Hucks: Jonny Got His BB Gun Early

Jonathan Franco, the Rathdrum police officer who was killed in a motorcycle crash near Cusick, Wash., in September, had a lifelong love of guns. In remembrance of Jonny, on what would have been his 28th birthday last Wednesday, his mother, Elizabeth Yalian, of Rathdrum, emailed Huckleberries a letter she wrote about her son. It included this essay Jonny wrote at age 9 upon learning he was getting his first BB gun (complete with a child’s misspellings): “The best thing I ever (heard) was the day Mom said I could have a B.B. gun.  I thaohgt I would faint when Mom said yes but I had to get this awfull haircut but I didn’t care. Mom had already gotton me B.B.s and later got me some pellets.  We went in to Shopco and thier it was the most buitiful thing I ever saw. After school I couldn’t wait to go shooting I was very angcious to knock some cans of the hey stak.  A few weeks later I got a scope and after Christmas I got a case for it.” Gone but never forgotten/ DFO , Huckleberries print. More here.

More SR weekend columns:

• Spokane’s big shows are opposite of no-name /Jim Kershner
• Slice: Shades in winter, your view counts /Paul Turner
• Boise: Put lifetime of hunting, fishing under tree /Betsy Russell
• Business association guys lesser in name only /Doug Clark
• Smart Bombs: A hill you can’t take /Gary Crooks
• Short-handed Cougs teach tough lesson to EWU /John Blanchette