Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Pullman’s 23rd National Lentil Festival will feature 100 percent recyclable chili bowls, a recipe from Switzerland and an expanded entertainment lineup – including a rite of passage show for Idaho’s Small Town Boyz.
Events will start Friday downtown at 5 p.m. and continue Saturday when the action switches to Reaney Park.
A new Green Team will make their debut at the festival this year, coordinating the chili bowls which will be collected in special boxes, sealed and sent straight to Tumwater to be turned into anything from surfboards to furniture to coloring markers.
The effort will keep a projected 10,000 pieces of foam from the county landfill.
“Greening our event through a very easy program like this saves money, and it creates awareness about recycling, and particularly the recyclability of foam cups,” said Vicki Leeper, National Lentil Festival Director.
The team will also give away 100 percent recyclable cardboard stadium seats for Saturday’s musical performances at Reaney Park. The seats will be free to the first 500 spectators at the park.
This year’s Lentil Recipe Cookoff garnered 118 entries, which have been whittled down to six chosen ones, which will be prepared for the finals. One is an entry from Switzerland, from some friends of Palouse residents who often take lentils when they visit. The first 400 people to line up for the 2:00 p.m. Reaney Park judging will get to sample the final six and vote on the winner.
Organizers see good signs for the 23rd annual installment of the festival. All vendor space sold out early.
“To have things like that happen, I would take that to mean it’s going to be bigger and better than ever this year,” said Leeper.
Music for the 2011 festival will feature an even larger variety of musical acts than previous years, from the Pacific Northwest and beyond. The lineup includes The ColdRail Blues Band, Whiskey River, Palouse Harmony Chorus, The Coats, Small Town Boyz and Locust Street Taxi.
Idaho’s Small Town Boyz will be marking a rite of passage, as they will soon go on hiatus as the two older members enter college. Guitarist Dylan Curry will start at the University of Idaho Aug. 24 as a music major with classical guitar concentration. Lead singer Dakoda White will go to disc jockey school in Wisconsin for six weeks, leaving Sept. 3. Drummer Patrick Boyer will be a senior at Deary High School.
“We’ll pick up where we left off when Dakoda gets back,” said Curry. “We’re still having fun, we’ll stick with it.”
When they reconvene, their manager will be at the ready. She’s also Curry’s grandmother.
“I have never managed anything before,” Donna (Mimi) Parsley said, nonetheless getting results. “We could have booked them through September,” she said, later noting that she expected to see Curry soon.
“He’s supposed to be down here to mow my lawn,” she said.
The boys, who have opened for several acts at Boomer’s Garden in Lewiston, will take the stage at 1:30 Saturday, where they’ll play a set of classic rock tunes from Eric Clapton to Bon Jovi to newer artists like Jason Mraz. They also always work in a couple originals.
Kicking off the music this year will be The ColdRail Blues Band, who will play Friday, Aug. 19, on the Main Stage at 5 p.m. They offer a groove influenced by blues, rock, R&B, jazz and zydeco.
The Snake River six will play at Cougar Plaza beginning Friday at 5 p.m. for the street fair.
Next on the main stage Friday night will be the Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute band Whiskey River, who will play from 8:30-11 p.m. Festival-goers can dance to their southern rock sound on songs like “Sweet Home Alabama,” “Gimme Three Steps,” “The Breeze” and “Freebird”.
Saturday’s variety of musical guests at Reaney Park will include the barbershop sounds of Palouse Harmony Chorus, along with the acapella group, The Coats, out of Seattle. Then the Small Town Boyz at 1:30 p.m. Locus Street Taxi will follow at 3 p.m.
The Little Lentil Sprout parade and grand parade will begin at 11 a.m.
Action at Reaney Park will include the food court, kids area and Lentil market place.
Paradise Creek Brewery will host a microbrew tasting tent from noon to 5, and a skate board contest will be at the skate park next to Reaney
Coronation of the new Little Lentil King and Queen will be at 2:30 p.m. at Reaney.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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