Get Ready For Lots Of Festivities With Season’s First Holiday Event

Fri., Nov. 17, 1995

Anne Windishar

If you believe marketing and commercials, the holiday season has already begun. In fact, it started up a few days before Halloween this year - despite the fact that orange and black clash horribly with red and green.

But you can decide for yourself when the holiday season starts, beginning with your choices for fun this weekend. There’s one Christmas event and plenty of non-holiday stuff to keep you busy.

And forget about gift shopping. It’s not the last minute yet.

Deck the halls

Wondering how to decorate your home this year? You’ll get plenty of ideas at Custer Enterprise’s 19th annual Christmas Arts and Crafts Fair. Three hundred artists and craftsmen from seven Northwest states will fill the main building and all three annexes at the Spokane Fairgrounds.

You’ll find blown glass, pottery, floral arrangements, jewelry, quilts, nature photography, candles, wooden toys, teddy bears, paintings and more. Many booths will feature specialty and gourmet foods like spices, vinegars, jams, candy and dessert coffees.

Organizers expect more than 17,000 people to attend. Hours are 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. today, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $3.50 for adults; children 12 and younger are free.

Something different

You may have heard the music of the Coeur d’Alene Marimba Ensemble at the Lake City’s Art on the Green. If so, you know how infectious the group’s music is; if not, you’re missing out on a good thing.

The ensemble, joined by the Renovators, offers a dance/concert at 8 p.m. Saturday as a fund raiser for the Coeur d’Alene Cultural Center. The event will be held in the Sorenson School Gym at the corner of Ninth Street and Coeur d’Alene Avenue.

Advance tickets are $5 for adults ($6 at the door) and $3 for children under 15. Call (208) 667-0625 for ticket locations or more information.

More fund-raising fun

The Soroptimist International of Coeur d’Alene and the Lake City Playhouse are holding their annual fund raiser, “A Night to Remember,” beginning at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds.

The live and silent auctions will include theatrical entertainment. The auction items include a 1995 Ski Doo 670 Summit snowmobile.

Tickets to the event are $25 and are available at the door or by calling (208) 667-1323.

On stage

The sweet and hot basics of traditional country, Delta and Chicago-style blues hit the stage of The Cutter Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Saturday with Sheila and her Backwater Blues Band.

Sheila’s press info says she “creates a musical landscape filled with moving performances, vibrant energy and excellent musicianship.” The band includes Steve Cameron on guitar and Dave Mathis, a veteran blues harp player.

Tickets are $5 and will be available at the door. Call 466-4108 for more information.

Mootsy’s Tavern continues its Sunday Poetry Series with Holy Kokanee at 4 p.m. Sunday. Victor Charlo from Dixon, Mont., and Zan Agzigian from Spokane will read.

Call 458-8947 for more information.

North Central’s drama students are ending their run of the Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy by George S. Kauffman and Moss Hart, “You Can’t Take It With You” this weekend.

Curtain tonight and Saturday is 7:30 p.m. Call the school at 353-5220 for ticket information or take your chances at the door. Admission is $3.50 for adults, $1 for NC students and $2 for other students. Kids under 5 are not admitted.

Music news

Concert organist Paul Wood Cunningham will present a concert of music for the organ at 4 p.m. Sunday at The Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes. Cunningham will be assisted by members of the Cathedral Choir.

Cunningham, a nationally acclaimed organist, will play from the works of many great composers and will feature the world premiere of “Sortie” by Dallas organist-composer Joel Martinson.

Admission is free, but donations are welcomed.

Gonzaga University will present the fall concert of the GU Chorale at 8 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday in the Jesuit House Chapel on the college campus. The performance is open free to the public.

The monthly meeting and jam session of the Acoustic Music Guild is 2 p.m. Sunday at Community Presbyterian Church in Post Falls.

The group meets to jam and, this month, trade accessories and gadgets for stringed instruments. If you play guitar, banjo, mandolin, violin, dulcimer, stand-up bass, harmonica or the like, be there.

Miscellaneous

The Opera Buffs meet on Monday at 6:30 p.m. at the Rockwood Retirement Center. Verne Windham will present an interactive program titled “You Always Remember Your First Time,” about the moment when you first understood the awesome power and magic of opera. It’s free and open to the public.

Master woodcarver Paul Bolinger will be at the Children’s Corner Bookshop from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, demonstrating his talents. All ages are invited to observe the creation of his handcarved Santas, for which he’s famous.

He’ll answer questions and his wife Camille, who hand paints his creations, will be there as well. It’s free.

The Panida Theatre in Sandpoint is holding “Holly Eve” at 7 p.m. Saturday, a benefit fashion revue and auction for the theater. The clothes are provided by Eve’s Leaves.

A gallery reception will be held for the Spokane Falls Community College art faculty today from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. to mark their contributions to an exhibit in the college’s Art Gallery.

The Brent Edstrom Trio will perform during the reception and artist Tom O’Day will be there. Work as diverse as abstract paintings patterned with caulking compound and photo silkscreen images of African-American buffalo soldiers will be displayed among the traditional works.

The reception and show are open free to the public. Call 533-3713 for more information.

The Cheney Cowles Museum, as part of its “Yes, in my Back Yard” series, is holding a noon-to-1-p.m. “Meet the Curator” brown bag lunch Saturday. From 2 to 3:30 p.m., the museum will hold a roundtable discussion titled “Understanding Hanford - Looking to Art for Answers.”

Artists, activists and Hanford outreach specialists will participate in the discussion. Admission is free.

The Spokane Chiefs have a two-night home stand this weekend, with 7 p.m. games tonight and Saturday at the Arena.

Tonight the Chiefs take on the Prince George Cougars; Saturday it’s the Tri-City Americans. Ticket prices are $12, $10 and $8. You can get a $6 seat at the walk-up window on the day of the game only. Call 325-SEAT for tickets.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Drawing

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: GETTING OUT With one of the big holidays coming up this week, perhaps it’s time to turn our thoughts to decorating just a bit. We’ve gotten a reprieve from the snow and arctic temps so there’s time to head out and gather a basketful of brightly hued leaves for the porch; perhaps even add a few evergreen cones. Clip the remaining dried flowers and some branches of mountain ash laden with berries and you have an autumn bouquet. And, while you’re in the yard, hang up the birdfeeders and fill them with seed; you might be surprised at just how fast our feathered friends gather for lunch.

This sidebar appeared with the story: GETTING OUT With one of the big holidays coming up this week, perhaps it’s time to turn our thoughts to decorating just a bit. We’ve gotten a reprieve from the snow and arctic temps so there’s time to head out and gather a basketful of brightly hued leaves for the porch; perhaps even add a few evergreen cones. Clip the remaining dried flowers and some branches of mountain ash laden with berries and you have an autumn bouquet. And, while you’re in the yard, hang up the birdfeeders and fill them with seed; you might be surprised at just how fast our feathered friends gather for lunch.