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

For what it’s worth, aquatics can be rigorous exercise

Revelvers take part in the Christmas parade down Sherman Avenue in Coeur d’Alene. (Dave Oliveria)
By Dave Oliveria The Spokesman-Review

Doug Eastwood, the former Coeur d’Alene parks director, enjoyed his first aquatics class at the Kroc Center to the beat of his 25-ish-year-old instructor’s music. Aquatics, he learned, worked all the muscle groups. If you exercised hard enough, he told Huckleberries, aquatics is as rewarding as cross-country skiing or snowshoeing. When the class was over, Eastwood was approached by the energetic instructor. “How did you like the class?” she asked. Eastwood told her he had two words to sum up his response: “Buffalo Springfield.” Eastwood figured that the other Seasoned Citizens in the class would appreciate vintage rock by the band that produced a 1967 protest song with the famous line: “There’s something happening here. What it is ain’t exactly clear.” Mebbe next time, Eastwood should use as his two-word review, “The” and “Beatles.” The kids still know who John, Paul, George and Ringo are, right?

Free shipping?

Young Kwak was delighted when he completed his online Christmas shopping for family in California – and received free shipping, to boot. However, the Spokane photojournalist’s joy turned to a frown in a few days when all those packages arrived on his doorstep. Yep, he had forgotten to change the shipping address. So he repacked everything and shipped them to the Golden State relatives. Hey, any of you who hasn’t done something like this at one time or another, can throw the first snowball.

’60s social media?

On this day 50 years ago, then-Coeur d’Alene Police Chief George Lenz was celebrating the success of the department’s Phone Tree. According to the Coeur d’Alene Press, the new system was being used to warn merchants about bad-check writers, quick change artists, and other scofflaws. Lenz credited it for the capture of two petty criminals that December. So now you know what passed for Twitter in 1968.

Poet’s corner

“Like tiny stars upon the trees/ they twinkle in the frosty breeze,/ and throw their little rays of light/ like hope into the cold black night” – Tom Wobker, The Bard of Sherman Avenue (“Christmas Lights, Sherman Avenue”)

Huckleberries

Jesse Mahuron, Reclaim Idaho organizer, wonders if future generations will send Christmas cards to friends and family via snail mail. Facebooks she: “They do take time and are a little tedious, but I am always happy to receive one in the mailbox. A little joy seems worth it to me.” Bingo … Kids Still Say the Darndest Things: Angela Goodman, of Rathdrum, offers this insight from her “ridiculously smart” 2-year-old, David: “This snow is crunchy. Know what else is crunchy? Croutons.” Now, we know what Goodman puts on her little one’s salads … At 1 a.m., in the Silver Valley town of Kellogg, it’s not wise to honk your horn incessantly because you’re miffed that someone has taken your parking space. Sgt. Paul Twidt writes in his Roll Call report that the woman realized the error of her ways when a patrol cop explained it to her … Bumpersnicker: Betsy Hawkins, of Coeur d’Alene, spotted a sticker that made her laugh: “If the climate were a bank, it would have been saved by now.” Then, she Facebooks, she was “sobered by the truth of it” … Jeanne Helstrom, of Coeur d’Alene, was asking herself “what’s going on around here” after she smashed a MOSQUITO on the wall of her garage Tuesday morning. Forewarns the North Idaho native: “We’re in for it if we don’t get a good freeze.”

Parting shot

State Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, was looking for recycling ideas for all those old, plastic campaign signs taking up space in her storage shed. The long-serving legislator won’t need them after she retires in a few weeks. A Facebook follower said he wouldn’t mind taking some of the larger ones: “They make excellent radiator insulation in older vehicles,” he said, adding devilishly: “Or at least your opponent’s signs did.”

D.F. Oliveria can be contacted at dfo.northidaho@gmail.com.