Carver Tells Tales Through Totem Poles
A bear, fox and vengeful bird protect the mailboxes in Jim Strouse’s neighborhood.
The animals sit like circus tumblers on two totem poles Jim patiently chiseled in his workshop. The poles are 10 feet tall and intricately carved and painted. They tell people who read totem about Jim and his Dalton Gardens neighbors.
“Maybe the next one will be better,” Jim says, always critical of his artwork.
His neighbors were so giddy over Jim’s work that they threw a party. His wife tries for nonchalance but her pride bursts through when visitors notice Jim’s carvings.
Jim just lights another cigarette and shrugs. “I’ve never really liked one I’ve done,” he says.
That’s not entirely true. His eyes soften as his nicked fingers lift “Origin of Man” from his bookshelf. The foot-high cedar totem shows a raven opening a clam shell from which men are emerging.
It took Jim two years to carve the miniature copy of the famous totem. Not a wrinkle from the men’s grasping fingers nor a quill on the raven’s feathered coat is missing.
He had the time. He retired 14 years ago at age 48 from Kaiser’s Trentwood mill with a faulty heart. That allowed him to pursue his lifelong passion for Northwest Coast Indian art.
Jim’s poles tell his stories but with symbolic characters perfected by tribal artists over the ages. He doesn’t change a hair.
“I don’t want to insult these people,” he says.
The story on his newest poles starts on the bottom, as is traditional. An eagle represents Americans and a beaver represents the two Canadian-born women in the neighborhood.
Jim carved a bear holding two children to represent neighbors who are mothers and teachers. The fox is the symbol for Jim’s daughter, Tara.
Three sentinels atop one pole keep watch over the neighborhood. Hawk Hawk, a mythical character that eats wrong-doers, tops the other pole to show the neighborhood believes in justice.
“I can’t wait to finish one so I can start another,” Jim says, but admits he needs a break after this latest project. “Maybe this summer I’ll just go fishing.”
Grand guys
Todd Snyder and George Conrad tickle both the ivories and the funny bone. Todd is North Idaho College’s music director. George is a Coeur d’Alene attorney and composer.
They return to NIC’s stage Saturday as the Summer Theatre’s “Two Guys on Grands.” Songstress and comedienne Bobbi Kotula will join the guys. Tickets are $14. Call 769-7780.
What a ham
Hayden Meadows fifth-grader Michael Gray pulled the bacon from the fire a week ago when his pet pig filled in for a no-show pig at Lake City High’s kiss-the-pig fund-raiser. Pucker up, Michael. Someone at LCHS owes you, or at least your pig, a big kiss.
Solid support
Central Pre-Mix put the Coeur d’Alene Cultural Center on solid footing recently by pouring two inches of concrete inside the building and adding a circular stairway outside. Youth for Christ and O’Day Construction spent a Saturday drywalling.
Everyone donated the labor to open the doors to the great old brick building by summer. When you’re painting or studying the stars from the Cultural Center in a few months, remember whom to thank.
Teacher talent
Lakeland School District chose Lakeland High grad Aaron Wilhelm as its elementary teacher of the year. Students say he’s a great teacher and fun.
Lakeland chose Connie McGee as its secondary teacher of the year. She must be special - she teaches seventh-graders.
Tell us about the funny, wonderful, bizarre or memorable things your teachers or your children’s teachers did this year. Send your homework to Cynthia Taggart, “Close to Home,” 608 Northwest Blvd., Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, 83814; fax it to 765-7149; or call 765-7128.