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SEPTEMBER 2019 – MAY 2020 VISIT ORGOR CALL BOISEPHIL 208 344 7849
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LUCKY FINS SEAFOOD • SUSHI • GRILL
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BOISEWEEKLY STAFF General Manager: Sally Freeman sally@boiseweekly.com Publisher: Matt Davison mdavison@idahopress.com
Editorial Editor: Harrison Berry harrison@boiseweekly.com Senior Staff Writer: Xavier Ward xward@idahopress.com Special Publications Editor: Lex Nelson lexnelsonwrites@gmail.com
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contributing Writers: Skylar Barsanti, Henry Coffey, Micah Drew, Anna Felix, Samantha Stetzer
Advertising Account Executive:
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Shea Sutton shea@boiseweekly.com
Who Runs Boise’s Creative
Funniest Instagram? . . . . . 8
Art Director: Jason Jacobsen jason@boiseweekly.com
Dressing Down,
Contributing Artist: Adam Rosenlund
Dressing Up . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Circulation
The Best (and Most Read)
Man About Town: Stan Jackson stan@boiseweekly.com
Dad Jokes in Idaho . . . . . 18
Boise Weekly prints 30,000 copies of Annual
#GoingVegan . . . . . . . . . . 20
Manual, which is available free of charge inside the July 31, 2019, edition of Boise Weekly at
From Refuge to Resource . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
more than 1,000 locations, limited to one copy per reader. Additional copies of this edition of Annual Manual may be purchased for $3, payable in advance. No person may take more than
Behind the Morrison
one copy, without permission from the publisher.
TO CONTACT US:
Center Curtain . . . . . . . . . 26
Boise Weekly is located at 523 Broad St.,
Time to Let Loose . . . . . . 30
Boise, ID 83702 Phone: 208-344-2055 E-mail: info@boiseweekly.com
Home Is Where
www.boiseweekly.com
the Art Is . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Address editorial, business and production
Idaho in Ireland . . . . . . . . 34
correspondence to: Boise Weekly, 523 Broad St.,
Scootie-Dootie-Doo! . . . . 36 A Quintessentially
Boise, ID 83702
The entire contents and design of Annual Manual are ©2019
Boise Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Please Sit on the Art . . . . 40
by Adams Publishing Group.
Boise Weekly is an edition of the Idaho Press.
‘A Record Is a Journey’ . . 42 Calendar of Events . . . . . 43
BOISEWEEKLY ANNUAL MANUAL 2019-2020
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2019/20 SEASON ANTHOLOGY
LI G HT/ DARK
BOISE STATE UNIVERSITY SPECIAL EVENTS CENTER
MORRISON CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
November 1 – 3, 2019
March 13 – 14, 2020
THE NUTCRACKER
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST with
MORRISON CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
December 19 – 23, 2019
NEWDANCE: INSIDE VIEW
CARNIVAL OF THE ANIMALS MORRISON CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
May 1 – 3, 2020
BALLET IDAHO THEATER
February 6 – 9, 2020
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WELCOME TO THE GAME As history teacher Mr. Spenser told teen drama king Holden Caulfield in J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, “Life is a game, boy. Life is a game that one plays according to the rules.” Though Holden disagreed with Mr. Spenser, we think he had a point: We move through life just like we move through the city we call home, rolling the dice with every choice we make and jumping from space to space, relationship to relationship, coffee shop to coffee shop. In this year’s Annual Manual, the 2019 edition of our city guide, we’ve fully embraced the game that is living in Boise, and we’re inviting you to play along. In our version, each flip of a page is the equivalent of a dice roll, and you never know where on the board you’ll land. We do, however, guarantee that you’ll learn something at every space. As you make your away around the board, our talented writers will take you to archery
BOISEWEEKLY ANNUAL MANUAL 2019-2020
ranges, artist-in-residencies, vegan restaurants, the local LGBTQ center, a famous cleaning company, an iconic record store, the Greenbelt, a warehouse full of costumes, the backstage of the Morrison Center and a rack of e-scooters. They’ll even push Boise’s limits by exploring the mind of an award-winning author, an all-too-possible fictional bar and the wilds of a popular Instagram account. To win the game, snag the copy of Annual Manual that you’re holding and hop through all 13 spaces—we’ll reward you with an invisible crown, the sweet taste of victory, and a better understanding of the city you stroll every day and the people you share it with.
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Editor —Lex Nelson, Special Publications Edit
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EXCEPTIONAL
VISUAL ARTS
EXPERIENCES
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WHO RUNS BOISE’S FUNNIEST INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT? @OverheardBoise is a gigantic success—and a complete mystery HENRY COFFE Y
“I hope they turn the music back up so I can fart.” - Overheard at Broadway Bar In a simpler time, before the smartphone changed everything, this person talking about farts at Broadway Bar would have been quietly judged and then forgotten. But this isn’t a simpler time, this is the age of social media, so a nearby eavesdropper grabbed their phone and sent that quote to the Instagram account Overheard in Boise (@OverheardBoise).
“PEOPLE SAY THE WEIRDEST ST UF F WH E N THE Y THINK NO ONE IS LISTENING, A N D A RE COMEDIANS WITHOUT E VEN KNOWI NG IT.”
Some time later, Overheard in Boise posted a picture of the quote for its nearly 17,000 followers. It received hundreds of likes. Unless they’re one of them, the flatulent person at Broadway Bar probably has no idea that they’ve achieved internet fame. This is the way of “overheard” Instagram accounts, which flourish in most major cities and on college campuses. They aggregate the funniest things people overhear for everyone to enjoy. When Overheard in Boise launched on July 6, 2017, the account primarily posted pictures of Boise Weekly’s Eye Spy cartoons. But weekly cartoons copied from the local newspaper didn’t draw much interest, so the account switched gears and encouraged Boiseans to send in the funny things they’d overheard.
The pivot to submissions unleashed a deluge of content. Overheard in Boise began publishing a quote every day. Someone at the bar inside Albertsons said, “I can’t go to jail, what am I going to do about my skincare routine?” Someone at a nice French restaurant told their partner, “This is our first Valentine’s Day where I’m your only girlfriend.” And someone at Flying Pie on Fairview said, “Are we listening to Nickelback?? People are trying to eat!!” This offbeat comedy earned Overheard in Boise a huge following in just two years. The Overheard team now receives about 25 submissions every day, and that number doubles during public events. The team works together to pinpoint the most hilarious quotes.
“We have different ideas of what is funny, demented, or has bad timing, so it’s a well-oiled checks and balances system, fueled by beer and hard alcohol,” the Overheard team wrote in email. The submissions paint a picture of Boise and its citizens one non-sequitur at a time. “People say the weirdest stuff when they think no one is listening, and are comedians without even knowing it… you can overhear hilarious things from a hungover college student, or from a dad at Target,” the Overheard team wrote. “It’s comical, and sometimes shocking, to see ourselves and our community reflected back at us.”
LAUGHING WITH YOU, OR AT YOU? Thousands of people eagerly await Overheard in Boise’s posts, but internet fame is always accompanied by crit- 10 icism. Disgruntled followers disparage the account for
* ALL QUOTE IMAGES COURTESY @OVERHE ARDBOISE. * ALL ILLUSTR ATIONS FROM STOCK.ADOBE.COM.
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4th Annual
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782 Americana Blvd. Boise www.boise-dentists.com ANNUAL MANUAL 2019-2020 BOISEWEEKLY
being alternately too lame, too liberal, too immature and too offensive. 8 The folks at Overheard in Boise intentionally toe the line between funny and shocking. They make an effort to “keep anything too hardcore out of it” because “hate mail from moms is the worst,” but overall they seem amused by their detractors and decry the hypocrisy of social media pearl-clutchers. “Everyone likes a good laugh when it’s not at their own expense,” the Overheard team wrote. “We’ve found it’s all funny and ‘likes’ until YOU are offended.” The team even preserves its favorite hate mail in an Instagram story, because, its members said, “it’s almost funnier than the actual account.” However, some people in the Instagram community think the account has gone beyond poking fun at critics and trolls. One local influencer, who asked to remain anonymous, said that as it gained popularity it “kind of became the troll,” blasting followers over unwelcome remarks. Those followers decide for themselves whether the account is funny or unnecessarily adversarial, but Overheard in Boise does resemble an internet troll in one respect—the people running it are completely mysterious.
THE ANONYMOUS INFLUENCER The people behind the account repeatedly declined to reveal their identities to Boise Weekly, only communicating via email to retain “ultimate anonymity.” However, they did offer a few personal details. “We each are from Boise and own local companies, can usually be found hanging out on Eighth Street, and are not California transplants, which people love to assume,” they said. Conversations with other local influencers indicate that the account is run by three longtime friends, one of whom works in media. Reportedly, none of them have personal Instagram accounts.
But these details—whispered by people who refused to unmask Overheard in Boise—present only a blurry outline of the people who are perhaps Boise’s most influential comedians. The level of secrecy in local Instagram circles confounds. Influencers, by definition, seek notoriety, yet almost every local influencer BW spoke to requested some degree of anonymity. Some did not want to be associated with the Overheard in Boise account. Others did not want their ownership of popular accounts to become public knowledge.
BIG BUSINESS A career in Instagram may sound trivial, but social media is a booming industry. Even a goofy account like Overheard in Boise is enmeshed in contracts and nondisclosure agreements. The Overheard team does not actually own the @OverheardBoise account. The account was created by a popular Boise influencer who snaps up desirable Instagram usernames and sells them on the secondary market. The owner of @ OverheardBoise spoke to Boise Weekly on condition of anonymity. A nondisclosure agreement prevents the Overheard team from 12 revealing who owns the account. The contract allows the group to use @OverheardBoise for free until it buys it from the owner. BOISEWEEKLY ANNUAL MANUAL 2019-2020
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OVERHEARD IN BOISE STEALS A GLANCE AT BOISE STYLE On Friday, June 28th, the brain trust behind @OverheardBoise launched @EyeSpyBoise—an Instagram account that broadcasts noteworthy Boise fashion. “It’s a stretch, but we think Boise can pull it off,” the Overheard team wrote. “We’ve highlighted what Boise overhears, now we’d love to show off what Boise looks like.”
