Have a taste of Cd'A and support kids

Savor some fun Coeur d’Alene-style this weekend, and help a local Kiwanis Club support the area’s kiddos.

Panhandle Kiwanis is hosting the 29th annual Taste of Coeur d’Alene in City Park. The event will be 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday through Sunday.

“What we’re looking for is to create an event where you can bring your parents, your aunts and uncles, everybody,” said Roger Stewart, one of the organizers. “You have the Fort Sherman Playground, the band shell, food, incredible entertainment, arts and crafts. You can go to the city park and set up camp all day or all weekend with your family, and then wander off to the NIC campus and see Art on the Green or go downtown.”

Taste of Coeur d’Alene features all local entertainment and vendors. The event is free to attend and there are activities for all ages. There will be a beer garden for adults and a kids area with face painting, improv theatre, bocce ball, and performances and jousting by the Spokane Entertainers Guild.

Musical talents will include Coeur d’Alene Youth Marimbas, The Powers, Colby Acuff, Jason Lucas Band, the Powell Brothers with Arvid Lundin, and Ren E and the Rhythm Section. There will also be circus performances by Vertical Elements, such as aerial artistry, hoop dancers and stilt walkers.

“Taste of Coeur d’Alene is our biggest fundraiser in the area,” said Kiwanis member Dave Eubanks. “I think the entertainment part will become the premier music event of the year starting this year.”

Dave Kilburg, former president of the group, said the only criteria to join Kiwanis is the desire to be of help. Kiwanis is all about serving the community and building up future generations, and is always looking for new members.

Idaho Panhandle Kiwanis has been involved in numerous local projects. It helps with Fort Sherman Playground restoration, McEuen Splash Pad, Coeur d’Alene High School student of the month, scholarships for local students, soup kitchens and more. It also puts on a Christmas party and potluck for the Family Promise Organization.

“The motto of Kiwanis is ‘serving the children of the world’ and the community,” said Mark Jensen, current president of the group.

“We’re not religiously affiliated, and we’re not politically affiliated. We’re just citizens helping young people in our communities,” Eubanks said.

Funds are earned from charging vendors and the proceeds from the beer garden.

“We get the money and then we go with what we want to do with it,” said Kilburg. “Everything that we net from it goes back to the community.”

In past years, Idaho Panhandle Kiwanis has put its fundraising toward NIC and high school scholarships, Special Olympics Winter Olympics lunches, Borah playground, St. Vincent de Paul Souport, Kroc Center Clothe a Child, Boy Scouts, Jingle Books and American Legion Baseball.

Idaho Panhandle Kiwanis was chartered on March 25, 1970. The group currently has about 34 members. For information about the club, visit www.panhandlekiwanis.org.