Beach holds special place in CdA history
I first met Duane Hagadone 37 years ago at a dinner at the old Outlaw Inn for management of his Kalispell (Mont.) Daily Inter Lake. I was the paper’s news editor then.
Duane was 44 at the time. He was a larger-than-life figure even then. He sat across the table from Mrs. O and me. I asked him: “What plans do you have for your newspapers?” He responded: “I’m going to make them the best damn newspaper chain in the United States.”
Why am I telling you all this? Coeur d’Alene’s Favorite Son turned 82 on Wednesday. Kerri Thoreson, Post Falls councilwoman and Coeur d’Alene Press columnist, chronicled the news.
She’d led her Main Stream column that day by discussing the closure of the Beachouse on Silver Beach days before. Which prompted a phone call from Hagadone, who owns the Press and the Beachouse property. Kerri related part of the conversation on Facebook.
Hagadone told her of a couple who attended a Labor Day barbecue at Silver Beach 82 years ago to the day. At about 6 p.m., the wife, Beverly, who was pregnant, told her husband, Burl, that the baby was coming. Four hours later, the Hagadones’ son, Duane, was born.
And Coeur d’Alene has never been the same.
Have phone, will gobble
My beagle, Huckleberry, doesn’t chase rabbits or birds. But she’ll go an extra mile for a cellphone.
Take Thursday evening, for example – puh-LEEZ. I was surprised to see her digging in the back lawn. Again. My wife and I have tried to break her of the habit. Seems she was burying something this time. My cellphone.
She already has one of my cellphones notched on her dog collar. It was my fault for leaving the phone in a place that she can reach. Actually, she had to jump for it. But she has quite a jump for a 13-inch beagle.
My relatively new cellphone now has some dog-tooth indentations on it. But it still works. Do you suppose Huckleberry is trying to train me?
Huckleberries
On the Coeur d’Alene Education Association Facebook page Friday, teachers were told: “The time has come to make the life of a school board member uncomfortable.” The post recommended that teacher members confront trustees “in the community, at the store, at church, etc.” Wonder when the union brings in Vinny and other thugs from Chicago to break knuckles? … Poet’s Corner: The yellow bus came by today/and carried summertime away” – The Bard of Sherman Avenue (“Finis”) … From Post Falls Police Department day shift Wednesday: “Local business called due to an upset customer refusing to leave; customer was upset over the advertisement of a combo meal.” What? He wasn’t allowed soda refills? … Kalae’s Law: “Lip Gloss 101: Once you break down to buy a new one, the 5 lip glossi (plural) that have been missing for days reappear!” – Kalae Chock/KXLY … The Movoto Real Estate Blog offers a 10 Best Places to Live in Idaho list that includes Twin Falls, Idaho Falls and Lewiston. But not Coeur d’Alene, Sandpoint or Wallace. Seriously? … About 135 people were using the new McEuen Park last Tuesday, the day after the Labor Day weekend – or about 130 more than would have been using it two years ago at the same time.
Parting shot
Veteran journalist David Bond of Wallace offers one last comment about Duane Hagadone before Huckleberries turns the page to a new week: “Love him or dis him, DBH is a man of his word, and he put his money into his hometown when most others would have run. And he could have taken his marbles off the table and run with them. I admire the man. Gracious, honest and willing to bet on the good guys. If you can make a buck doing that, so much the better. My guess is, when he looks in the mirror in the morning, he gets to like what he sees.”