From this Chair...

By Cloann McNall

It is spring in beautiful Clearwater County! Foliage and trees are in bloom, everything outside is green and the air smells clean and fragrant possibly the same as it did in the Garden of Eden.

Speaking of the Garden of Eden reminds me of when I was in parochial school in Colorado Springs, CO I knew two young persons, Lester Boone and Deloris Whetstone. They sang together in a school quartet, (I think it was a quartet) and traveled for the school performing a musical ministry.

They married and much to my surprise surfaced in Orofino two years ago as pastors of a local church. During sometime in the past they pastored the Weippe Wesleyan Church as once did her twin brother, Gene Whetstone.

When my daughters were growing up I told them “Better behave yourselves as our past always catches up with us.” I have been reminded of this many times since moving here from Colorado. The most recent being the Boones, who I hadn’t seen for over 50 years until their arrival here two years ago.

Another incident is with John Willard who moved here from California and one day, as strangers, at the front counter of the Tribune we were talking about how much we liked this area. I commented “It’s even better then beautiful Colorado Springs where I grew up. The wind blows too much there to suit my tastes.”

He said he also had lived in Colorado Springs as a young man and had worked at the Gazette Telegraph. I asked what he did and he said he worked in production. His boss was Cecil Wilkins. That was my Dad and I too had worked at the GT as a young woman.

During the conversation I learned that Willard’s father had also worked in production at the GT the same time I was there. I knew him.

Another incident occurred several years ago when I met Rev. Dan Swan and wife, then pastors of the Nazarene Church in Pierce, at the Ponderosa and he started talking about moving here from Colorado Springs. We were sitting across from each other in separate booths.

That was when I learned he had been my parent’s paper boy in Colorado Springs and as young people he and I had attended the same church in Colorado Springs. We knew each others relatives.

The Swans later moved to St. Maries. The Boones have returned to Clearwater County after a long time absence and I’m still here!

But then I most likely would not be if it were not for my daughter Marcie being involved in the Clearwater Tribune.

I love being a part of her gracious family. Her twin grandsons, born nine weeks premature March 1, are plumping up and maturing. They now look like plump, pretty little dolls rather than two tiny aliens.

We hope they can be released in a couple of weeks from the neonatal unit at Sacred Heart in Spokane to be at home in Lewiston with their parents Ashley and Bryan Howland.