Rick's artistry, caring heart will be long remembered

My thoughts go out to Marcie Thompson and her family this week. Her husband, Rick, passed away Sunday night as a result of a heart attack.

I was lucky enough to know Rick back in the early 1990s. He sold advertising at the Bee. He was also nice enough to invite me to go water-skiing after work when I was the new editor in town.

What a great tradition — water-skiing after work. I miss that.

I was always impressed with his wry smile, caring heart and calm demeanor. While he was a good sales representative (some advertisers tell me he was the best Bee ad rep they had) he was truly gifted as an artist.

He was a master at bringing shale rock to life. His rocks would almost always take the form of wildlife. That artistic bent, mixed with his love for outdoors was part of his DNA, thanks to his dad, Pete.

A lot of people will miss Rick. Services will be held today at Coffelt's Chapel on Division.

Another special person recently passed away. Madison Finlay died of a heart attack on Easter Sunday at his Redlands, Calif., home. He was 94.

If you don't recognize his name, you probably know him as the guy who spent 40 years building the "Sunnyside Queen" steam ship. The "Queen" set sail last summer and always attracted a crowd. The "Queen" is the only active steam ship on Pend Oreille Lake.

Marianne Finlay, his wife of 67 years, had a lifetime of experiences with "Captain Finley." He will be missed, but we will be reminded of him through his multi-talented, artistic daughter, Maria Larson.

It was sad to see the doors close at the Power House Bar and Grill. Mark and Sara Clarkson had tears in their eyes Wednesday when the Sandpoint Rotarians said good-bye and presented them with a night for two at the Western Pleasure Ranch. They are looking at getting back into the restaurant business in Priest River or Bonners Ferry.

The Rotarians will be brown bagging it at the Community Hall the next few Wednesdays until they can find a new home.

Speaking of Rotary …Time is running out to buy tickets for a cruise for two to Alaska. Rotarians will be staking out the front of Safeway on Saturday in the early afternoon to sell you a chance for this once-in-a-lifetime trip.

The drawing is May 2. Most of the tickets haven't been sold, so your chances are very good to win this trip. If you miss the Rotarians, we still have a few tickets available at the Bee.

If the four towns in and around Sandpoint merged, what would the town be called? By now you know my entry is Sandypondokooteray, but others have suggested names for this booming metropolis.

Other names include:

? Josephine Schmidt wrote:

"What if only two cities emerged? They could be Dovepoint and Pondnay! I challenge everyone to come up with their suggestions for naming the city / cities"

? Another suggestion was: "Sanpodoko! Motto: The town that likes to talk about itself. "

? I also received this "I agree, consolidation is a bad idea … but if someone is really serious, think about the name 'KootiPondPoint'… we could have fun here … good for a laugh anyway."

Any suggestions, send them in to me a dkeyes@bonnercountydailybee.com or stop by 310 Church.

If you happen to be in Post Falls May 10, and you aren't afraid to be near Sandpoint Mayor Ray Miller when he has a gun, stop by the Mary Willeford Allstate Agency.

Post Falls Mayor Clay "White Shirt" Larkin is slated to have a black powder shootout with Mayor "Kaniksu Kid" Miller.

Mayor Miller has issued a special front row seating ticket to certain members of the Sandpoint City Council.

The same council members were mentioned under the mayor's breath at a meeting in Ponderay when Miller introduced himself of the mayor of the town "where the city council is sending all the business to Ponderay."

The Ponderay business leaders applauded wildly.

E-mail of the week: "If you don't pay your exorcist, do you get repossessed?"