Minister’s Travels Traditional Yet Not
Jim Bean admits he prayed a lot before uniting Glenda York and Chuck Ulery in marriage last year. He had no qualms about the loving Rathdrum couple, but their cats … well, they were another story.
“I was very nervous, but you have to control your emotions. They sense your fear,” Jim says, reflecting on the wedding he performed standing between Glenda and Chuck’s African lion and Bengal/Siberian tiger.
Sure, he was scared, but that wedding was exactly the reason Jim became a marrying man.
“It gives me an opportunity to participate in life a little more, to live life instead of just go through it,” he says, his eyes gleaming.
At 49, Jim’s a master goldsmith, musician, instrument repairman and lifelong armchair philosopher. He believes wholeheartedly in marriage and has 31 years with his wife, Linda, to prove it.
He added traveling minister to his business cards five years ago to give couples more wedding options.
“I go wherever people want me to go,” he says from his home base in Coeur d’Alene.
So Jim walked into the lion’s den when Glenda and Chuck needed him. He visited the big cats several times a week for two weeks before the wedding and wore the same clothes each time so they’d get used to him.
On wedding day, the cats were tethered during the ceremony and trainers stood nearby.
That crowd may have been safer than the leather-clad bikers that gathered at Big Eddy near St. Maries last year for a wedding. After Jim finished that ceremony, spectators fired off a surprise 21-gun salute.
Not all of Jim’s weddings are dangerous. Some are just funny. One couple invited friends to a pajama party on a Bayview floathouse two years ago, then surprised them with a wedding. Everyone scrambled for coats when Jim entered with a Bible.
“It was just marvelous,” he says with a chuckle.
A wedding on Lake Coeur d’Alene’s shore at sunrise was magical for Jim. The bride and groom stood under a flowered arbor and pledged their love to each other as the sun rose behind them.
Jim’s smoked pipes at Native American ceremonies and is ready to unite a couple in a hot air balloon - as soon as they set the date.
“It’s given me a lot,” Jim says, with a contented smile. “I think I’d like to do this for the rest of my days.”
Makes cents
For once, there was no mention of white supremacists in the latest magazine story out on Coeur d’Alene. The National Council of Teachers of Math magazine, Mathematics, features Ramsey Elementary on its cover and inside.
Teacher Nancy Larsen wrote about her second-graders collecting pennies, writing about what different amounts could buy, weighing them, graphing the weights, estimating the total and, finally, buying playground equipment.
Most schools get the magazine. Stop in your local elementary and see if you recognize the smiling kids in the pictures.
Fast talkers
Lake City High’s debaters apparently argued circles around debaters from Spokane and other North Idaho schools. Six of the 12 students chosen from the region to compete at the national level are from Lake City.
Now, Andrea Schmitt, Addy Hunsinger, Casey Kelly, Dan Breczinski, Sara Egerer and Liberty Harris need $4,500 to fly to Fayetteville, N.C., next month for the big event.
It’s good to let the nation see the bright, educated side of North Idaho occasionally. If you can help, send donations to Terry Peters, Lake City High, 6106 Ramsey Rd., Coeur d’Alene 83814.
What’s up?
Whose story do you want to see in “Close to Home?” Spell it out for Cynthia Taggart, “Close to Home,” 608 Northwest Blvd., Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene 83814; fax to 765-7149; or call 765-7128.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo