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Adopting highways, honoring heroes

From Coeur d'Alene Press July 29, 2015:

COEUR d'ALENE - The Coeur d'Alene High School football team stepped up Tuesday to remember two local fallen heroes and keep three stretches of Highway 95 clean.

Three Adopt-a-Highway signs were unveiled Tuesday along Highway 95 in Coeur d'Alene, Dalton Gardens and Garwood.

The three signs were sponsored by the CHS Vikings football team. Assistant coach Jeff Schraeder thought of the idea.

Vikings head coach Shawn Amos approached Schraeder with an idea to have the team do a service for the community and Schraeder knew exactly what they could do to help.

"We were looking for something to do with our kids, kind of a give back thing," Amos said.

That's when Schraeder contacted Andrea Littlefield with the Idaho Transportation Department to locate an area of the highway the football team could adopt.

At the time, Littlefield said, there was nothing available along U.S. 95 through Coeur d'Alene that could be adopted by the team. Schraeder knew he wanted to honor Coeur d'Alene Police Sgt. Greg Moore, who was killed in the line of duty earlier this year, and he wanted to adopt an area that Moore had previously patrolled. Pictured above is the sign honoring Sgt. Moore, along with members of his family who were on hand for the ceremony.

Littlefield and Schraeder both contacted Blue Hippo Car Wash and asked about possibly taking over some of the 2.5-mile stretch that Blue Hippo adopted.

"We called Blue Hippo and they were glad to give us part of their area," Littlefield said.

Blue Hippo then gave up a 2-mile stretch from Appleway north for a Sgt. Moore sign and CHS Vikings sign. The Moore sign is located near Holiday gas station, and the CHS sign is up near Blue Dog RV.

Once the plan was in motion to honor Moore, Schraeder had one more person to honor.

In June of 1998, Idaho State Police Trooper Linda Huff was gunned down in the parking lot of the Coeur d'Alene ISP office. Huff had only been on the job for 14 months but her life and death made an impact on the community as a whole.

Schraeder, who likes to fish regularly with Cpt. Lee Richardson of the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office, mentioned to Richardson the plans for adopting portions of the highway and Richardson brought up Huff immediately.

"As soon as Jeff told me about it, I knew right away that Linda should be included," Richardson said.

That's when fate may have stepped in and helped to make the situation even better. Schraeder asked Richardson where Huff had patrolled and he found out it was north of Garwood. What Lee didn't realize was that original spot the football team was offered was near Silverwood on a stretch of highway just north of Garwood.

It was like the stars had aligned for a great thing to happen, they said. Huff would now be honored in the area she had spent her last days patrolling. Pictured left is the sign honoring fallen trooper Linda Huff, with members of local law enforcement and the Coeur d'Alene football team.

Lt. Chris Schenck of the Idaho State Police was delighted that Huff would be honored this way.

"I'm very tickled they put this all together," said Schenck. "It really shows the support the people of Idaho have for the state police."

Schraeder's boss - Henry Atencio, the chief of Idaho Probation and Parole - traveled from Boise to witness the unveiling and show his support.

"We are all really proud of Jeff for putting this all together," said Atencio, "This is just a great show of support for Moore and Huff."

At each of the reveals there was palpable respect and love for Schraeder, who helped make the project a reality. Several agencies - including Coeur d'Alene Police, Idaho State Police, Kootenai County Sheriff, and Idaho Probation and Parole - attended.

Steve Veare, district manager for Adult Probation and Parole, was a friend of Moore's and still gets choked up when discussing his buddy.

"It's extraordinary that our community shows support for our law enforcement the way they do," Veare said.

For Amos and Schraeder, that's what the project was all about.

"It's important that our kids understand this, that people literally died for them and their freedom here," Amos said.

Schraeder feels the same way and is happy to know that his students now and in the future will have this connection to their community and law enforcement.

"Coeur d'Alene High school is dedicated to cleaning up these stretches for years to come," Schraeder said.

Here's a link to the original article