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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Wanted: Minister Not Afraid Of Cats … Big Cats

Just try to find a minister who’ll walk into the lion’s den. Anyone searching for such a true test of faith can call Glenda York and Chuck Ulery.

The couple plan to marry June 17 inside the cage that Kodiak the African lion and Bigfoot the tiger share in Glenda’s back yard. The National Enquirer was so smitten with the idea, Glenda says, that it offered her $1,500 for exclusive photo rights to the wedding.

“The national exposure could bring in some money to feed the animals,” Glenda says, settling into the living room couch where her two young cougars wrestle every evening. “We’re both committed to the animals.”

What’s good for the animals, though, is turning into double jeopardy for prospective pastors.

“We were thinking we knew a person to perform the ceremony, but he’s more uncomfortable with the press than with the cats,” Chuck says.

Chuck and Glenda will help a minister brave the beasts (the four-legged ones). They’ll introduce him or her to Kodiak and Bigfoot days before the wedding. They’ll also chain the big cats out of reach of the wedding party during the ceremony.

Then there are simple safety tips to follow before climbing into the cage:

Scrub with unscented soap;

Don’t wear cologne;

Don’t wear leather;

Wash clothes in unscented detergent;

Don’t wear fringe.

But the couple have no wise words on how to handle the media zoo they expect at their exotic animal park five miles west of Rathdrum, Idaho. Glenda plans on a special press gate which will open into a press pen. She can offer a pastor no more protection than that.

“We’ll find a minister. I know we will,” Glenda says, a hint of doubt creeping into her voice.

Sure - someone willing to enter one lion’s den after another.

Party time

Slip on the work gloves and trot over to the St. Vincent de Paul Society’s Coeur d’Alene shelters April 22 and 23. So many businesses have donated equipment, materials and labor for a new playground and for finishing the basement in the women’s shelter that the project has turned into a party.

The Vietnam Veterans’ Motorcycle Club has called in members from nine states, including Hawaii, to do the labor. Richard Linde, Dick Woller and Brian Blaskey - Coeur d’Alene businessmen - have volunteered to oversee various parts of the project.

There will be food for workers, as well as lots of pats on the back. The project still needs rope, chains, the works for a gazebo, concrete, a basketball hoop pole, swing seats and breakfast food. Call 664-3095 if you can help.

True romance

When Wallace’s Sandy Mongelli married Michael 20 years ago, she brought her 1950 Chevy pickup along for the ride. She called it Merlin because it ran on magic. “Lord knows it didn’t run because of care or maintenance,” she writes.

Her husband convinced her to sell the truck when she was so pregnant she couldn’t fit behind Merlin’s 16-inch steering wheel. She blamed Michael for her loss for 10 years and grieved every time she saw another ‘50 Chevy.

On Valentine’s Day in 1984, Michael and their children steered Sandy into the garage where an old rust-bucket 1950 Chevy truck waited for her.

“I cried as I ran my hands over the hood emblems and dented grill rails,” she writes. “As I climbed into the dusty cab and breathed in that heady old-truck aroma, I knew that this was without a doubt the most romantic thing my husband had ever done.”

What’s your car or truck’s story? Share it and a photo with Cynthia Taggart, “Close to Home,” 608 Northwest Blvd., Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene 83814; or send a fax to 765-7149 or call 765-7128 and I’ll do the writing.