News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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I was honored this weekend to spend some time with some truly gifted men and women. I attended a training session put on by First Peoples Fund, in partnership with Northwest Native Development Fund (NNDF). The training was about how to hone your skills and market yourself in a variety of ways. This included budgeting and pricing of your art. But much more was covered, and I found some great people with greater stories. You know many of the names, but how they got to the little NNDF building on a sunny weekend in April is a novel ready to be...
Sometimes life just happens. That was the summary of my sit-down chat with this powerful young lady getting ready to walk the stage and get her diploma at Lake Roosevelt. Alyssa Hobrecht-Flores is ready, and if her life to this point has taught her anything, it is that she can conquer it all. Here is a little bit more of my emotion-filled conversation that covered many areas with Ms. Hobrecht-Flores. Senior years have a reputation of being stress filled and fast paced. So when I asked Alyssa...
The song “I Can Only Imagine,” by MercyMe, has been a family favorite since it first came out. I have vivid memories of this song and the lyrics cut me to the core every time I hear it. Such powerful words that make you put yourself inside the music and visualize yourself in the song’s summary. It causes you to imagine yourself in that very setting. This song was one of my best friend, Frank Sieker’s, favorite songs, as well. A family friend sang this song at Frank’s wedding, and there is...
I sat one day, about three years ago, with Keianna Vera. She told me her story up to that point. On that day, I knew that this young lady was going to go places. She told me about her roller coaster ride of a life. She said all this with a smile on her face and a little emotion in her eyes. Today that same smile was there while we talked about many things as her senior year has about a quarter left to go. “Not too shabby,” is how she answered my first question about how her senior year was goi...
How often does this happen, Aprils Fools and Easter on the same day? The more I thought about it, the more I realized that this is the state of the world today. I will let that sink in a bit. It is a thought provoking question and probably even insulting to some, but it might just reflect what is happening out there on the most holy of days. I ended up traveling across the state on Easter. That was after a great message from a great man on Easter morning at church. I was a chaperone for the Northwest Native Youth Conference, and this year we...
This past week I have gotten to hang, be in meetings and just spend time with some pretty cool dawgs and cats. So I thought I might share a bit with all of you. If anyone went to Coulee Medical Center last week, you might have noticed four fresh faced youngsters hanging around. They were interns from the University of Washington. After a week of job shadowing some of our professionals in the medical field who call Coulee Country home, they spent the day at Lake Roosevelt High School. They spoke...
Most parents realize this not long after bringing their newborn home. A lack of sleep is something that must be overcome as we pray and wait to see if our child will actually sleep through the night tonight. As those kids grow up, yes, they do start sleeping all night long, all morning long, all afternoon long and then we start praying for some awake time with them. As parents we also lose sleep when our teenagers are awake. First dates for our daughters and sons can bring us to a new place of sleeplessness, as we wait for their return or a...
Sometimes it is just fun to chat with a young man who is ready to conquer the world, and sometimes you can learn a lot about life from that same young man. A few years ago I wrote about Lucas “Lead Foot” Bird as a Gem in the Coulee. He is a senior now and his dreams have morphed a bit as he matured. Here is a little bit of our conversation. If you know Lucas at all, you know that he sometimes can appear shy, but really he is just a quiet kid who lets his actions speak for themselves. So whe...
When you’re surrounded by kids for most of the day, sometimes you reflect on parenting skills: your own and others’. I also have many friends, who are young parents themselves, who come to me on occasion for advice or to just tell me their story of the week. But some recent events have gotten me thinking even more. Whenever a bunch of fathers get together, the subject always seems to somehow, someway come back to poop. A diaper expulsion, a bath-time floater or crib full of brown artwork are...
Sometimes I take a look at this world we live in and just shake my head. It feels like we are living in a big movie script and the actors and actresses just keep stirring the plot. Government divided nations on the brink, terrorists everywhere, and school shootings make all Americans and citizens of the world just dumbfounded at what we are becoming as a nation. Not to mention those elite services we have relied on for so long in this country are not immune to society’s indiscretions. We b...
The tradition continues. Two Raider wrestlers answered the question that has been hanging over the team all year: “Who’s next?” The Raider wrestling team has put on a streak of state champs for the past few years, and two grapplers answered the challenge. One returning for the second time and the other capturing his first title; but equally important, one captured the Academic State Champ, as well, in his weight class. Tony Nichols has been raised on the mat. As long as I can remember, he has b...
It would be a huge mistake for me to let a day go by when the paper comes out on Valentine’s Day and not write about my love. Plus, it is a huge opportunity for brownie points. Oh, by the way, this very paper wrote about us way back then; “Fire Ignites a Spark,” I believe, was the headline, with us sitting on a fire truck. A long time ago, 21 years in May, she said yes. She said yes to a skinny, troubled and enthusiastic boy. We were at Katie’s Wild Rose Inn, located in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and I was in love. I remember the dress she was w...