BOISEWEEKLY ANNUAL MANUAL 2019-2020
It also stipulates that the price of the account increases 10 alongside the number of followers. If the Overheard team doesn’t eventually buy the account, the owner reserves the right to sell it and its following to the highest bidder. The contract does not directly involve Instagram, which forbids buying and selling accounts in its terms of use. (This policy hasn’t stopped people from doing both at a frenzied pace.) Generally speaking, an account with 10,000 followers can fetch anywhere between $500 and $8,000 dollars on the open market. The Overheard team said it would cost it “less than a 2007 used Honda Civic, but more than a movie ticket” to purchase @OverheardBoise and its roughly 16,700 followers. So, why didn’t it just settle for an inferior username like @OverheardBoise123? The Overheard team felt that the value of the marquee name, which matches popular accounts like @OverheardNewYork, was worth giving up ownership. As its members put it, “Why be the generic store brand when you can be the brand name?” The group also anticipated that increased advertising profits would justify the cost of the account, but every advertising offer it has received so far has been a bad fit. “We’ve maybe made $50 on the account. It’s pretty laughable,” the Overheard team wrote. The position is precarious, as the group may not ever be able to afford independence. But its members downplayed any concerns about ownership and insisted that the account’s status has no effect on their editorial decisions. iii 12 hhh
“We aren’t out anything if we piss the name owner off and [the account] gets shut down or sold,” the Overheard team wrote. “We love the account, but not enough to financially invest in it. Instagram is fleeting, like all other social medias. Remember MySpace? Yeah. We do too.”
WHO SAID THAT?! A larger question hovers above Overheard in Boise’s comedy and controversy. Are the posts real? The Overheard team maintains that all but one of the posts are legitimate. (On one occasion, it created a post “just to see what kind of response it would get”— it wouldn’t say which one.) The team also claims that 95% of the posts come from submissions, but there’s no way to confirm the veracity of the hundreds of submissions the account receives each week. It might seem unlikely that the majority of posts were truly overheard, but to assume that the submissions are fabricated begs a different question: Is Boise really that creative? No matter the origin, the posts are a hit, and after carefully curating quotes for two years, the Overheard team knows that some themes are always winners. “The Treefort ones are always hilarious, along with the relatable ones about Boise struggles with construction, rent, weed, and Meridian,” it wrote. “As long as Boise has those problems, and we all stay verbal enough for people to overhear us, the content just creates itself.”
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DRESSING DOWN, DRESSING UP
Boise Weekly goes behind the scenes at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival Costume Shop HARRISON BERRY
HARRISON BERRY
ISF Costume Director Esther Haberlen shows off one of her favorite creations.
In an unassuming warehouse near Harris Ranch in East Boise is a room with racks of period clothing almost two stories high, where bins of codpieces and crowns share a shelf for the sake of alphanumeric order. That warehouse and a couple of cargo containers out back are the Idaho Shakespeare Festival Costume Shop, and it’s hard to imagine any filing system, let alone a person, having a firm grasp of it all—but then, there’s ISF Costume Director Esther Haberlen. “A big part of my job is just knowing what’s here,” she said during a tour of the approximately 800-square-foot room where the festival stores thousands of costumes. “I have a lot of
this in my head. I feel a little schizo, because I’m managing two stocks.” The room is just a fraction of the whole warehouse, but it has the rough square footage of a small house, and contains multitudes. In a corner is a pile of shoes, at least a thousand of them; and along the back wall are tubs of every imaginable accessory, like bracelets and watches. There is an astounding quantity of body armor: Roman-era crested breastplates and leather greaves, Medieval gauntlets and helmets in every style. Of the crowns, Haberlen said, “It’s a history of the festival. With Shakespeare, you always have kings and queens.”
It’s also a history of Haberlen herself. Her father was a carpenter and her mother taught her art, and it’s fitting that “measure-twice-cutonce” and creative habits have come together so neatly in her career. The 2019 season is her 13th with the festival. She married her husband, a former changeover manager and now an assistant technical director, in 2006. The next day, she flew to Boise for work. “I picked her up at the airport [the day after the wedding],” said ISF Marketing Director Hannah Read. w“It was awesome.” 16 The selection at the costume shop is even more complicated than it is
“ YOU HAVE TO KNOW WHEN IT’S YOUR JOB TO BRING THE MOMENT—WHEN THE COSTUME SHOULD SHOW UP—AND WHEN IT’S NOT.”
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expansive, since ISF shares it with its affiliate festivals, 14 the Great Lakes Theater in Cleveland, Ohio; and the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival in Incline Village, Nevada. Costumes regularly make trips to points east and west, and it’s Haberlen’s job to make sure there’s no more blood spilled over Julius Caesar’s toga than is stipulated in the play that bears his name (which, incidentally, runs Thursday-Thursday, Aug. 1-29, in Boise). Not all plays are dressed equally. For a typical ISF production, characters make just a handful of costume changes. Musicals tend to have more, between four and five, and in 2014, the company staged Les Miserables, which required a whopping six to seven, depending on the character. “Music Man [June 28-Sunday, Sept. 1] is a pretty large show,” Haberlen said. “The men usually have three looks; the women have four.” If managing the clothing stocks is the logic of Haberlen’s job, the costumes themselves are the art. In another wing of the shop, a small team designs, builds, repairs and modifies garments seemingly around the clock, and sheets of paper sketched with early-20th-century American garb for the then-upcoming production of The Music Man fill almost every flat surface. There are bolts of cloth, but fewer than one might expect. The festival
Artists sketch new costumes for upcoming plays at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival.
has to be judicious about what it builds, rents from other festivals, repairs and repurposes. “We have to be strategic about the things we make,” Haberlen said. Dressing rooms at the shop are a special place. Like almost every other room there, they double as storage, and packed shelving lines their walls, but the work of
HARRISON BERRY
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ISF’s team of tailors is for naught if it doesn’t fit the actors. A good costume puts the performance first, and is as distinct from other costumes as an individual tree in the forest—unless distinction is the point. How the shop determines what it will put on characters in this or that play is no less an act of close reading, interpretation and adaptation than a director staging a production of, say, The Merry Wives of Windsor. “You have to know when it’s your job to bring the moment— when the costume should show up—and when it’s not,” Haberlen said. “If everything goes right, the audience just perceives the actor.” The greatest successes often go unnoticed by the audience, as do some dramatic failures. When ISF put on My Fair Lady in 2016, an unnamed Boise dry cleaner “completely ruined” a red chiffon dress: “The bodice had to be made, heroically, before opening night,” Haberlen said. Even for those sitting close to the action in the ISF amphitheater, the difference was nearly impossible to spot. More than any tear in the pantaloons or other wardrobe malfunction, an errant accessory or out-of-place outfit can wrest a theater-goer’s attention away from
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the action, and few items in the costume shop’s stockpile have as much power over performances as wigs. Past the storeroom and tailoring stations is a whole section of them, mostly made with real hair. They’re laced with magnets for the easy application of hats, but like every other item, each one has to blend seamlessly with its wearer. A good wig is the mark of a professional costume shop and, by extension, theater company. “The thing about wigs is, they really are indicative of quality,” Haberlen said. “The wig can make or break a performance. You want the hair to disappear.” Work and life seem to blend together at the shop, in few places more so than in the breakroom. Standing at the stove, someone from Haberlen’s team watched as something—definitely not food— came to a boil, while Haberlen talked about the years she’d spent learning what it means to do her job well. Her workshop and storeroom are far from the stage, but she couldn’t resist dropping a pun while talking about the role she plays. “I just want everyone to know how much care we put into making it a seamless experience for the audience,” she said.
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2019-2020 SEASON Manon
Acis & Galatea
by Jules Massenet September 27 & 29, 2019 The Egyptian Theatre
by George Frederick Handel November 8 & 10, 2019 The Egyptian Theatre
La bohème
Dead Man Walking
by Giacomo Puccini February 14 & 16, 2020 The Morrison Center
by Jake Heggie April 24 & 26, 2020 The Egyptian Theatre
Flying M Coffeehouse 500 W. Idaho St. Boise, ID 83702 208-345-4320 @flyingmcoffeehouse
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tickets at
idahoshakespeare.org or 208 336 9221 iii 17 hhh
Albertsons ArmgaSys Foerstel Design Good Burger Hotel 43 Micron Technology, Inc. Scentsy
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ANNUAL MANUAL 2019-2020 BOISEWEEKLY
THE BEST (AND MOST READ) DAD JOKES IN IDAHO
More than 60,000 people pass by the American Cleaning Service billboard each week ANNA FELIX ALL PH OTOS COURTESY AMERICAN CLE ANING SERVICE CO.
“ I A S KE D A GI RL TO PRO M WITH THE BOARD. I ALSO USED IT FO R M Y MA RRIAG E PROP O SA L, AN D E VE N FO R WHEN WE HAD KIDS. IT’S A CONSTA NT PA RT O F M Y L I F E.”
For nearly seven decades, the billboard on Front Street outside American Cleaning Service Co. has been one of the most-read billboards in the state of Idaho. Every week, more than 60,000 people drive by it, but apart from bearing the ACSC logo, it isn’t pushing a sale. Rather, it’s known for its ponder-worthy quips, well-wishes and dad jokes. A recent message read, “You can choose between two B’s, be bitter or be better.” ACSC President Eli Schmoeger said the board is also a record of his own life. “I asked a girl to prom with the board. I also used it for my mar-
riage proposal, and even for when we had kids,” said Schmoeger. “It’s a constant part of my life.” For 42 years, the bookkeeper of ACSC chose the phrases to be posted every week, but recently, it has been the purview of Special Services Manager Zac Fink. The ideas come from family, friends, employees and sometimes customers. “It’s hard to choose a favorite billboard because there have been so many, and I’ve only been with the company for about a month,” said Manager of Business Development Morrie Berriochoa. The billboard has been a staple of thousands of Boiseans’ commutes since Schmoeger’s father
opened ACSC. The company tries to balance what appears on the board between witty sayings, holiday greetings, welcoming messages for teams from out of town, and community event promotions like fundraisers. Once, there was a sixweek period where the only thing that appeared on the board was birthday wishes. “We had to shut that down. While it was, of course, special for the person who was getting the wish, it doesn’t have any meaning for the 60,000 other people who see it. The billboard is a community thing. We want to make sure it reaches a lot of people,” said Schmoeger.
For almost 70 years, the billboard outside American Cleaning Service Co. has been one of the state’s most-read.
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WE MAKE THE FRIES
YOU CREATE THEM
Roasted Jalapeño Ranch
Fry Sauce
Black and Blue Salt
Spicy Ketchup
Jalapeño Salt Vanilla Salt
Garlic Aioli
? ? ?
Sea Salt Garlic Rosemary Cajun Salt Smoked Salt
Cinnamon Togarashi Salt Salt & Vinegar Ginger Salt
Chipotle Aioli
Plain
Maple Marshmallow
Blueberry Ketchup
? Barbecue
Ketchup
Pumpkin Aioli
Sour Thai
Sweet Mustard
No Sauce
THATʼS WHY WE HAVE THE BEST FRIES!
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PHOTOS COURTESY KRISTEN POUND
#GOINGVEGAN Social media give a boost to Boise’s growing vegan scene LE X NEL SON In April of this year, the downtown Boise breakfast spot High Note Cafe announced on Facebook that it would ditch meat and dairy for good. “If it works out, great; if it doesn’t and costs me my livelihood, then so be it,” High Note Owner Maria Bahruth wrote in the post. “I can no longer go forward knowing that I have supported great suffering and at/ inexcusable practices by the meat/ egg/dairy industry. I’m terrified, but I know I’m doing the right thing, and the right thing isn’t always lucrative or safe.”
