It was love at first sight

CULDESAC — When Anita Scott was first asked whether she and her husband, Larry, would serve as this year’s grand marshals of the Shebang Days parade in Culdesac, she was floored.

“I said, ‘Of all the people that have lived here for years and years and years ...’ And (the event organizer) said, ‘Well, we’re kind of searching for someone a little bit younger.’ “

The Scotts, who are both in their 80s, were amused by that remark. But they agreed to do it and will be the featured guests at the annual celebration Saturday.

As far as being old-timers, the Scotts are relative newcomers to the community. They moved to Culdesac in January 2003 after Larry saw an online listing for their property.

“I seen this place listed in October 2002, so I come up here and looked at the place and I put money down on it right then,” he said. “And we’ve been here ever since.”

The couple had no ties to Idaho before that, having recently moved from Reno, Nev., after living several years in Alaska.

Anita Scott was born in Los Angeles and grew up in Washington state. Larry was born and raised in the little West coast logging community of Mineral, Wash. Both had been married before and had nine children between them when they tied the knot 56 years ago.

Larry was a logger all of his professional career, working first in Washington before moving to Alaska. He displays a photograph of himself and another logger standing in front of an enormous felled old growth fir tree with a trunk diameter half again the height of the two men standing in front of it.

The picture was taken, Larry said, “before the mountain blew (Mt. St. Helens). After the mountain blew, that’s when I went to Alaska.”

Anita worked mostly in retail during her professional career. After they moved to Alaska, she worked for Costco and loved her job, as well as the remote logging villages where they often lived.

“I loved Alaska,” Anita said. “A lot of women don’t like Alaska because you can’t run to the mall every day. But I enjoyed the fact that you could make a list on a piece of paper, hand it to the pilot in the plane; he’d take it into the large grocery store; they’d fill your order and send it back out on the plane.”

One other aspect of Alaska that she enjoyed, Anita said, were the long, dark days during the winter months.

“A lot of people hate that. You live in the dark up there for several months of the year. It didn’t bother me. I loved the aurora borealis — it’s beautiful.”

When Anita got the chance to transfer within the Costco system to Reno, Larry encouraged her.

“I said, ‘You go for it and I’ll hang up my saws,’ “ he said.

Anita loved her job and the big city but Larry — not so much. An avid bird hunter and fisherman, recreation sites were long distances away. And after having lived in remote logging communities all of his life, the fast pace of Reno wore on him. That’s when he began looking around for someplace else to move.

Although Anita was amenable to relocating, she knew that she wouldn’t be able to stay idle for long.

“I can’t handle that,” she said. “When I retired I told him, ‘I’m going to have to find something to do,’ because it was driving me crazy just sitting around. I like to stay busy.”

At first, Anita worked at Walmart in Lewiston but finally retired after she got “tired of picking up people’s clothes off the floor all day.”

Back home, she found dozens of other volunteer tasks awaiting her. She’s worked at the Culdesac school cafeteria and janitorial staff; a local thrift store; the food pantry; as a volunteer on the election board; and founded the Friends of the Culdesac Library support group.

Both Scotts say they have come to love their community and find the neighbors friendly and helpful. Recently, when Larry underwent radiation treatments for skin cancer on his ears, the neighbors were supportive and helped with little tasks around the house.

Two of their grown children live a short distance away. The others are scattered around the Pacific Northwest. The family includes 23 grandchildren, 39 great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren.

Although they were surprised to be asked to serve as grand marshals for the weekend event, both say they are looking forward to the festivities and expect it to be an enjoyable experience leading the parade.

“I’ll teach him the wave,” Anita said of her husband.

Hedberg may be contacted at khedberg@lmtribune.com.