Celebrate Fiddle week at 2024 Parade

The final day of the National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest and Festival features, in part, the annual Fiddle Week Parade, to be held Saturday, June 22 at 11 a.m.

 The parade will leave Weiser High School and move east on Indianhead, turning right on State Street to the intersection of Idaho Street, turning left and veering onto Main Street to the corner of East Fourth Street where it will then turn left and continue four blocks to East Galloway Street where it will end at Weiser Middle School.

 

Pastry Lady sells baked sweetness to help veterans in need

So far, she has visited 27 states, driving her truck and trailer to various locations in an effort to raise money for veterans.

Originally from Spokane, Wash., Cheryl Merrill, otherwise known as the “Pastry Lady,” now lives in her trailer full-time so she can devote all her energy to a cause that is close to her heart.

“My late husband was a tunnel rat in Vietnam,” she told the Signal American on Wednesday, having stopped by the newspaper office to offer things like apple turnovers and banana-blueberry-poppyseed bread.

“I’ll help out any veteran that I find,” she said. “I once ran into a girl in a restaurant who was quite unruly and I just happened to step in. I found out she was a combat veteran and offered to talk to her, and we talked for a long time. She revealed some things about her military service, which was the source of her anger.”
Another time, she bought a plane ticket for a veteran who desperately needed help paying for it. Cheryl is the real deal, so to speak, so if you see her wandering around the Fiddle Contest campgrounds, be sure to buy some of her pastries.

She will also be walking in the Fiddle Parade, which is scheduled for Saturday at 11 a.m. She will be carrying her pastries along with her and will be happy to sell them to anyone who is interested in supporting veterans.