ENAVILLE - A dedication ceremony for the Joe and Rose Mary Peaks' Perch Memorial Bench will be 5-8 p.m. at the Idaho Department of Fish and Game's Steamboat Ponds family fishing park on Thursday, Aug. 22.

There will be a picnic barbecue at the event.

After a year in planning and construction, a memorial bench has been placed on the North Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River about 10 miles upstream from the Enaville Resort, known as the Snake Pit, where Joe and Rose Mary Peak catered to and entertained friends and customers, and raised their family for more than 30 years.

Both Joe and Rose Mary gained a lot of friends and acquaintances, as well as loyal customers for the North Fork burger and complementary huckleberry ice cream served with a smile.

Both Joe and Rose Mary died in 2012 after fighting cancers for several years.

The memorial bench is to commemorate the Peak family's long association with the Silver Valley and the river community, and their service in several capacities, from serving on councils and boards to entertaining at the Wallace Melodrama to improving the river valley conditions for habitat, fishing and hunting.

After Rose Mary died, the bench idea was discussed with Joe who responded that it would be especially appropriate since he and Rose Mary, as a young couple, had a favorite overlook spot they went to after a long day where they enjoyed watching sunsets. Joe sat on a rock dubbed "Joe's Perch" and Rose Mary sat on a favorite log they called "Rose Mary's Roost."

The memorial to recognize the Peaks was envisioned by family friend Sandy Emerson.

IDFG suggested it could be a bench placed at the agency's Steamboat Ponds family fishing park.

Larry Nostrant, an instructor at the Kootenai Technical Education Campus, developed a log bench concept using a curved native North Idaho Douglas fir tree. Under his guidance, woodworking and welding students finished it out of donated materials at the end of the last school year.

It was transported up the river by a caravan on a flatbed trailer. The procession met the Peak family at the Snake Pit before continuing the last 10 miles to the park, where it was installed overlooking the fishing pier by a work party organized by Bill Scudder, another longtime family friend of the Peaks.

Rick Shaffer of the Wallace Inn, a longtime friend and cast member of the Wallace Melodrama where Rose Mary played piano, is organizing the bench dedication ceremony and picnic.

Friends, family, bench project donors and supporters are invited to the celebration.

More than $2,000 was raised to pay for the materials for the bench.