The post exploded, garnering over 5,500 likes and more than 1,000 comments. For folks who are familiar with Boise’s vegan community, that wasn’t a surprise. That’s because unlike the city’s food scene writ large, the heart of Boise’s vegan culture isn’t on g Eighth Street: It’s online, and in particular, it’s on social media. a.
“I CAN NO LO NGER GO FO RWA RD KNOWING THAT I HAVE S U PP O RTE D G RE AT S U F F E RI N G .”
If you pull up the Instagram app and search the hashtag #boisevegan, more than 1,000 posts pop up, and a big chunk of them come from three accounts: @kristen. pound, @thisishowyouvegan and @na_ma_ste_vegan. It’s not an understatement to say that the three women behind them are
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helping steer Boise’s version of veganism, or at least craft its public image, which has gotten a major boost in the last year with a vegan panel during Foodfort, a vegan-friendly Boise Ice Cream Festival event, Vegan Bite Nights at restaurants like Camel’s Crossing and the now-defunct Epek, a new vegan meal delivery service called
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Tin Box Boise, a vegan option from Indulge Boise Food Tours, and vegan Tuesday Takeover events at the veghead-friendly sandwich shop Lemon Tree. With over 3,500 followers on Instagram and a seven-year history as an outspoken vegan on social media, Kristen Pound of @kristen. pound could be considered the godmother of Boise’s vegan scene. In addition to Instagram, she writes a blog called How to Vegan, hosts a podcast of the same name, and runs her own vegan YouTube channel, but the biggest jewel in her crown is on Facebook, where she runs a group called How to Vegan that has more than 75,000 members. Pound said membership dropped off a bit during the recent Facebook privacy scandals, but is now picking up again. “It was growing at the height of it by 6,000-10,000 people a week,” she said. She described the collective as a “safe, kind, non-judgemental space” where people share recipes, stories, and tips for adapting to life without meat and dairy. She and her team of moderators screen the content, weeding out graphic videos of animal cruelty and anything too confrontational.
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PHOTOS COURTESY JENN WILLIAMS
side Pound at the 2019 Foodfort vegan panel, participating in Tuesday Takeovers at Lemon Tree where she puts vegan sandwiches on the menu, and even creating Vegan Bite Night, a plant-based, restaurant-hopping supper club that has thrown five events so far. Asked if she felt social media had helped build Boise’s vegan scene, she said, “100%.” “It’s such an easy way to make connections,” she said. “When I travel, instead of going to Google or Yelp [for restaurant recommendations] 22 I hop on Instagram and search the hashtags.”
The group spans the globe, but a small share of its membership does come from Boise. A staunch Boise-based vegan since 2011, Pound said she has seen the local scene grow from “literally nothing” to a tight-knit community that holds growing sway over restaurant menus and event schedules. Of the three influencers Boise Weekly spoke to, Pound was the only one who made her living through ad revenue generated on social media. She works seasonally for Treefort Music Fest, but looks at that as more of a fun side-gig than a necessity. (Though it was because of her that vegan band members attending this year’s festival had plant-based snacks backstage.) She started advocating for the vegan lifestyle as a health coach, then switched to social media when she realized how many more people she could reach. “I pretty much feel like I don’t really have a choice. This is what I’m here to do. The animals need me, the planet needs me, people need me, so this is just what I’m going to do with my time,” she said.
While Pound’s platforms attract a large share of people interested in veganism for ethical reasons, Jenn Williams of @thisishowyouvegan pulls in people looking to better their health. A bodybuilder turned health and fitness coach, Williams said that a big portion of her 4,200-plus Instagram followers and This is How You Vegan blog readers are meat-eaters curious about the vegan lifestyle and what it can do for them. “I get a lot of men,” she said. “Bodybuilders, athletes and ex-hunters.” Williams has only been vegan for a year and a half, but she has made a big splash in Boise over that short time, appearing along-
“I PRE T T Y MUCH FEEL LIKE I DON’T HAVE A CHOICE. THIS IS WHAT I’M HERE TO DO. THE ANIMALS NEED ME, THE PL ANE T NEEDS ME, PEOPLE NEED ME, SO THIS IS JUST WHAT I’M GOING TO DO WITH MY TIME.”
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Bethany Camp of @na_ma_ste vegan is 21 doing her best to make travel part and parcel of her own version of vegan advocacy. Camp has been vegan for just over two years, but like Williams, she has quickly established a brand, joining in on Lemon Tree takeovers and Vegan Bite Nights. She started out as an experimental vegan baker posting sweet creations like vegan “cheese” cakes and brownies on her Instagram account and blog, Namaste Vegan, but her business has grown to include health coaching, in-home vegan meal prep, and stints as a traveling personal chef for yoga and wellness retreats. “If I’m being completely honest, that would be my dream job,” said Camp. “Just to travel and cook vegan meals for retreats. That would be amazing.” Some of those opportunities, like an upcoming yoga getaway to Barcelona, Spain, this September with The Shine Collective, started over chat on Instagram. There,
Camp has more than 3,300 followers—some vegan, many just interested in health, travel and food. The influence of people like Camp, Pound and Williams has gone well beyond the blogosphere, inspiring real-world shifts in Boise’s food scene. Their community certainly touched Boise Chef Brad Wegelin, who just opened Boise’s second vegan restaurant, Toasted, in June. Wegelin himself isn’t vegan, but he has plenty of friends who are. “I moved to Boise in 2013, and from that time until today I’ve been constantly building relationships with people in the food scene, vegan and not, but it was the vegan ones who really made the biggest impact on me as far as their passion for what they eat,” he said. Toasted slings fruit- and veggie-topped artisan toasts from the ground-floor space attached to Guru Donuts, which also owns a share of the business. While Toasted’s Instagram account, @toastedboise, is still young, Wegelin’s personal feed,
@twozeroate, has more than 1,400 followers—enough to make him a minor celebrity in Boise’s virtual food sphere, and point to its interconnectedness. Of course, the City of Trees isn’t the only place where Instagram and other social media platforms are filling up with food evangelism that’s driving eating habits. In Blackpool, England, Chef Paul White of the vegan restaurant Faringo’s told The Guardian that the informa-
tion circulating online kickstarted his city’s vegan scene as well, both encouraging people to shift their diets and priming them with the information they needed to make changes. “When people see documentaries like Cowspiracy, one is enough,” White said. “The fact that social media is as big as it is now, it spreads things so much faster. I think that’s why it’s mushrooming right now. And it is mushrooming.”
“IF I’M BEING COMPLE TELY HONEST, THAT WOULD BE MY DRE AM JOB— JUST TO TR AVEL AND COOK VEGAN ME ALS FOR RE TRE ATS. THAT WOULD BE AMA ZING.”
PHOTOS COURTESY BE THANY CAMP
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FROM REFUGE TO RESOURCE
The Community Center has offered Boise decades of LGBTQ support SAMANTHA STE TZER
SAMANTHA STE T ZER
Judy Cross stands in front of The Community Center, which has been a community resource for LGBTQ people since 1983.
Before moving to Idaho in 1977, Judy and Robert Cross lived in Tennessee. Virginia skirted their backyard, and Judy said she could “throw a rock into Kentucky.” At one point, Judy traveled frequently to Georgia for grad school while Bob served as an Episcopal Church priest. They were immersed in the south, its glory and its prejudices.
“The atmosphere there was extremely punitive, and it was very, very scary for anybody to even mention the word ‘gay,’” Cross said. “And really, we had grown up in an era where it wasn’t anything that you talked about. [We] knew very little about that and sexuality and gender identity.” That’s what made Bob’s revelation in 1976 so pivotal.
“Bob said, ‘I have something I need to tell you,’” Cross recalled. “And I said, ‘I think I know what it is. You like men.’ And he said, ‘Yeah.’” Less than a decade after that conversation, Bob and Cross, still married and raising their family in Idaho, found refuge at The Community Center.
TCC was founded in 1983 as an advocacy and support group for LGBTQ people and allies living in the Treasure Valley. The center focused on the urgent needs of this silenced population through readings, and by offering a publication and resources as the HIV/AIDS crisis rocked the nation.
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As a nurse, Cross understood the medical implications of the disease, but as a social justice fighter, she saw the emotional toll it took. “There were so many of our friends that were dying… We attended to too many deathbeds and funerals,” Cross said, recalling how people who identified as gay were unable to visit their dying partners due to hospital restrictions. TCC established a 24-hour helpline to offer safe sex tips, and HIV/AIDS prevention and resources. It was a life preserver to a community Cross said was getting the brunt of local prejudice. At the same time, the Cross family and other volunteers brought LGBTQ kids into their homes after parents kicked them out, and comforted those whose churches rejected them. TCC organizers also worked tirelessly for “Vote No on 1” in 1994, which fought against Proposition 1, a law that sought to eliminate minority status and rights for gay people.
It’s not difficult to find TCC. Driving along Orchard Street toward Fairview Avenue, its rainbow-painted facade catches the eye. After moving several times, TCC now shares space with Liberating Spirit Metropolitan Community Church. Together, the groups invite LGBTQ folks and allies to learn about LGBTQ history at their museum and check out one of the thousands of books in their LGBTQ library. Attendees can also join the many groups that fill TCC. Among them is PolyQ, a new collective started by Heather Franck, who moved to Idaho from Utah with her primary partner four years ago. “My very first resource was The Community Center… [I] decided this is my place,” Franck said. Today, Franck serves as an outreach volunteer, and PolyQ connects and supports non-monogamous people like Franck, who identifies as polyamorous.
PHOTOS BY SAMANTHA STE T ZER
TCC has been a stalwart advocate for LGBTQ issues, from “adding the words” to fighting against Proposition 1, which would have eliminated minority protections for gay people in the 1990s.
