Corridor June 2018 by Missoulian

corridormag.com

June 2018

Hold on Tight Your guide to summer fun

Opera in pburg • fishing the bitterroot • Tampled by Turtles • Wood Brothers

tHis issue

June 2018

#QUEST SUMMER EVER.

June 2018 issue 72

LITTLE BIG TOWN JUN 18 WITH JAMESON RODGERS

I LOVE THE 90’S TOUR JUN 28

SALT-N-PEPA, VANILLA ICE, SIR MIX-A-LOT, COLOR ME BADD & YOUNG MC

INCUBUS WITH MINUS THE BEAR JUL 10 JOHN FOGE FOGERTY JUL 17 BRAD PAISLEY WITH BROWN & GRAY JUL 27 WILLIE NELSON & FAMILY & ALISON KRAUSS AUG 3

SOLD OUT!

GABRIEL “FLUFFY” IGLESIAS AUG 9 TRAIN WITH PAT MCGEE AUG 10 ALABAMA WITH TEMECULA ROAD AUG 15 WITH GRANGER SMITH SEP 9 BR KANE BROWN

SOLD OUT!

THE AUSTRALIAN PINK FLOYD SHOW SEP 13 JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS & CHEAP TRICK SEP 18 RASCAL FLATTS SEP 22

20 From the editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 High-water transformations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Fishing in the Bitterroot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 opera House theater in Philipsburg . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 sci-Fi summer at the roxy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 summer book recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 rodeo tradition in Montana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Wildlife art show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 trampled by turtles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

WITH TRENT HARMON

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8 the Wood Brothers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Missoula calendar of events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Bitterroot calendar of events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Flathead calendar of events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Miracle of america Museum live history . . . . . . . . 30 Flathead lake Festival of art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Pie hotspots in Western Mt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 tyler turco, the top-ranKed college saddle bronc rider in the country, rides into the sunset during his go on the opening night of the griZ rodeo at the missoula county fair grounds.

cover photo by tommy martino

June 2018

Colorful commerce

FRIDAY: Talents of D & D Music. DanceXplosion!. Dog Dancing. Miss Huckleberry/Mr. Huck Finn Talent Contest. Trout Creek Country Music Show.

SATURDAY:

AUGUST 10-12, 2018 Trout Creek, Montana 5pm Friday to 4pm Sunday 120 + Arts & Craft Booths www.huckleberryfestival.com

FREE ADMISSION Family Friendly: Alcohol, Vape & Tobacco FREE – Dogs Welcome, (On Leash Only)

photo cby Michelle McConnaha amelia amish shows some of her fresh cut flowers for sale from wildflower lane at the o’Hara commons’ wednesday farmers market.

Pancake Breakfast. 5K Run for Fun. Huckleberry Parade. Dog Agility Demonstration. Homesteaders Pentathlon. Kids Games. Albeni Falls Pipes & Drums. Swing Street Big Band. Festival Auction. Pie-Eating Contest. Live Music by Malarkey

SUNDAY: Pancake Breakfast. Worship Service. Music by “tincup.” Kids Games. Horseshoes. Dog Agility Competition. Kids Agility Fun Match. “The Curse of The Pitiful Pirates” by Libby Pitiful Players. Jam, Jelly and Dessert Contest and more!!

JUNe 2018

from the

s summer begins to wind down and the mercury continues to rise, there is still plenty to see and do in Western Montana to take advantage of the last rays of summer. Fair season kicks into high gear towards the end of the summer and we offer a sampling to check out, whether it’s to walk the 4-H barns, watching the demonstrations, participating in a parade, or watching the evening rodeo. Music festivals also get going at high speed. See our

editor

write-ups on the Crown of the Continent and Flathead Lake Blues and Music festivals to plan out your outdoor concert experiences. I’ll be toe-tapping with the sunshine on my back at one or more of those festivals, no doubt. I’ll be catching a movie at the outdoor cinema, as well, and taking in the live music around town. If the smoke holds out, I’ll be taking some trips out of the city to explore the other wonderful summer happenings on this side of the state. And longtime Missoula bookseller Barbara Theroux recommends several mystery novels to crack that

I’ll be peeking into. Just because the days are getting shorter again doesn’t mean the summer doesn’t have any more fun to offer. Use this year’s last edition of Corridor to plan your end-of summer fun-tivities.

Emily Petrovski, Editor

Publisher Mike gulledge Editor Emily Petrovski

Emily.Petrovski@missoulian.com

CONTRIBUTORs BRIAN D’AMBROSIO DAVID ERICKSON BARBARA THEROUX Peter Friesen Bob Meseroll

ADVERTISING & Sales Debbie Larson Bryon Bertollt Laurie Williams Annie Mead Carolyn Bartlett Scott Woodall Tami Allen Mindy Glenna

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June 2018

High water transforms Bitterroot fishing By BOB MESEROLL

“S

See where those tree roots are dangling down off the bank?” I said to a fishing buddy several years ago while we walked along the banks of the Bitterroot River. “I got a beautiful, deep-bellied cutthroat right there.” “And that overhanging bank over there? The browns would line up along there and you could pick them off from the bottom to the top. “And that deep hole right there? Man, it was just loaded with fish the last time I was here.” Trouble was, every place I pointed out was dry as a bone. Such is the nature of the Bitterroot — and many rivers — after runoff has redistributed the cobble. Greek philosopher Heraclitus said, “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.” That’ll never be more true than this summer. After near-record high flows this spring, anglers will need to learn their favorite haunts all over again. “The Bitterroot is particularly prone to changing — it’s braided channels,” said Chris Clancy, a fisheries biologist with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. “It has

a variety of side channels and the bed-load movement is very significant in high-water years like this. I think people could expect that the shape of the channels, some of the pools and where that woody debris pile used to be, it may not be there anymore and there may be a new one. “It’s actually kind of funny when you’re fishing the Bitterroot and you’re floating down a reach that you floated a couple years ago and you’ll remember a certain stump that you fished under. This year you go by and it’s 30 feet from the water. That’s the nature and the excitement of fishing the Bitterroot — it changes a lot. That spot that used to be really good fishing might not be so much, but there will be another one somewhere else.” Jim Cox, co-owner of the Kingfisher fly shop, gives a thumbs up to the high water, at least from the perspective of the fishery. “I think it’s a good thing, actually,” he said. “It scours and cleans the bottoms. You get a big push of crap coming through, but then it clears and you have a longer time for high-volume clear water washing and scouring the bottom.

While it disturbs a lot of things, like the fishing holes, I think it’s a healthy aspect to the river cycle.” There are potential dangers, though, as Clancy pointed out. “People who float this river a lot are aware, but some are not,” he said. “It’s also dangerous when it changes. There’s new logjams in places where they didn’t used to be and there are areas that aren’t passable that used to be. Most people after the river drops and they’re floating it for the first time should be fairly cautious and find out where the known dangerous places are and be aware that it’s going to be different.” My buddy and I are usually of the mind that change stinks. But I’m kind of curious to see what the river bottoms will look like when the flows eventually drop. “It’s six to one, a half dozen to the other,” Cox said. “You always end up giving up some treasures, but you always end up finding some. It’s kind of like hunting morels — different season, different places. “ Clancy, an angler himself, is anxious to see the changes, both from a professional and

recreational standpoint. “Being an angler and someone who’s interested in stream dynamics, I think it’s really cool when the river changes around,” Clancy said. “If I was an irrigator I’d feel somewhat differently. It depends on how you view the river. For folks who irrigate out of a river it’s very difficult at times. A river can change so radically. Where it was easy to get the water all of a sudden it’s really difficult to get the water and expensive.” As for the fish themselves, it’s business as usual. “The fish that have the most difficulty are probably the young of the year, the small guys,” Clancy said. “The larger fish, when the river comes up and it’s really moving fast, they move to the slowest areas. We used to electro-shock the Yellowstone in May when it was quite high and we’d be in the willows capturing the fish. They can’t maintain their position in the fast water. “They’re used to this. They find a way to handle it.” My guess is, so will I.

June 2018

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Daily 11 ofam 883-2553 “Roxy Film Academy camps aim toOpenThe first at camp the•season, Digital in Missoula, the Roxy Theater is to transform the content of their lives teach students filmmaking skills while Filmmaking at Moon Randolph DJ Friday & Saturday nights at 10 pm offering four, one week summer into creative visual storytelling, all while Homestead, takes place June 11-15 for also developing their team-work abilities, Mention ad for free drink - $3 or less - 1 per customer - Lunch - Dinner camps throughBreakfast the Roxy Film Academy. having fun and learning the medium and campers 10 and up. Campers will try filmmaking. Eachfinleypointgrill.com camp as a tremendous amount of cooperation their hands at live-action filmmaking, Roxy Film Academy the provides 109 Anchor Way, Polson, MT 59860 LetThe us help you create eventtechnology of your ofdreams! how filight lmmakers use shot sizes, immersive, exciting, 406-887-2020 hands-on and happens for a week and pickup/drop off goes into collaborative filmmaking,” Offsaid Hwylearn 93 after on right - 883-4048 camera angles, lighting and sound to tell educational summer camps that will are at 9am and 4pm at the Roxy Theater. RFA teaching artist, Ken Grinde.

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Finally, the popular Instacamp returns July 16-20 for ages 10 and up. Focusing For younger kids, RFA will be offering on social media, In-stacamp works with Magic Making for Mini Scientists, June campers to become empowered content 25-29. Campers will cre-ate and film cool creators by engaging the playful and mindful science experiments. Volcanoes will explode, while promoting healthy body image and giant bubbles will pop and everything will be intentional practices online. Flash mobs, viral caught on tape! video challenges and next-level “video selfies” polsonchamber.com “The 2018 summer camps are some of will or all be part of the week’s activities. our favorite programs from past years,” said (406)-883-5969 Every camp ends with a special redGrinde. “They’ve been developed and honed carpet premiere at The Roxy to screen the by students and instructors, and now we get to bring in a new generation of students to keep camper’s finished films. “It’s a highlight for the campers and the instructors,” said Grinde. making them even better.” “It’s a great way to celebrate what our campers Later in July the RFA will bring movie magic accomplished in only a week and share their to the ever-popular breakout rooms with work with family and friends.” Photo by Pete Ramberg Digital Filmmak-ing at Big Sky Breakout, July To learn more about the camps and sign 9-13 for ages 10 and up. Campers will learn how filmmakers use shot sizes, camera angles, aspiring filmmakers up for a week in the lighting, and sound to tell stories. All their new spotlight, visit RoxyFilmAcademy.org. C

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JUNe 2018

State's oldest operating theater opens for summer By KIM BRIGGEMAN

here were you in 1891?

