A Salute to Joe and Rose Mary Peak III

It started out as the eight of us meeting regularly for birthday and other lunches at the Snake Pit about 18 years ago -- my sisters Phyllis Peters of Wallace, Donna Quane of Hayden, June Tracy of Medical Lake, Dianne Higgens of Coeur d’Alene, Raye McGinnis of Hayden and Kaye Carlson of Cataldo, along with our mother, Ruth Burch, of Coeur d’Alene, and I. The Snake Pit was the best place to meet because it was in the middle, and since we had a lot of people, we had a lot of birthdays to celebrate. It was a comfortable, fun place to meet, and Joe and Rose Mary made us feel at home -- they felt we were visiting them at home and treated us as such. Do You Know What Color Tuxedo Jacket To Wear ?　
They let us stay as long as we wanted and didn’t mind if we sang. We were always a singing family, when we got together we had a tendency to sing. It was whatever came to mind, like songs from the 1940s, John Denver, Neil Diamond, or anything. Joe always put an extra log on the fire for Mom, who loved the fireplace. We had a lot of laughs and a lot of tears there, and Rose Mary would know if there were something going on with the family because she could tell if we were somber. Over the years, our lunch group got smaller and some of my family has passed away, but our children also starting visiting the Snake Pit and carrying on the tradition.

I have the pleasure to know Joe through YBL (Youth Basketball League). My two sons, now adults, participated in the program for several years. I tried my hand at coaching as well for my youngest son's team for a few years. Joe has had an impact on hundreds of kids over the years with this program. My boys learned much more than just basketball skills from that experience. Joe always asks about my kids whenever I see him. I am so glad we have a person like Joe that was willing to take on the organizing, coaching and referring. I can't even imagine the number of volunteer hours he gave to that program. Joe is "one in a million.”