special Super Bowl this year cuz Bill has waited his lifetime, like a lot of other Louisianans, for the Saints to have their day. Yesterday's local paper included a feature about a New Orleans native who'd moved to Sandpoint. In the story he told of his own personal history following the Saints, pointing out a few highlights.

"He nailed it all," Bill said to me last night. Now if the Saints can nail a win tomorrow, the Who Dat Nation will certainly cause the earth to rumble.

Besides the big sporting events this weekend, we have the Winter Olympics beginning next weekend. Two weeks of that, then maybe a few days' break, and it's on to March Madness.

I would say the planets all lined up for us here in the Northwest this year---a great winter and a wonderful smorgasboard of sporting events to anticipate have translated into a state of mind unlike anything Valium could ever produce.

Adding to that, trips outside with all the sounds of spring put frosting on the cake. Yesterday, I stopped several times on my walk through the woods to watch groups of geese flying south from somewhere up north, all announcing their presence.

It was amazing to hear that first faint squawk off in the distance, to stand in place and listen as the sound intensified and finally a dozen or so honkers would show up in the air over my head, temporarily drowning out any other noises and then fading slowly as they moved on. Again, it doesn't get any better than that.

~~~~~~
On to other thoughts and back down to earth: There's a meeting next Thursday night at 6 p.m. at Northside School, designed for discussion and questions regarding Lake Pend Oreille School District 84 options for what to do with the extra rooms at the new Kootenai School.

Construction will be completed this spring, and the district is looking for ways to best utilize the larger structure. Three possible options, which would take place in the fall, have been presented; others may come, district officials say.

One plan calls for closing Northside School and moving the staff and students to Kootenai, which will have ample room for such a move.

Another calls for centralizing all district kindergarten classes in a kindergarten center at Kootenai Elementary.

A third option calls for redrawing zones and moving approximately 125-150 students from Farmin-Stidwell to Kootenai, thus reducing the Farmin-Stidwell student population to 500 students from the present 630.

Northside's principal Rick Kline and PTO president Christa Finney sent out information about the meeting this past week, encouraging a good turn-out as well as a sense of respect and a spirit of cooperation. Both noted this is an emotional issue for the Northside constituents, and Thursday's meeting should provide a forum for answering lots of questions about the proposals.

The school district is holding several meetings to gain input on this plan and to listen to concerns from district patrons. So, if any readers have concerns about this proposal, Thursday's meeting offers you a chance to voice them.

~~~~~~

Now, a few words about Leonard Plaster who died Thursday. Leonard was a fixture in Sandpoint, a salty one at that. A logger and a football fan extraordinaire. After all, he was one of Cotton Barlow's Bulldogs. I heard he was a pretty good one too.

I always got a kick out of Leonard, who came across as rough and tough. And, maybe he was.

I learned how to deal with Leonard long ago. At Connie's Restaurant back in the good ol' days when he'd be sitting there drinking his coffee and smoking his cigarettes with Les Rogers and maybe his brother Mike, if Leonard gave me verbal jabs, I'd be just as generous and give 'em right back.

I think he liked that. I think he kept track of people he knew and liked and if he saw you on the road, he'd stop that big ol' muddied up 4 by 4 pickup, heckle you a bit and then settle in for a nice visit. Last time we talked, he had a fancy new pickup and we met on Forest Siding Road, where his son Mark lives.

It was a fall day, and I was riding Lily on one of her first outings. Leonard rolled to a stop and asked me about that horse. He liked her. Of late, he had been doing some horseback riding himself, along with Mark and his wife Billie Jean. Of course, Leonard's reputation in my book rose all the more cuz he liked horses.

The community will miss seeing Leonard around. His life certainly represented many aspects of the honored history of Sandpoint: logging and Friday night football. He was good at both.

~~~RIP, Leonard~~~