With All This Going On, There’s No Time To Be Cold This Winter

Of course you know how to put a worm on a hook.

But if there’s a better way, you can learn about it this weekend at the 10th annual Gamefish Show at the fairgrounds.

If you don’t fish, you can save the four bucks the show would have cost you ($3 with a can of food for the Food Bank) and use it as a down payment on a T-shirt at the Steve Perry concert Monday night at the Opera House.

Hey! Just because it’s the dead of winter doesn’t mean life grinds to a halt. We’re facing three straight months crammed with great music, theater, sports and, yes, gamefishing tips.

The G&B Best of Broadway series presents two big shows early in the year - “Evita” and “The Sound of Music” starring Donnie Osmond’s little sister, Marie.

The phenomenal King’s Singers return this year to the Opera House Feb. 28. If you love music, you cannot afford to miss this concert.

Check out the Bach Festival in mid-January - it’s a perennial first-quarter favorite - and the Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble brings modern dance to the North Idaho College in Coeur d’Alene on Jan. 13.

Vibes giant Lionel Hampton brings his big band and a planeload full of famous friends to Moscow in February for his annual jazz festival. And this Sunday, the Spokane Jazz Society heats things up with First Jazz, their annual membership concert at Cavanaugh’s Inn at the Park.

In other jazz news, the Hal Galper Trio plays Hobart’s Jazz Lounge, Sunday, Jan. 28, and trombonist par excellence Ian McDougall joins the Spokane Jazz Orchestra at The Met on March 18.

Local favorite pianist Walt Wagner joins the Spokane Symphony for a pops performance March 11. Three days later, St. Paddy’s devotees will kick up their heels at the Folklore Society’s St. Patrick’s Dance at the Woman’s Club.

Two big country shows are coming to the Palouse - Sawyer Brown and Toby Keith play Moscow’s Kibbie Dome in February and in March, Little Texas, Tim McGraw and Black Hawk do the Beasley Coliseum in Pullman.

Headbangers can get off with Megadeth and Corrosion of Conformity at the Coliseum Feb. 17. Tickets go on sale Saturday at G&B outlets.

On the other end of the cultural continuum, art lovers will gather on Feb. 4 for the opening auction of the annual Works of the Heart show at the Cheney Cowles Museum. Fans of classic film will enjoy the silent version of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” complete with organ accompaniment, at St. John’s Cathedral, March 30.

All the year’s new cars will gather in one spot for the annual New Car Dealers Auto Show in early February. Then the Auto Boat Speed Show rumbles into town at the end of March. Both of these big shows are at the fairgrounds, where you’ll also find the Gem and Mineral Show (early March) and the Inland Northwest Big Horn Show (mid-March).

In sports, the Chiefs will battle hard to overcome a slow start. And the college basketball season is in full swing and with high hopes. The bronc wrasslers and bull riders mosey into town Feb. 3 for the Wrangler Pro Rodeo Classic at the Coliseum and Silver Mountain hosts the First Security Winter Games in early March.

And these highlights are just for starters, as the following schedule confirms. While the holidays may be over and spring is just a faint glow on the horizon, there’s lots left to get your mind off the cold.

So let’s get going; the worms are waiting.