Colville Discovered

Recently I had the pleasure of taking a little jaunt to Colville in northeast Washington. It's about an hour's drive from where I now live. The townsfolk were celebrating, the center of town proudly decorated with a new metal sculpture - a metal tree with a birds' nest complete with bird. Beautiful piece.

I learned right away there's a strong arts community in town. One member is Jerry McKellar. For a look at his online gallery visit http://www.jerrymckellar.com/gallery.htm - he does fine sculpture.

The day I was there one store was giving free hotdogs, another free cotton candy and popcorn to show appreciation to the community. There was an arts and crafts show at the high school, a mule-drawn trolley downtown, hayrides. A real celebration. It was a spur-of-the-moment trek so I forgot my camera. Hopefully you'll get my gist of my visit.

I could feel that town pride, the mortar that makes our country what it is. Artists were happy to share their wares with you and the stores were full of friendly folk.

What I loved about the town: free parking, unusual wares in the shops with a friendly shopping climate, a real banana split that came with memories from my youth at the old-fashioned soda fountain in town, a climate reminiscent of the town spirit. Enthusiasm spilled out in the streets. Folks didn't mind when you stopped and asked directions. You got lots of smiles from musicians around town glad to have you there.

Take a look around at http://www.colville.com/RECREATE.HTM to see what the town is about. There's a lot to see. Unfortunately the Keller Heritage Center full of community history is not open this time of year, so see what is available.

It was a Fourth-of-July-in-November kind of day when I was there. It's what you miss on the west side of the mountains in a lot of towns. Folks just aren't that friendly always on the western side of the state. Colville residents make you feel right at home.

I like what I read about the residents at the Chamber of Commerce site: "Colville's workers are among the most productive in the nation. Fiercely independent and hard-working people, who take pride in their craft, they provide role models for the youth of our area."

My kind of place.

On the way there we passed through Chewelah and saw the Chewelah Casino owned by the Spokane Tribe of Indians, http://www.chewelahcasino.com . It advertises Thursday seafood and prime rib feeds on a billboard near us. They also have senior day on Wednesdays. Check it out.

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