Apples in the air and everywhere

The air in downtown Coeur d’Alene was crisp, bright and maybe a little bit tangy Saturday as sunlight bounced off windows along Sherman Avenue.

The Coeur d’Alene Downtown Association couldn’t have asked for better weather for the Apple Palooza and final Fifth Street Farmer’s Harvest Market of the season.

People dressed up in costumes to trick-or-treat, dance or participate in the Apple Palooza, a downtown competition for the best apple treat. 

“Anything apple: caramel apple pie, hot apple caramel drizzled on top of honey crisp apples, apple cake, apple cider,” Downtown Association Executive Director Emily Boyd said. “Businesses all work with local bakers to source goodies. Everything is made fresh and local.”

The bite of the chill in the air made wandering into the 17 warm shops that much better, where people handed out small treats to 300 Palooza ticket holders.

A ticket came with a map of each participating shop, a wristband and access to each of the 17 treats. 

“I’m always excited about Woops! Bakeshop, and the Gelato by the Lake,” said Bridgette Dunn, of Kootenai County. “They always have something fun.”

This year is the Dunns’ third Apple Palooza. Bridgette’s husband Dave looks forward to the pork belly sandwich. He loves the Macaroni and Cheese Festival for the more-savory treats, but they both love to go to every downtown event. 

“We like to be downtown and we like to do these so they keep going every year,” Bridgette said. 

The Dunns come to support the small businesses and keep the small-town feel in Coeur d’Alene alive. 

“A lot of the smaller towns are just starting to go away and everything, because there’s nothing going on, no support for the community,” Dave Dunn said. “So as long as you keep going it’s going to stay alive.”

That’s also the goal for the Cd’A Downtown Association. 

“The main priority is developing foot traffic while providing a fun experience for the community,” Boyd said. 

Events like Apple Palooza build a community for businesses, where some collaborate to compete. 

“They like to go all out,” said Chloe Linton, events coordinator for the downtown association. 

Others aspire for excellence in their craft to perfect their products for their customers. And customers get to experience the local shops in a fun way, as well as small vendors and artists participating in the farmer’s market. 

Gelato by the Lake manager Leah Roderick uses the opportunity to taste test for fall flavors. She likes the challenge of recreating the customer experience using an apple. 

“It’s really fun to try to figure out how to enhance the apple,” Roderick said. “Because that’s a hard flavor to pull out if you’re not doing a warm, baked good.” 

Roderick loves the technical art of creating a delicious gelato and savors the challenge of creating an award-worthy treat. Her shop's apple cider gelato and gluten and dairy-free autumn spiced wafer took around two weeks to perfect for the Palooza. 

“You want to see that it looks beautiful, and also that the first bite to the last bit is cohesive,” Roderick said.

During the event, participants can vote for their favorite treat, and Gelato by the Lake won the Golden Apple award last year. 

The spirit of competition between businesses drives excellence in creativity at each location in different ways.

“Migliore Olive Oil is making an apple cake with an apple balsamic crema on top,” said Chloe Linton from the Downtown Association. “Black Lodge, they’re doing an apple pork belly sandwich, and then Sweet Lou’s partnered with Olive and Arrow to do cinnamon rolls.” 

The coveted Golden Apple award provides bragging rights for the winner year after year with this year’s going to Woops!. 

Woops! Bakeshop and Gifts made an apple bread pudding with a buttery caramel sauce and whipped cream, each from scratch. The bread pudding incorporated scratch-made Belgian waffles and six kinds of apples to layer the apple flavoring. 

“Even the smell of it, baking, it just reminds you of the grandma’s days,” said Linda Blumer, 73. She volunteered to hand out bread pudding at Woops!. “You know back when you were a little kid and it was so fun to go to grandma’s – and just the smell. We have lost that touch and, hopefully, we’re trying to get back to it.”

Apple Palooza is a way for store owners and customers alike to reconnect to the community. 

“We like anything going on downtown,” Bridgette Dunn said. 

    Coeur d'Alene Downtown Association Executive Director Emily Boyd enjoys a bite of the Golden Apple award-winning bread pudding at Woops! Bakeshop and Gifts on Saturday during Apple Palooza.
  

    The Kootenai Witches Club grabbed a beer in the Eagles before walking down Sherman Avenue to dance at The Shops on Saturday.
  

    Cheryl Metcalf, a local artist and vendor at the Fifth Street Farmer’s Harvest Market on Saturday posed one of her sculptures in the street to capture the mood of the day.
  

    From left, Miranda FitzSimmons and Leah Roderick make and give apple cider gelato with autumn spice wafers to participants in the Apple Palooza on Saturday.
  

    From left, Coeur d'Alene Downtown Association Events Coordinator Chloe Lenton handed the Golden Apple trophy to volunteers Linda Blumer and Brayden Wilhelm at Woops! Bakeshop and Gifts on Saturday. Woops! won best treat for an apple bread pudding with caramel sauce and whipped cream for Apple Palooza.