"Slight Detour" editor Helen Newton and her hubby Skip donated the tree to the City of Sandpoint for this year's town square display.
It's a spruce, which has stood proudly at the Newton home for decades. Upon inspecting it before the tree was cut, my husband Bill, the forester, is still not sure what variety of spruce.
Properly named or not, it's a magnificent tree and now stands proudly downtown in all its lighted splendor.
My sisters and our friend Maryann stood and admired the tree while I snapped some photos.
Downtown Sandpoint has a magical look to it during these winter nights leading up to Christmas, and it's an enjoyable treat to take it all in.
If I hadn't wanted to take photos of that tree, we may have eaten somewhere other than Connie's, and that would have meant that another wonderful treat (besides the great beef nacho plate) would have been missed.
Just as we were about to leave, I noticed four women coming into the restaurant and seating themselves at a booth in the main part of the restaurant. A couple of them walked past where we were sitting in the back.
Suddenly, I recognized one. Candy Fisher James, whose husband Dennis is one of my classmates, had been at our 50th-year reunion in September. I have seen Candy and Dennis from time to time over the years when they're staying at their home in Cocolalla.
I have NOT seen Candy's sister Bea for 50 years, and I was thrilled when Candy brought her back to our table.
Bea was a year behind me at Sandpoint High, and we shared something in common as both of us served as editors of the SHS Cedar Post during our respective senior years.
To say I was overjoyed to visit with Bea after all these years would be an understatement. She lives in St. George, Utah, where she has taught marketing at the community college there and also has been involved in real estate.
It was fun seeing all the Fisher sisters, actually meeting the youngest for the first time. One sister was in the SHS Class of 1961, and she remembered my brother and sister-in-law from the Class of 1962.
These sisters had come to Sandpoint for the weekend to honor what would have been their mother's 100th birthday. They had come to Connie's after spending some time at the bowling alley.
It's a Memory Lane sort of trip for them and obvious they're having a delightful time.
After posting a photo of Bea and me on Facebook last night, I saw a comment from Esther Pennington Inselmann, suggesting that the matriarch of the Fisher sisters had lobbied to change the name of the Fish Hatchery Road to Lakeshore Drive.
I'd love to know if that's the case, only for historical reasons, of course. Always nice to know the tidbits that make up the history of our community.
I also heard another name while talking to the sisters last night----that of their older brother Jan Fisher. Turns out he is a world-renowned artist of note, having taught art at BYU-Hawaii and having sculpted several impressive pieces with the Polynesian theme.
Probably his most famous, according to Wikipedia, is the sculpture of acclaimed surfer and Olympic swimming gold medalist Duke Paoa Kahanamoku in Waikiki Beach. The sculpture is pictured below.
One can never predict the outcomes of those hundreds of simple choices we make throughout each day. Sometimes mundane, sometimes not good, sometimes monumental and pleasantly memorable as last night's visit with the Fisher sisters and the subsequent visit to the town Christmas tree.
Choosing Connie's as our dining destination last night certainly netted some wonderful results along with our good meals.
Tonight we'll dine here at the Lovestead, with Bill pulling out a package of pulled pork for sandwiches and my cooking up a fun dessert.
It's ZAGfeast night, and we're also hoping that the Bulldogs will pull off a victory against the UCLA Bruins, who knocked off No. 1 Kentucky last week.
Gonna be a tough test for the ZAGS who are still without their big man, Przemek Karnowski.
GO ZAGS! Happy Saturday.
1 comment:
when we were in Hawaii in 2010 we went to the Duke's restaurant.. the food was great.. One of my son's jumped up to pay the bill and to inform them that we were all in Hawaii to celebrate my 70th birthday, which set in motion. dance and sing song of Happy Birthday to me.. as they presented me with a volcano desert that was a foot high.. which there was some left over even after all 12 of us ate off it.. it was choc. caramel, whip cream galore on ice cream and cake.. .... if you get to that island..you got to try it.. Oh, yea.. and the sun was setting.. such a view.. as it all open..
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