Is Life The Pits? Go To Green Bluff, Where Everything Is Cherry

Just when you thought you couldn’t eat another strawberry, the cherries are ripe.

Green Bluff changes seasons like a teenager changes clothes. This weekend, the orchards northeast of Spokane are holding their annual Cherry Festival, a chance to spend a summer day in the country.

Recent thunderstorms have taken their toll on some of the crops, but orchardists still report big juicy cherries on hundreds of their trees. To entice pickers, five orchards are coming together again this year to host the festival.

You’ll find country cooking and fantastic desserts, live music, entertainment for kids, craft booths and, of course, cherries and raspberries ready for picking. There is no admission charge.

Participating orchards are Walter’s Fruit Ranch, Hidden Acres, Beck’s Harvest House, Wellens’ Luscious Fruit and Gibson’s Orchard. You can get to Green Bluff by taking the Newport Highway to Day-Mount Spokane Road. Turn east and follow the signs.

You can also plan ahead to the Cherry Pickers’ Trot and Pit Spit on Thursday. The Pit Spit is at 5:30 p.m. and the four-mile fun run begins at 7:30 p.m. Call 238-4963 or 238-4709 for a complete itinerary.

The real West

There’s a little of everything this weekend at the Springdale Frontier Days. You have your Art Fest in the Park or your shootout at the OK Corral.

Springdale is bringing back Reggie Byrum, a bit actor who was a member of the red sash-wearing cowboys gang in the movie “Tombstone.” Byrum and his crew of outlaws travel the country reenacting historic gunfights and dressing in vintage clothes. They performed in Springdale last year, as well.

Dubbed “the Pacific Northwest town too tough to die,” Springdale is hosting a traditional rodeo with calf roping, bull riding, team roping…the whole bit. Tickets are $4 in advance or $6 at the gate; $2 for children. The rodeo starts at 1 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday, there’s an 11 a.m. parade and a noon all-school reunion barbecue.

The cowboy breakfast is 7 a.m. Sunday with an 8 a.m. western worship service. Springdale is a bit over an hour north from Spokane.

Christian bikers

The Soul Patrol, a group of Christian bikers, is holding its second Motorcycle Rodeo and Camp Out this weekend at the Spokane Interstate Fairgrounds.

The event is meant as an outreach to show bikers they can lead a fun, exciting, outlaw life without drugs, alcohol or, well, lawbreaking.

“We try to make a place where people feel comfortable, where they can have a blast with their families,” said one organizer.

Evangelist singer Jeff Fenholt will perform and there will be a swap meet, as well. The rodeo includes events like barrel races, ring tosses and more.

Admission is $5; children 12 and under are free. Those who want to camp pay $15 each or $25 a couple. Call 482-0991 for more information.

Dance and drum

Here’s a cultural and educational opportunity that doesn’t come this way often. Malidoma! presents two Honor Africa Haitian and West African Dance and Drum workshops Saturday and Sunday.

The drum workshop is offered at 11:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. both days. Beginners will get an introduction to hand techniques for making clear tones on the drum. Intermediate students will learn rhythms that accompany specific dances.

The dance class is at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. both days. It draws from dances of Haiti, Guinea, Mali and Senegal; all are expressive, athletic and celebratory.

Each class costs $10; there are discounts for multiple classes. They’re held downtown at the Metropolitan School of Ballet, 820 W. Sprague. Call 624-7573 for more information.

Small-town doings

The seventh Annual s.m.ART by the River Festival of the Arts begins Saturday in Cherry Bend Boat Park near St. Maries, featuring a juried art exhibit, entertainment (the Westwind Quintette, the Chrome Toasters and more), arts and crafts booths, riverboat rides and more.

Admission is free. You can get there by boat by going up the St. Joe from Lake Coeur d’Alene or, by car, on U.S. Highway 3. Call (208) 245-3417 for more info.

The Festival at Sandpoint is holding its seventh Wine Taste and Auction to raise money for the summer concert series and the Schweitzer Institute of Music.

More than 24 regional and national wineries will pour a variety of wines for tasting at Swan’s Landing in Sandpoint. Auction items include vacation packages, artwork and more.

Tickets are $35 per person. Call (208) 265-4554 for tickets.

Lake Chelan holds its annual Bach Feste this weekend, with the added intrigue of African-American music and music of Africa.

The festival opens tonight at 6 with a Chamber Music Concert in Twisp’s City Park. At 7 p.m. Saturday, in Chelan’s Riverwalk Park, the Village Drum and Masquerade group from the Republic of Liberia in West Africa will use traditional storytelling, music and masked dances to bring the rich colorful Liberian culture to its viewers.

There’s more, as the festival runs through July 23. For a complete schedule and ticket information, call (800) 4-CHELAN.

And finally, you can catch An Evening with Gordon Lightfoot at Yakima’s Capitol Theatre at 8 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $22.50 and are available at Ticketmaster outlets or by calling (206) 628-0888.

Miscellaneous

You can hear Seattle’s Black Cat Orchestra at 8 tonight at WSU’s Bryan Hall Auditorium in Pullman. The orchestra is a nine-piece ensemble that plays a wide-ranging selection of country swing, Tex-Mex, Latin American tangos and Korean and Eastern European music. It’s free.

Spokane watercolorist Don Nepean will demonstrate his work in the Museum Shop of the Cheney Cowles Museum on Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. It’s free.

Universal Dance Studio in Spokane is celebrating its 25th anniversary with Show Case 1995, a performance by the studio’s dancers. It’s at 7:30 tonight in the Marie Antoinette Room in the Davenport Hotel. Tickets are $7 at the door.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Getting out If the mountaintops beckon like sirens, you can get there fast on a ski lift, even in the summer. The chairs at Schweitzer Mountain Resort begin running today for the summer. They’ll take you to the top of the mountain and back down from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Or you can take your mountain bike up with you and let gravity bring you down. There’s a guided hike at the resort Saturday at 10 a.m. It’ll cost you $8 to take the lift; the guided hike is free. And, mark your calendar: The fourth annual Schweitzer Hill Climb bicycle races are on July 22.