Visit Wardner, Just For Clicks
FROM CLOSE TO HOME (Friday, July 28, 2000): Where’s Wardner Oops. For those of you wondering how to find Wardner’s great Web site (Wednesday’s column), it’s at www.nidlink.com/~signworks/wardner.html.
Wardner is a whisper of the mining metropolis it was in 1890. It’s one street wide now and melts into Milo Gulch like a sunset into the night.
The biggest stir in town comes from dump trucks leaving a nearby gravel pit.
So why does it attract visitors from all over the world? Because this tiny town is connected.
“We have three high-tech companies in town,” John Shovic boasts out of community pride. He’s president of one, TriGeo software.
The technological wizards behind those companies helped Wardner establish a Web site three years ago that has proved a constant source of entertainment for browsers world-wide.
The attraction is Chuck Peterson, a strapping, white-haired former miner who runs the Wardner Gift Shop and Memorabilia Museum.
John, a Washington State University engineering professor, and Don Ueckert, a graphic artist, recognized Chuck’s star power after one coffee klatch on the museum’s front porch.
Chuck recited the history of Wardner as smoothly as a park ranger. Not long after, John and Don emerged from their shared workshop with a talking Chuck doll. Then a Chuck clock. Chuck’s arms are the clock’s hands. Next came a Chuck wristwatch.
“We started the Web site because Chuck has such pride in Wardner,” Don says. “He’s Wardner’s biggest booster.”
A lot of cities have Web sites, but few have cameras that post new pictures of the town’s favorite character every 15 minutes, 18 hours a day.
“See who is having coffee with Chuck today,” the Wardner Live page tells visitors. “Please write and say hi to Chuck.”
Two other cameras post pictures of John’s cats, Faraday and Fermata, and action at a local bird feeder. But the emphasis is on Chuck.
He loves the attention. He has lived in Wardner most of his life and has held every job from mayor to dog catcher. He started his museum in 1982 because kids need somewhere to visit other than the bakery and fire station.
Now, people from as far away as Australia and the Philippines visit him, online and in person. An online contest to become Wardner’s mayor for a day drew 750 entries a few years ago.
John and Don promised to mail every participant a Wardner postcard with a Chuck coffee stain on it. Everyone in town took a turn buying stamps.
The camera aimed at Chuck sat in a birdhouse across the street from the museum until a few months ago. Two local boys ripped out its wires, which wrecked the camera. John rushed to the rescue.
He assigned his senior engineering students at WSU to design a new Web camera for Wardner. The high-tech result sits among the artifacts in Chuck’s museum, awaiting installation in a maple tree across the street.
The men fondly call it Bubble Boy. The camera is encased in a plastic globe and will shoot through the clear southern hemisphere. It’s a step above the last camera. It rotates 350 degrees, tilts and has a cooling system.
John plans to enable Web site visitors to turn the camera. Then they’ll see Wardner’s tiny park, City Hall and Don’s house as well as the museum.
“But most of the time it’ll focus on Chuck’s porch,” John says.
Whew.
Cruising for dollars
Hop on board the Three Cs - Cancer and Community Charities - Lake Coeur d’Alene cruise for new members Aug. 23. That’s the day the generous club gives away $41,000 to local charities. Tickets are $20 for the cruise and brunch. Call 687-2038 or 772-0142 by Aug. 13 for reservations.
Where’s your favorite place to cruise? Chart a course for Cynthia Taggart, “Close to Home,” 608 Northwest Blvd., Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814; fax to 765-7149; call 765-7128; or e-mail to cynthiat@spokesman.com.