VFW plans Redneck Olympics

The Elk Veterans of Foreign Wars will hold its annual Redneck Olympics Saturday at 4 p.m., sponsored by the Elk Community Park Association. Proceeds benefit Elk Pioneer Days.

The triathlon consists of the Beer Can Shoot (with BB guns), Hillbilly Horseshoes (bean bag game) and the Redneck Ringtoss (tossing rings over coneheads). The tie-breaker is Podunk Putt-Putt (golf putting contest). Prizes, trophies and medals will be awarded and everyone is welcome. Food concessions include chili-cheese dogs and chili cheese nachos.

The Elk Musicians Association meets at 7 p.m. downstairs at the VFW. There will be music and/or karaoke at 9 p.m.

– Billie Martin

Downtown

Lilac Festival plans tea party

The Spokane Lilac Festival will host the sixth annual Royal Tea Party on April 13, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Davenport Hotel.

The 2008 Salute to Service Royal Court will host girls, ages 4 to 9, and their chaperones in an afternoon of tea and festivities. The girls will have an opportunity to be selected for Junior Lilac Princess and ride the float with the Royal Court in the Junior Lilac Parade, downtown Spokane on May 10. The girl must be present during this drawing.

Tickets for the event are $16 per person and available through the Spokane Lilac Festival Office at 535-4554.

Spokane

Parks offers seasonal work

Seasonal workers are needed for mowing, raking, planting, irrigation and pruning in Spokane’s parks. Openings are available now.

To apply, come in person to Park Operations, 810 N. Stone St., from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

For more information, call 363-5455.

All applicants must be at least 18.

Spokane County

Indians baseball offers job fair

The Spokane Indians organization is holding a job fair on April 19 at Avista Stadium from 10 a.m. to noon.

A variety of positions available, including jobs in concessions, hawkers, section leaders, security, press box, team store, ticket sellers and ticket takers for energetic, outgoing people who want to have fun at their summer jobs and who are at least 16 years old.

For more information, go to www.spokaneindiansbaseball.com/jobs/.

Kids Week starts Monday

YMCA of the Inland Northwest will host YMCA Healthy Kids Week Monday through April 12 with a series of free events.

There will be a Mobius Kids Science Adventure Monday from 3 to 4 p.m. at Mobius Kids in River Park Square. There is room for 120 kids, ages 5 through 10.

On Tuesday there will be a family yoga class from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Valley YMCA. There is room for 40 participants ages 5 to 65. There is also a martial arts class Tuesday at the Downtown YMCA from 6 to 6:45 p.m. for youths and from 6:45 to 7:30 p.m. for families. The youth classes are for kids ages 9 to14, and the family classes are for participants age 9 to 65.

On Wednesday, there will be a family bowling class at Valley Bowl from 10 a.m. to noon. There is room for 120 kids age 5 through 10.

Also on Wednesday, there will be children’s tennis lessons. Kids ages 4 and 5 meet from 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., and kids ages 6 and 7 meet from 12:15 to 1 p.m. at the Downtown YMCA.

There will be pool games April 10 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Downtown YMCA. There is room for 60 kids ages 7 to 14.

On April 11, there will be a family survival hike at the Valley YMCA from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. All ages are welcome.

April 12 will be Healthy Kids Day at the Valley YMCA from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. All ages are welcome to this event, which will include representatives from the Fire Department, Police Department, SCOPE, the Y Greenhouse, Albertsons, Washington Trust Bank, Moffitt Children’s Dentistry, the Fairchild Survival School.

For more information, call Brandi Lenberger at 777-9622, ext. 251.

West Central

Green Collar founder speaks

The Jobs Not Jails/Riverfront Farms Eco House, 2605 W. Boone Ave., will host an evening with Van Jones, the father of the Green Collar Jobs Movement, Tuesday from 7 to 9 p.m.

Anyone interested in building a self-reliant neighborhood and a low-impact lifestyle is invited to attend. Admission is a $1 donation.

For more information, call 328-4540.

Whitworth

Ex-ambassador to lecture

Timothy Carney, a former U.S. coordinator for economic transition in Iraq and a former U.S. ambassador to Haiti and Sudan, will speak today at 7:30 p.m. in the Robinson Teaching Theatre in Weyerhaeuser Hall on the Whitworth University campus, 300 W. Hawthorne Road.

Part of the Great Decisions Lecture Series, Carney will speak on the topic, “The Iraq End Game.”

For more information, call 777 3270.

Manito

Lecture series begins Sunday

The Friends of Manito organization is offering its first Sundays in the Garden lecture at Manito Park on Sunday at 2 p.m. in the park meeting room east of Gaiser Conservatory.

Janis Saiki, plant sale manager for the Friends organization, will talk about new plants and cultivars that have emerged in the retail nursery trade, and which will be available through plant sales by Friends on June 14 and Sept. 6.

For more information on the talk, contact the Friends office at 456-8038. Cost of the lecture is $5 for the general public.

Cheney

Warming expert to speak at EWU

Tim Flannery, an international global warming authority who has gained prominence through his many scientific achievements and provocative books, will speak at Eastern Washington University at 10 a.m. Saturday in EWU’s Showalter Auditorium.

Flannery’s latest book, “The Weather Makers,” looks at how man may be changing the climate and what it means to our planet.

“Dr. Flannery is an international voice on climate change, and climate change is the single biggest challenge our students will face in their lifetime,” said Dana Elder, director of the EWU Honors Program, who is bringing Flannery to campus through a grant received from the Strategic Planning Council.