Philipsburg was right here, high in the Flint Creek Valley, and it was “a might busy ‘burg.” That was according to Deputy Sheriff Frank Barnes, as reported in the Oct. 22, 1891, edition of the Butte Daily Post. Part of the busyness: “Angus McDonald is erecting a two-story brick opera house that will have store rooms in the first floor and a large hall on the second,” Barnes said. “A stage of ample proportions is being placed in the building and a gallery so that there will be a large seating capacity.” The playhouse opened the following year, and in the next decade or so, artist Edgar S. Paxson painted six elaborate backdrops for the theater. They’re still here too, or at least five of them have returned, on loan from the Granite County Museum these past 25-plus years. So is the theater on Sansome Street that “Red Mac” McDonald and his wife Susan Hogan McDonald gave to this silver mining town more than 125 years ago. In fact, it’s Montana’s oldest operating theater. The McDonald Opera House became the Granada when Frank Horrigan bought it in 1919. Now known formally as the Historic Opera House Theatre, it has another full slate of live productions for the summer 2018 season starting June 21 and ending on the last Sunday of August. Its revival is in large part a tribute to another entrepreneurial couple. Tim and Claudette Dringle started offering live summertime theater in 1999. Housed in the state’s oldest theater, the Opera House Theater Co. is the youngest in the state. With help from local and statewide sponsors, the Dringles restored the building and gave it its first paint job as the fires of 2000 burned around town. The orchestra pit is reopened and the box seating that was removed during the Granada’s motion picture era in the 1930s is back as well. The latest improvement was a new set of footlights on the stage, installed for the 2017. “Oh, man. It really made a difference,” Claudette Dringle said. “The old lights were 40 years old.” In its heyday the opera house could seat more than 500 people. Now, standing-roomonly capacity on the main floor is 250, with

photo by Tom Bauer The Opera House Theatre, 140 S. Sansome, was established in 1891 and is recognized as Montana’s oldest operating theater. Productions will run Thursdays through Sundays June 21 through Aug. 26. Alternate shows include “Psych,” “Having Hope at Home,” and a “Vaudeville Variety Show.” Performances on Thursdays begin at 7 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; and Sunday, 4 p.m. Ticket prices are $20 for adults and $10 for children 15 and younger. Details or to purchase tickets, call 406-8590013 or email at ohtc@blackfoot.net.

another 100 seats available if the balcony is opened, which it is only on occasion. “We virtually always have seating available,” said Dringle. “Even though it seats 250, you can perform to a house of 50 and it still feels intimate.” The Dringles instituted a rolling repertory model around 2002 that includes a familyfriendly, up-to-date vaudeville variety show. This summer it’s joined in the lineup Thursdays through Sundays by “Psych,” a comic/farce written by Lisa Rowe, a “reformed” trial lawyer who, according to her online bio, teaches interpersonal communications and public speaking at a university in Wisconsin. Dringle said Rowe will be on hand in Philipsburg for opening night of Psych on Friday, June 22. Also in the mix is “Having Hope at Home,” which debuts at the start of the second week on Thursday, June 28. Author David Wright constructs a scenario where Carolyn, whose

father is head of gynecology at the local hospital, has one evening to cook a threecourse dinner, get married and hide the fact that she’s in labor. She has her heart set on a home birth. “They’re very fun shows this year,” Dringle said. “Last year we did ‘The Tin Woman,’ which may be the one I’m most proud of, but it was heart-wrenching. We don’t have one of those this year.” As producer, Dringle bounces ideas for upcoming productions off veteran producing director D.J. Gommels. “I happened to find these two this year, but that’s not usually the case,” she said. “You have to be a little careful with language and content. We want the kids and we want Grandma and Grandpa too.” Asked what makes the Philipsburg Opera House unique in the 21st century, Claudette Dringle paused for moment.

“I think what sets us apart is we’re actually a real theater,” she said. “This was built as a theater, and it has always been used as a theater, so our seating is better, the staging is better, the acoustics are fantastic. We don’t mic anybody.” And one more thing: “Our piano player is unbelievably good. He is the heart of the vaudeville act.” That would be Gommels of Seattle, who’s also knowns as “Maestro,” “Eighty-Eight,” “Flying Fingers” and “Piano Wrecker.” Gommels first started working his magic in Philipsburg in 2001. He’s in charge this summer of a largely veteran cast that includes director and company manager Nathan Adkins, in his fifth season, and director/actor Tim Eastman, who rejoins the Opera House Theatre Co. for the fifth time.

June 2018

It all started with Angus McDonald (18431910). A well-known butcher, pioneer, banker, miner, investor and rancher in the ‘Burg, McDonald was apparently no relation to the Scottish Hudson’s Bay Co. trader of the same name who established Fort Connah in the Mission Valley when Philipsburg’s Angus was but a child in Canada. The younger McDonald built his opera house with enough space to accommodate the Miners and Merchants Bank in its north end. Angus was elected president the first year it opened. Claudette Dringle said at some point the bank safe fell through the floor into the basement, where it’s encased in a granite wall these days. Over the years, a soda pop bottling firm, a livery stable, a bakery and the allmale Philipsburg Commercial Club were headquartered in the building. Today it

McDonald remains a prominent name in these parts. There are dozens of McDonalds buried in Philipsburg cemetery with Angus. Some were related, some weren’t, and there are few remaining who can sort out the difference. When pneumonia claimed Angus McDonald’s life in the spring of 1910, he left behind Susie but no children. One of Granite County’s first county commissioners, he’d been nominated for mayor of Philipsburg shortly before his death but withdrew his name when he became ill. McDonald’s legacy was espoused in newspapers throughout western Montana. The Panic of 1893 hit Philipsburg especially hard, but McDonald refused to let his bank go under. In time he paid off all his debts “although he might have evaded it as did others,” one editorial writer said. “He was one of the picturesque characters of western Montana,” another eulogist proclaimed. But Angus didn’t disappear. “We feel like we have a ghost in the theater, and we salute him,” Claudette Dringle said. “We call him ‘Red Mac.’ It’s really a good energy.” C

30+ BANDS!

New to the boards is Anna Evans, who grew up in Missoula in a theater-oriented family, and Ryson Sparacino from Midland, Texas, a senior in the BFA acting program at UM. Another UM student, Adam Wood of Great Falls, is the lighting technician and stage manager.

M MONTANA’S O N T A N A ’ S FFAVORITE A V O R I T E ROCKFEST ROCKFEST

provides living quarters for the Dringles in an upstairs apartment, seven bedrooms for the actors, and a small cabin out back for the producing director.

AUGUST 10-12

Megan Folsom, a Missoula native, returns to Philipsburg after a 15-year hiatus during which she performed and worked on both coasts. Maisie Gospodarek, a University of Montana graduate, is in her third season and recently performed in the Missoula Community Theater’s production of The Little Mermaid and the Zoola Writers’ Time For A Quickie.

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JUNe 2018

St Ignatius up to

FLATHEAD LAKE

Live History Days Miracle of America Museum July 21-22 Polson, MT

polsonchamber.com or (406)-883-5969

Photo by Pete Ramberg

Events & Music

4th Annual Flathead Lake Festival of Art

June 22-23 – Mission Mountain NRA Rodeo 7:30 pm

July 28 & 29, 2018 Sacajawea Park, Polson, MT

Monday-Friday 9-6 • Saturday-Sunday 9-4

Pete’s Lakeview Bar & Grill Open daily at 8 am for breakfast and serving

Fine Art & Fine Craft Saturday 10-5 Sunday 10-4 Presented by Sandpiper Art Gallery www.sandpiperartgallery.com

food til close thru Labor Day

Great outdoor seating, beautiful lake views, full bar & fun menu selections. You can even boat up

Stop for the View – Stay for a Few 1 Mile North of Polson Bridge – 883-1425

with Pink Cadillac Band Friday night after rodeo, FREE vendors fair, no food items; 261-2861 or 883-1100 June 22-23, 29-30, 6-7, 13-14, 20-21 – DJ at 10 pm at South Shore Lounge, below China Gate in Polson June 23 – Highway 93 Band at Big Arm Marina 7-10 pm June 26 – What About Bob Karaoke at East Shore Smokehouse 6 pm, Hwy 35 Polson June 28 – Singing Sons of Beaches at East Shore Smokehouse 6 pm, Hwy 35 Polson June 28 – Free Night at the Museum 6:30 pm at Miracle of America Museum with West Yard Tour; off Hwy 93 Polson, MT Treats and donations always welcome. Gil at 883-6804 or 270-7895 June 29 – Chamber Blast Sporting Clay Fun Shoot at Big Sky Sporting Clays; 883-5969 June 29 – Movie on the Lawn 8 pm at Polson Bay Golf Course Driving Range; for all to enjoy, hosted by Xi Alpha Gamma Chapter of Beta Sigma Phi Polson and Polson Golf Course June 30 – Pink Cadillac at Del’s in Somers 8 to 11 pm July 1-7 – Flathead Lake Cheese Open House in Polson; right next to KwaTaqNuk Resort in the yellow and blue house behind car wash off Hwy 93; flatheadlakecheese.com July 1 – Northwest Accordion Jam in Somers behind Vista Linda Restaurant at 2 pm July 3 & 17 – Barton & Caselli at East Shore Smokehouse 6 pm, Hwy 35 Polson July 4 – Polson Chamber of Commerce presents the 4th of July Parade at noon in downtown Polson with a fabulous fireworks show at dusk; if you’d like to register for parade or donate to fireworks show please call 883-5969. After Parade Ice Cream Social for all at 1:00 pm at Polson Flathead Historical Museum on Main St. with ½ price admission.

