It was definitely a happier time in Silver Valley

Times change. So does language.

More than 30 years ago, Bob Launhardt competed in a bowling league in Idaho’s Silver Valley. One of the teams was sponsored by a tavern. And on those bowlers’ shirts was written, “The Gayest Place in Town.”

•Slice answer: “We attend Our Lady of the Lake parish in Tum Tum (Suncrest area of Nine Mile Falls),” wrote Steve Feider. “What is a little unusual is that I have a brother who attends Our Lady of the Lake parish in McCall, Idaho. And I also have a sister who attends Our Lady of the Lake parish in Lake Oswego, Ore.”

Mary Dorsey was married in St. Francis of Assisi Church in Hamilton, Mont. Her son was married in St. Francis of Assisi Church in Spokane.

•Networking: Next month is the 20th anniversary of “Broadcast News” arriving on the big screen. The movie gave us perhaps the all-time best response to an insincere manager overseeing a downsizing.

Manager: “Now if there’s anything I can do for you …”

Employee who has just lost his job: “Well, I certainly hope you’ll die soon.”

•Vote for Pedro’s: The Slice hears that the South Hill pizza place was named after the character in “Napoleon Dynamite.”

•Slice answers: Several readers said “any place in Cheney” after The Slice asked about workplaces where the sound of trains is a regular part of the experience.

•Keep holy the sabbath: Spokane Valley’s Joan Nolan was at an All Saints Day service last week when she asked her 10-year-old grandson who his favorite saint was.

“Reggie Bush,” said the boy, naming a member of the NFL’s New Orleans Saints.

•Lost and found: Kanie St. Paul still remembers telling his young son to go to the “purple butterfly” sculpture at Expo ‘74 if they got separated. And that’s just what the boy did.

•Things that shouldn’t have changed: Readers said The Crescent department store should have gone on forever and Washington Water Power should not have changed its name.

•Sunday contest winners: There were a few dozen spirited entries, many of which featured fine Gordon Lightfoot impressions. I’m declaring Spokane’s Bob Killion and Michael Riley of Potlatch, Idaho, to be the winners. Their snippets of “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” edged out a choral performance of the song.

•Today’s Slice question: Do homemade signs beseeching drivers to slow down do any good?