Kickin' in for ailing friend

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POCATELLO -- The showroom floor at Courtesy Ford looked more like the dining room of a fine restaurant Sunday -- candles adorned tables and dozens of people mingled and listened to the sounds of local music icons, Steve Eaton and Mike Sanders, before the $25-a-plate dinner was served.

The crowd came to support and raise money for former Pocatello resident Kirk

MacAllister.

MacAllister was diagnosed four months ago with longitudinal transverse myelitis, a disorder that caused him to lose all sensation in his lower extremities. There is no known cure for the disorder and there are only 50,000 cases worldwide.

"Because he was very physically fit before and determined not to end up in a wheelchair, he is able to walk with a cane," said longtime friend, Bob "Hornet" Thronson.

Thronson said he met

MacAllister, the former Sandpiper bar and Juniper Hills Country Club manager, in Sun Valley in the 1970s.

MacAllister got him a job waiting tables, and today Thronson owns two of the Gate City's most popular eateries, Remo's and Mama Inez.

MacAllister now lives in Boise where he launched a tour company. His disorder kept him from attending Sunday's event, but he was on the mind of each and every party-goer.

MacAllister has some health care coverage, but Thronson said the cost of multiple MRIs and traveling to a number of national specialists was huge. MacAllister's rare disease was eventually diagnosed at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix.

"We just wanted to help him through this tough financial time," Thronson said. "We have a really good circle of friends."

Local merchants and residents donated more than $5,000 in raffle items and food was donated by Mama Inez and Remo's.

Thronson hoped to raise between $5,000 and $10,000 during the benefit Sunday.

Along with Eaton and Sanders, musician Joe Cannon also donated his time for the fundraiser.

Cannon, who also met

MacAllister in Sun Valley almost four decades ago, performed during a previous show in Las Vegas to benefit his longtime friend.

He hasn't seen MacAllister for about two years, but said he's kept in touch with the former Sun Valley doorman. When he found out his friend was sick, he knew that he wanted to help.

"Kirk is just a great guy and he always had some great ideas," Cannon said. "He was always inventing something."

Most of MacAllister's invention involved skiing, Cannon said. The most popular, the "Ski Lizard," was a strap that attached to skiers' coats and allowed them to carry their skis at waist level instead of over their shoulder, freeing up their hands.

Donations to MacAllister can be made at Remo's, located at 160 W. Cedar St.

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