The initiative was struck down by just 3,000 votes. In the early ‘90s, Cross wore giant angel wings to stare down Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church. “I felt tallest that day,” she said. Today, TCC continues to advocate for the “Add The Words, Idaho” campaign, which is pushing for lawmakers to add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to the Idaho Human Rights Act. TCC board member Javier Smith said that the group has always been a “clearing house” of sorts, offering community members lists of LGBTQ-friendly doctors, counselors, landlords and more in the Treasure Valley. This June, TCC celebrated its 30th Pride Parade. It was one of the largest ever hosted by the group, which has seen its parade budget leap from $15,000 to roughly $250,000 since the mid-90’s, when Smith started to help organize the event. Still, Cross remembers the early years where there were smaller turnouts, more protestors and greater fear. “I had friends who hid in the bushes with sacks over their heads because they were afraid an employer might identify them, or whoever they rent from might identify them, or the one relative that they hadn’t come out to [might],” Cross said. Smith said the protestors were one reason they keep marching. “[TCC] gave me a sense of purpose. It helped me out a lot,” he said. “I had some issues where being out at work was problematic. It helped me understand that there was a community here, that I wasn’t alone.” W W W. B O I S E W E E K LY. C O M
As she continues to work with TCC, Franck said she is excited to see its growth, and she points to its Facebook page as an example. There, she often sees comments from parents of children who have come out, inquiring about where they can send them for support and guidance. As someone who saw decades of rejection, these questions and the youth group that meets at TCC on Sunday afternoons give Cross hope. “It’s such a delight to see all these young kids able to be free and happy, and talk really seriously about themselves and their relationships and how they cope with bullying at school and in their families,” Cross said. Cross credits Smith with the youth group’s success. Though he is now preparing to hand the group over to another leader, Smith isn’t done with TCC—not by a long shot. He hopes to someday expand the center, offer it to businesses for conferences and events, and continue its support of other organizations devoted to LGBTQ lives. Smith and Cross share a common goal: Someday, they want to secure enough funding to pay for a full-time employee, which would allow the center to fully support local needs. Regardless of TCC’s next steps, Smith continues to see its value in the fight against prejudice and hatred. “[TCC is] a place for significance, so people who know that there’s a place for them and people that are still in the closet know that there’s a place for them,” he said. “We are Idahoans who happen to be LGBT. We’re human beings.”
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BEHIND THE MORRISON CENTER CURTAIN Meet the people who make Boise State University’s picture-perfect spaces possible SAMATHA STE TZER Fifteen years ago, John Barrie answered an advertisement calling for a custodian to join the Facilities Operations and Maintenance team at Boise State University. It changed his life. Barrie had been homeless for the past two years, splitting his time between a camp by the Boise River and various friends’ couches. Today, he is Boise State’s assistant manager of custodial operations.
He’s also set to graduate with a degree in creative writing in the spring of 2020, and draws inspiration from his past life on the streets to fuel his work. A $5 fee waiver for university employees made his degree possible. “That’s why I never went to college before, because I could never afford it,” Barrie said. “... It can be hard to juggle that work-school balance, but to me, especially
when I was in more of a custodial role, to be able to have that intellectual role outside of my daily duties is something that made me happier about being at work.” It’s a far cry from the years he spent living without a house to call his own, but if you ask Barrie, his story is not that unique. “Obviously with my background, I think I have an interesting story, but every custodian has
an interesting story,” he said. Barrie’s unit comprises 82 custodians and five employees in the university’s Central Receiving department who maintain the 3.8 million square-foot Boise State campus. His crew oversees many of the university’s buildings and the academic side of the Velma V. Morri28 son Center, while other crews manage the Student
Custodial Supervisor Dave Titmus maintains the Morrison Center and helps move in Broadway plays there. He has been with Boise State University for 22 years. SAMANTHA STE T ZER
“IT CAN BE HARD TO JUGGLE THAT WORK- SCHOOL BAL ANCE, BUT ... TO BE ABLE TO HAVE THAT INTELLECTUAL ROLE OUTSIDE OF MY DAILY DUTIES IS SOMETHING THAT MADE ME HAPPIER ABOUT BEING AT WORK.”
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Union, housing and Recreation Center. As for the performance side of the Morrison Center, that responsibility lands squarely 26 on the shoulders of Custodial Supervisor Dave Titmus. For nearly 22 years, Titmus has been behind the scenes of some of Boise’s biggest shows. Today, he leads a crew of just over a dozen college students that keeps the Morrison Center spotless, lends extra hands to the traveling crews and Boise State’s tech team of “backstage pirates” and helps transform the center’s theater into the Serengeti, an opera house or Oz, depending on which Broadway show makes it to Boise that season. Sometimes, Titmus’ day starts before the sun comes up. When semi trucks full of Broadway equipment and theatre pieces trundle in to supply the Morrison Center for weeks-long runs of Wicked or Phantom of the Opera, it has to be ready for the massive load. To accommodate large shows, Titmus and his crew help with organization and heavy lifting, while also turning over the dressing rooms, stage, house, bathrooms and theater entrance. Titmus estimated he saw more than 200,000 people visit the Morrison Center during its last show season. The work is exhausting, he admitted, but it feels worthwhile. “You get to meet really good people. The performers, most of the time, they’re really nice people. But you know, you get people on the road for a year and a half—they’re a little grumpy,” he joked, adding, “But you get to see how they build the set, [and that’s something] the public doesn’t see. … It’s a city in the sky.” For 13 years prior to taking a position at Boise State, Titmus refueled private jetliners at the Boise Airport. Eventually he was ready for a change, and a friend suggested that he consider a state job, citing the excellent benefits. He began his tenure at Boise State working on the academic side of the Morrison Center, but after less than a year moved to the stage. More than two decades in, Titmus admitted that he sometimes wonders what keeps him at Boise State. Then he sees the transformation of his stage into something magnificent. “It’s kind of like pride [in] ownership,” he said. “This is my area. This is my home away from home, and I want to make it the best it can be for patrons, because when I get here I want them to have a great experience.” For Barrie, that devotion to maintaining the university means moving between night and day shifts every week so that he can monitor each crew. He spends his shifts comparing notes with other workers and going from building to building, checking in on his crew, assisting with complaints and responding to emails. The job has a lot of components, but he and his employees have been working to improve it by digitizing inspection forms and implementing a newsletter that helps the five crews keep in touch. It provides training information, employee profiles and news of local happenings. “It’s important that these people know they are on the same team,” Barrie said, adding that the first profile features a crew member who is a refugee with two kids enrolled at Boise State. The people who run and maintain the Morrison Center each have their own histories and quirks. Barrie is a hot pepper connoisseur, often creating the spiciest vat of chili at the maintenance crew chili cook-off. Titmus once studied fine arts at Boise State. Now, he mentors and supports student workers, encouraging them to put their own studies before their work. Together, they’re just two of the hundreds of stories behind Boise State’s clean lawns, spotless theaters, immaculate classrooms and seamless productions. “I’m not saying it’s easy.” Titmus said. “At times, you’re killing yourself, but when you get done killing yourself you’re going, ‘Oh, we did it.’ And then you have responses from patrons saying how much they enjoyed it.” It’s hard work, but it’s worthwhile work, Barrie agreed. “You can tell it makes people feel good to be in education and helping students, even when the work itself can be frustrating at times,” he said. “There’s always that additional higher purpose.”
Dave Titmus and his team keep the Morrison Center running.
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TIME TO LET LOOSE
New ranges add to Boise’s vibrant archery scene MICAH DREW
COURTESY IDAHO TR ADITIONAL BOWHUNTERS
2019 has been a big year for Treasure Valley archers— bowhunters and recreational shooters alike. Two brand-new ranges, one up Mountain Cove Road and another off of Idaho State Highway 21, have greatly increased opportunities for Boise toxophilites. For years, the go-to location for local archers to practice their skills outside was a flood basin near the Military Reserve. The dusty bowl was home to the largest outdoor archery range in the valley, featuring eight black targets at varying distances.
For years, the go-to range for archers was in the Boise Foothills.
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Visitors to the nearby dog park or trails could pause on the berm above the basin and watch archers knock their arrows, draw their strings back to their cheeks and let loose, hopefully nailing the center of their targets. But on May 28, those targets were removed to make way for a new and improved dog park. Now, archers have to continue roughly a mile and half further up Mountain Cove Road to the old police shooting range to practice. The site is still under construction, but Boise Parks and BOISEWEEKLY ANNUAL MANUAL 2019-2020
Rec hopes it will be ready for use in early August. “The soil remediation that needed to be done at the shooting range has been completed, and a building has been taken down to make room for the new range,” said Parks and Rec Communications Manager Bonnie Shelton. The new range is larger than the original, and will feature an 80-yard lane for longer-distance practices, as well as a dedicated parking lot for users. “It will also be made ADA accessible, a feature that was
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lacking at the old location,” said Shelton “It’s great because we do have users that will benefit from that.” In the meantime, archers still have a spot to hone their skills outside thanks to the recent opening of another range near Boise. Back in May, Idaho Fish and Game launched a collaborative effort with Parks and Rec and local archery clubs to bring the 3D walking range to the area. Located off of Idaho State Highway 21 in the Boise River Wildlife Management Area, the range features a mile-
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long walk through 20 3D foam animal targets. It’s geared primarily toward bowhunters. “It’s something everybody is very excited about,” said Alex Martin, president of Idaho Traditional Bowhunters, one of the clubs that helped plan and build the range. “There’s a range like this in Eastern Idaho that’s very popular, so it’s something people have wanted for a long time.” Idaho Traditional Bowhunters has been around since 1988. The club, as its name implies, focuses on archery with traditional bows, such as longbows and recurves (imagine any fantasy movie involving archery and you’ll get the picture), rather than compound bows, which are more commonly used in modern bowhunting. “The bowhunting community as a whole is getting more interested in [traditional shooting],” said Martin. The group puts on several 3D shoots throughout the year, and even held a large regional one in 2018 that focused on traditional shooting. Outdoor 3D bowshoots are regular events around the Treasure Valley with more than a dozen taking place between January and August. One of the largest, the Northwest Mountain Challenge at Tamarack Resort, routinely draws around 1,000 participants. “It’s great because you get to ride the lifts to the top and then shoot your way down,” said Gordon Stairs, an employee at Dead On Archery, the shop that sponsors the challenge. The three-day tournament takes place in June and features several courses of varying difficulty, both in terrain and target. Outdoor shoots have a competitive edge and can be made even more entertaining by the novelty of creatively shaped 3D targets—from the conventional deer all the way to miniature dinosaurs. There are also indoor opportunities for local archers that allow them to practice year-round. “We have the biggest indoor range all the way out to Utah,” said Stairs. “It’s a 65-yard range, and we have another shop opening soon in Kuna that will have a 70-yard range.” For seasoned hunters, traditional enthusiasts or people who watched too much Game of Thrones last year, now is an excellent time to pick up a bow.
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HOME IS WHERE THE ART IS A look at artist-in-residence programs in Boise and beyond SK YL AR BARSANTI The way Jodi Eichelberger explains it, encountering art can be a very singular experience. As the program director for Surel’s Place, a nonprofit artist residency that brings in creative people from across the globe, his mission includes making art accessible. Through residence programs, artists can share their processes
and perspectives with visitors while exposing themselves to new work environments. “When you go to a museum or a gallery, typically you only experience the artist from the work that’s on the wall,” Eichelberger said. “With programs like the one at Surel’s Place, the work becomes a dialogue with the artist
present rather than a one-way conversation.” That conversation isn’t limited to one art form or another. In addition to painters and photographers, Idaho residency programs host fiction writers, dancers, poets, filmmakers and more. Whether you’re an artist or art lover, keep these five programs on your radar.
