Nearly every week Lasean Driggs comes to my mother's house to give her Communion. During these sessions there's much talk about the ZAGS because Lasean loves the team as much as Mother does. In the past week or so, however, Lasean has talked about her husband Gene and worried.
The couple have been fixtures at St. Joseph's Catholic Church for as long as I can remember. They've worked as a team and have put in endless miles, traveling around this county, ministering to the elderly and the housebound.
I'd call Gene "Mr. Knights of Columbus" and Lasean could be St. Joseph's behind-the-scenes Mother Superior who tends to everything and to everybody in support of the church she loves.
It was very sad this morning to read that Gene died yesterday, leaving his loving partner, their four children and lots of adoring grandchildren. I know my mother will be sad to hear this news as will the entire community who have seen these devoted and faithful Catholics at work.
Both Gene and Lasean have served as supreme examples of faith, and I know their undying devotion to that faith has inspired many Catholics in this area.
~~~RIP, Gene, and my prayers go out to his family~~~
I guess, like many days, the past 24 hours represents the best of times and the worst of times. Take the Olympics, for example, where thousands had to rebound from stunning news about the death of an Olympic athlete and quickly put their best feet forward to pull off another magnificent and memorable opening ceremony in Vancouver.
The artistry of the ceremony and the age-old spirit behind the competitions that bring the world together were once again breath-taking last night. And, now that the Games have begun, we lifelong Olympic fans are in for some good times.
I saw Lester Holt on this morning's Today show, looking much grayer than he did a few years back when he served as one of the main anchors for NBC's Olympic coverage in Utah.
That year was especially fun for me because one of my students, Morgan Potts, drove Lester wherever he needed to go and served as his general gopher. Each day she would send me news of her experiences.
Morgan got hired, soon after graduating from high school, because of her Sandpoint growing-up experiences of driving a rig on mountainous, snowy roads.
This year Sandpoint has another interest to focus on in the Winter Olympics. Nate Holland, a 1997 SHS classmate of our daughter Annie, will be vying for a gold medal in his snowboarding competition. I'd get more specific what he's going to do in competition, but I don't know that much about snowboarding, except that they go fast and do crazy things.
Indeed, Olympic coverage will keep us mesmerized for the next couple of weeks.
~~~~~
Carolyn Gleason was floating, and I was floating. And, I think Bill was mustering all the patience he could while waiting for me to quit my socializing last night at Second Avenue Pizza. Bill wanted to get home to watch the Olympics, but he knew better than to hurry his wife along.
After all, the popular (is there a more superlative term for Second Avenue Pizza) was filled to the brim with hungry and happy people. And, of that population, I'd say 80 percent were Sandpoint High grads.
Carolyn was happy cuz she said it was a night like the good ol' days, and I was thrilled because everywhere I looked sat someone I'd either taught or seen in the SHS hallways. The mix of grads included several generations too.
I'd say Jim Parsons, son of Jim Parsons, Jr. was the oldest of the grads---1973. He spent some time telling Willie about his family's journalism roots in Bonner County, dating back to a great-grandfather's ownership of the Priest River Times, and his grandpa Jim (the first's) experiences with Bing Crosby and the celebrities who came to lake Pend Oreille to fish during early Kamloops and Kokanee days (which his grandfather helped found).
Connie Madsen and her hubby Bill Malone, whom we used to see almost every Friday night, no matter what restaurant we chose, sat in the corner. It had been nearly a year since our restaurant paths had crossed, so we caught up on family and the Sandpoint scene in general.
Class of 1995 held an informal gathering around the corner from us. Willie didn't know about the get together, and they didn't know Willie was coming to eat at Second Avenue, so it was a great surprise for all concerned. I even got hired to snap a few photos of the group, and I think my dear friend Chad Berkley will post the photo on Facebook later.
A party honoring Cheryl Reasor's 25th birthday drew a huge crowd of former students down below, including Cheryl's dad Randy, whom I taught back in the late '70s.
We also had a nice visit with Connie and Thane. Connie helped us out with housecleaning and animal care for years while we lived on Great Northern Road and she lived in town. We both have moved since then, and with Connie and Thane in Rathdrum, we don't visit nearly enough.
There were others but too numerous to mention and I did not have time to visit them all cuz we had eating and family bonding to do also. Great night, though, and to my cousins on the West Coast, I know Carolyn will be happy to see you coming when you honor your lip synching contract with her during "Lost in the '50s."
~~~~~
Lots going on today, so I'll call it good. It's a ZAGS day, it's the Olympics, there's company coming and we have wonderful weather on tap. So, I'll send my wishes for everyone to have a wonderful Saturday.
