Athol news: Legion holds annual chili cook-off

So you think you make the best dang chili around? Here is your chance to find out if that’s true.

Post 149 Athol American Legion will hold its annual chili cook-off next Saturday, with judging at 5 p.m. Entry fee, which includes dinner, is $10, $5 for nonentrants. The menu? Chili and corn bread.

Bring your family. Nonlegion members are welcome, as well. Don Kuch, club manager, tells us he’ll furnish the fire extinguishers. For information, call 683-2614, and don’t forget to say hi to the newest bartender, Debbie. She’s a good one, as well as our erstwhile regular, Carol.

Lots going on in Athol and Blanchard this season, with the food bank located in the Community Center, cranking up for the demands of the holiday season. While the contested election for mayor is in full swing, we’ll be talking to other civic leaders who are not candidates this year, about their service and visions for the community’s future.

One noticeable change in the Athol area is the vast developments that appear to be acreage lots that are springing up solid from Spirit Lake east to Athol, then south to Rathdrum. While everyone is talking about the development of the Rathdrum Prairie, development of the northern, more-timbered area has sneaked up on us.

White rail fences ring most land in these areas, with fields occupied by the occasional camel or zebra. We haven’t met the zebra yet, but it is reputed to be living on Clagstone and is not the one depicted in “Pearls before Swine,” the comic strip featured in The Spokesman-Review.

The Blanchard Area Senior Center will hold its annual blueberry pancake brunch next Saturday, from 8 to 11 a.m. Cost is $5 for adults, $3 for kids under 12.