Widow Makes ‘Good Move’ To New Home

The work hurt and the climb to the mailbox wearied her 74-year-old body, so Janice Kelly left Coeur d’Alene’s Blackwell Hill 10 days ago.

“She’s been here forever,” moans Lynne Hutton, one of Janice’s former neighbors. “Who’s going to pick up the (pop) cans now?”

It just wasn’t the same up there among the wildflowers without Richard, Janice’s husband. He died two years ago, leaving Janice alone for the first time in 48 years.

“At first, I was going to try to stay, but I could see that I couldn’t,” she says, absently running her hands along her thin arms. “Everything done out there my husband did. For that reason, it was hard to leave.”

The Kellys bought their nine acres in 1963 when Janice was 42. For years, they had traveled like vagabonds with their children to wherever Richard could find work. They finally settled just southwest of Coeur d’Alene on Blackwell Hill.

East Riverview Drive was gravel then, and drivers braked so neighbors could cross to their mailboxes.

“There are a lot more people now, more traffic - ooh, a lot more traffic, oh my,” Janice laments.

They built their house at the bottom of a hill, near a spring, and added an orchard and a garden, spilling over with vegetables and berries.

Janice canned, managed the house, volunteered in the community and gathered cans that collected in the roadside brush. Richard was handy and did all the work on the land until cancer and heart failure stopped him.

After Richard died, the property was too much for Janice and the ducks weren’t enough company.

“I missed him,” she says, her eyes wandering to a picture of Richard triumphant after fishing. “He always did so much.”

With pioneer stoicism, Janice sold a lifetime of belongings at a yard sale a few weeks ago. But she packed the coffee table Richard had crafted from driftwood and took it with her to a pine-shaded apartment in north Coeur d’Alene.

“It was a good move,” she says. “It’s going to be a lot easier here.”

Torchbearers

You think all cops live on doughnuts? Wrong. Check out the 30 exercise-chiseled officers running Thursday in the annual Torch Run to raise money for Special Olympics.

To see them, gather along the bike trail in Coeur d’Alene between Rosauers and the Silver Lake Mall at 2:30 p.m. Or see the runners at 9 a.m. in Bonners Ferry, 10:30 a.m. in Sandpoint, 11:30 a.m. in Priest River, 12:30 p.m. in Rathdrum or 1:30 p.m. in Post Falls.

The runners are from various Panhandle law enforcement agencies. Call the cops if you want to sponsor one.

Artwise

Coeur d’Alene’s art galleries watched the master galleries in Seattle and liked what they saw. So, on Friday, they’ll start monthly tours, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., with hors d’oeuvres and demonstrations. Even restaurants want a piece of the action.

A pamphlet will serve as tour guide through eight galleries. Each gallery will stamp the pamphlet, and restaurants will discount meals according to the number of stamps.

Pick up a guide and some cheese and crackers at The Gallery by the Lake, 210 Sherman.

Dig this

Last summer, my daughter found a camera in 20 feet of water in Lake Coeur d’Alene. She let it dry, and it has worked fine ever since. Inspired, a friend of hers searched the Independence Point swimming area and found some bikini bottoms not too far from shore.

What’s the most interesting treasure you’ve found hunting in street excavations, diving in any North Idaho lake or tilling in the garden? Dig deep into your memories and send your discoveries to Cynthia Taggart, “Close to Home,” 608 Northwest Blvd., Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene 83814; send a fax to 765-7149 or call 765-7128.