Donald "Skip" Wilcox

Memorial Service

Friday, May 31^st at 7:00 P.M.

Ceremonial boat ride will take place in the Peaceful Warrior with Kevin Elmore at the helm.  This will start when the Peaceful Warrior comes out of its slip at MacDonald’s with family on board.  For those that would like to follow the Peaceful Warrior on Friday evening, please plan on being on your boats in the bay close to MacDonald’s by 7:00 p.m.  Skip’s boat will be leaving MacDonald’s between 7:00 and 7:30 once everyone is on board.  Please do not pull into MacDonald’s marina as not to interrupt any business taking place with customers and marina staff.

 

Venue - Indoor / Outdoor Memorial Service – Bayview Community Center  

Saturday, June 1st at 1:00 P.M. 

• Kathy Wilcox will open the ceremony with the raising of the flag, Pledge of Allegiance and / or the National Anthem and a speech.
• Each one of Skip’s girls will speak after their mother.
• Prayer
• The floor will then be opened for those who wish to speak.
• Mingle time for family and friends with finger foods, coffee and punch. A slide show will be playing inside the Community Center throughout this celebration of an incredible man that touched so many lives.
• Closing with the lowering of the flag and Taps.

For those of you that wish to do something in honor of Skip, the family has requested that non-perishable food or cash donations be brought to the Community Center for the local food bank at the time of the memorial.  Containers will be available to accept donations.  

The family has also requested that if anyone would like to help with the service, it would be greatly appreciated if folks could bring finger food type items to share at the service on Saturday.  Please bring your snack to the Community Center prior to the beginning of the service.  Ideas are cookies, vegetable trays, fruit trays, meat and or cheese trays, and crackers to name a few.  No hot dishes or salads, please.

God has truly blessed us by having Skip touch our lives, so in his honor, be sure and give someone a hug every day and tell them to “Have a Beautiful Day”. 

 

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Diamond Cup 2013

I have been asked repeatedly several questions about the unlimited hydroplane races scheduled for the Labor Day week-end. The first and most asked is, "will there be a race this year or not?" The answer is absolutely yes.

This year's regatta will be full of surprises that I am not authorized to discuss quite yet. While I will be writing much between now and August 30, where I will trade my computer for a microphone, I am not the official spokesperson for the committee. The Chairperson, Doug Miller is in charge of that sort of thing. If he asks me, I will certainly make periodic announcements, but it will kick off in a week or two, with a press conference.

With last year falling short, the committee feels conservative and want's every I dotted and T crossed before doing that. We are only days away from that happening. The information that I now possess is proprietary and I cannot comment.

I can tell you that there will be surprises galore. Plan on spending all three days here in Coeur d'Alene. Tickets are available through Ticketswest.com/diamondcup. Don't be square, See you there. August 30, September 1-2.

Seattle PD Get Down

In reading Briefs in this morning's Spokesman-Review, I spit out my coffee as I read where Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn is lowering standards for new police hires. It seems the mayor doesn't feel his officers adequately represent the average Seattle citizen. Now that Pot is legal, he is going to allow his recruits to more accurately reflect the community standards.

Vissible tattoos on the face and neck along with a history of pot smoking no longer will disqualify a police recruit. Several images popped into my head at that point.

Officer pulls a violator over for speeding. Approaching the car, said officer, sprouting scraggly facial hair, kill the pigs tats and other previously disqualifications ain't the deal anymore. Here's an example.

The past officer: "Sir, do you know why I stopped you?" No sir, I was only going 25 mph." Yes sir, I understand that. are you aware the speed limit here is 70mph?" "Um no sir. Am I in trouble?" Yes sir. Would you please step out of your car? ... If you can?

New officer: Approaching the speeder: Officer: "yo Dude, you cool with me today?" Right on, pal. Wuzzup? Well You looked kind of strange when you drove by so I figured I best check you out." May I see your um ... work permit ... no, receipt from Walmart?... That thingy that they give you so's you be jiggy wit the rules." "Oh, you mean this drivers license?"

Ya man, dat's it. Hey, dude, that be a bunch of cash you got there. Mind me borrowing say $50.00 so's I can score a lid? Driver: No sir. Anything else I can do for you? "Well, now that you mention it, My rent is due too. Can you help out a neighbor? Sure pal, Now I gotta run. Take care sir.

"Right on, dude. "

Seattle just isn't the same as it was when I lived there.

Politics & Sex

Today's post is about two political subjects, that neither should be.

Let's take today's Spokesman-Review editorial page. There were two editorials , one written by a journalism teacher, the other a nationally syndicated columnist.

In the first, written by Jamie Tobias Neely, generally approves of plan B without parental notification. One can only hope her children, if any, are grown up.

Her position which uses a fictitious movie comedy, "Juno," yes essentially, yes, why not, after all they are already screwing like rabbits and at lease the kids won't have unwanted babies.