June 2018

St Ignatius up to

It’s Back...........

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A great selection of annuals, perennials and vegetables

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Music & EvEnts July 5, 12, 19, 26 – Singing Sons of Beaches at East Shore Smokehouse 6 pm, Hwy 35 Polson July 5 – Highway 93 Band at KwaTaqNuk Resort outside on the deck, Polson, MT July 5-22 – Port Polson Players “After the Ball” – portpolsonplayers.com or 883-9212 July 7 – FVBS Blues Cruise on FarWest Cruises, Lakeside, MT - Departs 7 pm with music by The Pleasure Kings, $30 per person and BYOB (no glass) and snacks. 857-3119 for reservations July 10 & 24 – What About Bob Karaoke at East Shore Smokehouse 6 pm, Hwy 35 Polson July 11 – Tommy Edwards at The Raven 6:30 pm, Woods Bay July 14 – Amish Auction 9 am in St. Ignatius, MT July 18 – Ken’s Country Combo at the Polson Elks 7-10 pm, downtown Polson July 19 – Singing Sons of Beaches at East Shore Smokehouse 6 pm, Hwy 35 Polson July 20-22 – Good Old Days in St. Ignatius, MT July 21-22 – Live History Days at Miracle of America Museum, 36094 Memory Lane Polson; 883-6264 or miracleofamericamuseum.org July 21-22 – Polson Cherry Festival July 23-28 – Lake County Fair at Lake County Fairgrounds in Ronan, MT July 26-August 12 – Port Polson Players “Foxfire” – portpolsonplayers.com or 883-9212 July 28-29 – Flathead 3 on 3 Basketball Tourney played in downtown Polson; theflatheadlake3on3.com July 28-29 – 4th Annual Flathead Lake Festival of Art at Sacajawea Park, Polson 10am; sandpiperartgallery.com

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JUNe 2018

Science Fiction octuple feature at the Roxy Theater ByPETER FRIESEN

Summer full of Science Fiction movies are in store at the Roxy Theater this year, with twice-weekly showings of a handful of cult classics and blockbusters alike through the end of July. The usual Roxy film series are picked by committee, with staff coming together to brainstorm ideas and select favorites. This summer’s series leans heavy on ‘80s and ‘90s science fiction, providing a mix of summer blockbusters, cult movies and plenty of nostalgia. Although many of the featured films in the

series can be dark and intense, there’s a lot of room for fun as well. Many of them came out in the summer, in the years immediately after “Jaws” and “Star Wars” set the summer blockbuster trend in motion. What’s most interesting about the slate the Roxy picked is the many similarities between the movies. Two (“Totall Recall” and “The Terminator”) star Arnold Schwarzenegger, another two (“Independence Day” and “Men in Black”) star Will Smith. Another pair are directed by Ridley Scott

(“Alien” and “Blade Runner”) and “E.T. The Extra Terrestrial” and “Blade Runner” were released within a week of each other in 1982 (“E.T.” pulled in almost twice as much in ticket sales its first weekend according to Box Office Mojo). The era was a boon for science fiction, following on the heels of “Star Wars’” success, and it’s interesting how many directions these movies follow under the genre heading of Science Fiction. Most take the dark, apocalyptic route, like “The Matrix” or “Blade Runner,” which have

bleak outlooks for humanity. Others are about man vs. alien, proving our mettle as a race, as in “Alien” and “Independence Day,” although the two films go about it in remarkably different ways. Others pull on childlike wonder and nostalgia; maybe no movie does this more effectively — so I’m told by movie critics — than “E.T.” “This movie made my heart glad. It is filled with innocence, hope and good cheer,” Roger Ebert wrote in a 2002 retrospective review. “A movie… that you can grow up with and grow

June 2018 old with, and it won’t let you down.” Sure, Roger. It also gave me nightmares as a child. But maybe it’s worth revisiting. “Independence Day” is fittingly scheduled to show on July 4. It’s probably best summed up by the Roxy itself: “A ragtag group of heroes, including a nerdy scientist, a fighter pilot, a mentally deranged crop duster, and the President of the US of A, team up to battle aliens who think it’s cool to invade Earth and ruin our Fourth of July barbecues.” “Total Recall,” one of a handful of movies based on Philip K. Dick short stories, nearly all fail to follow the plot very well, features a weird, violent Mars colony, some ridiculous special effects and a good amount of Schwarzenegger one-liners. The series wraps on its most intense movie, the 1979 horror-thriller “Alien,” that spawned

several sequels through the years — and eventually involved Schwarzenegger as well; That guy was everywhere. All of the movies in the series will show twice a week, on Wednesdays and Sundays, at The Roxy Theater 718 S Higgins Ave. The Roxy Sci-Fi Summer series: (The Matrix and Men in Black started the series off in early June) Blade Runner – June 24 The Terminator – June 27 & July 1 Independence Day – July 4 & 8 E.T. The Extra Terrestrial – July 11 & 15 Total Recall – July 18 & 22 Alien – July 25 & 29 C

Summer Reading List Summer has arrived with visitors of all ages coming to see the Big Sky State. Here are some books that can inform, entertain and become souvenirs of a good family trip.

Montana: A Photographic Journey photography by Steve Hinch and Jason Savage This book celebrates all things Montana. This Treasure State tour showcases the scenery, wildlife, and people that make Montana such a beloved and exceptional place. With 118 fullcolor photographs and informative text, take you on a journey from Glacier National Park and Lewis and Clark Caverns to the Beartooth Highway, Virginia City, and Makoshika State Park.

that allow the viewer to experience moments in the life of a wildlife photographer.

Montana Moments by Chuck Haney This is Haney’s fourth photography book featuring his home state of Montana. He again showcases the flowing rivers, tranquil lakes, rugged mountain peaks, and rolling prairie. From key natural landmarks to idyllic western towns, each of the 148 full-color photographs are accompanied by educational and informative captions from the photographer. A great way to remember Montana or perhaps entice someone to come visit.

Donald M. Jones’ Wild Montana Donald M. Jones, showcases wild creatures of his home state, whether on two wings or four feet. He has photographed Montana’s wild in the state’s three main habitat zones: lush forests, craggy mountains, and open plains. Humor, threat, glee, concentration, curiosity, inventiveness and many more moods appear in these color images, which span species and seasons in the Northern Rockies. Jones’ informative, and often humorous, captions offer a little natural history along with personal tales

Glacier National Park: Adventuring with Kids by Harley McAllister, Abby McAllister The latest addition to this new outdoor series helps parents teach children that nature offers a ton of real fun that virtual reality can’t touch. With

an emphasis on outdoor education and fun for families, Glacier National Park: Adventuring with Kids is a great resource for parents and kids alike. The authors have an honest approach — they acknowledge that kids aren’t going to be excited about views and that, just like adults, little ones and teenagers get cranky when they’re cold or hungry. Parents will feel confident that the adventures they recommend are sure to please.

Howl like a Wolf!: Learn to Think, Move, and Act Like 15 Amazing Animals by Kathleen Yale, Illustrated by Kaley McKean What does it feel like to “see” with your ears like a bat or go through a full body transformation like a frog? Can you wriggle in and out of tight places like an octopus, camouflage yourself like a leopard, or do a waggle dance like a honeybee? This creative and beautifully illustrated interactive guide makes learning about animals fun for children ages 6 and up. Fifteen animals explain their amazing feats and invite kids to enter their world by mimicking their behavior — an imaginative approach to learning that fosters curiosity, empathy and dramatic play.

Woodpeckers: Drilling Holes and Bagging Bugs by Sneed B. Collard III Woodpeckers not only dazzle us with their good looks and personality, they exhibit some of the most interesting behaviors in the animal world. Explore this group of birds with children’s science writer Sneed B. Collard III. Discover what scientists have learned about woodpeckers, why woodpeckers drill into trees and the best way to serve ants at your next sleep-over. Great photographs help illustrate the text and ensure that you can identify these beautiful “drilling” birds.

Bring Jade Home: The True Story of a Dog Lost in Yellowstone by Michelle Caffrey Bring Jade Home is the true story of Jade, a young Australian shepherd, who disappears into Yellowstone’s wilderness after a car wreck. Despite their injuries and against doctor’s orders, her owners David and Laura leave the Trauma Center to begin a desperate search — can they find Jade before it’s too late? This book is the heartwarming tale of the owners, park employees, and huge search effort to bring Jade home. C by Barbara Theroux

JUNe 2018

photo by Kurt Wilson

Have a good bucking time at the rodeo By Madeline Broom

he morning of a rodeo dozens of people can be found in the crisp, clean air preparing for the day’s events. Before competition, before the dust begins to fly, everyone is friendly, helping each other out as they ready their animals. Inside the arena the ground is being prepared for the upcoming competition, stock is out in the corral lazing around and being fed. While some of the stock may be jittery, the horses are calm. This isn’t their first rodeo, said Jean Schurman. The cowboys and girls can be found roping and practicing. Among the feeling of anticipation

that hangs in the air is a camaraderie between competitors, Schurman said. Many have been doing rodeo for years and they know each other well. That’s Schurman’s favorite part of the rodeo — the friendships that exist outside the arena. Schurman, a life-long resident of Ravalli County, has been involved in rodeos for decades and now helps organize the county’s Rockin’ RC Rodeo as a member of the steering committee. Schurman loves the rodeo lifestyle. “I grew up on a horse,” she said. Schurman first started running barrels at the young age of five. She

continued competing through high school and college. “It’s a part of me,” she said. One of Schurman’s earliest memories is being sat on a horse around age two or three by her mother’s cousin, a bulldogger. Bulldoggers compete by chasing a steer while riding a horse, then dropping from the horse and wrestling the steer to the ground. Schurman remembered riding the horse as “the coolest thing ever.” Rodeo has always been a part of Schurman’s life and she enjoys being surrounded by those involved in rodeo. The rodeo committee has become like a second family to Schurman after

her husband’s passing in 2014. She describes them as kind, family-oriented people. Schurman also loves a good competition which she said the Rockin’ RC Rodeo is sure to provide. As the second-to-last rodeo of the summer, many are competing for a spot in the Northern Rodeo Association’s Finals in October. She’s also a member of the Ravalli County Fair Board. She said the rodeo is a vital part of the fair. The rodeo brings everyone together at the end of the night, allowing them to rest after a busy day at the fair. Many people will even claim their spots in the stands early in the day,

