Huckleberries: Coeur d’Alene Navy vet Jim Shepperd left fond memories in his wake

Many of us have fond memories of the late World War II Navy veteran Jim Shepperd, a fixture at veteran-honoring events for decades in Coeur d’Alene. But one from former Coeur d’Alene Councilman Mike Kennedy is hard to beat. Shortly after moving to the Lake City in 1991, Mike met Jim at a Kootenai County Democratic Club luncheon. He was introduced by Jeff Bell, a staffer for then-Democratic U.S. Rep. Larry LaRocco. Jim was sitting a few seats away as Mike ordered clam chowder. The waitress assured Mike that clam chowder was available. Which prompted Jim to pipe up: “Yea, Mike, and you’re in luck. I heard last week they got a new clam!” Mike retold that story on social media after learning that Jim had died in his sleep at his home in Hayden on Tuesday. Quoth Mike: “I still use that line, giving credit to one of the nicest and most patriotic people I’ve ever met in my life.” Jim will be missed this Memorial Day. And at the Fourth of July Parade. And on Veterans Day. And many other occasions.

Basket full

Coeur d’Alene Cellars wine. Check. Bardenay liquor. Check. Wayne Manis’ book, “The Street Agent.” Check. Spud candy bars. Check. Mary Wolfinger, wife of Sheriff Ben Wolfinger, is packing a basket full of Idaho-based goodies for a fundraising auction at the annual Western State Sheriffs Conference next month in Reno, Nevada. What else should she include, Mary asked on her Facebook page. My Huckleberries Online crew chimed in: A University of Idaho hat or shirt (but nothing from Boy-C State). Huckleberry jam. Tickets to a Coeur d’Alene Summer Theater play. Then, things went south. Meth. A gun rack. A Confederate flag. Yeah, it’s always like herding cats.

Huckleberries

Poet’s Corner: Thru wind and rain/And in the snow berm/He enforces the rule/Of a two-hour term – Remember the Bard (“Diamond Parking Guy”) … Reason given at Coeur d’Alene’s Christmas by the Lake to celebrate on Wednesday: National Margarita Day. Subhead: “Only 305 days until Christmas” … According to a Feb. 24, 1985, item in this column, the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office and Coeur d’Alene Police Department were considering moving in together – to a joint use building at the fairgrounds. But KCSO was too demanding. It wanted too much. And each entity went its separate way. Each side has to give 100 percent to make a relationship work … Don’t Blame the Carrier: My dark thoughts of missed newspapers this winter are receding with the snow, now that the lost S-R editions for Dec. 26, Dec. 27 and Jan. 19 have poked out of the berm in front of the house.

Parting shot

Many have fallen this winter. But Faith Tonna, of Coeur d’Alene, did so with style. Walking through a parking lot toward a sidewalk in the 1000 block of Ironwood Drive last week, Faith stepped into a snow berm up to her right thigh. And then face-planted in the.snow. She got up, wet but uninjured, brushed herself off and laughed. Then, she noticed a woman in a parked car with her hand over her mouth, laughing hysterically. Faith smiled and waved. Afterward, she said: “Glad I made someone’s day.” Laugh and the world still laughs with you.