Video Camera Helps Retiree Keep Things In Focus

Was that you riding the mountain bike at Lancaster and Rimrock roads recently? Clifford Schoolcraft saw you.

Or were you the one buzzing along Lancaster in the spiffy Model T Ford? Clifford has you on videotape.

Clifford, 67, captures almost everything that happens on his corner on videotape.

“If he hears a siren, he grabs his camera and he’s out the door,” says his wife, Lorraine. “He has fun, and I get a lot of crocheting done.”

Clifford’s retirement in Hayden Lake four years ago could have driven Lorraine crazy. He was used to 14-hour workdays as a computer programmer in California. His workaholism didn’t end with his last paycheck.

But his creativity blossomed. Clifford bought a video camera, downloaded potential graphics and music onto his computer and went to work.

He videotaped the pipes under his house and put the pictures on computer.

“That way I don’t have to crawl under when there’s a problem,” he says, his glasses magnifying a touch of urgency in his eyes. “I can just print out a picture and say, ‘I need that part.”’

He videotaped three car accidents and gave copies to the drivers to share with their insurance companies.

He videotaped the building of his neighbor’s house, from the clearing of the lot to the final touches. One construction worker didn’t want his face on tape, so Clifford cut him out in the editing process.

“I won’t offend anyone on purpose,” he says.

He added graphics and music and presented copies to the builder and the owners.

Sheriff’s deputies wave to him when they drive by because they know Clifford is videotaping. He shoots bluebirds and incoming storms, road and utility workers, even the growing menageries at neighbors’ farms. And he gives it all away.

“I’m keeping the past alive,” he says. “It’s history.”

He compiled a video collage for a neighbor of the television coverage of the recent Aryan Nations march in Coeur d’Alene. It ended with his own footage of the neo-Nazis returning to the compound a mile down the road from him.

His mission to record life on his corner keeps him so busy editing on his computer that Lorraine often wakes up alone in the middle of the night. She doesn’t mind.

“He worked hard all his life for not much money and he loves it up here. It’s God’s country,” she says. “Every morning we get up and see something beautiful and he captures every beautiful moment. He never does anything on a small scale.”

Emotion potion

Most of us have suffered through times of dread, when the knot in the stomach keeps us on edge and the mind just won’t pay attention to everyday business. But some people go through this all the time.

Doctors call it panic/anxiety disorder. The good news is that Kootenai Medical Center is bringing Dr. James Hancey from Oregon Health Sciences University to town Aug. 21 to talk about managing it.

This talk is not just for doctors. It’s also for people who think they’re at the mercy of their emotions.

It’s also not just at KMC. Interactive video will link hospitals in all five northern counties to Hancey. The hourlong talk starts at 10:30 a.m. Call KMC, 666-2030, or your local hospital for details.

A kindness

A teenage customer at Bagelby’s in Coeur d’Alene realized recently that she’d left her money in the pocket of another outfit. She stopped her order in mid-creation, but the nice clerk insisted on giving her the sandwich anyway. She repaid his kindness in cash the next day.