Head to Atlanta Days for a festival that funds its Idaho quick response medical unit

Feel like kickin’ it in an old mining town and supporting a good cause? Well then, you have plans this weekend! Load up the rig for a road tip to Atlanta (approximately a 3.5-hour drive from Boise) to celebrate the 41st annual Atlanta Days on Friday-Sunday, Aug. 6-8, with music, games, food, auctions and more.

Festivities begin at 6 p.m. Friday with a street dance on Main Street featuring DJ music, pizza, beer and wine, and more.

On Saturday, enjoy youth horseshoes and games (11 a.m.) and an adult horseshoe competition (1:30 p.m) at Briggs Park. A silent auction will be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. under the canopy at the jail, and a live auction will begin at 6 p.m. on the Main Street stage. Music and dancing on Main Street starts at 7:30 p.m. with the Winewood band. Food and drink will be available throughout the day.

The event concludes Sunday with a family-friendly softball game at 1 p.m. at the Atlanta baseball field, one mile east of town.

Atlanta Days is the only annual fundraiser for the Atlanta Quick Response Medical Unit, which provides emergency medical services for its residents and visitors — a unit that did not exist 41 years ago.

It wasn’t until after a tragic accident — a fatality involving a man who fell from a utility pole working on the Atlanta power system — that the community decided an emergency medical group was needed, since there wasn’t anyone with sufficient training at the time.

Several Atlanta citizens were trained with the money that was raised during the inaugural Atlanta Days, and the Quick Response Unit was formed. The unit now has seven certified EMTs — including the man’s sister, who is also its president — in a community of fewer than 40 full-time residents, according to a news release.

For questions regarding the event, call Allen Lake at 208-864-2151 or email allenrlake@rtci.net.