When The Corner Was More Than a Corner

It was more than a bar, more than a magazine stand, and more than a place to buy a  Cherry Coke that did not come out of a can or a bottle but was made with cherry syrup and Coca-Cola mix. It was also a place that was more or less forbidden for me to go up there when I was young because of the drinking that was going on there


 The Corner was one of those places in the 1950's and 1960s that allowed beer only drinking because Idaho had a strange law back then that allowed a 20-year-old to drink beer, but you had to be 21 to drink the hard stuff. I use to chuckle when I envisioned a young person who at the stroke of midnight jumped in maturity from 20 years old to 21years old and could now be man or woman enough to handle straight shots.


As I got older the Wallace Corner became the place that would fuel my dreams of big cities were there was " real" life, as I thought of it back then. So, on Sunday afternoons I would trudge up the street and purchase a news paper from Los Angels, Cleveland, NY, San Francisco, or Seattle. I would take my future road map home and read every word from those major papers and dream of getting on a bus and heading for one of those cities. It was years later that I finally realized that life in Wallace and life in North Idaho WAS the real life that I wanted.


Yes, the Wallace Corner was a very large part of Growing up Wallace.

Welcome to September

September has finally arrived, and with the simple flip of the page, a whole new era begins today. Everything changes in September as it trumpets the coming arrival of Fall. Schools start, leaves change colors, and the air becomes fresher after the choking heat of August. So, I flip the calendar over to September, and I see a whole new world. Here are a few examples.

Football kicks off with my Idaho Vandals in action on Aug, 31 against mighty Penn State. The result? Penn State 79-Idaho-7

OK,some things don't change.

I loved the month of September when growing up Wallace. The excitement was in the air, and I eagerly awaited the start of the new school year. ( OK, OK, I was weird), Labor Day was always a big day in my childhood home, because we had a tradition of doing our final bass fishing trip to Cave Lake for the season. We eagerly loaded up the car with all of our poles, plugs, jackets, and most important of all, Mom's always delicious, mouth-watering, picnic dinners.,

As the heat of the day turned to the cool whisperings of the evening, Dad, my brother, and I would start back to shore, trolling as we went and Dad cut the motor down to the lowest speed. We knew that as soon as we docked, that fishing was over until the Spring. So, with mixed emotions, we docked, tied the boat up, loaded the car, and started the journey back to Wallace for another family ritual, the bath, hair washing, shoe shining, laying out the new school clothes, and early to bed regime, When the alarm sounded in the morning, a whole new world awaited, and there was turning back as the new school year began. Ah, Wallace in September was a mighty fine time.

Big Trouble

Big Trouble, a book written by J Anthony Lukas is also a must-read for Idaho folks. It is a slow read at times, but it is fascinating.

http://idahoptv.org/trial/thetrial/steunenberg.cfm

Bart Starr was more than a Star.

He was not all that great, or was he? The stats say he was very average, but the record says that he was one of the all-time greats. So what is that defines greatness? Just what makes someone a hero?
To me, and to thousands of other kids in the 1960's he was a hero, a great quarterback, a leader of men. His name was Bryan Bartlett Starr, and he was the quarterback for the legendary Green Bay Packers.

Benched in high school and benched his senior year at Alabama, it is a wonder that he was even drafted by the NFL. The initial report by Packer scouts was that he was not much of a passer and had very average athletic skills.

A new head coach by the name of Vince Lombardi watched some film of the young Starr and something that others had not. It was an unmeasurable quality, and statistics nerds will not find it in any book. It is the quality of sheer determination and willingness to do whatever it takes to succeed.

6 NFL championships and two Super Bowl wins later, well, the rest like they say it history.

Bart Starr is like the people in Wallace when I was growing up there. Sheer determination the unbreakable willingness to do whatever it takes to accomplish the task made Wallace the jewel of  Idaho, and the Silver Capital of the world.

R.I.P  Bart Starr-1/9/1934 to 5/26/2019-you will be missed.

