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

Fish Mart Thrives, And Manager Too, After Floundering

Cynthia Taggart Staff Writer

Cindy Hutchens’ husband opened his new fish market in Coeur d’Alene last May, then took off on a commercial fishing job in Alaska for three months.

His family needed the extra money while the fledgling market developed. But he left no one in charge in his absence - except Cindy by default.

“Suddenly, I was working 15-hour days,” she says with a frown.

Since 1985, Cindy had poured her energy into her three daughters. Last year, she homeschooled the younger two. She took pride in her weed-free garden and immaculate Carlin Bay home.

It all went to seed this summer.

“I haven’t seen the bottom of my couch for two months. It’s covered in laundry,” Cindy laments.

She had no experience running a business, ordering seafood or keeping it fresh. She knew the market’s reputation and success depended on her.

“I would lay awake at night worrying which fish was fresh, which needed to be ground up,” she says.

Her workday began before her girls awakened and ended long after they went to bed. Cindy grieved as if she’d lost her daughters. She hated the way the market’s demands supplanted her children’s.

Anxiety melted 17 pounds from her already thin body. She looked fragile but somehow had strength to tackle a broken air conditioner and microwave oven, a dead phone, a failing generator and a freezer full of thawing fish.

“If I can do it, anyone can,” she says.

Cindy moved with her girls to Coeur d’Alene last week. Now she can work and see her children. She wants to open a chowder house restaurant in the market. She expects pay for her work.

Her husband returned home last week to a healthy fish market and a changed wife. The market was a personal test Cindy didn’t want and wouldn’t do again. But she knows she’s gained from it.

“If God had a purpose in all this,” she says, “it was to make me a stronger person.”

Happy Birthday

Struggling for the right gift for Ruth Burch’s 90th birthday on Sunday? Here’s a hint: Nothing brings a smile to Ruth’s lips faster than a hamburger from Hudson’s in downtown Coeur d’Alene.

Ruth munched Hudson burgers 50 years ago, when she and her husband, Ray, ran Burch’s Furniture on the corner of Fourth Street and Sherman Avenue. She also probably put away a few burgers during her 50 years of volunteer work in town.

But Ruth’s daughter, Dianne Higgens, says no gifts are necessary to wish Ruth a happy birthday at the family’s former Twin Lakes summer home, Pinecrest, 1-5 p.m., Sunday. Follow the balloons to the lower lake and wrap the burgers well so they don’t get cold…

Deposit slip

The start of school brought a flurry of phone calls to the Finney family in Post Falls. People want to know where to donate to the Christina Finney Memorial Fund. Christina was 18 when she was killed June 1 in a car accident.

Track was her sport, so the Post Falls High track team benefits from the donations. Send your money to any Bank of America branch, account 53958856. Spare the family, please, and call Nancy Haas, 773-9985, with your questions.

Hoe, hoe, hoe

Priest River’s Dayna Hewitt is too young at 16 to know how to grow a victory garden. She wants to grow one, but I can’t tell her how. I’m too young at 40 to have seen one. Are we talking about red, white and blue flowers?

Who can help? Share with Dayna your victory garden stories and tips and I’ll send you a “Close to Home” T-shirt to garden in. Harvest those stories for Cynthia Taggart, “Close to Home,” 608 Northwest Blvd., Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene, ID, 83814; FAX them to 765-7149; or call 765-7128.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo