Summer from A to Z

by Dana DuGan

Authors
Sun Valley Writers’ Conference, Aug. 23-26, brings together enthusiastic readers and aspiring writers with well-known authors from around the world for small breakout sessions and lectures—all in the name of the written word and under the Idaho sky. See their website at www.svwc.com.

Antiques
Whether it’s Art Deco, Western, English or Americana there are antiques for everyone here. The multiple fairs happen simultaneously on the Fourth of July and Labor Day weekends: the Antique Peddlers’ Fair in Warm Springs, Blue Haven Antiques Fair near the hospital south of Ketchum, the Hailey Antiques Market at Roberta McKercher Park, and the Other Hailey Antique Market just south of Albertson’s in Hailey.

Birding
The Snake River Birds of Prey Natural Conservation Area is 35 miles south of Boise. Its 485,000 acres include 81 miles of the Snake River, 65,000 acres of critical nesting habitat, and 420,000 acres of prey habitat. The canyon walls along the Snake River, ranging up to 600 feet high, provide abundant nest sites for birds of prey. The area, which is open for hiking, biking, boating and educational tours, contains the densest concentration of nesting birds of prey in North America.

Botanicals
The Sawtooth Botanical Garden, just south of Ketchum on State Highway 75 at Gimlet Road, offers opportunities to get your hands dirty by volunteering, taking tours of fabulous gardens in the Wood River Valley or having your own plot in which to grub around. The community-supported agricultural program supplies fresh organic produce by subscription weekly (726-9358). The Seventh Annual Sawtooth Botanical Garden Tour is July 13. 

Crafts
The Sun Valley Arts & Crafts Festival, Aug. 9-11, in Sun Valley is awash in great gifts, art and jewelry, music and demonstrations. Get your holiday shopping done early at the 34th annual event. The annual locals only Ketchum Arts Festival takes place in downtown Ketchum, July 12-14. The Sawtooth Mountain Mamas Arts and Crafts Fair is July 20-21 in Stanley (774-3453). 

Chamber Music
Under the auspices of the Sun Valley Summer Symphony, the Edgar M. Bronfman Chamber Music Series provides world-class music under the tent at Sun Valley, July 29, 31 and August 2. Cellist Steven Honigberg directs the group. The regular Sun Valley Summer Symphony Concert Series runs Aug. 4-19. Violinist Joshua Bell returns to the SVSS to play Tuesday, Aug. 13. 

Dining
It’s a veritable smorgasbord for the taste buds with the approximately 50 restaurants in the Sun Valley-Ketchum area and many more in the southern end of the valley. You can find every kind of food from Thai to French to Italian and Sushi, to burgers and fries. See the restaurant listings.

Entertainment
Five theater companies—Laughing Stock Theatre Company, Sun Valley Repertory, New Theatre Company, Company of Fools and Interplanetary Theater Group—offer a variety of diversions. Eight screens in the valley feature play first-run flicks. 
Several music venues have live weekly shows where you can drum up some dancing: in Ketchum Whiskey Jacques’, Roosevelt Tavern; in Sun Valley, the Duchin Room and The Boiler Room; in Hailey, the Mint has bands and DJs to dance to, and the Red Elephant Saloon has a DJ on Saturdays and acoustic music other nights. The diVine wine bar has acoustic tunes weekly. Check the Idaho Mountain Express entertainment calendar for bands, times and venues. 

Fishing
Idaho in general is a mecca for fly-fishing. In this area anglers head to various spots on the Big Wood and Little Wood rivers for catch-and-release sport. Warm Springs Creek and Trail Creek are particularly good for kids because they’re allowed to keep their fish. Or head down south to the Silver Creek Preserve. Find yourself a guide—there are plenty of them hereabouts—or be daring and check a map for a body of water near you.

Galleries
There are more than two dozen art galleries in town, featuring a varied display of art from Western to African, landscapes, sculpture, contemporary, glass and fine art photography. The Sun Valley Gallery Association features Gallery Walks in Ketchum July 5, Aug. 2, Aug. 30 and Oct. 11.

Golf
Golf is a popular pastime here; it almost eclipses fishing. Premiere courses in the valley include Elkhorn Resort (622-4639), Sun Valley Resort (622-2251), Bigwood’s nine-holer (7216-4024), Warm Springs (726-3715) and the Valley Club (788-1441). 

The Danny Thompson Memorial, Aug. 21-24, is a Celebrity/Charity Golf Tournament, which has raised more than $4 million to date for leukemia and cancer research in the name of Minnesota Twins shortstop Danny Thompson (726-1049). 

Horses
Take a dinner trail ride or a ride high into the Sawtooths with a spectacular view of Redfish Lake—whether you go astride English or Western, there are places to rent ’em and ride ’em. Sun Valley Horsemen’s Center (622-2387), Super Outfitter in Bellevue (788-7731), the Mystic Saddle Ranch at Redfish Lake (774-3311), Galena Lodge (726-4010), and in Stanley (774-3591). Also, in the mid-valley try Sagebrush Arena (788-9613) for lessons or rides.

Inclines
Idaho has nine 12,000-foot summits and 91 more peaks over 11,000 feet, including many in our area. To the north of the Wood River Valley lie the rugged granite peaks and alpine lakes of the Sawtooth Range. One favorite climb is Mt. Heyburn at 10,200 feet. To the southwest are the Soldier Mountains, which have long serpentine valleys and grass-covered ridges. Both the 10,095-foot Smoky Dome and 9,694-foot Iron Mountain are exceptional scrambling climbs. Another good climb is Hyndman Peak at 11,775 feet in the Pioneer Mountains. 

Jewelry
Sparkling, glittering, sublime or simple, the chosen accessory for nearly all women, and nearly as many men, falls under this category. We are a nation that likes our adornment. Besides the many excellent jewelers in town, the multitude of craft fairs and antique shows offer opportunities to buy original work from their makers, and never see the same piece on anyone else. See the this issues article.

Kids
The area is jam-packed with things for kids to do, but if they still need more distraction than you can muster, there are several day camps offering riding, fishing, hiking, swimming and crafts: Sun Valley Day Camp (622-2133), Elkhorn Kids Camp (622-2777), and the Youth Adventure Center at Galena Lodge (726-4010).

For older youths, the Police Activities League (PAL) offers summer activities in a free program. Kids enjoy a full slate of planned events from fishing to basketball to hiking and rafting (788-7080). Also, Camp Little Laugh features a week of theater taught by professionals culminating in a large musical production presented for kith and kin (788-3583). 

Lakes
Consider this: there are 16,000 miles of rivers and streams and more than 2,000 reservoirs and natural lakes in Idaho. In fact, the northern third of Idaho has the greatest concentration of lakes in the West. Some of the nicest are reachable by heading north by car, including Redfish Lake, Stanley Lake and Alturas Lake, while the Anderson Ranch Reservoir and Magic Reservoir are to the southwest. Camping is available at most of these lakes.

Museums
Do you like historical items that illuminate life as it was when the Wood River Valley was a bustling mining community? Then check out the museums in our area: Bellevue Old City Hall Historical Museum, Blaine County Historic Museum in Hailey, Ketchum/Sun Valley Ski and Heritage Museum in Ketchum, the Ore Wagon Museum in Ketchum and the Stanley Museum in Stanley.

Music
The Northern Rockies Folk Festival in August showcases musicians both local and from afar. Two days in August, Hop Porter Park in Hailey hosts the music, food booths and playground for great family fun. This year’s headliner is Asleep at the Wheel.Twilight Music Concerts, presented by the Sun Valley Center for the Arts, feature music at River Run Lodge and Trail Creek Cabin. This year Dianne Reeves, Nancy Griffith and the Blue Moon Orchestra and Shawn Colvin perform. Ketch’em Alive on Wednesday evenings at the Forest Service Park in Ketchum showcases live bands and other performing arts. 

News
Pick up your Idaho Mountain Express weekly newspaper on Wednesdays and Express Weekend edition on Fridays to find entertainment and events, local news, politics and general-interest articles.

Off-Road
Off-road motor biking, or dirt biking, is a passion in these parts. There are a few loosely organized groups including the Tree Huggers that clear trails of fallen branches, rocks and other obstacles for themselves, runners and mountain bikers. 

Parade
Check out the Fourth of July parade in Hailey, where funny cars compete with Girl Scouts and baton twirlers, while water balloons are inevitable and the fire truck sprays rowdy attendees. 
On Labor Day weekend there is the largest non-motorized parade in the Northwest, the Big Hitch Parade, in Ketchum. 

Quiet
For all the action in the valley, one needs some down time occasionally. Fortunately, there are some great places to snooze in the sun or shade. Among them are the Rotary Park on the Big Wood River or the Forest Service Park, both in Ketchum. South, there’s Hop Porter Park in Hailey, also along the Big Wood, and the Silver Creek Preserve south of Bellevue. All the libraries offer comfy seating areas worthy of a cozy read.

Quilts
Try the Mountain Mamas Quilt Festival in Stanley, in October (774-3613).