The Second, is Kathleen Parker, a syndicated columnist who says no. Why make it easier to talk an eleven year old into having sex. (my Quote) I can see it now. The boy. "Hey it's alright and it's fun plus here's a pill that will keep you from getting pregnant." O.K, I used a fictitious conversation too.

There are two obvious conclusions that are not being discussed. First, why can a teen not be able to accept Tylenol at school or have any surgery other than life saving emergency, without parental consent? Why? Because sexual issues, are a defacto exception to the consent rules fostered by the the pro choice movement. Doesn't anyone feel this is strange? You can't have a wart removed, but you can take a sexual permission pill without discussing or even involving a parent or court.

If I'm a fourteen year old boy trying to get sex from a girl on the edge of refusal, I could hand her a vitamin pill and go after it. This is a political decision, period, not a health one. I am now 75 tears old. I can still remember the arguments used to seduce a teen. Sometimes they were successful, sometimes not, and in my day a kid couldn't even buy a condom and birth control wasn't invented yet. With the permissive political interference with parent/child issue, it is even easier.

So OK, Ms Neely, maybe your 13 1/2 percent of sexual activity is valid, but I wish to make two points in rebuttal. One, you made no reference to source of the figure, nor did you specify that the percentage were all girls or included boys who would generally outnumber the girls. Notice I'm using the terms boys and girls. Just passing puberty does not bestow adulthood.

One commentator a liberal, one a conservative. This conversation should be between a doctor, a parent and a girl-child, not political commentators.  Oh, and maybe an attorney since statutory Rape may well be covered up, thus destroying evidence in a potential criminal case. Maybe fourteen year olds cannot afford the $37.00 pill, but I bet an eighteen year old can.

Cancer Strikes My Family

I wasn't too worried back a few years ago when I had Prostate Cancer, 'cause the VA fixed it with very little in the way of side effects.
That was then, this is now.

My daughter has developed female type cancer, stage three and is undergoing both radiation and Chemotherapy which she will receive for three more weeks. She runs a small coffee house in Capitola, California, which is a beautiful little beach town.

Unfortunately, along with the lack of business she lost her roommate, which in Capitola, is a tremendously expense place to live. We are hoping for the best, but having cancer treatments and homeless it ain't  a good scene.

Please sent prayers. If I skip a few days posting new stuff, please understand and come back when I am able to concentrate on local happenings.

Double Standards

In reading this morning's Spokesman-Review, an Associated Press reporter gushed over a black jockey, Kenvin Krigger, who is scheduled to ride in the Kentucky Derby. The gushing wasn't about his success as a jockey, or his contribution to society. The gushing was about his race.

In an era that demands that we be blind to sexual orientation, color, ethnic origins, religion and other various things that make us stand out as different, this smug reporter committed the sin of racial prejudice simply by singling him out as a member of one of the above categories, rather than just his accomplishments.

There are so many examples of these double standards that it causes me to wonder if people listen to their own words, or perhaps it is alright to differentiate it you are saying nice things about a racial minority.

Some of the more obvious violations of this taboo, are the Congressional Black Caucus. How do you suppose people, especially the radical left print reporters would react to the formation of a White Caucus.

If equality is our goal, as it should be, then stop singling out individuals or groups based solely on their color, creed or national origins and simply discuss them as Americans.

R.I.P

We had an unusually sad  week as we lost two long time well known residents.

LaVerne Rickle, widow of Ivan died suddenly of an apparent heart attack last week. Her and her husband operated the Rickle Ranch just south and east of Silverwood prior to their retirement. Just like a clock that keeps perfect time, LaVerne would be at the door waiting at Ralph's if he should show up late for opening. knowing better than to keep her waiting, he was on time. During their lives, Ivan and now LaVerne never had anything bad to say about anyone and conversely, they didn't't have any enemies either. She will, as her late husband, be sorely missed.

The other death was Skip Wilcox. Skip worked tirelessly, contributing to his community. Some of his contributions were always welcome, some were not. At the end of the day, nobody doubted his sincerity nor his dedication whether they agreed with his positions or not. He will also be missed by many.

Although Skip hadn't  lived in Bayview all his life, he settled here after retiring from the U.S Air Force as a Lt. Colonel working in the cold war missile silos. his family goes way back. John Wilcox, his grandfather, owned a two story float house in Bayview with living quarters above and a boat rental business below.

It burned down and was replaced with a single story building after the fire. Chased off the frontage he occupied after another pioneer bought the riparian lots facing him, he promptly purchased the lot just west of the old location and using logs, rolled the house up onto his lot.

He sold out to the Navy when World War 11 came along and the building was subsequently sold again, operating as Boileau's Resort. The old float house is now the Button Hook restaurant, currently closed.

If you wish more of the history of that building and other ownerships, go to spokesman.com/archives for part three, history of Bayview, written by yours truly and assisted greatly by Linda Hackbarth, Bayview's own historian.