sNIDe Remarks

Posted: Thursday, Nov 29, 2007 - 11:07:36 pm PST
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Marty Fortier

Lighting up in N. Idaho

As a preface to the "meat" of this column, I'd like to make it perfectly clear to Mr. Hagadone that I love The Resort. In fact, I especially love the Boardwalk Bar on a sunny weekday afternoon when my business partner, Julie, thinks I'm meeting with architects downtown.

However, this week The Resort selfishly stole the limelight during the early morning re-lighting of the famous hotel.

Oh, sure it's a big deal to have "Good Morning America" turn its well-known cameras on unknown North Idaho. But it's really not fair that other regional landmarks were not featured during the broadcast.

Most of us were unaware that while The Resort in Coeur d'Alene was being lit Wednesday morning, many other ceremonies were taking place in the area. For instance:

• At Stein's IGA in Rathdrum, several teenagers gathered in the parking lot and lit themselves up on mass quantities of Red Bull.

• The Smoke Shop in Worley had a lighting party involving tax-free Marlboros and ATF agents.

• In Post Falls, Capone's Sports Bar had a very "hot" lighting ceremony -- only it occurred several months earlier and resulted in an arrest.

• In Spirit Lake, many patrons stayed late at the Linger Longer Lounge. Unfortunately, none of them remember the lighting of the giant pickled egg jar.

• Wallace lit up the Silver Valley when the town turned on all its red lights, and in a strange turn of events, Kellogg's Dave Smith Motors turned off the giant blow-up sun.

• Sandpoint was the site of one of the largest events when nearly every resident lit up Wednesday morning. Unfortunately, shortly thereafter the town shut down, as nobody showed up for work.

• The folks in Blanchard are excited about their own lighting ceremony just as soon as they get electricity.

• And in the city of Hayden, hundreds showed up for the lighting of their newly refurbished stretch of Government Way, only to find out that the lights were already on but nobody was home.

As hard as it was to resist getting up at 4 a.m. to hang around The Resort in sub-freezing temperatures, I managed to stay in bed Wednesday morning. I did, however, crawl out of my warm covers in time to watch the TV coverage at 7 a.m. while comfortably seated in my toasty living room.

And as I watched the coverage of the lighting ceremony, a warm, satisfying feeling overcame me. No, not the beauty of The Resort all lit up -- which Mr. Hagadone knows I love. While I watched all those people freezing to death with half a foot of snow on the ground, I felt good knowing that there's no way in hell any Californian watching this is going to move here.

Marty Fortier is a former advertising executive and current freelance writer. He is also co-creator of the Design Center in Hayden where he operates several retail businesses. Marty Fortier can be reached at: mbfortier@icehouse.net.