Racket sports
Tennis courts can be found at Harker Center in Elkhorn (622-9281), the Valley Club (788-1441), the Sun Valley Tennis Club, (622-2156) Warm Springs Tennis Club (726-4040) and Prospector Tennis & Swim Club. (726-9404). Public courts in Ketchum are at Atkinson Park, and in Hailey at Della View’s Heagle Park.

Rodeo
The Hailey Rodeo is big stuff. On July 4 and 5, Hailey turns back the clock and gives us a veritable cowboy heaven. When the fireworks burst over Hailey, the rodeo arena’s bleachers are the best seats in town. 

Skating & Skateboarding
The Sun Valley Ice Center hosts the Sun Valley Figure Skating Club and Sun Valley Ice Shows every Saturday night featuring the world’s best skaters (622-2231).

The valley offers two skateboard parks: one in Ketchum next to the Park & Ride on Warm Springs Road, and in Hailey next to the rodeo grounds. 

Sheep
See ’em, trail ’em, wait for ’em. Trailing of the Sheep is Oct. 11-13; otherwise they’re always around, as much a way of life in Idaho as the potato. See them and their herders at their high summer pastures in the mountains or watch the flocks wind their way down the valley to wintering grounds.

Trails
Ride or hike the many scenic and challenging trails, found at Trail Creek, Adams Gulch, Fox Creek and Warm Springs, as well as the Harriman Trail from Galena to North Fork. Or ride the chair lift with your bike to the top of Bald Mountain and bike down. For riders who prefer a smooth ride, the Wood River Trail System offers miles of paved paths that run on the old railroad line from north to south and out into Elkhorn and Sun Valley. 

Theater
“Dinner with Friends,” Company of Fools, July 3-28, at the Liberty Theatre in Hailey.

“Sound of Music,” Laughing Stock Theatre Co., June 13-23 at the nexStage Theatre, Ketchum.

“Proof,” New Theatre Co., July 11-27, at the nexStage Theatre in Ketchum.

Both the Interplanetary Theatre Group and the Royal Larkspur Play Troupe offer various ongoing play readings free of charge.

Shakespeare in the Park is an annual event that offers outdoor theater in the Forest Service Park in Ketchum. Aug. 18-Sept. 2 “Taming of the Shrew” plays.

Umpires
Love a man in a uniform? There are plenty of them at softball games up and down the valley. Check with the Blaine County Recreation District or in the Idaho Mountain Express for times and places for the weekly games. 

Volcanic
Craters of the Moon National Monument includes the entire Great Rift, an impressive collection of volcanic lava flows on the Snake River Plain. East of Carey on U.S. Highway 20, Craters of the Moon was declared a monument by President Calvin Coolidge in 1924, and enlarged in 2000 by President Bill Clinton. 

Wine
The Sun Valley Wine Auction takes place this year July 25-28. It’s a benefit for and sponsored by the Sun Valley Center for the Arts. It begins Thursday night with dinners and parties hosted for the vintners and patrons in private homes in Sun Valley and Ketchum. On Friday night the gala Wine Auction Dinner Dance takes place at the Sun Valley Resort. On Saturday afternoon, a wine tasting is held on the Sun Valley Resort grounds where more than 100 wines are sampled. Saturday night an outdoor picnic with live music is held for approximately 900 people(726-9491 for tickets).

Exercise
Why be an Idaho Couch Potato when you can be Idaho buff? Several fitness centers have made their homes in the valley, offering an array of activities and workouts. Blaine County Fitness Center in Hailey (788-2124), Sun Valley Athletic Center (726-3664), and Zenergy (725-0595).

And then there are endless miles of trails, bikes for rent, hiking, walking, inline skating, ice-skating and horseback riding. 

Yoga 
Cat cow, downward facing dog, plank, cobra, corpse and supine big toe. All these poses and more can be yours, with lots of work and visits to studios where different kinds of yoga are taught—Sacred Cow Yoga Studio, Innerflo Movement Studio, Sun Valley Athletic Club, Numinosity, Zenergy and The Gateway in Hailey.

Zen 
Zen and the art of living in a stimulating activity-minded community is one tricky concept. But help has come in the form of holistic healing centers where the emphasis is on body, soul and spiritual synergy. In Hailey, The Gateway offers a myriad of practices from yoga, herbal healing, martial arts, to massage, and Pilates. In Ketchum, Numinosity has various forms of massage, as well as cooking classes and acupuncture. 

Then there’s the great outdoors. Breathe deep, and you’ll feel zen-like, just for a moment.  •