Hauser celebrates 60 years on the map

HAUSER – The community of Hauser will hold a beachfront birthday bash to celebrate the town’s 60th anniversary on Saturday morning.

At 11 a.m. at the city’s public beach, the birthday blitz will kick off with events including a bluegrass band, a barbecue, children’s play areas, display booths and a special unveiling of Idaho’s first watercraft rinse station, designed to help prevent Eurasian milfoil from invading Hauser Lake.

The birthday party is “going to be fun,” said city Councilman Don Werst, who has helped plan the day’s festivities. “You only get one 60th.”

The whole town is chipping in to make it happen, said John Wallis, president of the Hauser Lake Watershed Coalition, the group behind the rinse station’s construction.

With financial assistance from the state for the rinse station and with the hard work of the small town’s residents in getting everything ready, the birthday bash will pay tribute to the town’s greatest asset, Wallis said.

“It’s local people realizing that this thing has some value, the value being this lake,” he said.

The state’s first milfoil rinse station will be officially christened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Mayor Ed Peone will lead the citywide celebration, and several representatives of state government, including the Department of Environmental Quality, will be on hand for the dedication.

“It’s definitely a community project,” Wallis said, adding that officials hope to use the day to educate the public on the invasive weed and how to prevent it from spreading. “The more people we can get … the better it’s going to be.”