Build, create, celebrate
LOREN BENOIT/Press Michael Popek, right, and Harrison Chaney install a wooden seat on a bike cart in preparation for the fourth annual GizMotion parade on Saturday, July 7 in City Park.
Quinn McGovern puts a chain back together on a tricycle in preparation for the fourth annual GizMotion parade on Saturday, July 7 in City Park. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
Alex Monter installs a wooden mount for a cart Thursday afternoon at Gizmo-CDA. Monter, and many others like him, will unveil their man-powered creations at this year's fourth annual GizMotion parade on Saturday July 7 in City Park. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
COEUR d’ALENE — Only the imaginings of a 10-year-old mind could perfect the "Geekmobile" in time for a parade.
"At first it was a racecar with eyeballs and a horn, and then we ripped all that off," Warren Birch explained while tinkering on his project Thursday afternoon outside Gizmo-CDA. "Then I decorated it, did what I wanted with it and put a pad for the seat. It's called the 'Geekmobile' because we pretend that we can hack people and stuff."
Bike pedals, decorative wires, a custom-painted roof and a hitch to pull a candy-tossing passenger were the finishing touches on the "Geekmobile," which Warren, of Coeur d'Alene, will "drive" in style Saturday, July 7, during the fourth annual GizMotion creativity celebration in Coeur d'Alene City Park.
Warren, who will be participating in his third GizMotion, said he enjoys the building aspect of the event.
"I have LEGOs at home, so I love to build with them," he said. "Once I see something that I want to work with, all of a sudden ideas just start popping in my head."
His friend, Sonny Poschman, 10, of Coeur d'Alene, said he likes GizMotion because "you get to be in a parade."
A dozen youngsters let their imaginations run wild this week at Gizmo while they crafted the human-powered vehicles they'll be entering in the GizMotion parade.
"A lot of kids are taking bikes apart and instead of riding them frontwards, they're riding them backwards," said Barb Mueller, who founded and operates Gizmo with husband Marty. "They're making it so the pedaling part is not where it normally would be and when you see them riding down the street, they're absolutely riding on the bike backwards."
GizMotion encourages kids and their grown-up counterparts to think outside the box and celebrate the wonderful world of imagination.
The event will feature the "Kingdom of Creativity," with several booths, craft stations and projects on site. New this year is the U.S. 30 Dragstrip Pinewood Derby.
"You know how pinewood derby has always been for the Boy Scouts and the Cub Scouts? It's for the adults this year," Barb said. "It's open class so the adults can do what they've always wanted to do because they always tell me, 'I want to race in the pinewood derby,' so we're doing our own."
The family-friendly festival of free fun starts at 11:30 a.m. and goes through 4 p.m. Volunteers are still needed. Those who can volunteer 2-hour shifts or help with set up or teardown can sign up at www.gizmo-cda.org/volunteer-for-gizmotion.html.