More Time Travel through Photos

Seated:  Katherine Racicot Swenson, Earl Shrake, Harold Tibbs,  Ardis Racicot, W.C. "Fats" Racicot and Virginia Tibbs.  Standing:  Gene Balch, Etta Balch and Mrs. Shrake.

My eyes have seen hundreds of photos in the past several days, many of which have been filed away for the video to be shown at our mother's Celebration of Life, Sunday, Aug. 11 at Western Pleasure Guest Ranch.  

I love the one above for numerous reasons.  Photographically speaking, it's a nice arrangement of people AND it was taken with a 4 by 5 format camera.  

I'm sure it may be the same camera that Fats Racicot either gave or sold to me for a small price.  

For several years, I did black and white darkroom work in my home.  This was an outgrowth of the photography techniques I learned while advising the Sandpoint High Monticola for fourteen years. 

Sometime during that era, Fats had decided his stint in the darkroom had ended.  So, most of his equipment moved to my house.

The camera now resides in New York City.  Fats first purchased it from famed local photographer Ross Hall.  During the years I had it, I probably took two or three photos. 
It was a busy time and there was hardly enough time, I guess, to learn the inner workings of the camera.

So, I either gave it or sold it for a minimal price to one of my students, Rocky Kenworthy. He knew how to use it and loved it.  

That made me happy because Rocky pursued a phenomenal career in photography, which included hanging out with Rollingstone Magazine cover photographer Mark Seligar and Time Magazine photographer Gregory Heisler.  He worked as assistant to both on their photo shoots. 

When Rocky was sending me postcards from his travels to assist with photos of Yitzhak Rabin, Yasser Arafat F.W. de Klerk and Nelson Mandela as the 1994 Time Magazine Men of the Year,  I was impressed.

So, the camera purchased by Fats from Ross, owned briefly by me and later owned by Rocky was in good hands. 

Back to the photo above.  I love the 4 by 5 format because of the clarity.  No work needed to make this group look "picture perfect," I'd say.  

These people were some of the originals in the Sandpoint Saddle Club.  I'm thinking that's how Mother got to know Harold, later marrying him in 1954.  

Most of these folks remained the core group of local family horse connections for years. I'd hate to total up the numbers of hours Mother spent on the phone talking to Ardis, Katherine and Etta.

Katherine's parents were Ray and Gertrude Racicot, a genteel couple who lived down in the northeast portion of Sandpoint.  

Gertrude, to me, was the epitome of the downtown Protestant church lady.  In fact, I thought, as a little girl, that she was always dressed up for church, regardless of what day it was. 

When her daughter Katherine talked to my mother on the phone, nobody needed hearing aids----even if they were outside the house.  Katherine's voice carried, and she always seemed intense about whatever the subject.

She and Mother rode matched pairs with their bay American Saddlebreds.  

My dad Harold lived with Fats and Ardis until he and Mother were married.  They were just down the road on North Boyer.  

Mother talked to Ardis a lot.  For a time, the two had some sort of dispute, and the telephone conversations ceased, but they eventually worked it out, and Mother was attending Ardis' birthday parties, clear up to her 100th.  

Fats, beside working as Sandpoint's Superintendent of Public Works, was known throughout the area as a horse show announcer.  I think he may have put in four or five decades behind the mike.

The Balches raised Arabians, and Gene was a part of Balch Lumber Co. on North Boyer, eventually Hedlund, then Louisiana Pacific, now a low-cost housing development.  

The Tibbs family started raising Arabians, thanks to the Balches.  Gene was also a master at grooming and showing horses.  

We learned great lessons from him about how to properly fit a horse for the show during the years they showed their beautiful horses all over the Northwest. 

Mother and Etta:  my oh my, the stories go on as do the family friendships.  Etta always reminded me a bit of the Lucy character.  She was so funny but could be so demanding too.  

A lot like Mother. 

Once, at the drop of a hat, Mother took off for town, went to IGA (yes, they sold clothes),  bought some new underwear and some other items, packed a suitcase and joined Etta and Pearl Irwin on a road trip to Albuquerque, New Mex.,  where one of Balches' horses competed in the Arabian Nationals. 

Mother had never pulled a horse trailer, but she learned in a hurry.  

During other times, I joined the Balches on their horse show trips.  One time Terri Greene and I went along as grooms and slept in the extra box stall at the Canadian Nationals in Calgary.

One morning we crawled out of our sleeping bags to discover crooner Wayne Newton standing just outside the door talking with his ranch manager.  We were idiots---never did have the nerve to ask for an autograph.

My daughter Annie took a cue from that mistake and, years later, had her photo taken with Mr. Newton. 

I don't know much about Earl Shrake except that he has nephews who are well-known judges and clinicians in the horse world.  

He also had the used furniture store on First Avenue, now a restaurant (can't think of its name) across from Ivanos and next to Spuds. 

The Sandpoint Saddle Club went on for years, sponsoring horse shows and appearing in the annual Fourth of July parade.  

My parents eventually dropped out (probably when Mother and Ardis were having their spat) and helped form the Bonner County Horseman's Assoc. 

The picture evokes so many memories associated with these people.  And, they all look so good.

I bet I could even write thousands and thousands of words,  based on my associations with them all. 

For this morning, though, I'll just keep it to a minimum and say I enjoyed the time travel associated with this picture, just as I have with so many other photos over these past few days.

Happy Saturday.