When we were growing up we correlated love with a valentine or a girlfriend or boyfriend. The nervousness, anxiety and excitement that came with receiving or getting a little Scooby Doo card with red hearts on it or hand written note saying “mark the box, yes or no” were the feelings that welled up within a young boy feeling out his way in this world. Of course, there was the feeling of family love, but when you were young that was not even a concept of love on the bigger scale. Yes, we tol...
I recently sat down with one of my all-time favorite ladies, Lake Roosevelt senior Chasity “All-star” Williams to talk about how things are going. Chasity has one of the biggest, best smiles and has grown a lot over the past few years. She is also a private person when it comes to her personal life, but she opened up a bit as we chatted with each other. “Better than I thought.” That was her answer to my opening question of how her year was going. She explained that she got an early accepta...
How do students get real-life looks into a career without holding down a job? The answer is being a “Job Shadow.” This gives students a real opportunity to walk in the shoes of a career or job that interests them the most. The problem: shadow opportunities have been disappearing in our community. With privacy regulations and insurance coverage changing, adding in increasing workloads for business owners and employees, it has become harder and harder for local students to find professionals wil...
If I asked you to tell me what your perfect day would look like, I would get different responses from across the spectrum. One day over the weekend took on the look of a different day, not through my own personal lenses, but through the eyes of another. We started the day cleaning house. I know, I know, nobody’s perfect day starts that way, but it did. Sweeping, mopping, dishes and bathrooms consumed the first few hours of the day, making things just right for our valued visitors coming soon. Then a quick break for a little reading when the thr...
Last year I wrote about a few seniors who are preparing to graduate high school and become members of society on a new level. I decided to share with you a few from this year as well. I recently sat down with Dylan Jenkins, a senior at Lake Roosevelt, and asked him about his journey so far. To start with, I have known Dylan a long time. Well, it really has only been six or seven years, but it feels longer. I know he has a huge heart, wears his emotions on sleeve and is a friend to just about...
Someone once told me, “The older you get, the more people you know die.” It is a true statement. Here are some of the stars from television, movies and music that passed in 2017 whom I will truly miss. I already know I am missing some important figures on this list, but these are the ones who influenced me. Roger Moore, the James Bond I grew up knowing. His cool, calm and collected way of fighting spies and assassins became the calling card for kids trying to grow up cool. “A martini, shake...
One of my desires is to one day be able to help people in need. I have been helped by many members of our community over the years and I have always wanted to “pay it forward.” I recently heard about a heartwarming story that is unfolding in the Coulee and felt I needed to share the bits I know of it. Christmas can be a difficult time for families that are in crisis mode. Over the past few weeks a desperate family moved to the area. They were living on the west coast in a drug- and cri...
In case you had not heard yet, I got a new job at the school this year. I am the Pathways Coordinator at Lake Roosevelt. With that comes a couple of very big boots to fill. Those boots belonged to Cathy Krohn and Tiffany Gerard, who paved the way, set up all the groundwork and established and cultivated the program. There are many moving parts that I am responsible for, and one of those things is Career Day. So Career Day is an opportunity for experts in their fields to come into Lake Roosevelt...
Christmas. The word brings a wonderful excitement to children all around the world. Visions of presents, Santa, hot chocolate and goodies galore dance between the temples of the little ones. Blinking lights, snowmen and reindeer flicker on the lens of the young minds as we pour into them the commercialism that has become Christmas. Debt, stress and the busiest of all months as we go from party to party, indulging in everything, is what we show and teach during this season. All in the name of, well, in the name of what, really? It is a time of...
There are those moments in everyone’s life that you can look back upon and realize the importance of a pivotal decision. Two young ladies made those decisions this weekend and it made me think back a bit. On Easter morning in 1993, I went under the water in The Assembly of God Church in Electric City. It has since been converted to a home, but I can remember vividly that day. It was a powerful moment that can be looked back on, and it puts a smile on my face. Since then, I have been a part of a...
This weekend was jam packed with sports, emergencies and some really good impromptu conversations with strangers and friends. Here are the highlights. Raider football is headed to the state playoffs. Yes, you read that right, and we could not be prouder here in Raider Nation. In a cold, bitter game, the Raiders overcame mistakes and the wind-chill factor to pull off a back-and-forth game that saw them sitting on top of the scoreboard over Kittitas. We have a pretty young team, if you did not...
If you know her, then you already know she goes way beyond what an average secretary does. If you don’t, then you have not had a child go through the school system in the last, well, a lot of years. Sheila Darnold’s work ethic is beyond superb. Sick, 15-hour days, and stress beyond imagine are things she suffers from and yet still shows up just about every day. She will tell you she is not “Super Woman,” but every administrator that has ever worked with her will argue with her about that. She is, and that is why she is a “Gem in the Coulee....
I recently had to write a recommendation letter for a young man in our community that has been nominated for an award. Part of the criteria was to write about his “Passion and Belief.” That got me thinking. What would others say about my passion and my belief, and do I see passion and belief in others? I know, deep question with deeper thoughts, but I dove in anyway, partly for James Pakootas and partly for myself. What do others see as my passion? Well, that used to be firefighting and eme...