Our Meridian Blog

Just a reminder that the 19th Annual Meridian Lions Club happens this Saturday and Sunday, September 27th and 28th.  Events begin with mutton busting and steer riding at 1pm, with the regular rodeo events beginning at 2pm.  Because of the record number of cowboys and cowgirls this year, there will be “slack time” on Sunday starting at 8am, to accomodate all the participants.  It should be a great time, and the weather promises to much better than last year!  The rodeo grounds are west of town on Cherry, past Black Cat.  Hope to see you out there!

(Don’t forget to bring a donation of non-perishable food for the Meridian Food Bank.  They thank you, and so do the Lions.)

Meridian Dairy Days is coming at the end of this week, June 18th through the 21st, highlighted by the parade on Friday evening.  This is truly one of our best small town events here in Meridian, and the weather looks like it’s going to be perfect.  Last year there were thousands of folks who turned out to see the parade, which features tractors, horses and riders, a number of very creative floats, the cheer squads , bands, and teams from the local schools, lots of classic cars, and a few racing cars from Meridian Speedway.  A great time for everyone, celebrating our dairy heritage, and our small town Idaho community.

The parade stages on Watertower, and gets started at 7pm, running North down Main Street, then back up 2 1/2 and 3rd Streets.  Come early, pick your spot, and remember to cheer for the Meridian Lions and the Rodeo Queens.

There will also be a carnival at Storey Park from Wednesday through Saturday, and the Meridian Chamber’s Pancake Feed returns Thursday evening beginning at 5pm with a symphony to follow.  Friday night also marks the start of an arts and crafts fair featuring 80 vendors.

The Dairy Days celebration wouldn’t be complete without cows and goats, so on Saturday, all day, there will be a cow and goat show, along with a number of educational exhibits for everyone to enjoy.  See the Chamber of Commerce website for more info.  See you there!

It’s going to be a busy weekend coming up for all of you garage salers and farmers’ market fans.

The Meridian Farmers’ Market is in full swing now, and will be every weekend through September.  The event takes place every Saturday from 9:00am until 1:00pm, in the parking lot of the Boise First Community Center on Eagle Road. 

Since I posted earlier in the week about the Hunter Pointe Garage Sale I have been driving around the neighborhoods of Meridian, and it appears that many of the local communities are having garage sales the same day as well.  This Saturday (tomorrow!), besides Hunter Pointe, I know there will be neighborhood sales at Paramount, Cedar Springs, Summerfield, Sundance, and Chateau Meadows.  These are all neighboorhoods in the northeast end of Meridian, around the Locust Grove, Meridian Road, Fairview, Ustick, and McMillan Road area.  Plenty to do and see this weekend, so get out and enjoy the hot weather.  And say hello to all our neighbors! 

 The Hunter Pointe HOA would like to invite you all to their Annual Neighborhood Garage Sale this Saturday, May 17th.  Hours are from 8:00 am until 3:00 pm, and they are expecting many homeowners to participate.

 If you are a Hunter Pointe owner, there is no formal sign-up, so simply get your goods on display Saturday morning, and have a good time.  The weather forecast is for temperatures to be in the 90’s by Saturday afternoon, so it should be an excellent morning for buying and selling. 

 Hunter Pointe subdivision is located just south of Ustick Road on the west side of Locust Grove.  See you there.

It’s time again for the Parade of Homes!  The 2008 Parade of Homes by the Building Contractors Association of Southwestern Idaho will take place beginning Saturday April 26th through Sunday May 11th.  This year there are a few less than the 37 new homes that were on the Parade last year, but this year’s entries promise to be just as stunning.  Communities from Kuna, Eagle, Hidden Springs, Meridian, and Boise are again represented.  In addition to familiar names like Tuscany, Paramount, Crossfield, Bridgetower, and Saguaro Canyon, you’ll find newcomers like Avimor, Englefield Green, and Alpine Point. 