June 2018 hours before the start of the rodeo. Rodeo is a great tradition and cultural event in the West, said Rob Brisendine, organizer of the Bigfork Rodeo. Rodeo not only brings a community together, but can also bring hope to rural communities, he said. Rodeo can provide those who are successful with opportunities to travel — something that can be hard to find in a small town. Brisendine grew up team roping in Rock Springs, Wyo., which he described as a rodeo town. Throughout the summer the local fairgrounds hosted numerous professional, high school and county rodeos. The rodeo gave young people in his community opportunities they may not have received otherwise. Rodeos can also encourage youth community involvement. Ravalli County has its own junior rodeo in Darby. Schurman said the junior rodeo program is designed to engage youth and get them interested in the sport. Many of the traditional rodeo events are slightly changed to accommodate for the young competitors. For example, steers are used instead of bulls. The youth follow the guidelines of the Montana High School Rodeo Association including the requirement to wear western attire. This ensures they are well prepared to compete at higher levels. The close connection between community and rodeo is one of the reasons Brisendine, of Road Creek Events, is bringing a professional rodeo to Bigfork. It’s the best or nothing for Brisendine, organizer of the Bigfork Rodeo. The rodeo was first denied the designation as a professional rodeo from the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association in January. After an outpouring of public support the complaint filed by the Flathead County Fair Board and fairgrounds manager Mark Campbell was rescinded. Campbell was concerned that another professional rodeo in the area would detract from the NW Montana Fair’s rodeo that’s been a mainstay in Kalispell for more than six decades. In February, Brisendine received the designation he sought from the PRCA. A professional rodeo attracts a different level of talent, said Brisendine who wanted to ensure he brought a high caliber event to Bigfork. A lot of work goes into planning and hosting a successful rodeo, much of which goes unnoticed by fans sitting in the stands. When looking at starting up a new rodeo in Montana, Brisendine first had to do a demand assessment, looking at travel routes and scheduling for other rodeos. It is

photo courtesy Steve Pickel, Pickel Photography

hard to hold a rodeo in western Montana if all the top cowboys and cowgirls just competed the day before on the east side of the state. The second step is operational. The venue arrangements have to be made and a steering committee must be formed to focus on organizing the event and ensuring it runs smoothly. Schurman said she’s learned a lot in her years on the Rockin’ RC Rodeo’s steering committee. “You

really learn how much work goes into it,” she said. Months before the day of the rodeo sponsors must be found and talent must be lined up including cowboys, cowgirls and rodeo clowns. A few weeks before the big day the arena must be prepared, prizes such as belt buckles must be purchased and anything the rodeo animals might need must be arranged for. The Rockin’ RC Rodeo is regularly voted best rodeo in the state by the Northern Rodeo Association. Schurman said one of the reasons they receive that distinction is because they focus on the details. They go the extra mile by ensuring the ground in the arena is well maintained and free of rocks. During the rodeo, staff ensures that everything runs smoothly. Those with VIP tickets or seats in a sky box are given extra attention. One of the most important things, Schurman said, is safety. The staff ensures that competitors and animals photo by Rebekah Welch have everything they need. Behind the scenes waits a animal

ambulance in case of emergency. When the animals are not competing they are well taken care of. Calves typically don’t work more than 10 or 12 seconds while horses and bulls only work about eight. The Rockin’ RC Rodeo provides large pens for the animals and hay, water, grain and pellets. Schurman said. “They eat very well,” she said. Overall, rodeos are a community event and a tradition in Montana. This summer there will be dozens of rodeos in the state. People attend rodeos for the excitement and action they provide. Schurman remembered a spectacular moment three years ago when Sarai McCollaum, then Rodeo Queen, went on her walk around the arena riding her horse Tuffy, he started to buck. Her hair was flying, horse in the air and her cowboy hat with the crown on it was laying on the ground. “It was a spectacular image,” Schurman said. So much so that it went viral in 2015 after Dillon-based rodeo photographer Dave Hollenback shared his images on facebook, which was shared nearly 8,000 times. “You never know what is going to happen at the rodeo,” Schurman said. C

JUNe 2018

Dual wildlife exhibits show contrasts between artistic perception and scientific reality By Peter Friesen

ow do you capture a horse? It’s a question humans had to work out before they could take advantage of the animal’s strength and speed, to haul people and goods around the American west. Artists, meanwhile, are still taking cracks at the problem. That’s the inspiration behind the Montana Museum of Arts and Culture’s summer exhibit “Horse,” focused on all things horse, among all eras, mediums and styles. “We wanted to throw a really broad net and see what we came up with,” MMAC Curator Jeremy Canwell said. “We came up with works in textile ... pen and ink, painting, ceramics, photography and in scale anywhere from inches ... to a life-size fiberglass horse.” The show starts with Eadweard Muybridge’s famous 19th-century photographs of a horse in motion, the first example of someone capturing the objective reality of the horse, Canwell said, versus their perception. Many pieces from the show will show that contrast, like a George Gogas painting — “Brownie at 20” — from 1978, that’s a photorealistic recreation of his wife Lynn’s favorite horse. Other pieces — like Stephanie Frostad’s painted fiberglass horse statue — are more interpretive. She painted a landscape covering the animal, which echoes a horse’s 360-degree vision, Canwell said. The MMAC’s collection is largely North American-focused, Canwell said, which means much of the horse art is focused on the West and nostalgic ideas of horses and their relationships with humans. There is some modernity as well to a horse. Sheila Miles’ “Runaway Dream” fills the canvas with large blocks of color; a white horse, a red blanket and a green background, the horse at an angle coming down the canvas. It looks more surreal the more you look at it, the color blocks losing shape and meaning. “The horse becomes sort of just an icon,” Canwell said, “then you see it used in every form.” Canwell plans to add quotes from an essay by former UM Western History chair Dan Flores to match the work, questioning how people’s thoughts about horses match reality. Capturing that emotional connection, that

makes horses so important to humans even a century after their practical use has passed, is what intrigues Canwell about the show. From painting a family favorite animal to deconstructing a horse into a surreal blur of color, there’s many ways artists have found to capture a horse. The second MMAC summer exhibit captures a different contrast. “Denizens: Wildlife on the Western Frontier,” curated by Lee Silliman, is a collection of 60-some engravings and prints from the late 19th century of western wildlife, often used as factual illustrations in books and magazines that are actually quite embellished. “There’s a lot of mythology around wildlife as well,” Canwell said. Some examples: “The Combat” by Karl Bodmer shows two deer in a clearing, antlers locked, with a bevy of does looking on from the trees. “A Prairie Fire” by Julian Rix dramatically

captures a herd of pronghorn antelope running from fast-approaching flames. It was printed in Harper’s Weekly. Canwell pointed out the “pronghorns” actually might not be, their antlers incorrectly drawn even though the bodies looked right. The engravings reflect the national interest in the American West, at a time when overdramatizating was expected. Another shows a bison stands forlornly in the empty prairie, alone in the frame except for a bison skull on the ground in front of it, dealing with very human emotions, Canwell quipped. A wolverine, with exaggerated features, eats a deer in another. It’s almost as large as the deer it’s perched upon. Canwell worked with Libby Beckman, the curator of UM’s Philip L. Wright Zoological Museum, to get some mounts of the animals portrayed, so viewers could see the contrast between interpretation and reality themselves.

“This used to be a wolverine,” he said about the mounted animal on the floor next to the engravings. But even the mounts use some imagination. The wolverine has its front paws up on a stump, its snout upturned like a dog looking for attention. “That’s as much sculpture as anything,” Canwell said. So even the true-to-life mounted animals used to contrast the exaggerated prints are themselves tweaked to fit human perception, rather than reality — “that’s the slippage that this show embodies.” Along with the wolverine, Beckman loaned MMAC a bison head, a bighorn ram skull, a grizzly skull and a stuffed osprey, all to compare and contrast with the many engravings. “We created this (perception) through our appetites, both literal and metaphorical,” Canwell said. “Yet we don’t really know how we got here.” C

June 2018

St Ignatius up to

FLATHEAD LAKE Movie on the Lawn June 29 at 8 p.m. Polson Bay Golf Course

polsonchamber.com or (406)-883-5969

Photo by Pete Ramberg

8 am 8 am–noon 7:30 pm 9 pm

August 3-5, 2018 F o rg e D o n ’t

Scholarships given away Friday & Saturday during the Rodeo’s (must be present to win)

Nightly 50/50 DrawiNg Benefits the

Ronan Pioneer Days Scholarship Fund

7 am 8 am 8 am 9 am 10 am 7:30 pm 9 pm

9 am 10 am 12:30 pm 3 pm

Friday, Aug. 3

Golf Scramble Fishing Derby Bulls & Broncs Rodeo Street Dances

Home Floor Covering Polson stone & tile

Saturday, Aug. 4

VFW Pancake Breakfast 3 on 3 Basketball 37th Annual Mission Mountain Classic Run *5K & 10K CO Ed Softball Tournament Car Show Open Rodeo and Something New & Fun Street Dances

Sunday, Aug. 5

Volleyball Tournament at the City Park Big Parade Registration at Round Butte Mini Storage Big Parade theme “Favorite Movies” Big Parade down Main Street Open Rodeo and Wild Buffalo Riding

Visit or Like Ronan Pioneer Days on Facebook

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JUNe 2018

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saturday JULY 7 7:30 at rebecca farm near Kalispell

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For Tickets & Details: GLACIERSYMPHONY.ORG Box Office 406-407-7000

June 2018

Entertaining.............stop by

art galleries • shops • restaurants unique lodging bigfork.org • 837-5888

7935 Montana 35 #101, Branding Iron Station on Hwy 35 1/2-mile past bridge

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Liz Longley

Aug 26 to Sept 1 Bigfork

Bigfork, MT

Brett Thuma Gallery

“A Beautiful Place to bring the Whole Family”

Enjoy the beauty of Flathead Lake

s! Come play with u Edgar Winter Jim Messina Poco with Rusty Young Cory Henry Nathan East Lee Ritenour Pat Martino Trio Solo Duo Justin Townes Earle Liz Longley

Tickets and Passes: crownguitarfest.tix.com crownguitarfest.org 855-855-5900 #whyIplay

837-7242

Waterfront Lodging

Fine Dining & Special Events

“Smoky Sunset-fireweed”

Just 45 minutes from Glacier National Park!

