Wine, Stein and Dine simply divine

They call it Wine, Stein and Dine, but after the glasses have been drained and the samples downed the result is a boon for Post Falls classrooms.

The Post Falls Education Foundation hosts the annual event to raise cash for creative classroom teaching grants. In the past 10 years, they’ve raised $195,000. Last year, the education foundation gave more than $30,000 to the schools.

Teachers’ grant requests are wide-ranging, says Debra Slaney, president of the foundation. In the past, money raised has helped fund a programmable robotic arm, plant a school garden, bring ladybugs into a classroom and buy books and incentives for reading programs, she says.

“What we try to do is focus on things that are innovative, creative and give a little bit of a different perspective of learning,” Slaney says. They received 154 grant requests from teachers last year and were able to fund more than half of them.

What diners get for their $45 ticket price is something of a strolling buffet, including dinner and drinks. There will be 85 vendors serving samples in the Greyhound Park and Events Center in Post Falls, including 12 area restaurants, during Wine, Stein and Dine 2007 on March 3. Hot and cold appetizers, desserts, wine, beer and microbrews will fill out the menu.

A silent auction, wine tree raffle and live music will also mark the evening event, which begins at 7 p.m. and ends at 10.

Tickets often sell out, and can be purchased at Washington Trust Banks in Coeur d’Alene, Hayden and Post Falls; Super 1 Foods, Connected Northwest and the Post Falls Chamber of Commerce in Post Falls; and at Vino in Spokane.

If there are tickets available at the door, they will be sold for $60 each. For more information, contact Slaney at (208) 777-4313.

MaryJanesFarm memberships open

MaryJanesFarm, an organic farm eight miles southeast of Moscow, Idaho, and home to founder MaryJane Butters, is offering U-pick memberships for the summer.

Called the MaryJanesFarm Country Club, members receive access to the greenhouses, fields, orchards and chicken coop for U-pick (or gather) access during daylight hours. Members pay an annual fee of $100 for the membership and then also pay for what they pick at a self-serve station at the farm.

Organic lettuce, peas, garlic, potatoes, green beans, peppers, apples, plums and berries will be available. Members can also gather chicken eggs and flower bouquets as well as bring visitors to relax on the farm for a picnic lunch or bring children to visit the farm animals. The harvest season begins in May.

The farm is also headquarters for Butters’ organic prepared-food business which she started in 1990. Her book, “MaryJane’s Ideabook, Cookbook, Lifebook – For the Farmgirl in All of Us,” was published in 2005.

A limited number of memberships are available. For more information, call (208) 882-6819.