The 27 builders presenting homes this year include Eaglewood Homes, Westminster Homes, Suncor Idaho,Thompson Homes, Kastera Homes, Guaranteed Quality Construction, Whitney Homes, Canyon Crest Homes, Brighton Homes, Diamond Ridge Construction, Creekside Custom Homes, Tahoe Homes, Ted Mason Signature Homes, Zach Evans Construction, J. Edward Homes, Borup Construction, Markar Design & Construction, The Legend Company, and Hubble Homes.

These builders have brought together a great collection of new homes in a variety of sizes, and the prices reflect the changing market this year (no entries in the $6M range).  A wide variety of styles is in this collection as well, including townhomes, California Spanish, European, French Country, and Craftsman.  If you love looking at homes, or want to go looking for home project ideas, this is the premier home tour of the year for the Treasure Valley.
The Parade Homes are open daily from 5pm until 8pm weekdays (3pm opening on Fridays), and from noon until 8pm on weekends.  Tickets are required, and they can be purchased at most Select-A-Seat locations, where you can also pick up a magazine format program which describes all of the homes, and explains more about the BCASWI.  You purchase your ticket ahead of time ($10 each, but not available at the homes) and present it at the first home you wish to see.  It is exchanged for a puchcard which you present at each home.  In a change from previous years, my understanding is that the ticket will allow unlimited entries to each home.  In the past, the punchcard allowed you to see each home once plus 5 re-entries you could use if you wished to see your favorites another time or two.  Yes, people do come back multiple times to see some homes.  Give yourself a number of evenings and weekend days if you intend to see all of them.  And remember to wear slip-off shoes or sandals (hopefully Spring will come in time for the Parade). 

I hope to see you out there.

 One of the things I think we’ve all enjoyed throughout our lives is driving around the neighborhoods at Christmas time and enjoying all of the lights and yard displays.  I’ve seen lots of folks in subdivisions all over the valley getting out there and putting their Christmas spirit on display.  Some homes are a work in progress.  You go by one night and think how pretty it is, but you go by a couple nights later and see that they weren’t finished and the number of lights has doubled or tripled!  You gotta love that.

Many of the communities and subdivisions have decorating contests.  Check with your HOA for what might be happening in your neighborhood.  The Hunter Pointe subdivision will be having their first annual decoration contest this year.  Judging will be on Thursday December 13th before 7pm.  Make sure you’ve got your displays ready on that evening.  There will be yard signs and prizes for the 1st place and 2nd place yards (as judged by the HOA board).  Sounds like fun!

If your neighborhood has a display contest that you would like me to mention, please call me and let me know.  Also, if you or one of your neighbors has a really noteworthy display, or you find a good one on your own nightly cruises, let me know and I’ll mention it here so we can all enjoy it.

Here are a few things coming up in Meridian that you might find interesting:

Don’t forget to VOTE!  Next Tuesday, November 6th.

The Meridian Wreath Festival is an annual event, happening in a new location this year.  Tuesday, November 13th, from 11am until 3pm at the Marriott Courtyard at Eagle Road and Overland, there will be lots of wreaths and other decorations available to purchase, and the sales benefit The St. Luke’s Childrens’ Miracle Network and the Meridian Kiwanis Youth Foundation.

Rake Up Meridian happens Saturday November 17th.  Contact the Kiwanis or the Boys and Girls Club for more information on how you can get involved in the service part of this event.

You thought I was going to remind you about something else, didn’t you?

   The Annual Meeting for the Hunter Pointe Homeowners Association is coming up.  The meeting will be Tuesday next week, October 23rd.  The meeting will take place in the library of Chief Joseph Elementary School at 7:00pm.  We’re pleased to be able to meet at the school again.  The folks at the Country Inn and Suites on Pine St treated us very well last time we met, but the school is definitely more convenient.

Some of the topics will be various homeowner concerns, a discussion of STOP signs and speed bumps, and the Christmas Home Decorating Contest.  If you have anything you would like to bring up before the HOA and your neighbors, please come to meeting.   We’ll see you all there!