The former Doris MacDonald and Lester married Dec. 29, 1940, at First Methodist Church in Bonners Ferry. It was Doris' 20th birthday.

Doris and Lester Howard celebrated their 67th wedding anniversary Dec. 29 with dinner at Panhandle Restaurant.

Her sister, Donalda MacDonald was her bridesmaid; Donalda seven months later married Lester's older brother, Myrel.

Others in the wedding were Doris' younger sister, Ruth MacDonald, who was the flower girl, and Charles Oxford was best man. Doris' father, D.J. "Jim" MacDonald, gave her away.

The Howards' children are Virginia Weller of Lewiston and Robert Howard of Sand Springs, Okla. Four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren complete the family.

Lester, 88, is retired from Riverside Auto in Bonners Ferry.

Doris, 87, worked as a waitress and cook at various Bonners Ferry restaurants for 35 years.

As for what makes a marriage work . . .

"Work, then you're too busy to fight," Doris said. "We've both been Christians and that helps."

The Howards have belonged to United Methodist Church in Bonners Ferry for more than 50 years.

Mick and Margaret Mellett went to Orlando, Fla., at Christmas to visit daughters Meghan, 24, and Marcy, 21.

Both work as secretaries for PSI, an engineering firm in Orlando.

Meghan graduated from Bonners Ferry High School in 2001 and Marcy followed in 2005.

Mick and Margaret also met the girls' boyfriends.

Meghan's boyfriend, Trevor, works in management for his father's taxi cab company in Orlando.

Marcy's boyfriend, Matt, is a dancer for the Orlando Magics and teaches dance.

While in Florida, the Melletts visited NASA and went to midnight mass at National Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe Roman Catholic Church with 3,000 others.

"They were standing up in the aisles and up the sides," Mick said.

Wade Winkelseth of Bonners Ferry and Nicole Wood of Sandpoint got engaged a few days before Christmas.

They plan to marry on Aug. 30.

Wade took Nicole for a ride on his four-wheeler with the pretense of proposing. He told her the four-wheeler broke down. He then got down in the snow and proposed.

Wade is the son of Cathi and Alan Winkelseth of Bonners Ferry. Nicole is the daughter of Cathy Wood and Terry Wood, both of Sandpoint.

Wade works for C.E. Kramer in Bonners Ferry. Nicole is a waitress at Badger's Den in Bonners Ferry.

Mikkel Shannon of Bonners Ferry earned at 3.97 grade-point average at Washington State University in Pullman for the fall semester.

A senior majoring in intercultural communication, Mikkel will graduate in the spring. A 2004 Bonners Ferry High School honors graduate, Mikkel is considering working with animals, in the travel industry or in the area of history.

Her parents are Marty and Teresa Becker.

Mikkel's husband, Patrick, is a junior majoring in agriculture at Washington State and plans to go into law enforcement.

Spreading the Word is about the people of Boundary County. If you've gone on a vacation, have a wedding planned, are moving or anything else you'd like to share, call Gwen Albers at 267-5521 or send an e-mail to galbers@cdapress.com.