Brett Thuma Gallery • Downtown Bigfork (406)837-4604 • brettthumagallery.com

Marina Cay Resort & Conference Center 180 Vista Lane • Bigfork, MT • 406-837-5861 Open 8:00am - 10:00 pm daily

Photo giclee on canvas

Live MuSic

Thursdays - christian Johnson Project Sunday eves - Joel Fetveit

Great Bar Fabulous Food Outdoor Seating

June 22-23 - Flathead v8’s June 29-30 - undercovers July 4, 5, 6, 7 - eric “Fingers” Ray July 13-14 - Ten Minutes Late July 20 - Yabba Griffiths and Traxx July 21 - Pedactor Project July 27-28 - chain Reaction

451 Electric Ave • Bigfork, MT 59911 • (406) 837-9914

SPIRITS HANDCRAFTED UNDER THE BIG SKY Whistling Andy Distillery is open for tastings, cocktails & tours! 8541 Mt Hwy 35 - Bigfork ga gandy.com www.whistlingandy.com

JUNe 2018

Trampled By Turtles sees healthy effect of hiatus By BRIAN D'AMBROSIO For virtually 20 years the bluegrass-folkrock band Trampled By Turtles bonded over a multitude of things, including eight fulllength albums, three of which have reached US Billboard chart number one spots. Their latest effort,” Life is Good on the Open Road,” released in May, found the group reattaching after an almost two-year split from collective touring. The pause in time from this consented lull allowed the band to re-evaluate its objectives and to feel original and uplifted once again.

“We all get a little bit giddy playing the new record and we are all really happy with it,” said Trampled By Turtles’ mandolinist Erik Berry. “It’s been a comfortable return to form and we are just pleased. Trampled had been on mothballs for 20 months, and while individually we’d all kept playing, it was not brand new. But it still felt fresh. It took a break to realize that.” The interval was instigated when lead singer Dave Simonett told his colleagues that he was exhausted with Trampled By Turtles, and that he had for some time wished to

experiment with other musicians and invest his energy in his other musical group, “Dead Man Winter.” During the respite, Simonett released the folk-rock album “Furnace” and toured Dead Man Winter. As that schedule eased, however, he found that his thoughts drifted to his old bandmates. “I wasn’t happy being asked to do that (break up the band) for an indefinite period of time,” said Berry. “But it needed to happen. We figured that, yes, we can all do that. Six months after the break I noticed the wisdom in it, and I noticed my own internal musical

monologue changing. I was writing different songs, and the break created this big growth of stuff and that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. I was not happy about it going in, but coming out I appreciated the benefits it had.” Trampled By Turtles formed in Duluth, Minnesota in the early 2000s, and following years of grinding it out at brewpubs and pizza joints and college bars, synonymously found their stride as one of the North State State’s musical exports. It was in the wind-torn confines of the gritty Lake Superior shoreline

June 2018 city of Duluth where the band fully accepted itself. “All of the others guys did grow up in Minnesota, except for me,” said Berry. “We were all living there when we put the band together. For about one year and a half all of the guys were living there in Duluth and then we all moved to other parts of the state, like Minneapolis. Most of our earliest waves of support came from Minnesota, and from people who had friends from Minnesota or who were from Minnesota and who moved to the South, the Rocky Mountain states, or Pacific Northwest. It was like, ‘my sister told me about these guys.’ More and more we see people from Wisconsin and Ohio who say, ‘hey, we are fans from the Midwest too.’” Berry admitted that certain people from mostly Southern states with strong bluegrass tendencies, such as North Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee, can be harder to form a tie with it. “Some of the people from the bluegrass states have their own ideas as to what bluegrass is,” said Berry. “Some have this sense of us being from Minnesota, and only hear that part, and I don’t know why that has been the case, but for the most part (our identification with Minnesota) has worked.” Bluegrass has a traditional wing of adherents and enthusiasts as well as a non-traditional, contemporary crowd of performers and followers. “We’ve spent our whole career identified with bluegrass and while we get compliments, there is also this notion that if you ain’t from one state, then you ain’t bluegrass. I don’t have a traditional way of seeing it, and I don’t play traditional music. I’m sure creative musicians

such as Bill Monroe would have no problem with it. Mass-recorded music isn’t that old, and today everyone learns it (playing music) off the records, not from a banjo in North or South Carolina. So to play regional traditional music, bluegrass, Irish, Canadian folk-music,

In the latter part of 2016, Trampled By Turtles played a festival in Shakopee, Minn., and followed with a concert in Hinckley. Soon after, Simonett announced that he was “going away for a little while” and thanked listeners for “an amazing first chapter.”

you don’t have to be from that place to absorb yourself into it, just a diet of something to have it influence you.” Berry attended college in Iowa and later worked in Wisconsin where he lived with a housemate who was from Duluth. The roommate promised to introduce Berry to some fellow musicians if he were willing to make the move. That band didn’t catch, but eventually he and several others merged together to form Trampled By Turtles. The band broke through the clutter with a string of albums knitted together by the fantastically road-weary vocals of Simonett and billowy, kaleidoscopic instrumental work of Berry, Tim Saxhaug, Ryan Young, and Dave Carroll.

After a year and a half apart, they met up at Dave Carroll’s family’s cabin near Grand Rapids. The guys wanted to simply reconnect as friends for a couple of days and share chords and ideas together. “First and foremost, we are dealing with some really nice guys,” said Berry. “But we were stressed at the end of 2016… you get tired, you have the same schedules, and are at close quarters, and it’s not your regular work station where you’ve left your co-worker for the night. Little things can add up — and you have to not let little things add up.” Not long after they met at the cabin, they went to Pachyderm Recording Studio in Cannon Falls, Minn., and put together an

album in five days. The mood in the house and neighboring studio was gentle, musical, artistic, tender and devoted. They talked about memories and melodies, their friendships and their futures. “Pachyderm has many isolated, wooden acres so you don’t have to leave,” said Berry. “I think that I left once in 10 days to run into town to do groceries. Our days, we’d wake up, drink coffee, and spend the mornings talking, and then we’d walk the 200-feet to the studio, and that provided the sense of going to work, and we fell into a routine. We’d work on one song and then break for lunch at 3 o’clock, and we were trying really hard to get it done and be efficient. We put down 12 tracks in six days. Dave likes walking around the woods out there and fishing in the trout stream. I live on some land that is about 20 miles north of Duluth, so I saw it as an opportunity to not be outside.” “Life is Good on the Open Road,” churned into a batch of fresh material, a neatly accomplished reflection of the present, a friendly collage of bluegrass, folk and rock ‘n’ roll. While the band sticks to its core instruments — guitar, fiddle, mandolin, banjo, cello and upright bass — they consciously circumvent the trap of making every song sound the same. There are moments of pure joy and connection, and a full platter of steady, inviting beats and familiar melodies. “Dave was dealing with everything and we shelved Trampled so he could deal with it,” said Berry. “We all came back and started playing together for the first time in two years and playing differently. It didn’t feel completely different, but it did not feel the same. I was not happy about it (putting the band on hold) going in, but coming out I appreciated the benefits it had on us.” C Trampled By Turtles perform at the KettleHouse Amphitheatre July 21.

JUNe 2018 Events & Music

art galleries • shops • restaurants unique lodging bigfork.org • 837-5888 Photo by: Brett Thuma

Our 59th Season…

The Northwest’s finest professional repertory theatre located in the heart of beautiful Bigfork, Montana!

Sail our two historic 51’ Q-Class racing sloops,

The Questa & Nor’ Easter IV

Originally built in 1928 & 1929 these are restored prototypes of the America’s Cup Boats

2018 Season • The Totally Radical 80’s Revue May 18 thru June 30

• Singin in the Rain

✩JULY 6 - 7 ✩ BIGFORK, MT WHERE HIGHWAYS MEET ✩ GATES OPEN AT 6PM

June 9 thru August 23

2018

Join us for a Daily Sail, Private Charter, Sunset & Champagne Sail or bring all your friends and charter both boats for an afternoon or Friendly Racing.

June 22 – Innasci atThe Raven en 9 pm, Woods Ba Bay June 22 – Brent Jameson at Marina CayTiki Bar 6 pm, Bigfork June 22-23 – FlatheadV8’s at Garden Bar, downtown Bigfork June 24 –Andre Floyd atThe Raven 6 pm, Woods Bay June 24, July 1, 8, 15, 22 – Joel Fetveit Sun eve at Garden Bar, downtown Bigfork June 25 – Margarita Mondays with Kenny Solo Jam 7 pm, Live Music 10 pm, The Raven, Woods Bay June 26-August 24 – Bigfork Summer Playhouse“All Shook Up” – bigforksummerplayhouse.com or 837-4886 June 27, July 11, 18, 25 –Tommy Edwards atThe Raven 6:30 pm, Woods Bay June 28, July 5, 12, 19, 26 – Christian Johnson Project at Garden Bar 8-11 pm, Bigfork June 28 – Pink Cadillac at the Columbia Falls Community Market 5:8:30 pm June 29 – Roots Uprising at Marina CayTiki Bar 6 pm, Bigfork June 29 – Here to Make Friends atThe Raven 9 pm, Woods Bay June 29-30 – Undercovers at Garden Bar, downtown Bigfork June 30 – Full Moon Party with MT Souls 10 pm,The Raven, Woods Bay June 30 – Pink Cadillac at Del’s in Somers 8 to 11 pm July 1 – EricAlan atThe Raven 6 pm, Woods Bay July 2 – Margarita Mondays withTheTeccas 7 pm, Roots Uprising 10 pm, The Raven, Woods Bay July 3 – Chain Reaction at Marina CayTiki Bar, Bigfork July 4 – Bigfork’s 4th of July Parade at noon in downtown Bigfork July 4 – New WaveTimeTrippers at Marina CayTiki Bar, Bigfork July 4, 5, 6, 7 – Eric“Fingers”Ray at Garden Bar, downtown Bigfork July 6 – Craig Barton at Marina CayTiki Bar 6 pm, Bigfork July 6 – FlatheadV8’s atThe Raven 9 pm, Woods Bay July 7 – Symphony Night at the Farm 7:30 pm, glaciersymphony.org or 407-7000 July 7 – FVBS Blues Cruise on FarWest Cruises, Lakeside, MT - 857-3119 for reservations July 8 – Jack & Kitty atThe Raven 6 pm, Woods Bay July 9 – Margarita Mondays with Shaky Hand String Band 7 pm,The Raven, Woods Bay July 10-August 22 – Bigfork Summer Playhouse“Into the Woods”– bigforksummerplayhouse.com or 837-4886 July 13 – BillyAngel at Marina CayTiki Bar 6 pm, Bigfork July 13 – Bucks Frog Pond atThe Raven, Woods Bay July 13-14 –Ten Minutes Late at Garden Bar, downtown Bigfork July 15 – Bad Larrys atThe Raven, Woods Bay July 16 – Margarita Mondays withAndrea Harsell 7 pm, Winnie Brave 10 pm, The Raven, Woods Bay July 20 – Roots Uprising atThe Raven 9 pm, Woods Bay July 20 – Mike Murray at Marina CayTiki Bar 6 pm, Bigfork July 20 –Yabba Griffiths andTraxx at Garden Bar, downtown Bigfork July 21 – Pedactor Project at Garden Bar, downtown Bigfork July 22 – Jessica Lechner atThe Raven 6 pm, Woods Bay July 23 – Margarita Mondays with Kenny Solo Jam 7 pm, Old Sap Band 10 pm, atThe Raven, Woods Bay