Make Wallace Great Again

I get a kick out of talking to my former classmates on Facebook and listening to them sing loud for all to hear of "the wonders and wonders of their hometown, Wallace. Yes, Wallace is a special place, yes Wallace was a great place to grow up in, and yes, you are proud of Wallace, but when I ask you  "why don't you move back here? the tune quickly changes to a different song.

OK, I don't blame you. There is nothing here if you live here, but if you are visiting here, it is a great place.I do put forth this simple suggestion to you. There would be more to do here if you all moved back here because supply and demand would dictate that more stores open up here.
 
Let's make Wallace great like it once was.

It Is Zag Time, Baby!

OK, I admit, I am a Gonzaga basketball junkie. I would rather watch the Zags play than I would any other team. Even though I never attended Gonzaga, I did live in Spokane for years, AND, I wore a Zag sweatshirt in the 1980s, long before it became hip to root for them.

Tonight ended another regular season of perfection, There is really something extra special about this 2018-2019 addition, and dare we dream of a national glory for the one time Cinderella team from Spokane? 

Of course, the Wallace connection to the Zags is well known, but I will retell it anyway.


Wallace had ties to Gonzaga for many years, and of course, one prominent Wallace man, Mr. H.F. Magnuson and his generous gifts to Gonzaga have been well documented. What some of you may not know is that one Wallace physician from my growing up Wallace days, Dr. Ed Fitzgerald, our family doctor, was a prominent athlete at Gonzaga way back in the 1920s. He was captain of the basketball team, quarterback of the football team, yes Gonzaga use to have football, and very, very good friends of Spokane legend and Gonzaga student, Mr. White Christmas, Bing Crosby.

Doc was our doctor for years and was my dad' s doctor long before he met my mother. He was a little rough at times, and his bedside manner needed some work, but he was a very good physician and was very prominent in Wallace activities, including founding Lookout Ski Hill.

Here are a couple of photos of the good doctor.

 

 Captain of the basketball team

The quarterback of the football team-1925

In 1981, Dr. Fitzgerald speaking at the Bing Crosby statue dedication. 

Dr. Ed Fitzgerald, another great growing up Wallace memory.

Cedar's Amazing Discovery

My newest discovery. The winter air feels much, much, colder on the skin when you are 67  years old as opposed to 6 or 7 years old. You can put that in your noggin as pure fact.

It is Sunday in our tiny town of Wallace, and the snow is whirling, twirling, and seems to not know the direction that it wants to go. The wind has it coming from the east, and then from the west, and right now it looks as though it is coming from the north. It reminds me of my life 

That's the way it is in Wallace, February 10,2019 

Stay warm and stay safe.

Gentrfying The Un-Gentrfied

Gentrification has raised that ugly head in my old stomping grounds, The South Bronx. Say it ain't so, please. While bankers, contractors, and high rolling developers clap their greedy hands together in glee, images of condos and massive rents dash through their heads.

The Bronx sheds the image of urban blight, becomes latest target of New York City's relentless gentrification The Bronx, once written off by buyers and renters alike, is becoming the next front in New York City's gentrification wars The formerly blighted South Bronx has developed a moniker among real estate professionals as "SoBro" -- suggestive of one of Manhattan's ritziest neighborhoods The dizzying pace of change is leaving some residents fearful for the future, as one lifelong resident told CNBC.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/11/bronx-becomes-latest-target-of-nycs-relentless-gentrification.html

Hey, I loved the tiny stores on the corners, the scent of danger mixed with the foul garbage odor, the loud boom boxes blasting the night air, and the down to earth friendliness of the people. Yes, they could be oh so scary, but if you treated them with a modicum of respect, they could be your best friend, the one who had your back on the mean streets of the South Bronx.

Gentrification has swept the nation. Coeur d' Alene seems to be ashamed of the working past, and instead embraces condos, upscale shops, 4-star hotels, and sky-high rents. The lower working class need not apply.

What could be next-Wallace-could Wallace be gentrified? The mere thought of it is so disgusting that- well, you fill in the blanks.

