PONDERAY — The sound of children’s laughter and live music will once again echo throughout Harbison Field this Saturday.

Ponderay Neighbor Day returns for a ninth year featuring over 80 vendors and plenty of the fun activities that has made the event a staple in the community. KayLeigh Miller, the city’s project manager, said there will be a mechanical bull, 200-foot obstacle course and several inflatable slides for the public to enjoy for no cost. 

"No matter what, nobody has to tell their kid ‘No’ for the day because the activities are all free,” Miller said. “There are a lot of families who live in poverty in our area, so having an event where they can do that with their kids is really special to them and to us.”  

If the giant inflatable slides or obstacle course don’t do it for your child, then there will be plenty of other activities for them to take part in. Between carnival games, pony rides, face painting and even some magic at the event, there will be something for everyone to enjoy. 

The music trio “One Street Over” will perform live, serenading attendees from 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. Featuring Grammy Award-winning Nashville session players, the pairing of Michael, Jordan and Bridgette Lewis will play favorites and originals from across genres during their set. 

In addition, there will be numerous educational demonstrations hosted by the Northside Fire District and Ponderay Police Department at the event. Idaho State Police will be doing outreach against driving under the influence and citizens will be able to meet Ponderay Police’s drug detection dog as well. 

While the event heads into its ninth year, Miller said that it was never intended to become anything more than an outreach program. She said the first Neighbor Day was primarily hosted so that the Friends of the Pend d’Oreille Bay Trail could talk with the community to see if they wanted to extend a path down to the waterfront. 

"The intent was to have a hot air balloon, and they would be able to lift people up in the air so they could see what the view would be like,” Miller said, explaining the iconic hot air balloon iconography. “After the first year it was so popular that we ended up just making it an annual event for the city.” 

That original event was funded by a grant, but Miller said the city has been able to bring it back bigger and better each year thanks to corporate sponsorships.  

"It’s similar every year, just we are able to offer more to the community because our businesses are so generous,” Miller said.  

Miller said that the event is entering its largest year yet and that putting it together is a large undertaking by the city. She said the process starts in the spring, gathering sponsors so that the city knows what the budget for the event will be. 

From there it’s a dash to the day of the event with Miller collecting vendors, inflatables and all the other activities while laying out space for them to use. While she said it takes a significant amount of work, the support community makes all the work worth it to her. 

"Seeing all the families, the kids are running around, always smiling, laughing, yelling, and families are coming together,” Miller said. “Bringing the community together in one place is always my favorite thing to see.” 

The event will take place from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Harbison Field, located behind the Hoot Owl Cafe, 30784 Highway 200, in Ponderay on Saturday.