Pro whistlers to show art at Puckerama

Coeur d’Alene Mayor Sandi Bloem can bring downtown businesses together and even persuade the Salvation Army to award the city a $65 million community center.

But there is one thing Bloem can’t do – whistle.

“No. No, I don’t,” the mayor said Thursday about her lack of ability as a human musical instrument.

But she’ll get a chance to learn Saturday when she welcomes the first-ever Puckerama, a gathering of musical whistlers, to Coeur d’Alene. The event continues Sunday.

Professional pucker-style and hand whistlers will demonstrate the art of using lips, cheeks, tongue, teeth and breath to make music.

Robert Stemmons, of Coeur d’Alene, a professional pucker whistler with a collection of CDs, is organizing the event. He brought Puckerama north when he moved to town from Tulsa, Okla.

“It’s a gathering of whistlers for the sake of promoting, sharing, teaching and learning the art,” Stemmons said.

Whistling is perhaps the earliest of all musical instruments.

“It’s not made of wood, plastic, metal or whatever,” Stemmons said. “It’s actually made up of human components.”

One of the most important aspects of whistling is it’s free.

“Most every child owns this musical instrument,” Stemmons said. “Many children have parents who can’t simply afford a musical instrument. They can at least make music with whistling.”

Stemmons got his start listening to his grandmother whistle to the cardinals and mockingbirds in Oklahoma. He was amazed the birds always answered her calls. In middle school, he heard a concert by renowned whistler Fred Lowery. That’s when he put his lips together and decided to make a career out of the happy sound that’s often associated with “The Andy Griffith Show” or “Colonel Bogey March,” made famous in the 1957 movie “The Bridge on the River Kwai.”

Stemmons said he can teach anyone to whistle – even Bloem – with three easy steps:

1: Say “Ooh.”

2: Keep the shape the lips make when you say “Ooh.”

3: Blow gently.

To make a higher note, move your tongue forward. To make a lower note, Stemmons said, move your tongue backward, which creates a bigger air chamber that makes a lower note.

The whistling starts today when the group performs for residents of the Hayden County Guest Home in Hayden.

The main event starts at 3 p.m. Saturday in Sherman Square, on Sherman Avenue between Third and Fourth streets. Bloem will welcome the whistlers before they perform throughout the afternoon. Whistloke, which is slang for whistled karaoke, starts at 7 p.m. in Sherman Square.

Bloem wasn’t ready to whistle in public. “I will be a very good audience member,” she said.

For a schedule of events, go to www.whistlingfestival.com or call Stemmons at (208) 769-3199.