COURTESY K ATE MASTERSO N
JAMES CASTLE HOUSE The latest addition to Idaho’s roster of artist-in-residence programs, Boise’s James Castle House invites visitors to explore and engage with works by residents and works by the house’s namesake through tours, talks and workshops. The house itself, once home to the enigmatic artist James Castle, was recently accepted by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a high honor. Since opening its doors to threemonth live-in residents, the James Castle House’s program, provided by the City of Boise, has welcomed mixed-media artists and painters from Florida and New York. Throughout each residency, visitors are welcome to attend open studio sessions to meet artists and learn more about their work.
SUREL’S PLACE
MING STUDIOS The red-doored MING Studios building sits right in the heart of downtown Boise. Founded by Microsoft Data Analyst and Boise State University Adjunct Professor Jason Morales, MING Studios is an international contemporary art center and artist residency program, with a focus on bringing international artists to Boise. MING’s program offers one- to three-month residencies that require artists to host an artist talk, a community dinner, a workshop or studio visits for the public. This year’s artists have included the New York-based Dutch artist and filmmaker Erik Wesselo, and British mixed-media artist Rory Pilgrim.
“THE WO RK BECOMES A DIALOGUE WITH THE ARTIST PRESENT R ATHER THAN A ONE-WAY CONVERSATION.”
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COURTESY BRIDGE T BRE WER
HARRISON BERRY
Located in Garden City’s Live-Work-Create District, Surel’s Place has been home to visual artists, musicians, playwrights, filmmakers, professional clowns and more since 2014. The house itself is a single-story live-work space originally owned by artist Surel Lee Mitchell. Each year, 10 artists take up month-long residencies that require them to host presentations and workshops where members of the public can learn more about their work and processes. Upcoming artists include sculptor and installation artist Araela Kumaraea in August, musician Julian Saporiti in September, mixed-media artist Ingrid Erickson in October and fiction writer Tomica Scavina in December. Surel’s Place also hosts regular flash shows, and group shows with organizations like the Treasure Valley Artists Alliance.
COURTESY IDAHO BLM
Voted Best Gift Shop in Boise for three years running! IDAHO BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT Since 2014, the BLM has hosted 11 artists in residence across three locations: the Owyhee Canyonlands, the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area and the South Fork of the Snake River. Unlike more traditional residency programs that provide housing, the BLM offers its land as the live-work space. The photographers, painters, poets, writers and musicians who create for the BLM hike, backpack and camp throughout their stays, making art literally from the ground up. When their residencies are finished, artists coordinate events with the BLM to share their work with the public. “Our artists have presented their stories and experiences with the program at community events like First Thursday,” said Krista Berumen, public affairs specialist for the BLM. “A South Fork artist even demonstrated on-site artwork [en plein air], so local residents could watch the process.” Visitors can follow the BLM online for updates on current and upcoming artists and their work.
IDAHO CONSERVATION LEAGUE
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The ICL started its residency program in 2013, hosting artists annually. This year, its sixth artist, landscape painter Carl Rowe, is bringing art and conservation together by travelling to Idaho’s rural communities. “Carl wants to bridge the gap between the places we help protect and their communities,” said ICL Development Director Jenny Estes. “As he travels, he’ll be talking with locals about their back yards and creating images based on his experiences there.” At the end of each residency, the ICL hosts a show to help its artists showcase their work. This year, Rowe’s paintings will be on display at the Riverside Hotel Thursday-Saturday, Nov. 21-23.
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Mixed Greens is a locally owned and operated retail gift boutique specializing in local and handmade goods. Many of the items that we sell in the store are made in-house. We also carry the works of over 60 Idaho based artists and makers, as well as handmade artists and makers from across the northwest, nation, and world. We carefully curate every product found in the store. We like to mix it up & our inventory is constantly changing. You’re likely to find something new & different every time you stop in!
Follow us @mixedgreensid on Instagram | Facebook | Twitter Jewelry | Bath and Beauty | Paper Goods | Kitchen Garden | Accessories for Women, Men, and Children | and more! Downtown Boise | Corner of 9th & Idaho (208) 344-1605 | www.ilikemixedgreens.com
ANNUAL MANUAL 2019-2020 BOISEWEEKLY
IDAHO IN IRELAND
Gem State author Emily Ruskovich wins the International DUBLIN Literary Award HARRISON BERRY
A L L I SO N C O RON A
Author Emily Ruskovich won the DUBLIN Literary Award for her 2017 novel, Idaho.
Emily Ruskovich always wanted to go to Ireland. When she was in college, she won a writing contest with a cash prize of $2,000, and she planned to use her winnings to buy a plane ticket. “I was so excited to have won this prize that I wanted
to tell my parents about it in a special way, so I told my brother about it and we got in the car and drove to the grocery store to get chocolate chip cookie supplies,” she said. “On the way I was in a car accident … I was just driving too fast and sped out of control on the mountain
[and] hit a tree. I was fine, but it cost $2,000 to fix the car.” In June 2019, Ruskovich finally got to visit Ireland, but this time, it was to accept another writing prize: the International DUBLIN Literary Award, for Idaho, her 2017 novel about a family
torn apart by a mother’s grim murder of her child. Over almost a quarter-century, the award, given by the Dublin City Council, has established that city as a major center of literature, and the €100,000 prize is one of the largest of its kind.
“ WHEN I MADE IT ONTO THE LONGLIST I WAS TOUCHED, AND THEN WHEN I MADE IT ONTO THE SHORTLIST, I WA S S H O C KED.”
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The longlist for the prize is generated by public librarians from all over the world, and then a panel of international literary luminaries selects the shortlist. Idaho began its journey when a librarian in Bruges, Belgium, read it in a Dutch translation. Then, it edged past notable shortlist titles like Exit West by Mohsin Hamid, the French novel Compass by Mathias Enard (as translated by Charlotte Mandell) and Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders. “When I made it onto the longlist I was touched, and then when I made it onto the shortlist, I was shocked,” Ruskovich said. Idaho was a hit from the very beginning, garnering big notices from publications like The Guardian and The New York Times, and not long after its publication, Ruskovich gave birth to a daughter. Between teaching at Boise State University and raising an infant, she didn’t have much time to sit down and write a second book, but the beginnings of one—also set in Idaho, but with a very different tone, and centering on two women characters—had begun coalescing in her head. Soon after returning from Ireland and talking with Boise Weekly in late June 2019, Ruskovich and her family absconded to a cabin in Monroe, Washington, where she started putting her ideas onto paper. “When I was writing Idaho, what I had was language and feeling and character, but plot was something that came as I wrote, and what I have right now is plot and character—I don’t have any of the language yet,” she said. “I have these two women in my mind that are so vivid, and I see all these scenes with them. I have their voices, but I haven’t put their voices on the page yet.” C O U RTESY R A N D O M H O U S E
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SCOOTIE-DOOTIE-DOO! How e-scooters took over Boise HARRISON BERRY Ask a Boise local if traffic has gotten worse over the last five years, and they’ll say that’s an understatement. Congestion, especially downtown and on thoroughfares, has become noticeably worse. A lot of people will say it’s because there are so many new people in Boise, but the simple fact is that across the American west, single-passenger vehicles are the preferred way to get around, and it would take something extremely novel—maybe even a bit outrageous—to get people out of them. Enter the e-scooter. If the idea was to get people to try a new mode of transportation, the introduction of three e-scooter companies onto Boise streets has been an unqualified success. The devices are now ubiquitous across downtown, and can be found in West and East Boise, and on the Bench. A North Ender
can hardly step out their front door without tripping over one. It started with a sales pitch—and not even one for e-scooters. In May 2018, Lime Director of Government Affairs and Strategic Development Gabriel Scheer stood before the Boise City Council with a LimeBike and asked the council about bringing a dockless bike-share program to Boise. Boise already had, and still has, a docked bike-share program, Boise GreenBike—but Scheer’s presentation started a conversation about transportation alternatives that became a set of ordinances designed to take the maximum bite out of car drivership without making a mess of city streets. The ordinances capped the number of dockless transportation companies that could do business in Boise at three, and established
a ceiling for the total number of devices they could deploy at 750. Participating companies would have to operate within geotagged boundaries and submit data to the city as part of the deal. Lime and a second company, Bird, launched in October 2018, both maxing out their allotted number of devices not with bikes, but with e-scooters. Boise was off to the races. e-Scooters had a bad rap when they hit the streets. Shortly before they were unleashed in Boise, the devices appeared in Meridian, where they started clogging rights-ofway and showing up where they shouldn’t be. In short order, they were completely removed from the Boise suburb. It was a repeat of stories heard elsewhere, as other major cities discovered too late that their rules concerning the new and dis-
ruptive technology were inadequate. Boise City leaders, however, forged ahead, passed the package of ordinances and were rewarded with relative success. There have been some accidents and incidents—there was an injury around Halloween 2018 involving an e-scooter, a Rainbow Brite and someone in a dinosaur costume—but the devices have been broadly adopted, from youngsters hopping curbs to professionals wheeling up to appointments. A few of them were even on the streets through the winter. In April, a third and final company, Spin, dropped anchor in Boise, and city leaders are already eyeing more contenders. This summer, they will revisit Boise’s rules, and have left open the possibility of raising the caps on the number of e-scooters allowed in the city.
PHOTOS BY HARRISON BERRY
CIT Y LE ADERS HAVE TOUTED THEIR PACK AGE OF ORDINANCES GOVERNING E- SC OOTER C O M PA N I ES A S A S U C C ES S .
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Celebrating
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ADAM RO S E NLUND
A QUINTESSENTIALLY BOISE BAR One BW bar reviewer’s boozy dreamscape MICAH DREW Picture it like an ongoing genie’s wish. You approach the dark wooden bar top and scan the seemingly endless line of taps, mostly local brews. No, you sit in a seat that swivels and order your favorite 10-year-old whiskey, neat. No, it barely even counts as a bar top. It’s merely a counter, and you’re seeking some subpar champagne and barroom OJ. There’s a pool table—free. Tylor & The Train Robbers play live in the corner, or Hozier’s voice seeps through the
ceiling tiles, or—are The Beatles really drinking music? Why not. The bartender knows you, not well, but well enough to know when you’re in the mood for a White Claw, which, unashamedly, is more often than not. The Wi-Fi is strong, which makes it acceptable to start drinking in the early afternoon. As long as your laptop is out, it technically counts as working. There never needs to be an excuse to return to your favorite bar, but here they provide one
anyway. Try all 50 taps and get a free T-shirt— same with the 50 State Challenge. Try all the bottles and it’s free scrubs. A chalkboard behind the bar lets you know that the Shake-a-Day is up to $306.50. For two quarters you roll a cup of dice, hoping for five of a kind to win the pot (and, inevitably, cover the whole room’s tabs). The pot is now $307. It’s almost closing time, so you order one more shot, another round. It’s the end of the night at the perfect bar and the sun has long since gone down.