• Disney’s The Little Mermaid June 12 thru August 25

• All Shook Up

June 26 thru August 24

• Into the Woods

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July 10 thru August 22

• The HITS from the 50’s, 60’s & 70’s August 30 thru September 8

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June 2018

Bonded Harmony: The Wood Brothers By BRIAN D'AMBROSIO Chris and Oliver Wood embarked on two distinct musical paths only to unite professionally many years later. The brothers’ childhood in Pasadena, Calif., and Boulder, Colo., was marinated in American roots expression. Their father, a scientist, sang classic songs at family gettogethers, while their poetry-quoting mother fomented in them a passion for storytelling and language. “Oliver actually got a bass guitar first and he taught me some of my first bass stuff,” said Chris Wood of the Wood Brothers. “Even as kids, he was the blues and I was getting into jazz. He wrote instrumental pieces and as kids we experimented with a drummer and a band.” “Our father was kind of a folk musician,” continued Chris Wood. “Back in the late

1950s he was going to Harvard at Cambridge and he had a radio show, and he did shows with Joan Baez before she was so well known, and he had that same repertoire that can be found on Bob Dylan’s first record full of classic folk songs. Dad had a great record collection of people like Josh White and Lead Belly and he did some actual playing, and I realized early that there is nothing like live music.” Chris credits the vinyl collections of both his father and his older brother with providing him with his very first emotional structures of reference. Such records also piqued his knowledge in the raw fundamentals of American music. “My brother started tracing back the 1960s rock ‘n’ roll music to people like Lightnin’ Hopkins and Jimmy Reed and the Chicago

and Texas blues guys. What struck me about my brother’s collection was the sound of the instruments and the singing and feeling of the music. There was a certain feeling present that I was not getting from listening to the radio. Then I got into jazz, like Charley Mingus, and I had this fantasy of what it would be like if Mingus and Robert Johnson had had a band.” It took many years before Chris Wood’s musical “fantasy” could be explored. In their twenties, the brothers split apart into opposite scenes. Oliver traveled to Atlanta, where he played guitar in several cover bands before earning a position in Tinsley Ellis’s touring act. Later, Oliver began to sing and then founded King Johnson (named after Freddy King and Robert Johnson), a group that released six albums of blues-infused R&B, funk and

country. Chris, on the other hand, studied jazz bass at the New England Conservatory of Music, shifted to New York City and, in the early 1990s, formed Medeski Martin & Wood (MMW), which over two decades blended modern jazz with more abstract sounds. “In order to get into jazz you had to go to New York City and become a side man for a famous jazz musician, and I got there, and I didn’t like the jazz scene in the early 1990s, and the traditional jazz revival of guys like Wynton Marsalis. It was a segregated scene and real cliquish and it didn’t feel very inviting. I opted for the more experimental and big band feeling and for more of a musical melting pot, where you are blending everything from all kinds of music, classical, punk rock, jazz, and MMW was formed in that atmosphere.

JUNe 2018

“MMW just happened organically, you get out there and you just start playing. John (Medeski) and I started doing duo gigs and then week long sit-ins with people and with (Billy Martin) as a trio. There was a high concentration of great musicians living in the city, and this was during Mayor Giuliani before people couldn’t afford to live there anymore because of the high rents. In the East Village, the band lived among each other, going to the same restaurants and hangouts, and you had a community and cross-fertilization. We did something crazy, we decided to tour the states while most other jazz bands were touring Europe and had record deals and the machine behind them. Whereas we were young punks doing something different, playing for the door in New York City and figuring that we could also do it then in any town. We went through the clubs and cafés in the States, people thought we were crazy.” Chris and his older brother Oliver were two horizontal lines professionally for about 15 years, until the siblings finally intersected when they performed together at a double billed show in North Carolina in the mid2000s: Oliver sat in with MMW following King Johnson’s opening set. “All these years later we ended up with a double bill in the same venue,” said Wood. “It felt great, felt natural, and it made us realize that we could do something together.” “MMW had these fringe and avant-garde influences, but Oliver and I had the same love of the blues, rock ‘n’ roll, and funk, and we had developed love of all different kinds of music. Oliver added a great layer and a great feel, and it was a natural fit, and for me that blood connection had the right instincts and the music felt familiar.” Chris said that he and Oliver formed the Wood Brothers at the perfect point in their personal and professional journeys: they had each performed the same type of job separately for approximately 15 years and each one knew the ropes of the music business. They were both mature enough at that junction of their careers to let their egos slide. “A connection was instantly felt at that show when he (Oliver) sat in with us,” said Chris. “And I recommend that if you work with family, it’s better doing it later in life because we were both grown up a little bit, and that was helpful to avoid bickering and arguing and ego conflict. We also understood the business by then and were humbled by it and how uncertain it could be.” The Wood Brothers’ music delivers a roots-

laden feel that blends Chris and Oliver’s love of blues, folk, and rock music with the talents of singer and multi-instrumentalist Jano Rix. Rix’s work on the drums and at the keyboard and with multiple percussion instruments allows the band to play stripped-down acoustic music with a beat that resonates with a uniquely Americanized sound. Indeed, The Wood Brothers’ sixth outing, “One Drop of Truth,” plunges headfirst into bottomless sources of styles. Yet, a thread runs through the music. In the end, no matter how many influences we have it is all just

playful, and that gave us more freedom to take risks and to experiment. We figured that if we didn’t like it, we could go back and record it again. The idea was to record and then forget about it, and it was a luxury to be forgetting about it while touring and then to revisit it later and hear it with fresh ears.” Chris said that the beauty of “One Drop of Truth” is that the album was self-produced at several different studios at a range of times throughout the year and employed a number of different mixers and engineers. All of which deliberately endowed each track with

of what’s good or what’s not working. The way we did it here, it’s not like having the pressure as if it were your last chance. It was playful, which allowed us to react in different ways as opposed to stressing that we had only one moment to get this right.” From the mountains of Boulder, Colorado, to the smoky, dimly lit jazz clubs of New York City, to the bars and music venues of the coasts, harbors and interiors, Chris Wood has devoured the scene and fed his dream. It’s all he has ever done; he has nothing else

one gigantic musical universe. Contrasting their previous releases, which have generally followed a conceptual and sonic consistency, Chris said that this time they treated each song as if it were “its own short film,” and “its own little world.” “We approached the process so much differently on “One Drop of Truth,” said Wood. “People think that you have to write all the material first and then record it in one big overwhelming two-week session. We wanted to stretch out the process and once we finished a song, we decided not to take it too seriously, treating it almost like a demo, so it felt more

its own individual set of circumstances and treatments. “Sometimes there is this pressure with a time limit or if the record company wants to hear things that aren’t ready to be heard, and it often it feels overwhelming. It can be overwhelming to get into that head space and go record, and, to get a piece of music right, you need to analyze it and examine it, and it that takes a lot of energy. You get conservative and tend to play it safe… Putting down 12 songs in a row in a two-week session — it’s hard to keep your head on straight. I mean, your ears are burnt out and you lose a sense

to compare it to. Each journey still feels as if it is the first; each impression’s flavor tastes brand new. “Sometimes the masters of your own destiny thing can be scary,” said Wood. “Here, we are not a cog in the wheel of some big organization, and it only goes well because of the hard work you put into it, and the music gets to be the product of all of this work.” C The Wood Brothers perform at the Kettlehouse Amphitheatre July 12

June 2018

Where the Trails Meet

Route of the Hiawatha

Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes

Historic Wallace, IdAho Center of the Universe

Wallaceidahochamber.com 208.753.7151

JUNe 2018

Missoula Calendar

June

22-23: The Slip, 8 p.m.-1 a.m., Eagles, 2420 South Ave. W.

Every Saturday: Missoula Farmers Market, Saturdays through October, 5:30-7 p.m., north end of Higgins Ave by the XXXX’s. Features fresh local produce, pasture raised eggs, grass fed meat, artisanal cheese, wild and local honey, baked goods, flowers and more. Call 274-3042 or visit missoulafarmersmarket.com.

22-23: Lolo Creek Band, 9 p.m., Quinn’s Hot Springs, Paradise. 22-23: Flat Out Band, 9 p.m., , Sunrise Saloon, 1101 Strand. 23: David Sedaris reads and signs “Calypso,” 7 p.m., Fact & Fiction,

Park. Presenters include handMADE Montana, REcreate Designs, Courtney Blazon Illustrations plus more than 50 additional artisan booths. Visit handmademontana.com.

