Cindy Hval

Some fellows are slow starters. Tom Murphy met his future bride, Betsy, when he was 4 years old. However, it took him 52 years to marry her. The couple, who wed on Feb. 14, 2006, say it was worth the wait. They owe their meeting to an awful disease which affected many people in the early 1950s. Tom's father and Betsy's mother both suffered from polio. The two families met at the YMCA's polio aquatic club. "I remember having family dinners at the Murphy house," Betsy said. "There were 10 kids in the family. Tom was my brother's age and the boys tormented the girls."

What comes to mind when you hear accordion music? If you think Myron Floren and "Roll Out the Barrel," then Joe Jenkins is out to change your mind. Accordion Joe, as he prefers to be called, wants you to think of Elvis and "Don't Be Cruel." For 56 years this talented musician has been on a mission: to change the image of accordion music from polkas and schottisches to rock 'n' roll.

Neither rain, nor snow, nor a seemingly endless winter, can stop some signs of spring – like the fourth annual Stallion Showcase and Horse Sale, Saturday at Valley Mission Horse Arena. The event, billed as "an old-fashioned horse fair and open house," is one of the first opportunities for local stables to get their horses out of the barns and into the public eye.

On a blustery April afternoon at Gonzaga Prep, teacher Christian Birrer's sixth-period sophomore honors English class pulled their desks into a semicircle. They had more on their minds than upcoming tests or after-school sports. Instead, the students spoke of inherent evil, genocide and groupthink. The class had recently read "Lord of the Flies," by William Golding. The classic tale of British schoolboys struggling to create a semblance of civilization while stranded on a deserted island had prompted lively discussions. When Birrer saw a contest in the newspaper, sponsored by the Spokane Community Observance of the Holocaust Planning Committee, he thought it would be a great way further that discussion.

"Don't worry, Mom." The first time I heard those three little words from my son, Alex, he was 3 years old. He yelled them as he wobbled by, perched shakily on the back of his 5-year-old brother. "Don't play horsey in the house," I said. "Someone is going to get hurt."

Wedding anniversaries come but once a year, and it's only fitting to celebrate them in special ways. March 22 was our 22nd anniversary. Easter had the gall to come early this year, making a weekend getaway impossible. Instead of holing up at a luxury hotel, Derek and I celebrated our union at the Big Horn Outdoor Adventure Show. It was my idea – really. I'm always looking for interesting stories and this seemed like a good place to find them.

It's the time of year when giddy girls converge on formal-wear shops looking for the perfect prom dress. It's also the time of year for parents of those girls to cringe at the price tags affixed to dresses usually worn only once. Julianne Sullivan feels their pain. When her daughter was in high school she helped her shop for dresses for both her junior and senior proms. "We noticed a lot of girls looking around the shops and leaving with nothing." Sullivan said the most basic formal dress will usually run around $200. It bothered her to think that many girls might miss this milestone for lack of a pretty dress.

To say that cancer has touched Mary Anne Ruddis is like saying Hurricane Katrina touched New Orleans. In a few short years the disease claimed her husband, daughter and son. However, the executive director of Candlelighters of the Inland Northwest doesn't waste time on self-pity. The bulletin board in her office at Sacred Heart Medical Center Children's Hospital is covered with photos. Snapshots of kids battling cancer, and kids who've succumbed, keep her company as she works.

Wedding anniversaries come but once a year, and it's only fitting to celebrate them in special ways. March 22 was our 22nd anniversary. Easter had the gall to come early this year, making a weekend getaway impossible. Instead of holing up at a luxury hotel, Derek and I celebrated our union at the Big Horn Outdoor Adventure Show. It was my idea – really. I'm always looking for interesting stories and this seemed like a good place to find them.

It's a long way from Santa's workshop, but once a week the craft room at Harbor Crest Retirement Community on Spokane's South Hill resembles it. On a recent afternoon the room bustled with activity. The sound of a drill press punctuated conversation as a small group of volunteers painted dozens of wooden toy trucks. "It's quite a project," said Harbor Crest resident Earl Haynes. "We're making about 2,000 trucks and they're all going to charity."