It's Derby Time

As the end of the school year drew tantalizingly near, and the warm sun poured through the old brick walls of Wallace Elementary School, hope sprang eternal in the hearts and minds of grade school children. Baseball, picnics, fishing, hiking, camping, The Fourth of July, and maybe a trip to a far away place, loomed as an enticement to get that darn school year over with and dance out of the musty halls with unbridled glee when that final bell tolled the glad announcement that you were free.



But wait, I forgot to mention one more enticement. Yes, there was one more upcoming event on the calendar that added fuel to the glowing fire of excitement. This was an event like none other in the world. It was the infamous "Gyro Lead Creek Derby Days". For you see, each grade school student was handed a book of tickets for the carnival that rolled into Wallace to add color and excitement the event. I eagerly awaited those free tickets each year, and I had political privilege because my best friend's father just happened to be the Chief of Police in Wallace, and we were given extra tickets every summer. (Yes, good old political corruption at it's best.)



So, the first night of the carnival, which was always on a Thursday night, and my friend and I would head for the streets of downtown, which was not much of a chore for me because I lived on Cedar Street, and the carnival was set up three blocks from my home. Someday I will tell you how I used to have to walk two whole blocks to school through three feet of snow. It was horrible, but that is for another day.



The first thing on our agenda at the carnival was the ride known as the "Octopus".This ride always set up in front of Morrow's Retail, and it was by far our favorite ride. Now, once is enough for many people, but my friend and I had only one thing in mind, and that was to ride as many times in a row as we could before we got sick. OK, was that really that different than the adults who would drink as many beers or shots as they could before they also knelt before the Porcelain Goddess? I think not!



This ritual went on for three fulls nights, sometimes being augmented by rides on the Ferris Wheel and munching on Cotton Candy and snow cones. Then, on Saturday night the excitement reached a fevered pitch as the drum and bugle corp made their annual pilgrimage through the street of Wallace, visiting each bar, and that was no small task in those days. As they went from bar to bar the playing got worse and worse. Then, the climax of the evening came. We always tried to be on the Ferris wheel as the fireworks lit up the festive, night sky.

Then came the super bowel moment of Wallace, the actual floating down Lead Creek of the derby ball from Mullan to Wallace. What a moment, a Kodak moment, if you will. Thousands of screaming, drunk people cheering madly as the big ball came down the murky river.

That night we would always take one more ride on the Octopus, and as we weaved our way off the ride for the last time for that year we bid a sad farewell, and said we would see it all again next year.

And,all of these years later. I say IT"S DERBY TIME

The Spirit Of Wallace Past

I love going up to Burke and parking the car in front of what was once a grocery store. As I look down the road my mind refuses to see what is now, and instead it tunes into the feeling,the sounds, the smells, the crying,and the laughing of the men,women, and children who once inhabited the now crumbling remains of the once bustling mining town.

Every town has a personality. Yes,I sad a personality. If you are open at all to the vibes of a town, you can sense the composite history of the souls who have graced or disgraced the very ground upon which you are standing or driving on.

Most of the people are like the grass of the field,they came,lived,and either died there or they moved on to another town. Regardless of how long they lived in a certain town, their vibes are forever sewn in the fabric of that town.

Most of these people are long ago forgotten.They may have been poor,homeless,rich,powerful,or in the middle, but they all make that feeling, that spirit that makes each town what it is.

The next few blogs are going to be dedicated to the forgotten souls of Wallace.I hope that you will check back and take this journey with me.

It's Us Stupid

It is not the guns, it is the change in our culture that is the trigger.When I was in grade school I once brought my .22 rifle to class for show and tell time.I didn't hunt , and my dad did not hunt, but he owned a pistol and my brother and I shared the rifle.Heck, I imagine 90 plus percent of Wallace folks owned some type of gun.

To my knowledge no one ever shot a fellow student,teacher, coach, or police officer. It probably never entered anyone's mind. Why not, you may ask ? The culture was different then.We were taught to respect each other, to love,yes love, our flag and country and most importantly of all, God was still welcome in our schools.

