Akey's Army, Et. Al.

Willie came home from a week at the University of Idaho.

With him came some T-shirts for Mom and Dad.

He gave me the yellow one and Bill, the Akey's Army shirt.

After seeing an ad in this morning's paper for people to come and meet Idaho Vandal football coach Akey at Dover Bay Resort, I said to Bill that I believe the University of Idaho has embraced Rob Akey. And, yes, that's an understatement.

He has to be one of the most colorful coaches in college football, and he's turned his Vandal team and all its supporters into believers.

Having heard him interviewed a time or two, I'd feel safe in saying he's a supreme motivator, all through an incomparable enthusiasm.

Bill likes his shirt, and I like mine. Now, we're proper BSU parents, along with all our Boise State University Bronco memorabilia.

And, I can say I'm a good Vandal alum with my new shirt. Bill is and always has been an avid Vandal fan.

And, Willie assured me yesterday that he may be a Bronco grad, but he's gonna complete his Master's Degree at the University of Idaho.

So, he can always be a Vandal.

~~~~~

Now, speaking of  the Love family FANatics, Annie has asked a favor.  She and her friend Miriam have entered the Seattle Sounders Fan Contest.  Pictures of fans of all sizes, genders, etc. have been posted to the contest site.

Whoever wins in the voting gets to go to Houston to watch the Sounders play.

So, Annie asked that I post the site on my blog and encourage you all to click on it, find Annie and Miriam (they're the two lovely ladies with the blue and green Sounders wigs) and vote for them.

Of course, with these types of contests, the more people each of you Slight Detour fans tell, the more chances Annie and Miriam have to win the contest.

So, here's the site:  thanks for taking time to vote.  Annie will appreciate you, for sure.

http://www.werealotlikeyou.com/#contests/5/38

~~~~~

One more FANatic story:  I've submitted a story idea for the 20th anniversary edition of Sandpoint Magazine.  

It's the upcoming winter edition, and it's called ZAG NUTS.  It will be about how the ZAGS help so many people make it through the winters in Sandpoint.  So, if you're a ZAG NUT and you have an anecdote to share, send it my way.  I might just get to do the story, and maybe your contribution will appear in it. 

Thanks.

~~~~~

Under my new "Classified Ads" feature, I discovered that I have a box of "sorta gently used" Pocket Girdles books.  That means they have little pale yellow marks on the bottom side across the breadth of pages, and their covers and pages look a tiny bit rough.

I'll be happy to sell them for $5 plus postage and autographed if anyone's interested in a used "Pocket Girdles."  That's half-price.

On the reality side, I can't imagine anyone being interested in a used girdle, but keep in mind this is a book ABOUT the lingerie, not the real thing.

Send me a note at potatohead89@hotmail.com, if you're interested, and I'll send you a book.

~~~~~

My thoughts go out to the Evans, Moore and Gunter families.  They each lost a beloved family member over the past week.  Again, that longtime local status brings forth sadness when a string of folks you've known most or all of your life pass away.

Frank, Bobby and Cleadis, may you rest in peace.  I did not know Col. Paul Weisz, except by sight and by his mom Susie from St. Joseph's Catholic Church.  I always knew he was an outstanding individual, and his life story this morning confirmed that.

Frank, Bobby, Cleadis and Paul, RIP, and condolences to each of your family members.

~~~~~

Super 1 Foods opens tomorrow, less than a block from where Margaret and John Bradetich had their Boyer Store on the corner of Larch and Boyer. 
I read in this morning's history column that the Bradetich's opened their bigger, better M and J Food Store on Fifth Avenue (site of present Super Drug) 50 years ago this week.  

So, tomorrow will begin a new chapter in grocery shopping for Sandpoint, and a new chapter in how we get there.  The Roundabout on Boyer leading to Super 1 now takes up part of the site where all of us North Boyer folks used to shop so long ago.

Could this possibly be a case of the local grocery store scene going "full circle"?

~~~~~

It's another beautiful day in North Idaho, and it will be another night time when I totally collapse after a full day spent making the rounds to finish off projects and start others.  I was not successful in moving the rototiller yesterday.  The ground out there in the north garden is still too soft.  Maybe today.

With help from Bill, I did get Big Blue out of the back corner of  the storage shed last night.  We simply deposited it next to its summer home.  

 After lifting up the pool's vinyl cover which has been spread across the Big Blue sand foundation, we discovered a large colony of ants which had taken up residence there over the winter.

Both of us were imagining fighting off the ants while swimming, but Bill figures that when Big Blue gets filled several thousand gallons of water, the ants may go marching somewhere else.

I checked this morning, and I think they decided to leave Dodge before getting squashed.  

Happy Tuesday.