Christmas in Sandpoint

I know.  I know.  It's politically incorrect to term this week of the BIG GIFT as a Christmas happening.  

But I'm willing to bet that most of us OLD timers think of the grand opening of the Byway as an event coming pretty close to the magnitude of Christmas.

The coming of the Byway has been long prophesied.  Nonbelievers can now step aside and make way for the masses whose prayers have finally been answered.  

There is a God,  and God will surely smile on our community this week as more than half a century of hope and prayers has turned into action.  

I also believe that Kevin Costner's movie prophecy will surely come true.

If you build it, they will come.  They will come and they will go with ease.  And, the multitudes will still stop and shop in downtown Sandpoint.

Cattle will head on their way to greener pastures---with no giant cattle guard called America's Best Small Town stopping their progress anymore. 

While "turists," as Bill likes to call them,  stop and shop in Sandpoint, the locals will have a straight shot to Costco in Coeur d'Alene without passing STOP several times through town.

It will be Heaven for all concerned. 

The wise men AND women will come and speak about this multi-million-dollar achievement.

The masses will sing "Hallelujah." 

I can't wait.  

I do have a hair appointment at noon Friday, and the timing couldn't be more appropriate.  I can leave the salon, all gussied up with a new ZAP, and join in on the festivities a mere block away.  

Sounds like it's the same place where many believers met for the original Baptism of the Byway four years ago.  I got my picture taken with the governor that day.  

I'm betting the crowd might even be larger than it was in 2008.  

During my lifetime here in Sandpoint, I've attended several grand openings and picked up a few tasty refreshments in the process.  

A lot of those were, of course,  grocery stores.  I'm sure that every time Margaret and John Bradetich or Les Rogers opened a new store, I was there. 

The new high school---now 20 years old---may not have attracted my interest for its grand opening.  

After all as a teacher, I was gonna spend enough time there, and somehow its welcome to the community wore out fairly quickly.

That first year, the inmates under the rule of a dictatorial administrator, failed to show much respect for their new home.  

Anyone searching the anals--or iz it annals?---of SHS history will learn that the year 1991-92 was a rocky beginning for Sandpoint's long awaited new school.

The dictatorial guy left before graduation that year, and, as the years went by, some of the original depressing interior design in the building gave way to a more welcoming decor. 

I do know that I was present the day they had the grand opening for the Cedar Street Bridge.  I shall never forget a comment uttered by my friend Bob who owned another store in downtown Sandpoint.

"I wonder how long that kite shop is gonna last," he said as we stood on the bottom floor looking up at one of the second-floor venues.

Well, the kite shop and many more stores have come and gone from the Cedar Street Bridge aka Coldwater Creek aka Cedar Street Bridge.

The Bridge still stands, however, as a modern-day Sandpoint Landmark.

And, after this week's festivities, folks can now stand, leaning on the railings of the Bridge, watching a portion of the world zip "by" on the new "way," as locals and "turists"  enjoy the life of leisure, recreation and Sandpoint flavor on walkways, bike paths and beautiful Sand Creek below. 

Scenes depicting the iconic "It's a wonderful life" will thrive. 

I think we'll all do just fine with this "long-awaited coming" of the Byway.  Our lives in this community will change significantly, but for the better, I believe.

We truly have a Christmas-style event in store for our community this week, and when our big gift is unwrapped, the multitudes will surely rejoice----for a long, long time.

With that, I'll end on a politically correct note:  Happy Byway, to us!