Too simple and sappy of an explanation for the violence for you? Well,then you explain it to me WITHOUT shouting out the old and worn out gun control argument. Follow the trail.It is that our culture has changed and so have we,

Wallace Christmas Past-The Stores

I was sitting here this wintry Saturday morning playing the old reel to reel movies in my mind of past Christmas times growing up Wallace, and there are so many joyous memories that there is not the time to pen them all or to even attempt to do some type of chronological justice to all of them.Today, out of my memory files I have chosen to write about one of my favorite Wallace stores that graced Cedar Street when I was growing up. Here is the reposting of the blog that I wrote in 2014 about Gene's Radio Shop, later known as Gene's Gambles.

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I was reading an obituary the other day about the passing of a Wallace lady whom I remember quite well as a clerk in several Wallace retail shops. One of the shops was Gene's Radio, later on, it became a Gambles. When I reflect on Christmas memories of my childhood, Gene's Radio Shop is always the first store to come to mind.

Gene's was first located up by the Wilma Theater and was not much more than a hole in the wall, but it was stocked full of wonderful merchandise. My brother and I bought our first airplane models to put together from Gene's Radio. Then, the expansion came, and Gene's Radio moved down Cedar Street to the middle of town. It was here that my most vivid memories take shape. For, it was here, that the latest 45 and 33 1/3  albums could be found

Records were not the only types of merchandise that Gene's carried. Gene's Gambles was loaded with toys, furniture, washer and dryers, televisions, model trains, and thousands of other items. I loved going into that store during the Christmas shopping season. Most of the gifts, other than clothes, that I got in my early years came from that store.

One of the coolest things about Gene's was that on New Year's Day, Gene would open the store up so that the locals could come in and watch the Rose Bowl on color television. What a treat that was! My brother and I would head down there every year to watch a game in "living color".

Well, this was not an exciting blog today, but I just wanted to share my memories of Gene's Radio Shop. I wish that it was still there.

Traditions

This time of the year is rich in traditions of the nation, the communities, the families, and even in individuals. I know that growing up Wallace my family certainly had certain traditions carved out from the culture of the area, financial status of the time, social groups, and combinations of ideas of my parents. Being somewhat of a person who thrives on tradition, ok, I love traditions and look forward to each Holiday Season.

So, how do some traditions get started? Here is an example.

A daughter was watching her mom prepare the turkey for their Thanksgiving dinner. The daughter noticed that her mom had cut one of the turkey’s legs off before placing it in the oven…when the daughter examined the turkey leg, it seemingly looked normal. This was something that her mom did every year, and always puzzled the daughter…so this time the daughter asked her mom, “why do you always cut off the turkey leg? is there something wrong with it?”  The mom responded, “Actually, I’m not sure…it was something that my mother always did, and I guess it just stuck with me. Why don’t you ask grandma later tonight”. So that is what the daughter did. When her grandma arrived later that evening she asked her, “Grandma, why do you cut off the turkey leg before placing it in the oven?”, but she got the exact same answer, the grandma did not know why and told her she should ask her great grandma once she got here. So when her great-grandmother arrived she asked her, ”great grandma? why do you cut the turkey leg off of the turkey before placing it in the oven? Both mom and grandma do it too, but they don’t know why…”, the great-grandmother chuckled and said, “honey, I cut it off because our oven was too small to fit the entire turkey inside”.

Now, that is another way traditions get started. This is an old story, first told in Jewish traditions, but very applicable to all walks of life.

Making Wallace Great Again-MWGA

It looks like our dear hometown has a new mayor, Lynn Morgenson. Congratulations and as you are a Wallace native I am sure that you will see the need to make Wallace great again. Please, Lynn, let's pursue less antique/2nd hand stores and pursue some real industry. Maybe we can entice some real stores to come here, like a small Dollar Tree. It is possible to keep the charm and have industry at the same time.Tourism is fine, but there is something so inherently wrong with selling our past for the amusement of Mr. and Mrs. Tourist. Our past should be sacred, and should not be for sale

Yes, together we can make Wallace great again.