28: Downtown ToNight, 5:30-8:30 p.m. Caras Park. Music by the Best of Missoula Bands; children’s activities by the Missoula Public Library. Visit missouladowntown.com.

30: Johh Floridis, 6-8 p.m., Draught Works, 915 Toole Ave.

26: Jamaica reggae revivalist Protoje & The Indignation, 8:30 p.m. doors, 9 p.m. show, The Top Hat, 134 W. Front St. Tickets $20, available at logjampresents.com.

28: Dan Dubuque, 6-8 p.m., Draught Works, 915 Toole Ave.

1: Beth Lo and David Horgan (jazz/blues), ), 6-8 p.m., Rumour Restaurant, 1855 Stephens Ave.

29: 406 performs, 9 p.m.-close, Sunrise Saloon, 1101 Strand.

Every Saturday: Clark Fork Market, Saturdays through October, 8 a.m.-1 p.m., next to Caras Park in downtown Missoula. Local farm direct products as well as local prepared food and drink form Western Montana vendors. Call 396-0594 or visit clarkforkmarket.org.

3: Roger Thompson reads and signs “No Word for Wilderness,” 7 p.m., Fact & Fiction, 220 N. Higgins Ave. 721-2881, factandfictionbooks. com. 4: Old-Fashioned Fourth of July Celebration at Fort Missoula 4: Bigfork Fourth of July Parade, lineup starts at 9 a.m., parade starts at noon, downtown Bigfork. For more information, call 406-8375888 or visit bigfork.org.

20: Deedie Runkle signs “Scone by Scone: Tales from an Innkeepers’ Life,” 7 p.m., Shakespeare & Co., 103 S. Third St. W. 549-9010, shakespeareandco.com.

photo by Rebekah Welch, Missoulian Lily Ellison scoops up Reina Risho, whom she nannies, while the two dance to the live music at Out to Lunch on Wednesday afternoon. Out to Lunch will be held in Caras Park each Wednesday though August.

21: Gary Gillett reads signs “History of the Missoula City Band,” 7 p.m., Fact & Fiction, 220 N. Higgins Ave., 721-2881, factandfictionbooks. com.

220 N. Higgins Ave., 721-2881, factandfictionbooks.com.

21: Regional competition with Pro DJ, Sunrise Saloon, 1101 Strand. 21: Frederico Brothers, , 6-8 p.m., Draught Works, 915 Toole Ave. 21: Downtown ToNight, 5:30-8:30 p.m. Caras Park. Music by Marshall Catch; children’s activities by Animal Wonders. Visit missouladowntown. com. 22: Alternative hip-hop reggae fusion and Dirty Heads with Iration, The Movement and Pacific Dub, 5:30 p.m. doors, 7 p.m. show, Kettlehouse Amphitheater. Tickets $31-$36, available at logjampresents.com. 22: David Horgan and Beth Lo, 6-8 p.m.; wine tasting, 4-9 p.m., Ten Spoon Vineyard and Winery, 4175 Rattlesnake Drive.

2: Blue Moon with Mary Place and Latin Jazz, 7-10 p.m., Red Bird Wine Bar, 111 N. Higgins Ave. 2-6: “Mask Making” with Erin Robert for ages 6-11, 9 a.m.-noon, Missoula Art Museum, 335 N. Pattee St. $65, $59.50 members. Call 72800447 or visit missoulaartmuseum. org.

Every Saturday: Missoula Peoples Market, Saturdays through Sept. 29, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., west side of Pine Street. Featuring handmade, local items. Visit missoulapeoplesmarket. org.

20: Out to Lunch 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Caras Park. Music by Basses Covered; children’s activities by Mismo Gymnastics. Visit missouladowntown.com.

July

27: Out to Lunch 11 a.m. - 2 p.m., Caras Park. Music by the Ed Norton Big Band; children’s activities by Childbloom Guitar. Visit missouladowntown.com.

29: Progressive guitarist Buckethead, 7 p.m. doors, 8 p.m. show, The Wilma. Tickets $20 in advance (logjampresents.com), $25 day of show.

23: Rapper Black Milk, 8:30 p.m. doors, 9 p.m. show, The Top Hat, 134 W. Front St. Tickets $20, available at logjampresents.com.

27: Free Missoula City Band Concert 8 p.m. at Bonner Park, UM Music Camp faculty

29: Andre Floyd, 6-8 p.m.; wine tasting, 4-9 p.m., Ten Spoon Vineyard and Winery, 4175 Rattlesnake Drive.

23: Luna Blue, 6-8 p.m.; wine tasting, 4-9 p.m., Ten Spoon Vineyard and Winery, 4175 Rattlesnake Drive.

27: Alt-rock band Blue October, 7 p.m. doors, 8 p.m. show, The Wilma. Tickets $27 in advance, $30 day of show, available at logjampresents.com.

29: David Osborne reads and signs “The Coming,” 5:30 p.m., Fact & Fiction, 220 N. Higgins Ave. 7212881, factandfictionbooks.com.

23: Britchie, 6-8 p.m., Draught Works, 915 Toole Ave.

24: Cynthia Brando, 5-7 p.m., Draught Works, 915 Toole Ave. 24: Faith Arledge and Connor Racicot (jazz), 6-8 p.m., Rumour Restaurant, 1855 Stephens Ave. 25: Britchie, acoustic Americana duo with Richie Reinholdt and Brett Arnesen, 7-10 p.m., Red Bird Wine Bar, 111 N. Higgins Ave. 25: 10th annual Missoula Summer MADE Fair, 10 am.-5 p.m., Caras

27: Mark Gibbons and Aaron Parrett publication celebration and reading of “Moving On: The Last Poems of Ed Lahey,” 7 p.m., Fact & Fiction, 220 N. Higgins Ave. 7212881, factandfictionbooks.com. 28: Supman presents a free concert as part of Arts Transform Community – Montana Arts Integration Conference 2018, 7 p.m., Wilma Theatre. Visit umt.edu/ arts-integration.

30: Blue Collar, 9 p.m., Sunrise Saloon, 1101 Strand. 30: Alicia Kay signs “Equivical,” 10 a.m., Fact & Fiction, 220 N. Higgins Ave. 721-2881, factandfictionbooks.com. 30: Jordan Smith, 6-8 p.m.; wine tasting, 4-9 p.m., Ten Spoon Vineyard and Winery. 30: Blue Collar performs, 9 p.m.close, Sunrise Saloon, 1101 Strand.

4: Out to Lunch 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Caras Park. Music by Mary Place & the Blue Moon; children’s activities to be announced. Visit missouladowntown.com. 4: Free Missoula City Band concert, 9:30 p.m. at the Fairgrounds, right before the fireworks 4: City of Hamilton fireworks show, 8 p.m. at the Ravalli County Fairgrounds 5: Downtown ToNight, 5:30-8:30 p.m. Caras Park. Music by Close, But No Seger; children’s activities by the Missoula Mavericks. Visit missouladowntown.com. 6: Double Down Band, 9 p.m.close, Sunrise Saloon, 1101 Strand. 7: Mrs. G performs, 9 p.m.-close, Sunrise Saloon, 1101 Strand. 7: Alt-rock band Dean Ween Group, 9 p.m., The Top Hat, 134 W. Front St. Tickets $30 in advance, available at logjampresents.com. 8: Mary Place and Mike Greathouse (jazz/blues), 6-8 p.m., Rumour Restaurant, 1855 Stephens Ave. 9-13: “Mastering Marks” with Steve Krutek for ages 8-13, 9 a.m.-noon, Missoula Art Museum, 335 N. Pattee St. $80, $72 members. Call 728-00447 or visit missoulaartmuseum.org.

Missoula Calendar 9: Sun Dogs (Americana-folk-grass with Fred Lerch and Laurie Banks), 7-10 p.m., Red Bird Wine Bar, 111 N. Higgins Ave.

18: Alt-rock artist Sheryl Crow, 7:30 p.m., KettleHouse Amphitheaer. Tickets $49.50-$64.50, available at logjampresents.com.

10: Rick Bass reads and signs “The Traveling Feast,” 7 p.m., Fact & Fiction, 220 N. Higgins Ave. 7212881, factandfictionbooks.com.

18: Out to Lunch 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Caras Park. Music by Salsa Loca; children’s activities by the National Wildlife Federation. Visit missouladowntown.com.

11: Out to Lunch 11 a.m.- 2 p.m., Caras Park. Music by TopHouse; children’s activities by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. Visit missouladowntown.com. 11: Free Missoula City Band Concert 8 p.m. at Bonner Park; Sweet Adelines 11: Phoebe Bridgers, , 8:30 p.m. doors, 9 p.m. show, The Top Hat, 134 W. Front St. $15 in advance (logjampresents.com). 11: Discussion with Rick Bass and David James Duncan, “The Heart of the Monsters,” 7 p.m., Missoula Art Museum, 335 N. Pattee St. Free. Call 728-00447 or visit missoulaartmuseum.org. 12: Montana Conversations: “The 1988 Yellowstone Fires: Humanities Implications” with John Clayton, author and conservationist, 7 p.m., Heritage Hall at Fort Missoula, 3255 Fort Missoula Road. 7283662, nrhc.org.

18: Free Missoula City Band Concert 8 p.m. at Bonner Park; Missoula Community Chorus 19: Barbie Boulds and Jean Petersen sign “The Big Sky Bounty Cookbook,” 4-6 p.m., Fact & Fiction, 220 N. Higgins Ave. 7212881, factandfictionbooks.com. 19: Downtown ToNight, 5:308:30 p.m. Caras Park. Music by Russ Nasset & The Revelators; children’s activities by the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula. Visit missouladowntown.com. 19: Bob Schneider, 8:30 p.m. doors, 9 p.m. show, The Top Hat, 134 W. Front St. $18 in advance (logjampresents.com), $20 day of show. 20: James McMurtry, 9:30 p.m. doors, 10 p.m. show, The Top

Hat, 134 W. Front St. Tickets $18 in advanced, $20 day of show, available at logjampresents.com. 20: Roy Scranton reads and signs “We’re Doomed, Now What,” 5:30 p.m., Fact & Fiction, 220 N. Higgins Ave. 721-2881, factandfictionbooks.com. 21: Indie-folk ensemble, Trampled by Turtles, 8 p.m., KettleHouse Amphitheaer. Tickets $32.50-$37.50, available at logjampresents.com. 21: Slow View Art Tour, noon, Missoula Art Museum, 335 N. Pattee St. Selections from MAM’s Collection and special loans on view in the Travel Montana lobby will provide a jumping-off point for visitors to learn about the Slow View method and how to apply it to exhibits throughout the museum. Call 728-0447 or visit missoulaartmuseum.org. 22: Faith Arledge and Connor Racicot (jazz), 6-8 p.m., Rumour Restaurant, 1855 Stephens Ave. 23: New Zealand based psychedelic rock band Unknown Mortal Orchestra, 8:30 p.m. doors, 9 p.m. show, The Top Hat, 134 W. Front St. Tickets $22, available at logjampresents.com.

