PULLMAN :: Cup of the Palouse: April 2010

Monday, April 19, 2010

May 22 Pullman Ed. Foundation mini golf fundraiser helps Pullman 5th Grade Camp

Join the Wendles - Ben, Nick and Jack, mom Cindy and dad Chud - and Airway Hills’ Trent Goetze -- for 18 holes of golfing fun.

Pullman 5th Grade Camp will receive money through those taking part in Pullman Education Foundation’s miniature golf fundraising tournament, 8 a.m.-3 p.m., Saturday, May 22, at Airway Hills mini golf on Airport Road between Pullman and Moscow.

Green fees per round to play the 18-hole layout are $8 for ages 12-adult, and $5 for ages 5-11. Those ages 3-4 are free. Airway Hills owner Trent Goetze, a PGA golf professional, is donating a portion of green fees to the Pullman Education Foundation. In turn, the Foundation Board will give those donated funds to Pullman 5th Grade Camp. At the event, donations from golfers will be accepted.

Tourney golfers are eligible to win prizes during the competition.

"This is going to be a blast!, “ said Goetze. “Parents, grandparents, other relatives and kids will thoroughly enjoy playing the course and the great prizes are a real bonus! I'm pleased to partner with the foundation on this family fun event and raise money for a very good cause."

There is a 5 p.m. May 20 deadline to call Airway Hills, 509-872-3092, for a tee time. Golfers will compete in foursomes with tee times five minutes apart.

Driving east, Airways Hills golf course, 4188 Airport Road, Pullman, is about one mile past Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport. Visit Ariway Hills Website here.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Kickbike and Enjoy It

Monday, Mar. 15, 2010
By Harriet Barovick
TIME magazine

It's hard to deny the rush of riding a tiny-wheeled push scooter — until you cruise downhill, hit a pebble along the way and end up nearly breaking your wrist. For a smoother, steadier yet no less exhilarating alternative, Europeans and an increasing number of Americans are hopping onto kickbikes. Invented in Finland in the 1990s, these hybrids combine a bicycle's body and handlebars with a pedal-free platform to stand on and pneumatic tires that dwarf the Rollerblade-size wheels on regular scooters.

Kickbikes, also known as footbikes or kick scooters, are being embraced as a fast, fun, furious way to cross-train, run errands, commute and even rehabilitate injuries. Stroke patients like them (they require the use of just one side of the body), as do dog lovers eager to keep up with their energetic pooches. Taking a cue from dogsledders, owners attach a harness and pull line from pup to bike and ride for miles, often in groups with fellow warm-weather mushers.

The kickbike market is still small: Americans buy about 15,000 a year, vs. 15 million bicycles. But sales have grown steadily, even though in the U.S. they're sold almost exclusively online, with no advertising, by skeletally staffed e-tailers like Diggler and SidewalkerUSA. "I do need to push it more," says KickbikeAmerica's laid-back chief, David Nadolski, who recently quit his day job to focus on selling and promoting kickbikes. "Clients love them."

A key draw is their low-impact, calorie-burning workout. And there's the x factor: "They're a lot of fun to ride," says Bryan Dobes, 33, of River Vale, N.J. "It kind of makes you feel like a kid."

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

PEF musical instrument fund-raiser 4/14/2010

Lincoln Middle School students Michael Chase, trumpeter, Kate Schneider, and Aneesh Pappu, violinists, were among Lincoln and Pullman High School musicians who performed during the April 14, 2010, Pullman Education Foundation musical instrument dessert fund-raiser concert. About $1,200 was raised to help replace worn out band instruments.

In the Pullman School District:

Orchestra is offered for grades 4-12. Katharine Covill, director.
Band is offered for grades 6-8 at Lincoln Middle School, Joe Covill, director, and grades 9-12 at Pullman High School, Jenny DeWitt, director.