My blog is not to be taken seriously. I love my hometown, but I still dream that it will return to the days of glory and be the same as when I was growing up Wallace

MWGA

Come on Home

So many of my old Wallace friends talk, talk, talk, about how great Wallace is, but none of them seem to want to move back here.Come on gentleman and ladies, housing is cheap, skiing is great, and there is room for you all to come home.

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History is -well, it is History

I was born on October 16th. That is a fact. That is my history, and it cannot be changed. Someone may erroneously record the wrong date of my birth, but that does not change the fact that I was born on October 16th. Oh, and, by the way, I was born a male, and that cannot be he changed, either.I was born in Wallace, raised in Wallace, and attended school K-12 in Wallace, These are all facts, and they are my history, and they cannot be changed.

Why are so many trying to change what was? You cannot change it or erase it. You can bleach it, whitewash it, color it, and just pretend like it didn't happen, but it is a lie. It did happen, it is history, and it cannot be changed.

Symbols of history may delight some, and others are offended by the same symbols.You can tear the symbol down, stomp on it, spit on it, defecate on it, and smash it into tiny pieces, but guess what? Yep, it was still history, and it still happened and you cannot change it.

Just accept, study it, absorb it, learn from it, and move on to today.

Roots-And So It Began

Yes, Wallace was tough in those days and was probably exceeded in toughness only by fellow Coeur D' Alene Mining District town, Burke, Idaho, and Butte, Montana. It was the aforementioned once great mining mecca of Burke, Idaho that my roots began.

1929-ah yes, a dark, notorious year in the history of our great nation.Let's face it, with the great stock market crash of 1928 just two months removed, the entire country had been plunged into what historians call the "Great Depression" and the mood of the nation was mired in deep twin holes of doom and gloom.

Perhaps in the mind of the youth, though, there beat the drum of a glorious future. Yes, they saw the tears of hurt, confusion, and even anger on the faces of their parents and while they may have understood on the surface the dark mood of a country formerly bathed in the light of sunshine and hope, they also refused to light the flickering light of their dreams of a better tomorrow die out.

Against this backdrop of a collapsed economy and a nation reeling like a drunken bar patron, one family from Missouri found their way on the move in the hope of landing jobs in the mineral-rich mountains of Idaho. A fourteen-year-old kid from Joplin, Missouri arrived with his six brothers, father, and mother in the rough and tumble world of the notorious mining town of Burke, Idaho. The fourteen years old boy would may years later become the man I call "Dad".

Their route would carry them many miles from their home in Missouri to LosAngeles, Portland, Seattle, and finally the fabulously wealthy mining district called Burke.They came for the same reason many families were making cross-country treks.survival! My grandfather, although a very young man by today's standards, was disabled from years of working in the mines of Missouri, Oklahoma, and Kansas. His lungs were shot, and money was non-existent.


It was up to the boys in the family to carry the load and provide food for everyone.My Dad was a big, very strong country boy who had no problem looking older than his actual age, So, he lied about his age and was hired at the Austin Leasing Company, a large mine in those early years located about a mile this side of Burke, high up in the hills.The camp had its own boarding house, and the young miners made the trek up the mountain every week, and then went home on the weekends.

The barbers, dentists, pharmacies, grocery stores, hotels, boarding houses, churches, and schools, and of course a host of bars are now just faded memories of a once booming mining mecca, but for those of us who sprang from those roots, the toughness is in our genes.our minds, and in our hearts. We are fighters, and we don't run from adversity.

Yes, my Idaho roots came via Missouri to Burke, and on to Wallace, where from the age of four, I grew up.And so it began.

The Perfect Wallace Family Outing-It's Derby Time

Where can a family bond on a smoke filled sidewalk, shoulder to shoulder with drunks, glass eyed dopers, unwashed heathens, and carnival workers who look like they have not seen a tub or a shower since Bush 1? Where can revelers stand in public with open containers of beer? Where can you get culture listening and watching a drunk band marching through the town's streets, invading a bar, and emerging only to invade the next bar, and still be "playing" and marching without falling down?

