Cda Greets Millennium With Bang

It only happens once every thousand years.

You get to buy fireworks in North Idaho on New Year’s Eve.

“We’re going to welcome in the new year with some fury!” said Kent Selty, as the Coeur d’Alene resident bought fountains, sparklers and various noise-makers for Friday night’s festivities.

A fireworks stand at the corner of Ramsey Road and Appleway Avenue was one of a handful open just for the holiday this week.

A lot of people are staying home this year, “so they’re really glad we’re doing this,” said stand vendor Phil Goodlander, who owns a nearby convenience store.

For the first - and last - time in years, vendors got permission from the Coeur d’Alene City Council to sell fireworks this week for New Year’s Eve celebrations.

Plenty of folks also were hitting Indian Country Fireworks on the Coeur d’Alene Indian Reservation, said Jessica Matheson, working at the nearby Indian Country Smokeshop on Friday afternoon.

“They figured there’d be a lot more business than usual,” Matheson said. “And I’ve heard we’ve got bigger fireworks than you guys have up there, we’ve got more aerial stuff.”

Goodlander figured several thousand people bought from his stand alone, grabbing fountains, smoke balls, sparklers and ground spinners.

Selty said his new armful of fireworks will welcome revelers attending a progressive party that features a Y2K dessert, Selty said: a confection of raspberry pie filling, white cake and a can of Sprite soda, cooked in a dutch oven - consumed by flashlight.

Around North Idaho, many partiers said they were staying home.

Last-minute shoppers at Rosauers in Coeur d’Alene bought mostly the usual items for a snowy holiday weekend. Carts exhibited lots of frozen pizzas, some champagne, turkeys and other meats.

The only big customer boom was on bottled water.

Norm Ridge, owner of Coeur d’Alene’s Army Navy Store, said his family was spending part of the evening at a regular New Year’s Eve gathering.

“But I also plan on being home early,” Ridge said.

And no, he didn’t stock up. “I’ve got the store.”

For others, the lure of the millennium was enough to drag them out on a wintry night.

Organizers of a huge gala at the Coeur d’Alene Greyhound Track at Post Falls were putting the finishing touches on an Academy Awards-themed evening.

Planned since last July, the party featured a staggering food list including 300 pounds of salmon, 250 pounds of potatoes, 250 pounds of baron of beef, 100 pounds of ham, more than 1,000 chocolate-covered strawberries and, of course, plenty of champagne.

The plan at Spirit Lake’s Fireside Lodge was a little more low-key.

About 50 or 60 people were expected to get their fill of food and music.

A combination of hot tunes - played by banjo players, fiddlers, harmonica and accordion players - and a family atmosphere with no open bar draws people all the way to this out-of-the-way town.

“The reason why we usually are packed, even at Spirit Lake, is because we are so different,” said lodge owner Nancy Erickson.