CLEARWATER TRIBUNE HOME

JULY 8, 2010

From this Chair…

By Cloann McNall

   What a surprise we experienced Monday while driving home from Lewiston. We were traveling in my Jeep eastbound on Hwy 12 near milepost 33 when out of nowhere comes a rolling tire crossing over into our lane, headed directly for the front of our vehicle. Then we saw a pickup speeding toward us minus the left hand back tire. The driver also lost the wheel drum on the highway.

   Our driver Larry Codr of Meridian did a great job of staying focused and held the Jeep steady while going first to the left and then right to avoid a head-on collision with the speeding tire. Had it hit us and jumped the hood into the windshield we could have had a tragic ending to this bizarre event.

   Fortunately the tire barely brushed the right front of the Jeep and continued rolling into the ditch. We stopped and the driver of the truck came running over to see if we were OK.

   Larry asked “Who put the tire on for you?” The driver who was from Post Falls said “They’ve been on there for a long time.”

   My daughter, Lynette Codr and I were the only others in the Jeep except for Mary Jane, my black Pug in the back seat with me.

   Someone in the neighborhood along the highway about two miles west of Peck came running to the scene to tell the pickup driver he knew where the tire had topped and helped him put on the spare.

   This event outshone the excitement of the beautiful, and what I think was the best so far, of the professional firework display at the Orofino City Park the night before.

   What a day for the Fourth at the park. The day-time temperatures were perfect for the VFW parade and ceremonies and the Rotarian’s BBQ but still warm enough to be comfortable at the fireworks display later that night.