Table Mix-Up Suffocates Fun At Smothers Show
A funny thing happened to Linda Thompson at the annual Coeur d’Alene Chamber of Commerce banquet. Well, maybe it wasn’t so funny. She and seven others at her table paid 65 bucks apiece to get up close and personal with the Smothers Brothers or $10 extra per head. And they ended up by the exit trying to see the dynamic ‘60s duo on the TV monitors scattered around The Coeur d’Alene Resort banquet room.
Thompson complained. But chamber officials simply shrugged and said the resort had switched the tables around. And she and her husband weren’t the only ones who flushed $130 down the toilet for a long-range view. Said Linda: “The Smothers Brothers were good; the rest was lousy.”
Judys are wild
Coeur d’Alene Mayor Al Hassell has three Judys in his life - his wife, Judy, his partner Judy Anderson and the man who wants to take away his job, Steve Judy. … Steve Judy, of course, has all kinds of Judys in his life, too, including his mother whose maiden name, believe it or not, was Judy Little. Imagine what life would have been like for Judy Judy had she moved to equally redundant Walla Walla. … By the way, Judy, Steve, not mother Judy (I couldn’t resist that extra bit of confusion), is the great-grandson of Andy Little. You may have read about him in Louise Shadduck’s book: “Andy Little, Idaho Sheep King.”And we must move onward. Onward.
Pacify, not mummify
Hats off to the Kootenai Medical Center for its new “instant customer pacification” program. KMC will permit any employee, from management to housekeepers, to spend up to $1,000 to improve customer and patient satisfaction. Hospital officials stole the idea from the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. Here’s hoping KMC has great success in achieving the Ritz’s ultimate goal: “Never lose a customer.” … If you look up “Ritz-Carlton” in the S-R computer library, the first thing that pops up are stories about Marv Albert. That gives “instant customer pacification” a whole new meaning.
Huckleberries
May I have a moment of silence please for the Kootenai County Democrats? They’ll stage a dinner this week for “past legislators” because (drum roll, please) they don’t have any other kind. … Any ideas out there on what to name the new middle school and its mascot? Send them in writing to principal Jim Lien at Canfield Middle School, E. 1800 Dalton Ave. Personally, I was hurt that Lake City High rejected my suggestion for its mascot: Minimum Wage Earners. … So, what kind of articles would student Nathan “Opie” Baker like to see in the North Idaho College Sentinel? “Scantily dressed women, and a party guide.” This, according to “Street Beat.” Fast forward 15 years, and you’ll probably find Opie with a couple of kids, potbellied and attending Promise Keepers. … By the way, Chokecherries in the Oct. 9 Sentinel offered this nugget: “We just noticed that spellcheck doesn’t catch the error if you leave the “c” out of faculty!” … Miss Idaho USA and Miss Idaho Teen USA go to great lengths to emphasize the cerebral over the physical - and then describe contestants thusly: “This 5-foot-7 blue-eyed brunette,” blah, blah, blah. All that’s left out is the girl’s measurements. Thankfully. … My first impression of the Kootenai County Courthouse annex? No paper towels in the men’s restroom downstairs. Good thing I was wearing jeans instead of slacks. I had something to wipe my hands on.
Parting shot
In-service days at School District 271 are supposed to give teachers a paid day to educate themselves. They’re suppose to attend lectures and workshops. Ahaha. A peek at the cars outside Lake City High recently revealed many of the mentors were playing hooky. Explained one teacher on the way out the door: “I’ve heard it all before.” And where have we heard that before? How about from every kid who ever cut school? Where’s a truant officer when you need one?
Gotta Huckleberry? Call the Huckleberry Hound Hotline: (800) 344-6718 or (208) 765-7125; daveo@spokesman.com.
, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = D.F. Oliveria The Spokesman-Review