Kellogg Has The Look But Wallace Has The Cook

Kellogg’s worked long and hard on its Bavarian facade. But if it’s German food you crave, you’ll have to try Wallace.

“We looked in Kellogg, but there was nothing available with an existing kitchen,” explained Monika Giles, co-proprietor of the newly opened Edelweiss Restaurant.

Giles comes to the Silver Valley from Stuttgart, Germany, by way of Port Orchard, Wash. She and her husband, Nicholas, opened a bed and breakfast - the Dreamcatcher - in Wallace last May. Everyone who tasted her cooking urged her to tackle the restaurant biz.

The response to Giles’ made-from-scratch schnitzels, goulash, and torte has been amazing in a county that boards up a new restaurant every other week.

“People come back in droves,” she said.

Kellogg, don’t lose heart.

“We’re just getting our feet wet in Wallace,” Giles said. “We may eventually move to Kellogg - because I think we’re needed.”

Meanwhile, Kellogg merchants have come up with another excuse to lure people to its newly remodeled uptown: A yard sale that trades in its yard for an unbeatable location.

“My sister and I wanted to sell some stuff. Then some of the employees wanted to get in on it. Before we knew it, it was turning into this giant community yard sale,” said Brenda Stinson of the Silver Needle.

Vendors will spread their merchandise in the town square today, barring bad weather. Everyone’s welcome. For $5, you can buy a space and hawk your own wares.

“It’s not a big official deal,” Stinson said. “Just something fun to do.”

Want to buy a health club?

Nine months after its reopening, Silver Valley Medical Center (formerly Henry Day Hospital) is looking for a private party to take over the Valley Fitness Center.

Equipped with old but functional Nautilus machines, aerobic machines and free weights, VFC has been an asset to the community’s health since 1981.

But not the hospital’s.

“Unfortunately, the center isn’t contributing to the hospital’s financial well-being,” said Derek Jones, interim chief financial officer for the East Shoshone Hospital District.

VFC is located in a leased basement across the street from the county courthouse in Wallace. On its best days, it sees between 70 and 80 people sign in. (Keep in mind that the town’s entire population is about 1,000.) Users range from high school students to seniors, said VFC manager Kyle Koski.

The center sponsors morning and afternoon step aerobics classes. Its Jacuzzi and saunas are especially popular in winter.

According to Jones, the hospital district’s board of directors wants to make sure that the health club continues to serve the community.

“We want to know that whoever buys it won’t sell it or move it,” he said.

VFC users count on that.

“For a community this size, it’s a great facility. People love it. It’d be a shame to lose it,” Koski said.

Speaking of exercise, Osburn and Wallace Elementary Schools’ new playground equipment is drawing rave reviews.

“I’ve had mothers stop me on the street. They think it’s great,” said Connie Holmquist, a member of the Parent-Teacher Organization that is the force behind the change.

The combined cost of the equipment was about $18,000. The schools kicked in more than half, but that still left the PTO with thousands to raise. It translated into several years’ worth of raffles, carnivals, and candy sales.

The new equipment, a brand called Ground Zero, is both safer and more challenging physically.

“The kids love it,” said Holmquist. “That’s the reward - to know the kids are so happy.”

MEMO: Bekka Rauve is a freelance writer who lives in the Silver Valley. Panhandle Pieces appears every Saturday. The column is shared among four North Idaho writers.