‘Car D’Alene’ Auto Show Spawns Swap Meet At N. Idaho Fairgrounds

Coinciding with the “Car d’Alene” classic car show, dance and cruise in downtown Coeur d’Alene, a Swap Meet is scheduled this weekend for the North Idaho Fairgrounds.

More than 60 vendors will feature cars, automotive parts and collectibles, and some antiques. Hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $2 for adults, free to those 15 and under. Parking is free, with a free double-decker bus shuttle to the car festivities downtown. Food will be offered by Wolffy’s Rockin’ ‘50s Hamburgers, owned by Ron and Jill Branson of Hayden Lake. Free overnight R.V. parking for vendors is available.

Organizers are Pat Russell and Mike Waller, who hope the swap meet will become an annual event. Phone 762-8080 or 664-4384.

Named for its light atmosphere and fresh menu, Breezes Restaurant has replaced the Cathay Inn East at 1901 E. Seltice Way in Post Falls.

New owners Terry and Jeanne Brewer have incorporated some of the previous owners’ Chinese dishes with a variety of American and other cultural favorites.

Included are 12 Chinese cuisine items, sandwiches, dinner salads, gourmet burgers, steaks, marinades, salmon, halibut and pastas. Special desserts include a variety of crepes and Noodle Pie, which is Breezes’ trademark, featuring butterscotch, caramel, vanilla ice cream and sweet crunchy noodles. The facility also has a full-service lounge.

“Our Noodle Pie sounds weird,” said Terry Brewer, “but everyone who tries it cleans the plate.”

The Brewers are Spokane natives who resided on the East Coast and in Europe with military connections. They have owned The Noodle Works, a noodle manufacturing business in Spokane, for six years. Breezes employs 28 people to serve spaces for about 150 customers indoors and 50 on the deck. Hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Phone 777-9036.

The antique-paneled street level space of the original Kootenai Power Co. building at 421 Sherman Ave. in Coeur d’Alene, now houses Dowd Publishing, a company that produces slick, specific-audience magazines.

Owner Colleen O’Dowd produces Pathways to the Future, which focuses on aging and health issues. The free, semi-annual, 32-page publication targets baby boomers as they research information to care for their parents.

A planned second publication is The Single Professional, with items on job-searching, networking, self-esteem, executive search, real estate and profiles of singles. O’Dowd said the first issue, planned for 54 pages, will be distributed nationally in August.

O’Dowd was raised in Pocatello and Tucson and came to North Idaho in 1985. She was educated in criminal justice at Lewis-Clark State College and has worked with the elderly and homeless people. Phone 667-8090.

The circa-1909 building is owned by the Ralph Clark family. Son Dan Clark said he hopes to return the 70-year-old cast-iron street clock to front the original Clark’s Jewelry shop at 307 Sherman. Pennaluna & Co. stockbrokers have moved upstairs in the 421 Sherman building.

The third store of Coeur d’Alene’s Gittel family is under construction on the northwest corner of Ramsey Road and Kathleen Avenue.

Owner Kim Gittel said the 2,800-square-foot store, to open July 15, will feature more grocery than convenience items to serve the rapidly growing northwest Coeur d’Alene neighborhood. It will offer Conoco gasoline products and employ six people.

Gittel owns the business with Post Falls native Kevin Bettis, owner of Bettis Construction. Gittel, a Coeur d’Alene native, previously owned Jordan’s Market on 15h Street, Gittel’s Grocery of Government Way (both now owned by family members) and the Quick Stop on Appleway at Northwest Boulevard.

Tidbits:

Watch for new traffic lights on Highway 41 at the Prairie and Hayden avenue crossings.

There are no immediate plans for the cleared block west of St. Thomas Cemetery on the revamped East Sherman Avenue, Coeur d’Alene. The property was used for construction space during the project.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Nils Rosdahl The Spokesman-Review