“THE BARTENDER KNOWS YOU, NOT WELL, BUT WELL ENOUGH TO KNOW WHEN YOU’RE IN THE MOOD FOR A WHITE CL AW, WHICH, UNASHAMEDLY, IS MORE OF TEN THAN NOT.”
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At Rain Salon & Spa our mission is to nurture the individual’s inner beauty and spirit while providing a unique relaxing experience for our guest. Our salon will build relationships and beauty from the inside out while caring for the world we live in.
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208-321-7500 www.ricochetboise.com
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PLEASE SIT ON THE ART
Garden SITy benches add ‘a little extra something’ to the Greenbelt SK YL AR BARSANTI Mosaic Essential. “I knew going into the project [that] I wanted to make a funky, lopsided, whimsical couch—just for the juxtaposition of having a big couch on the side of the Greenbelt.” Meanwhile, Boise sculptor Ken McCall’s Heron Park bench takes the form—quite appropriately—of a 6-foot-tall heron surrounded by reeds. Users can sit in the shadow of the bird, “wading” in a pool of water constructed from painted steel plates. “I wanted to do something that wouldn’t look like a bench,” he said. “I’m very site-specific, and having that spot next to the river, I wanted to incorporate water into the piece.” Rounding out the project are pieces by architect Claire Remsburg and blacksmith Susan Madacsi. Remsburg’s bench, located in Riverside Park, is designed to look like a thermometer bulb and coated in thermochromic paint. In cool weather, the bench is a solid color, but when it’s exposed to body heat or sunlight, hidden details appear. For her part, Madasci designed three leaf-shaped resting stools for the end of 40th Street. Constructed from fabricated steel, their bright pink, orange and yellow hues will stand out in any season. With enough money in the budget, the commission hopes to have at least 15 benches in place by the end of 2021.
PH OTOS COURTESY GARDEN CIT Y ARTS COMMIS SION
Most art isn’t made for touching, let alone lounging, but the pieces in the Garden City Arts Commission’s Garden SITy Art Bench Project are the exception to the rule. Months ago, the commission asked artists with ties to the area to create public benches for Garden City’s stretch of the Boise River Greenbelt and its city parks—an idea that became the commission’s first project and a first for the Treasure Valley. “Walking through Idaho Falls, I was inspired by all the public art benches they have,” said Arts Commissioner Elfreda Higgins. “I thought, that’s what I want to do in Garden City. It’s a little something extra other Treasure Valley cities don’t have.” Artist and Studio 1212 Owner Derek Hurd’s “Blue Bench” arrived first, on June 21. Hurd said the L-shaped bench now standing in Mystic Cove Park “is designed for contemplation, conversation, and lunch consumption.” It features a porthole that provides a view of the river or a frame for the sky, depending on whether users sit or stand. Reham Aarti’s overstuffed mosaic loveseat, located at the end of 50th Street, couldn’t be more different from “Blue Bench.” With its bright color palette and cutout pieces, Aarti says the loveseat is as much a photo opportunity as it is a bench. “Color and texture are my favorite,” said Aarti, who owns
“I WANTED TO DO SOME THING THAT WOULDN’T LOOK LIKE A BENCH. I’M VERY SITE- S PECIFIC , AND HAVING THAT SPOT NE X T TO THE RIVER, I WANTED TO INCORP OR ATE WATER INTO THE PIECE.”
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Paddles Up Poke Voted “Best of Boise” since 2017 Home of Idaho’s original Sushi Bowl and Sushi Burrito Open Everyday 11:00am - 8:00pm
$1 beers every Saturday! All Day! All Beers! www.paddlesuppoke.com | 237 N. 9th St. Boise, ID 83702 | 13601 W. McMillan Road, Meridian, ID 83713
Come enjoy our patio with misters!
$8 Growler Mondays, Live music Wednesday nights, happy hour 7 days a week from 3-6
2455 Harrison Hollow Lane Boise, Idaho, 83702
(208) 343-6820 • highlandshollow.com Boise’s Oldest Microbrewery W W W. B O I S E W E E K LY. C O M
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‘A RECORD IS A JOURNEY’
The Record Exchange remains a staple of the Boise music scene X AVIER WARD
PH OTOS BY H ARRISON BERRY
There once was a time when you could shoot a cannon through downtown Boise without hitting a thing, and gravel lots peppering the city’s core still had hopes of becoming a mall. Needless to say, the city had yet to hit its stride. The Record Exchange, however, was just setting up shop. “At that time, there was basically next to no touring market,” said RX Owner Michael Bunnell. “By the end of the ‘80s, things had really begun to change.” Over the years Boise has grown substantially, not only in population, but in national prestige and especially in local options for entertainment. Still, when it comes to Boise’s music scene, The RX remains the nucleus.
In the early days, Bunnell said it was tough to sell anything but chart-toppers, most of them pop. There wasn’t much in the way of local music, either. The bands in town at the time were nearly all alt-country. As Boise started to come into its own, its diversification paralleled The RX’s sales. Rock, jazz, blues and reggae all ramped up in popularity, and soon Bunnell was able to offer a more multifarious selection to his customers. On top of that, the shop used to book Alive After Five, which brought in bands from out of town, exposing them to Boise and making the city a future tour stop. It also hosted countless in-store shows, staging talent ranging from the grunge group Melvins to Idaho-born Americana songster Josh Ritter.
“We really got our in-store chops in the ‘90s,” Bunnell said, adding, “... Every time you [bring in a musician], you expose a new artist to a new market. It makes sort of a richer experience for everyone. We’ve seen that development of touring enhance music sales.” The RX hasn’t always been on a direct upward trajectory, though. When digital streaming became popular, hundreds of record stores across the country went under, and Bunnell worried the RX would be one of them. Around 2007, when digital was really hitting its stride, he and others at the Coalition of Independent Music Stores launched Record Store Day. Each year, the event brings bands into local record stores for live performances and encourages
people to support mom-and-pop music proprietors. The concept exploded across the globe and perhaps helped save the vinyl format. Now, record stores are booming across the country, in part because of vinyl’s resurgence in the mainstream. Bunnell couldn’t be happier about the turn of events. “A record is a journey,” he said. It’s true that in an increasingly fast-paced world, vinyl is an art form that still requires time and attention. The ritual of putting a record on the turntable, hearing its first warm tones, and sitting back to listen or leaping up to dance are all part of the experience. In Boise, that’s a ritual embedded in the city’s very fabric—and The RX is stitched all over it.
“ WE RE ALLY GOT OUR IN- STORE CHOP S IN THE ‘90S. ... E VERY TIME YOU [ B RI NG IN A MUSICIAN ] , YOU E X POSE A NE W ARTIST TO A NE W MARKE T.”
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CALENDAR OF EVENTS AUGUST
SEPTEMBER
GOATHEAD FEST
BOISE STATE FOOTBALL KICKOFF Recently graced by country legends Garth Brooks and Blake Shelton in concert, the big blue field at Boise State beckons fans back for another season of fierce football. The Broncos open their season in Jacksonville against Florida State on Aug. 31 (5 p.m. MST on ESPN), followed by a bout on their home turf hosting Marshall University (Huntington, West Virginia) on Sept. 6. broncosports.com
BRAUN BROTHERS REUNION There’s no question Idaho is a popular destination for vacationers. The population of cities across the state can double— sometimes triple—for a while in summer and/or winter. The tiny town of Challis is one of those hot spots, but what makes it unique is that the folks who head there for the annual three-day Braun Brothers Reunion music festival don’t feel like tourists...they’re considered part of the family. This year, Challis might even see its numbers quadruple, because the lineup for the Aug. 8-10 Americana/bluegrass/ country fest includes icon Steve Earle and the Dukes. braunbrothersreunion.com
CALDWELL NIGHT RODEO Join more than 45,000 fans of bull riding, steer roping, country music, and all things cowboy at the annual Caldwell Night Rodeo Aug. 13-17, one of the biggest, longest-running, and best rodeos in the whole damn U.S. of A. caldwellnightrodeo.com
Goatheads, or Trubulus terrestris, are not only an invasive species, they’re a literal thorn in the foot of bicyclists, trail-walkers and their canine pals. The purpose of Goathead Fest, which runs Aug. 2-3, is to celebrate the people who volunteered their time pulling and bagging these prickly little plants, bringing the Treasure Valley closer to its goal of eliminating them. boisegoatheadfest.com
BOISE COMIC ARTS FESTIVAL While other comic conventions have moved away from the artform they originally celebrated, the annual Boise Comic Arts Festival is all about it. Immerse yourself in the culture of comics Aug. 24-25 with more than 100 local, national, and international creators and exhibitors. Plus, there’s a cosplay contest because it just wouldn’t be a comic-fest without one. boisepubliclibrary.org/classes-events/ boise-comic-arts-festival
WESTERN IDAHO FAIR Blue-ribbon livestock, thrilling rides, killer concerts, eye-opening exhibits, award-winning arts and crafts displays, and more delicious food options than you can shake a (something deep-fried on a) stick at will abound at the Western Idaho Fair on Aug. 16-25. idahofair.com
HERMIT MUSIC FESTIVAL There’s something very Idaho about a weekend spent camping and enjoying local artisans, craft wine and beer, food, activities for the kids and some of the region’s best country, bluegrass, old-time and singer-songwriter acts. Idaho, the annual Hermit Music Festival (Aug. 29-Sept. 1) is for you. hermitmusicfestival.com
208 COMEDY FEST Although it’s a new kid on the block, the 208 Comedy Fest Sept. 5-8 will bring some of the biggest and funniest local and national names—ahem, Maria Bamford for example—to stages across Boise. It’s the kind of fest you don’t want to miss out on, so maybe someday you’ll be able to say, “You know that comedian who just got her own Netflix show? I caught her live in Boise a few years ago. She totally deserves it.” comedyfest.com
ART IN THE PARK Take a wide range of quality arts and crafts; mix in a variety of delicious food and drink options; add a bunch of fun activities for the family; bring them all together in beautiful Julia Davis Park Sept. 6-8; and you have Art in the Park, one of the most highly anticipated annual events in all of the Treasure Valley. boiseartmuseum.org/art-in-the-park
BOISE PHILHARMONIC SEASON OPENER Something that grows and thrives for six decades has got to be great, right? Right! Just look at the Boise Philharmonic, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. See and hear for yourself why the Phil has what it takes to be around for another 60 years when it opens its 2019/2020 season Sept. 20 and 21 with Beethoven’s “Eroica.” boisephil.org
ART IN THE PARK / KELSE Y PARRY
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HYDE PARK STREET FAIR The Hyde Park Street Fair, a longtime icon of Boise living, turns 40 this year, and along with all the food, arts and crafts, music and family friendly activities, you can enjoy a new custom brew from local Sockeye Brewing and a signature botanical craft soda (yet to be named) by local ERTH Beverage Co. It’s the fair’s birthday, but you get the gifts! facebook.com/hydeparkstreetfair