Advertisement: Willie's Cedar Post group and my sister Barbara's yearbook staff will be planning a spaghetti feed/silent auction fundraiser sometime in the next month or so. The purpose is to raise funds to help finance their trip to April's national journalism convention in Portland.
If you have items you'd like to donate or would just plain like to donate, drop me a line at potatohead89@hotmail.com. I'll get back to you, and I know they will appreciate your generosity.
I guess, like many days, the past 24 hours represents the best of times and the worst of times. Take the Olympics, for example, where thousands had to rebound from stunning news about the death of an Olympic athlete and quickly put their best feet forward to pull off another magnificent and memorable opening ceremony in Vancouver.
The artistry of the ceremony and the age-old spirit behind the competitions that bring the world together were once again breath-taking last night. And, now that the Games have begun, we lifelong Olympic fans are in for some good times.
I saw Lester Holt on this morning's Today show, looking much grayer than he did a few years back when he served as one of the main anchors for NBC's Olympic coverage in Utah.
That year was especially fun for me because one of my students, Morgan Potts, drove Lester wherever he needed to go and served as his general gopher. Each day she would send me news of her experiences.
Morgan got hired, soon after graduating from high school, because of her Sandpoint growing-up experiences of driving a rig on mountainous, snowy roads.
This year Sandpoint has another interest to focus on in the Winter Olympics. Nate Holland, a 1997 SHS classmate of our daughter Annie, will be vying for a gold medal in his snowboarding competition. I'd get more specific what he's going to do in competition, but I don't know that much about snowboarding, except that they go fast and do crazy things.
Indeed, Olympic coverage will keep us mesmerized for the next couple of weeks.
~~~~~
Carolyn Gleason was floating, and I was floating. And, I think Bill was mustering all the patience he could while waiting for me to quit my socializing last night at Second Avenue Pizza. Bill wanted to get home to watch the Olympics, but he knew better than to hurry his wife along.
After all, the popular (is there a more superlative term for Second Avenue Pizza) was filled to the brim with hungry and happy people. And, of that population, I'd say 80 percent were Sandpoint High grads.
Carolyn was happy cuz she said it was a night like the good ol' days, and I was thrilled because everywhere I looked sat someone I'd either taught or seen in the SHS hallways. The mix of grads included several generations too.
I'd say Jim Parsons, son of Jim Parsons, Jr. was the oldest of the grads---1973. He spent some time telling Willie about his family's journalism roots in Bonner County, dating back to a great-grandfather's ownership of the Priest River Times, and his grandpa Jim (the first's) experiences with Bing Crosby and the celebrities who came to lake Pend Oreille to fish during early Kamloops and Kokanee days (which his grandfather helped found).
Connie Madsen and her hubby Bill Malone, whom we used to see almost every Friday night, no matter what restaurant we chose, sat in the corner. It had been nearly a year since our restaurant paths had crossed, so we caught up on family and the Sandpoint scene in general.
Class of 1995 held an informal gathering around the corner from us. Willie didn't know about the get together, and they didn't know Willie was coming to eat at Second Avenue, so it was a great surprise for all concerned. I even got hired to snap a few photos of the group, and I think my dear friend Chad Berkley will post the photo on Facebook later.
A party honoring Cheryl Reasor's 25th birthday drew a huge crowd of former students down below, including Cheryl's dad Randy, whom I taught back in the late '70s.
We also had a nice visit with Connie and Thane. Connie helped us out with housecleaning and animal care for years while we lived on Great Northern Road and she lived in town. We both have moved since then, and with Connie and Thane in Rathdrum, we don't visit nearly enough.
There were others but too numerous to mention and I did not have time to visit them all cuz we had eating and family bonding to do also. Great night, though, and to my cousins on the West Coast, I know Carolyn will be happy to see you coming when you honor your lip synching contract with her during "Lost in the '50s."
~~~~~
Lots going on today, so I'll call it good. It's a ZAGS day, it's the Olympics, there's company coming and we have wonderful weather on tap. So, I'll send my wishes for everyone to have a wonderful Saturday.
Advertisement: Willie's Cedar Post group and my sister Barbara's yearbook staff will be planning a spaghetti feed/silent auction fundraiser sometime in the next month or so. The purpose is to raise funds to help finance their trip to April's national journalism convention in Portland.
If you have items you'd like to donate or would just plain like to donate, drop me a line at potatohead89@hotmail.com. I'll get back to you, and I know they will appreciate your generosity.
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