Jeayoung Yoo, a Shadle Park High School senior, is one of 30 finalists from across the United States in the third annual Lucerne The Art of Dairy contest. If she wins the grand prize, she'll earn $20,000 for her high school and $5,000 each for her art teacher and herself. What's unusual about this contest is that the design must be sketched on a cow and must adhere to the theme of the competition: "Cows and History."

Good museum curators must be part scientist, part detective, part teacher and part student. It also helps if they're good at piecing together jigsaw puzzles. Marsha Rooney, senior curator of history for the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture, possesses all these qualities. "People think that history is written and put on a shelf," she said. "But it isn't. To me, a museum is filled with objects that all have a story to tell."

The boxes are precious, exquisitely decorated with hand-painted scenes. One might feature a downy yellow duckling clutching a leafy umbrella. Another may be adorned by a teddy bear with angel wings nestled on a pillow, or brilliant butterflies flitting across a pale green background. What makes these papier-mâché containers priceless are the items they will one day hold. These aren't merely decorative display pieces. They are memory boxes. Someday each one will contain keepsakes like a lock of hair, a plaster footprint, and maybe a pair of booties or a tiny knit hat.

While most folks are gearing up for spring March Madness, Pastor Steve Wilson is winding down after a busy NFL season. Church responsibilities keep Wilson, the executive pastor at Spokane Valley Church of the Nazarene, busy most of the year. But when August arrives he dons zebra-striped jersey No. 29, and embarks on his second job: NFL official.

Sometimes the smallest things can have the most profound impact – a delicate paper crane, for instance. Many years ago, Patti Reiko Osebold, a Japanese American born in Hawaii, saw her first origami crane – in Iowa of all places. A friend had just given birth, and someone made her a crane as part of a baby gift.

Amber Butler, owner of Precision Pilates in downtown Spokane, is proud to call her mom and sister big losers. In fact, she wishes she could call them the Biggest Losers. Unfortunately, her mother Bette-Sue Burklund, won't be able to claim that title, but there's still a chance Butler's sister Ali, will. Butler's mom and sister, both from Mesa, Ariz., were contestants on the popular NBC show "The Biggest Loser." The mother/daughter Pink team was voted off in week four. When Bette-Sue visited Spokane recently, Butler hosted a party at the Onion restaurant in downtown Spokane, in her honor. A large crowd gathered to meet Burklund and to watch a special episode of "The Biggest Loser" with her.

Oprah Winfrey is annoying me. I don't often see her show, but I have thumbed through her magazine. It seems every other issue contains articles admonishing me to "live in the moment." Buddhists call it mindfulness. The idea is pretty simple. We are supposed to focus on just this moment, right here, right now. It's a nice concept, but I struggle with it. Like many folks I work in a deadline-driven industry.

It's not often that you hear Rob Zombie's "Living Dead Girl," blaring from a church sanctuary. But it's also not often that a full-length fashion runway show is produced in a church. Even more unusual is the reason for the show – to raise money for children in orphanages all over the world. Circus Panic is the brainchild of 19-year-old Jeff Wallace Jr., founder of Models for Awareness. "Our motto is: 'Changing the world through fashion and faith,' " said the 2007 Mead graduate.

Chances are Dennis Schultz will be sleeping outdoors tonight. The 60-year-old said he's been homeless for 20 years. "I lose everything periodically, to due process of law," he confided.

While most folks are gearing up for March Madness, Pastor Steve Wilson is winding down after a busy NFL season. Church responsibilities keep Wilson, the executive pastor at Spokane Valley Church of the Nazarene, busy most of the year. But when August arrives he dons zebra-striped jersey No. 29, and embarks on his second job: NFL official.

After years of scarfing down fast food in the back seat of the minivan, Americans have declared meals around the family dinner table are back en vogue. A quick Google search reveals dozens of articles and studies touting the value of dining together. For example, this excerpt from Time Magazine states, "Studies show that the more often families eat together, the less likely kids are to smoke, drink, do drugs, get depressed, develop eating disorders and consider suicide … ."