When Kelly Gates, a graphic designer from Jerome, heard that Idaho Candy Co. was looking for a new candy bar to represent Idaho, she immediately thought of offering a huckleberry-filled star garnet.

"I thought, 'Gem State,' Gates said, referring to Idaho's nickname. "We used to go gem hunting when I was younger, and we kind of fought the bears for the huckleberries, so that's where both of those ideas came from."

Her drawings and descriptions of an eight-sided confection covered in chocolate was chosen out of almost 250 ideas for Idaho Candy's contest seeking a new candy bar. Gates will receive a box of Owyhee Toffee every Christmas for the rest of her life.

After Idaho Candy Co. and the Idaho Statesman asked for new ideas last month, entries came in from Idaho, Oregon and California. Three came from Idaho jails and prisons.

There were dozens of star garnets; Gates' version ultimately was chosen on the basis of its detailed graphic and written description. Linda Leech of Boise sent in plans for a whitewater bar - a dark-chocolate kayak with a white-chocolate paddle. Mollie Ingram Petty of Boise suggested a footprint-shaped candy based on Sasquatch, the legendary hairy figure also known as Bigfoot said by some to haunt the Western forests.

"That would be a fun project for a qualified candy engineer," Petty wrote.

"I love the idea of the footprint, although Sasquatch is really a Northwest figure," said Cort Conley, one of four judges who spent three hours in a hairnet mulling the entries on the factory floor at Idaho Candy last week. But "you have to come up with something that works with North and South, East and West."

At least two dozen people sent ideas for bars based on the Sawtooth Mountains, some with white chocolate to represent snow, or green to represent trees. Many others suggested a bar based on the volcanic landscape of eastern Idaho's Craters of the Moon National Monument, and several described bars shaped like the state.

Idaho Candy Co. President Dave Wagers, also a judge, liked the idea of a wildfire bar that would come with a fire extinguisher filled with marshmallow.

"It's not terribly practical, but it's interesting," he said.

The Cole family of Boise suggested a Scary Larry Bar, not in homage to the man of that name who peddles ice creams in Boise neighborhoods from a beat-up little van, but named for Idaho's senior U.S. senator, Republican Larry Craig.

Several entries were accompanied by long letters singing the praises of Idaho Candy Co. Betty Bever of Boise sent Wagers a history book she'd written about Idaho, along with an idea for a candy bar called Idaho Magic that celebrates irrigation.

Josh Redford wrote: "Forgive me for submitting several candy bar ideas. It's just that I've had several ideas for the Idaho Candy Company for a while, and I'm excited that this opportunity came about."

Verl Kersey, 76, of Boise reminisced in a letter to Wagers about working at Rexall drugstore in the Idaho Building in the 1940s.

"While there, I sold many Idaho candies and the famous Idaho Spud Bar," wrote Kersey, who suggested that Wagers return the Idaho Spud to its former, round shape.

Judith Jung of Garden City also used her entry as a chance to reminisce. She worked at Idaho Hardware and Plumbing Co. in 1960.

"Who would be the very next door neighbor but Idaho Candy Company!" Jung wrote. "Special times were when Idaho Candy Company invited us Idaho Hardware employees down into their basement for special treats of the Idaho Spud Bar. Ahhh ... the chocolate aroma. I remember it all so well."

The family run Idaho Candy produces several different candy bars at its Downtown Boise factory, including the 3 million Idaho Spud bars it sells around the country each year.

Wagers thought up the contest as a way of finding a niche bar he can sell along with the Spud.

He plans to start out by creating a few thousand of Gates' star garnet bars.

It may take a few months but "hopefully in time for Christmas," Wagers said.

Gates, who is married with a 38-year-old son, grew up in Jerome, but she has her own memories of Idaho Candy Co. She used to do business with a company across the street.

"It was really nice to stand nearby and sniff," she said. "The smell was glorious."

Anne Wallace Allen: 377-6433