SPIRIT OF BOISE BALLOON CLASSIC For more than 20 years, there has been something special in the September air. It isn’t the changing of the seasons, nor is it some kind of bird migration (although those are both remarkable too). It’s the Spirit of Boise Balloon Classic, so get your binoculars and cameras ready, because Sept. 3-5, the sky above the Treasure Valley will be filled with big, bright, beautiful hot-air balloons. spiritofboise.com
TREASURE VALLEY CELTIC FESTIVAL AND HIGHLAND GAMES Spend a weekend Scottish style, without stepping foot on a plane. Enjoy two days of traditional food, music, dancing, lore, clan and community booths, and feats of strength at the Treasure Valley Celtic Festival and Highland Games Sept. 20-21. tvscots.weebly.com
OCTOBER BOISE WEEKLY COVER ART AUCTION Since 2001, the cover of each edition of Boise Weekly has been graced by the work of a local artist, and then once a year, all the original works are brought together and auctioned off, with proceeds going to the artists and local arts organizations. Unlike a typical art exhibit, the Cover Art Auction—which will take place on Oct. 2 this year—is an opportunity to see a wide variety of art in one place. Plus, proceeds benefit the artists and arts organizations, and you get the chance to 44 own a cool work of original art. It’s a win-win-win. boiseweekly.com
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CALENDAR OF EVENTS MCCALL WINTER CARN IVAL / KELSE Y PARRY
BACKCOUNTRY FILM FESTIVAL You could spend your whole life skiing, hiking or participating in other human-powered winter sports around the world, and The Backcountry Film Festival would still offer you a glimpse of locations you may not have known existed. Join other members and fans of the backcountry snow sports community Oct. 25 at the world premiere of BFF 2019, and enjoy films, giveaways and incredible raffle prizes. winterwildlands.org
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HOPTOBER FRESHTIVAL Idaho hops are popular with brewers around the world, and Boise Brewing celebrates the vital little ingredient with the annual Hoptober Freshtival. This popular event will bring a large contingent of local and regional brewers together on Oct. 12 to share 60-plus hop-filled and seasonal creations. It’s a chance to showcase local hop farmers and educate beer lovers. hoptoberfreshtival.com
IDAHO HORROR FILM FESTIVAL Stephen King once said, “Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.” See the kind of monsters and ghosts filmmakers from around the country let loose Oct. 17-19 at the sixth-annual Idaho Horror Film Festival, the premiere— and longest running—horror festival in Idaho. The lineup includes more than 60 programs, panels and events, as well as horror, suspense, thriller, dark fantasy, sci-fi and dark comedy short films. idahohorrorfilmfestival.org
SEE SPOT WALK The 27th-annual See Spot Walk on Oct. 5 features a 5k Fun Run, a 1k Dog Walk, dog-related vendors and sponsors, food trucks (for humans), contests (for dogs) and more. The event is hosted by the Idaho Humane Society and is an important fundraiser that helps the organization help animals in need. If you can’t make it to the event, you can buy a beautiful 2019 See Spot Walk commemorative hooded sweatshirt (for humans), while supplies last. seespotwalk.org
NOVEMBER BALLET IDAHO SEASON OPENER The Gem State is fast becoming known as a home to incredibly talented artists and creatives, and Ballet Idaho is a big part of that reputation. Its 2019/2020 season opens Nov. 1-3 with Anthology, a “repertory of intimate and powerful works by choreographers from around the country.” balletidaho.org
BW FALL MOVIE PREVIEW Movie guru George Prentice has been one of Boise’s most trusted in screen coverage for years, and for the last two, he has brought his gleanings from
the Toronto International Film Festival to The Flicks, where he spotlights important upcoming films, plays trailers, tells stories about meeting the stars and hands out movie swag. It’s a fun-filled evening that Boise Weekly is proud to have made into a tradition, and it returns to the city’s indie cinema on Nov. 7. Don’t miss it. boiseweekly.com
more than 400,000 twinkling lights. For more than a month, beginning Nov. 28, IBG throws open the gates at night, and everyone is invited to see the light(s). idahobotanicalgarden.org/event/winter-garden-aglow-2019/2019-11-28
DECEMBER
EMPTY BOWLS The holidays can be a difficult time of year for some people, especially those experiencing food insecurity. Help the Idaho Food Bank provide meals for Idaho families by attending the Empty Bowls event on Nov. 29. Simply purchase a bowl painted by someone in the community and have it filled with your choice of various soups made by top local chefs to help bring the Idaho Food Bank closer to its goal of providing 1 million meals or more to those in need. ceramicaboise.com
FESTIVAL OF TREES See some of what makes this the City of Trees dressed up in their holiday best. During the 36th-annual Saint Alphonsus Festival of Trees Nov. 27Dec. 1, the Boise Centre will be home to hundreds of stunning Christmas trees decorated by groups from around the Treasure Valley. The trees are for sale, and proceeds benefit Saint Alphonsus programs or projects. It really is the most beautiful time of the year. saintalphonsus.org/about-us/ ways-to-give/boise/festival-of-trees
WINTER GARDEN AGLOW The Idaho Botanical Garden is an oasis of lush vegetation in the warmer months. But rather than close the doors when the temperatures drop, IBG turns itself into a winter wonderland with
BOISEWEEKLY ANNUAL MANUAL 2019-2020
FAMOUS IDAHO POTATO BOWL As any college football fan worth their jersey knows, the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl has been filling Albertsons Stadium on the Boise State University campus since 1997, bringing teams from across the country to the City of Trees. Catch the 2020 showdown on Jan. 3. famousidahopotatobowl.com
BALLET IDAHO: THE NUTCRACKER For many, the holidays just wouldn’t be complete without catching a performance of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Nutcracker, and Ballet Idaho is happy to oblige Boiseans on that score each year. There are usually multiple performances to choose from, but don’t dally on your trip to the box office, because they sell out faster than a mouse king can run. balletidaho.org/product/the-nutcracker
JANUARY BANFF MOUNTAIN FILM FESTIVAL This traveling film festival screens first in Banff, Alberta, Canada, then hits the road, and for years now the Boise Nordic Foundation has put the City of Trees on its must-visit list. Attendees of the annual screening can follow “remote journeys, ground-breaking expeditions, and cutting-edge adventures” captured across the globe for hours on-screen. facebook.com/banffboise
MCCALL WINTER CARNIVAL From larger-than-life snow sculptures to harry-leg contests, this central Idaho celebration has oddball winter traditions in spades. Every year, the multi-day event—which will run from Jan. 24-Feb. 2, in 2020—brings in some 50,000 people to view carvings, catch Mardi Gras beads, watch performances and soak up the winter ambiance. visitmccall. org/events/winter-carnival
FEBRUARY
IDAHO POTATO DROP
FLYING M VALENTINE FOR AIDS
Some citizens push back when outsiders refer to Idaho as “The Potato State” but there’s no doubt that the local government embraces the nickname. For proof, look no further than the annual Idaho Potato Drop, when a glittering, nearly 1,000-pound spud descends in front of the Idaho State Capitol Building to ring in the new year. It’s a day-long party that features food, drink, music and activities for all ages. idahopotatodrop.com
Want to support local artists and a good cause all at once? Valentine for AIDS is the event for you. Stop by the downtown Boise location of Flying M Coffeehouse on Valentine’s Day week to bid in a silent auction of love-themed artwork from more than 250 local artists. Proceeds from the show, which raised over $30,000 last year, go to Safety Net for AIDS Program (SNAP). facebook.com/valentineforaids
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CALENDAR OF EVENTS IDAHO SHAKES PE ARE FESTIVAL / ANDRE W MOORE
Oasis, set to return May 22-25, 2020 with “Anime Oasis JUN!!”. Stop by one of its multiple venues to explore dozens of panels and appearances, cosplay contests and an artists’ alley, speed dating, a swimsuit contest and a lip sync battle. animeoasis.org
BOISE BIKE WEEK Cyclists from across the Treasure Valley join forces each year in midMay for Boise Bike Week. Though the marathon event’s specifics change year to year, past gatherings have included a kick-off party at Highlands Hollow Brewhouse, a celebration of National Bike to Work Day, Bike Prom at The HandleBar and a somber Ride of Silence in remembrance of those who have died in cycling accidents. All of the events send the message that the road should be a safe place for all users. biketreasurevalley.org
BOISE ICE CREAM FESTIVAL
STANLEY-SAWTOOTH WINTERFEST Ditch the cabin fever and head to Stanley this February to spend a few days in the great outdoors. Yes, you’ll be cold and snow-covered, but there’s no better way to celebrate winter in Idaho than at this fun-loving festival which features a “beach” party, a pub crawl, an outhouse race, live music, a fat bike fondo and even a “Wild ‘N’ Woolley” drag race that puts dress-wearing mountain men in the spotlight. stanleywinterfest.com
MARCH BOISE FLOWER & GARDEN SHOW This colorful expo is the first sign of spring in the City of Trees, packing the Boise Centre with seminars, vendors, live music, food and drink, bonsai trees and blooms (including a stunning orchid sale) even when it’s still chilly outside. If you have a green thumb (or aspire to one), make a note to spend March 27-29, 2020, at the BFGS. gardenshowboise.com
ILLUMIBRATE Since 2017, the sprawling playground of Jack’s Urban Meeting Place has opened its doors to the public for Illumibrate, a free event for all ages. The light-filled extravaganza offers interactive art experiences for kids and adults, live music and dancing, performance art, food trucks and much, much more. Every year brings new adventures, and since entry is free, there’s no excuse not to check it out. jumpboise.org
SUN VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL Sun Valley is a mecca for the stars yearround, but each March the Sun Valley Film
Festival turns the ski town into a miniature Hollywood, bringing in actors, actresses, screenwriters and directors from across the globe for film screenings, forums, awards ceremonies and coffee talks. The next boutique event is scheduled for March 18-22, 2020. sunvalleyfilmfestival.org
TREEFORT MUSIC FEST This nationally recognized music festival has many branches, highlighting not only cross-city performances from more than 350 bands and musicians but a plethora of other “forts” for yogis, skateboarders, foodies, beer lovers, storytellers and more. The festival gets bigger every year, squeezing in events that cross dozens of locations and demographics. If you plan to check it out from March 20-24, 2020, snag your tickets early—they go faster than you think. treefortmusicfest.com
APRIL
RECORD STORE DAY Around 2007, when digital was really hitting its stride, the Coalition of Independent Music Stores launched Record Store Day to help save the vinyl format. At The Record Exchange in Boise, the celebration of the annual event includes live performances, exclusive releases, booths for local music nonprofits and radio stations, and more. For 2020, the big day is slated for April 18, so make a note to swing by the RX to feed your turntable. therecordexchange.com
The full bloom of spring kicks off Boise’s best time of year for foodies: farmer’s market season. Rain, shine or snow, both the Boise Farmers Market and Capital City Public Market open on Saturdays in April, bringing fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, dairy, prepared foods and even local art back to the City of Trees. Don’t forget your reusable bags! theboisefarmersmarket.com, capitalcitypublicmarket.com