Where can you watch a ball be thrown into a creek which was once so polluted that the locals affectionately called it ' Lead Creek" and follow it down the stream all the while whooping and drinking, and having a jolly good time?

Where else can a family all gather at the river, except maybe an old fashioned baptismal service, watch and wait with a pulsating excitement rivaled only on Christmas morning, for the big colorful ball to make an appearance in Wallace, And at last, there it is, bouncing and swirling as it makes it way to the finish line. The crowd lets out a collective, orgasmic like yell of pleasure, and just like that, it's over.

The next day the streets in Wallace look like they hosted a drunken orgy. There are just a few stirrings as those who work for the carnival begin to dismantle the rides that brought so much pleasure and illness to the children of the Valley. By nightfall, the last vestiges of the three-day celebration have been packed up, swept up, loaded on trucks, and are off to the next town and its unique celebration.

I have lived in numerous cities and towns since I graduated from Wallace High, and I have enjoyed the local events and celebrations like Seafair in Seattle, the Timber Carnival in Albany, Oregon, the Orgon State Fair in Salem, the County Fair in Spokane, 4ht of July in New York City and New Years Eve in Las Vegas, but there is no other event that comes close to this one. '

Lead Creek Derby and that what it was and is like Growing up Wallace,

Two Grand Old Ladies

As my readers know, I managed hotels for over 30 years, and I loved every minute of it. The hotel that launched my career was the Carlton Hotel in Tacoma, WA, where I worked while I was attending college in Kirkland, WA.

While looking at some old pictures today, I was struck with the resemblance of the grand Samuel's Hotel in Wallace, and the Carlton in Tacoma. Here they are, side by side.

The grand lady, The Carlton Hotel

The Samuel's Hotel Wallace, Idaho

PS The Carlton still stands but is no longer a hotel, but our beautiful Samuel's was torn down in the 1980's

June Jewels

Welcome to June in Wallace. June in Wallace is just like June in other American small town, and--well, on second thought, Wallace just may be a teeny, tiny, tad bit different than a few, ok, some, all right, all right, MOST American small towns in America, the world, and probably even Mars. Well, maybe it may be more like Mars with some very out of this world customs and celebrations. Anyway, welcome to June in Wallace, Idaho, my hometown.

Calendar of Events as listed on http://www.wallaceidahochamber.com/recreation/festivals-events/
-Idaho State Square and Round Dance Festival

June 8, 2017 – June 10, 2017

Event

3 Days

Square and Round Dancers from around the state and region come to dance and have fun in Wallace Idaho

View Map

Wallace Civic Auditorium503 First St.Wallace, Idaho 83873

Sue Reisenauer 208.596.3326

Gyro Days

June 15, 2017 – June 18, 2017

Event

4 Days

BBQs, radiothon, carnival rides & concession right smack in the middle of Wallace -- all capped off with the Lead Creek Derby. Win a pot of cash if you correctly guess how long it takes a giant leather ball to float seven miles via the South Fork of the CDA river from Mullan to Wallace. All proceed go towards local scholarships

View Map

Downtown Wallace, South Fork of CDA RiverDowntownWallace, Idaho 83873

Dean Cooper dean@wallacebrewing.com

Wallace Founders Day -- The Traveling Tombstone of WIlliam R. Wallace

June 24, 2017

Event

1 Day

The tombstone of town founder Col. William R. Wallace will be brought back in style to it's name sake, with a grand parade, picnic and dedication.

View Map

Downtown Wallace IdahoHistoric Downtown & Railfoad DepotWallace, Idaho 83873

Jamie Baker 509.435.3005

Ok, maybe the first event is not so different than most small towns host, but you have got to admit, Lead Creek Derby and a traveling headstone celebration are Not your normal civic festivals.

But, that's Wallace, Enjoy.

PS, Spelling and word errors in event descriptions are not mine. I make enough errors on my own.