Painting history gold since 1995
By Sandra Kinney
Co-Editor in Chief
The staff, students and families of Lewiston and Clarkston high schools have been participating in the much anticipated Golden Throne since 1995. During the establishment of the event, the first three years were spent hammering out the fine details. Spirit links, for instance, were not introduced to the games until 1998.
The 1995 Golden Throne began with a toilet donated from Leffler Plumbing, and it was spray painted gold. The CHS woodshop then built a base, and the tradition was born.
The community of the 1999 Golden Throne managed to raise a total of $2,640 for their first year of selling spirit links. The most recent year of 2017, the community raised a whopping $17,000 to donate to charity.
A number of charities have received donations from the event throughout the years, including Family Promise, Gina Quesenberry Breast Cancer, Jackson Baldwin Foundation, LUCC, North Idaho Children’s Home, Red Cross, Salvation Army, Snake River Community Clinic, Valley Food Banks and Wishing Star among many more. Over the last 23 years, the LHS and CHS communities have raised a total of $175,681 for charity.
While the event is an incredible way for the community to raise money, the event also opens the gates between the LHS and CHS rivalry. During the event, both boys and girls varsity basketball teams battle it out to win the throne and be crowned victorious at the end of the night.
In order to win the throne, each team must play to win the basketball game, while the crowd participates in the spirit competition. Students from LHS deck themselves out in an array of purple and gold, while CHS reps its colors of red and black. Each school designs its own event T-shirt and provides students with options for spirit items. Spirit items and shirt designs often correspond with the school’s chosen theme for that year, of which the student body votes on.
Both schools begin preparing on the Monday before the event with their chosen spirit days. The student body of each school votes on the spirit days they want, then go all out competing with each other to win each day’s category. The final day of the week is designated for students to rep their school’s colors in honor of the Golden Throne held that night, and when the final bell rings at the end of the day, the competition truly begins.