RACE TO ROBIE CREEK Self-described as a “fun, slightly irreverent, top-quality, half-marathon race” this dash to Aldape Summit is one of the northwest’s toughest uphill scrambles. Each year’s race has its own story and theme—in 2019, runners were encour-
IDAHO GIVES DAY Idaho is home to more than 500 nonprofits, and they all have their day in the sun on Idaho Gives Day, a 24-hour give-a-thon that will next fall on May 7, 2020. Throughout the day, donors are encouraged to give to their favorite nonprofits and events focused on charity pop up across the city. In 2019, Idahoans donated nearly $2 million to help improve the lives of others. idahogives.org
IDAHO SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL
MAY AMERICAN CRAFT BEER WEEK
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aged to dress as superheroes and act the part. It’s open to just over 2,200 runners, costs $60 per person, and will stretch from noon to 5 p.m. on April 18, 2020. runsignup.com/race/racetorobiecreek
Boise Ice Cream Festival is still a new kid on the block in Boise’s food scene, but it’s sure to become a local staple. The festival’s inaugural event in 2019 featured ice cream workshops and panels, in-restaurant offerings from local chefs, themed parties and a Grand Tasting at JUMP that offered ticketholders more than 200 flavors to choose from. Keep an eye on the festival’s website and Facebook page for announcements about 2020. boiseicecreamfestival.com
Idaho is the nation’s second-largest producer of hops, so it’s no surprise the Gem State goes hard during American Craft Beer Week, a national event that falls in mid-May each year. Local breweries like Boise Brewing, Payette Brewing, Cloud 9 Brewery, Sockeye Brewing, PreFunk Beer Bar and many, many more celebrate with tastings, scavenger hunts, brewing and canning demos, and new releases. It’s the perfect time to try a new spot! brewersassociation.org
ANIME OASIS There is only one event in Boise where you can find a steampunk tea party, instructions on how to become a god and a manga cookbook demonstration all under the same umbrella: Anime
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If you haven’t seen a play at ISF, then you’re missing out on a truly Boise experience. Each year, ISF’s performers stage Shakespeare’s greatest works alongside more modern plays and musicals in a gorgeous outdoor theater off Warm Springs Avenue. Performances run May-September, and seem to sell out faster every year. Keep an eye on the ISF website for the announcement of the 2020 slate! idahoshakespeare.org
TREASURE VALLEY TATTOO CONVENTION Whether you’re already covered in tattoos or still mulling your very first piece, the Treasure Valley Tattoo Convention is the place for you. The annual event features plenty of vendors, a packed schedule of contests for different tattoo types and locations, and local artists going needle-to-nee- 46 dle with others from all over the U.S. treasurevalleytc.com
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JUNE
NATIONAL OLDTIME FIDDLERS CONTEST AND FESTIVAL
ALIVE AFTER FIVE
Billed as Boise’s favorite Summer Concert Series, Alive After Five will celebrate its 34th year in 2020. The free concerts in Grove Plaza kick off and June and run weekly on Wednesday nights through the end of August, bringing Boiseans off all ages out into the heat. Attendees enjoy a mix of local and national bands bracketed by vendors selling food, drinks and Boise-centric merchandise. downtownboise.org/events/alive-after-five
Weiser is Idaho’s fiddling headquarters, and we’d hazard a guess that there’s nothing quite like the National Oldtime Fiddlers Contest and Festival happening anywhere else. The contest, which is held each year in the Weiser High School Auditorium, pits top-notch fiddlers from across the country against each other in Old-time, Twin, and Swing fiddling competitions. The 2020 event will mark the contest’s 68th year. fiddlecontest.org
OUTLAW FIELD CONCERT SERIES
Catching a Boise Hawks baseball game at Hawks Stadium is a summer tradition in Boise, and locals flock to the bleechers each June when the season kicks off. Pull on your ball cap, order a hot dog and hold your foam finger aloft to truly join the party. milb.com/boise
BOISE MUSIC FESTIVAL
SAVOR IDAHO
Part carnival, part concert, and 100% fun, the Boise Music Festival is a true hallmark of summer in the City of Trees. Performers like Robin Thicke, Carly Rae Jepson, Pitbull and even Flo Rida have taken the stage at its Idaho Fairgrounds headquarters in years past, and more than 100 vendors hawking fair food and merchandise only add to the carnival atmosphere. boisemusicfestival.com
Idaho’s food and wine scenes are growing day by day, and Savor Idaho puts both center stage at its elegant outdoor tasting in the Idaho Botanical Garden. Dozens of local winery representatives appear with bottles, and local restaurants pair pours with tantalizing bites. The 2020 affair is set for June 14, and will likely follow Savor Idaho tradition and sell out. idahowines.org/event/savor-idaho
GREAT GARDEN ESCAPE CONCERTS
PRIDEFEST
I48 FILM FESTIVAL Every year, the i48 Film Festival challenges filmmakers across Idaho to write, pre-produce, cast, shoot and edit new short films in just 48 hours. That alone would be tricky, but the 3-6 minute movies also have to be in the same genre, and include a particular prop, character and line of dialogue set by the organizers. The results are screened at The Egyptian Theatre each June, putting the work of some of Idaho’s most creative minds on display. idaho48.org
MUSIC ON THE MOUNTAIN Part of Bogus Basin Ski Resort’s bid to become a year-round destination included adding live music, and its concert series now summons a regular flow of devotees up the mountain on summer Saturdays in June, July and August. Check out the ski resort’s Facebook page to find out who’s playing. bogusbasin.org
JULY
Boise has been hosting its very own Pridefest each June for more than 30 years, blasting out a message of inclusivity across the city with a pride parade, live music and dance events, drag shows, karaoke nights, fireworks and more. People of all ages, genders and sexualities are invited to enjoy the week of Pride-focused events and dance in front of the rainbow-lit capitol building. boisepridefest.org
Each year Boise is becoming a more bike-friendly city, and its crowning achievement is the Twilight Criterium, which brings in pros from across the country to race through downtown on two wheels. The fast-paced cycling event will celebrate its 34th year on July 18, 2020, and boasts everything from professional races to a celebrity ride, vendor booths and a kids’ ride with local Olympic gold medalist Kristin Armstrong. downtownboise.org/events/twilight-criterium
BOISE’S FUNNIEST PERSON Most cities have a battle of the bands, but Boise takes on-stage showdowns a step farther with Boise’s Funniest Person, which pits stand-up comedians with little to no experience against each other in hot pursuit of a $1,000 prize and the BFP title. Each year, 20 comedians (mentored by Boise’s best comics) are whittled down week by week until only one remains. boisesfunniestperson.com
MCCALL SUMMERFEST If you’re a fan of orchestral music, mark the McCall Music Society’s Summerfest on your calendar. A local
staple since 2012, this week-long festival features pops and classical orchestra concerts and soloists from across the country. mccallmusicsociety.org/summerfest
JAIALDI 2020 Every five years, people of Basque descent fly to Boise from all over the globe for Jaialdi, a six-day celebration of Basque food and culture. The event brings in more than 40,000 people and fills the Idaho Fairgrounds with dancing, music, and authentic food and drink, and it’s a can’t-miss opportunity for locals and tourists alike. Mark your calendars now for July 28-Aug. 2, 2020. jaialdi.com
SNAKE RIVER STAMPEDE With a more than 100-year history and a $450,000 purse, the Snake River Stampede is one of America’s top-10 regular season professional rodeos. Grab your boots, slap on your cowboy hat and join thousands of fans each year to watch mutton busting, a calf scramble, bullfighters, barrelmen and more at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa. snakeriverstampede.com
SUMMER EMPTY BOWLS In November, this Idaho Foodbank fundraiser is all about soup, but its summer edition makes ice cream the star of the show. Each year in late July, IFB partners up with Big Al’s to sell ice cream in handcrafted bowls (which buyers get to keep) and raise funds for hungry Idaho families. Each $10 bowl purchased provides 50 meals to those in need! idahofoodbank.org/ event/summer-empty-bowls.
WO RL D REF U G E E DAY / KEL S E Y PARRY
From June through September, Treefort Music Fest and Duck Club Presents partner up with the Idaho Botanical Garden to do the only thing possible to improve its atmosphere: add live music at a low price. Dancing abounds during these outdoor concerts, and guests haul in folding chairs, blankets and picnic baskets to turn each show into a nightlong affair. idahobotanicalgarden.org
The Weiser River Music Fest is still a newcomer to Idaho’s music festival lineup, but it came out strong in 2018 and shows no signs of stopping. Americana, folk and country bands take up most of the roster, accompanied by activities like goat yoga, obstacle courses, float-building and more at this family friendly, multiday event. weiserrivermusicfest.com
BOISE TWILIGHT CRITERIUM
The Idaho Botanical Garden’s Great Garden Escape hosts mostly local names, but those looking for a more star-studded affair can opt for the Garden’s Outlaw Field Summer Concert Series. From June through October, the series brings in musicians like Clint Black, Josh Groban and Foreigner for performances under the stars. Idahobotanicalgarden.org
BOISE HAWKS
WEISER RIVER MUSIC FEST
WORLD REFUGEE DAY The next World Refugee Day falls on June 20, 2020, and you can bet that the Idaho Office of Refugees will celebrate it in style. Idaho is home to a host of new citizens and immigrants, and you can join Boise in applauding them by enjoying the soccer friendly, music, dancing, artisans, ethinic food, and citizenship ceremony in Grove Plaza. idahorefugees.org
WORLD VILLAGE FEST For three days each year, local nonprofit Global Lounge calls on Boise’s diverse population to fill Cecil D. Andrus Park with art, music, dance, film and more representing the city’s Mexican, Basque, Native American, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Indonesia, Bosnian, African, Laotian, North and South American, Middle Eastern, Indian and Greek communities. It’s an affair for the whole family that’s as educational as it is entertaining. worldvillagefestival.com
BOISEWEEKLY ANNUAL MANUAL 2019-2020
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Joan CartanHansen produces and hosts Science Trek, IdahoPTV’s digital project that teaches science topics to elementaryage students and provides science education materials to teachers and parents.
Community education specialist Samantha Hill works with families of young learners, connecting them with educational resources to increase learning opportunities and success later in life.
LIFELONG L EA ING OT FAMILIES
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Working Together to Support Idaho’s Learning Ecosystem
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We Salute Our Amazing Educators EDUCATORS
COMMUNITIES
Teacher Ambassador Kari Wardle supports educators by providing professional development, mentoring, oneon-one coaching, and classroom modeling on technology integration in the classroom.
Cindy Lunte, IdahoPTV’s education specialist, promotes children’s literacy and love of science with story time programs and STEM activities for families, especially in Idaho’s rural communities.