Tourists Get Welcome, Directions - And A Hot Potato

Grab a brochure, ask for directions, and hey, can you get chives on this thing?

Along with the usual pamphlets and smiles, Idaho visitor centers will serve up free steaming spuds for travelers on Monday.

It’s a gimmick started at a potato festival way down in Blackfoot, Idaho, said Georgia Smith of the Idaho Department of Commerce. The idea is to plug Tourism Awareness Week across the state. “We call it ‘taters for out-of-staters.”

Trouble is, up in these parts, there isn’t a potato peeling plant within 120 miles. The closest one’s in, sheesh, Washington.

Local visitor centers are trying to compensate. The Kootenai County Convention and Visitors Bureau office in Post Falls will happily fork up some of the tubers.

“But we’re also going to have a lot of other things,” said Nancy DiGiammarco, who heads the bureau. “We’ll have tree seedlings and seed packs, along with potato candy bars and all sorts of good things.”

Travelers not sated by the spread in Post Falls have only to drive east to the Huetter Rest Stop.

Bernice Achin-DeBoever, assistant manager at the big rest stop, asked Boise to send up 350 potatoes. “We think we’ll get at least that many people,” she said. Rustler’s Roost restaurant has gladly chipped in ovens, plates and utensils to make the feast complete.

, DataTimes