June 2018

23: Cash for Junkers with Tyler Roady, Nate Biehl, John Rosett and Jeff Turnman, 7-10 p.m., Red Bird Wine Bar, 111 N. Higgins Ave. 23-27: “Art and Nature” with Jolena Ryan for ages 6-11, 9 a.m.-noon, Missoula Art Museum, 335 N. Pattee St. $80, $72 members. Call 72800447 or visit missoulaartmuseum. org. 24: Gwen Florio publication party and signing of “Silent Hearts,” 6 p.m., Montgomery Distillery, 129 W. Front St. 24: Free Missoula City Band Concert 8 p.m. at Bonner Park; Gary Herbig, Missoula’s Favorite Son! 25: Leslie Budewitz reads and signs “As the Christmas Cookie Crumbles,” 7 p.m., Fact & Fiction, 220 N. Higgins Ave. 721-2881, factandfictionbooks.com. 25: Out to Lunch 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Caras Park. Music by Bob Wire; children’s activities by the Foundation for Community Health. Visit missouladowntown.com. 25: SUSTO, 8:30 p.m. doors, 9 p.m. show, The Top Hat, 134 W. Front St. $12 in advance (logjampresents.

com), $15 day of show. 26: Downtown ToNight, 5:30-8:30 p.m. Caras Park. Music by The Riverside; children’s activities by the YMCA. Visit missouladowntown. com. 27: The Robert Cray Band, 7 p.m. doors, 8 p.m. show, The Wilma. Tickets $37.50-$45, available at logjampresents.com. 28: Genre defying instrumental and visual performance group MarchFourth, 9:30 p.m. doors, 10 p.m. show, The Top Hat, 134 W. Front St. Tickets $15, available at logjampresents.com. 28: Celtic Festival Missoula. Celtic Festival Missoula is an annual celebration of great Celtic culture, focusing on music, dance and food. The festival presents the culture both in its historical form and as it has evolved into new and modern forms, such as Celtic Rock. Performers include Seven Nations, Screaming Orphans, Stout Pounders, Floating Crowbar and the Haran Irish Dancers. Visit http://www.celticfestival missoula.com/

12: Downtown ToNight, 5:308:30 p.m. Caras Park. Music by Laney Lou and the Bird Dogs; children’s activities by the Jeannette Rankin Peace Center. Visit missouladowntown.com. 12: Isabel Sobral Campos reads and signs “Your Person Doesn’t Belong to You,” 7 p.m., Fact & Fiction, 220 N. Higgins Ave. 7212881, factandfictionbooks.com. 14: Montana Fiddlers, 3-7 p.m., The Trax, Alberton. 15: Jeff Carroll (blues, Americana), 6-8 p.m., Rumour Restaurant, 1855 Stephens Ave. 16: Tara Lynn Walrus (poverty driven dreamy folk rock), 7-10 p.m., Red Bird Wine Bar, 111 N. Higgins Ave. 16-20: “Mixed Media Melange” with Jolena Ryan for ages 6-11, 9 a.m.- noon, Missoula Art Museum, 335 N. Pattee St. $80, $72 members. Call 728-00447 or visit missoulaartmuseum.org. 17: Blitzen Trapper, 8:30 p.m. doors, 9 p.m. show, The Top Hat, 134 W. Front St. $16 in advance (logjampresents. com), $18 day of show.

photo by Rebekah Welch, Missoulian A line forms at the ticket booth before noon on Wednesday, when all the rides were officially open.

June 2018

Bitterroot Calendar

June

20-21: Darby Logger Days. Seventeen traditional logging competitions. A family event featuring expert competitors performing skills of days gone by. Music, food, vendors and lots of activities for the whole family. For more information go to www. darbyloggerdays.com or contact Lloyd Rennaker at rennaker_15@ yahoo.com

22-24: Western Heritage Days in Stevensville 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday http:// mainstreetstevensville.com/westernheritage-days/ 22: Free outdoor concert featuring “Blue to the Bone,” 7 p.m. at Sapphire Lutheran Homes, 501 N. 10th Street Hamilton, MT 59840, 406-363-2800

20: Summer Science Squad, 10:30 a.m., North Valley Public Library, 208 Main St., Stevensville, 777-5061.

29-30: 50 Mile Garage Sale in the Bitterroot valley. Go to www. bitterroot50milegaragesale.com.

21: 78th Darby Strawberry Festival from 5 to 8 pm in the city park across from Mt. T’s Convenience Store. This is an annual fundraiser for the Darby Fire Department. Music, shortcake, and lots of fun for the whole family.

29: Free outdoor concert featuring “Who Dat!,” 7 p.m. at Sapphire Lutheran Homes, 501 N. 10th Street Hamilton, MT 59840, 406-3632800

27-28: Annual Daly Days in downtown Hamilton. Music, vendors, food, crafts, store sales, street dance, beer garden, fun and games for the whole family to enjoy. Call 360-9124 or go to www. hamiltondowntownassociation.org for more information.

30: Benefit for Bitter Root Humane Society, 5 p.m.-close, Fin’s Tap House, 352 Woodside Cuttoff Road, Corvallis. Evening of brews, food, music by Tom Catmull, lawn games and more. 30: Blessing of the Cars Auto Show, 9 a.m.-2 p.m., grounds of Our Savior Lutheran Church, 184 Pine Hollow Road, Stevensville. Enter your car, truck or tractor for a $10 fee and then have fun enjoying the other entries, craft vendors, food and music. Trophies and plaques will be awarded. Cars blessed for free. All funds will be donated to charity. Contact Hank Biesterfeldt, 262-331-1075 or biesterfeldt64@ yahoo.com 30: Corvallis Post 91 Legion Riders Poker Ride, 9 a.m. Cost: $20.00 Per single rider or $30 per couple. Registration fee includes family style BBQ mid-ride. Beneficiary’s for this event will be Xsports4vets out of Missoula, MT. Ride starts at Hamilton Napa. You will leave at 10 am. You do not need a bike to participate. Grab the family, jump in the car, truck or van and come have a good time with us. https://www.facebook. com/CorvallisMTLegionRiders/ 30: SMSA Golf Tournament, Whitetail Golf Course, 4925 Wildfowl Lane, Stevensville. 406777-3773.

July

2: Lions Golf for Sight golf 2, 9, 16, 23: “Mother Goose Signs and Swings,” 10:30 a.m.; theater workshop for kids, 3:30 p.m., North

Enjoy the weather, view and community at the Summer Concert series at Sapphire Lutheran Homes, starting June 22.

Valley Public Library, 208 Main St., Stevensville. 777-5061. 3, 10, 17, 24: Writers’ Club for kids and teens, noon, North Valley Public Library, 208 Main St., Stevensville. 777-5061. 4: City of Hamilton 4th of July fireworks display at dusk. 5, 12, 19, 26 Mommy and Me yoga, 1 p.m.; kids’ yoga, 1:45 p.m.; Art Club, North Valley Public Library, 208 Main St., Stevensville. 7775061. 6: Free outdoor concert featuring “Shodown,” 7 p.m. at Sapphire Lutheran Homes, 501 N. 10th Street Hamilton, MT 59840, 406-3632800 6-7: Elite Bull Connection in Darby, pits some of the best bovine athletes against the best bull riders in the Northwest and Canada. The 2018 competition will include 30 of the Elite Professional Bull rider’s top talents. There will also be a Pink Bull Explosion, which donates to the Tough Enough to Wear Pink. Elite Bull Connection gates open at 4 p.m. and actions starts at 6 p.m. Visit darbyrodeoassociation or call

Cal Ruark at 544-5436. 9-13: Summer Theater Camp Session 1, “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast Jr.,” Hamilton Playhouse, 100 Ricketts Road, Hamilton. Grades K-3, 9 a.m.-noon, $90 and grades 3-12, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., $200. Productions at 7 p.m. July 13 and 14. Call 406-375-9050 or visit hamiltonplayers.com.

at Sapphire Lutheran Homes, 501 N. 10th Street Hamilton, MT 59840, 406-363-2800 13: Hamilton Tonight outdoor music series, 6 p.m., Main Street Hamilton, MT 59840

9: “Stars, Guitars and Cars” Auto Show, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., Stevensville. A car show and more: awards, music, food and fun! Call Stevensville NAPA Auto Parts, 406-777-5791.

14: Youth Arise, Barnabas Ministries, 10 a.m.-noon, 273 Fairgrounds Road, Hamilton. Dance, arts and crafts, jumping castle, hot dog and prizes. Free for ages 4 and up. Archery, dance, arts & crafts, jumping castle, hogs and prizes. Call Jesse Haynie at 406-350-2360 or visit www.h2hm.org

13-14: Sapphire Quilt Club Show, Stevensville High School gym, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m.4 p.m. Saturday. The club’s biannual quilt show is a feast of color, design, skill and countless hours of dedication. Contact Rebecca Stapert at 406-273-9078 or rebeccastapert@gmail.com.

15: Music at the Mission, 7 p.m., Historic St. Mary’s Mission Chapel, Stevensville. Get together with your neighbors for an evening of gospel, sing-a-long, folk, and possibly accordion music in the Historic St. Mary’s Mission chapel. For more information go to www. saintmarysmission.org.

13, 20: Summer Science Squad for ages 5-18, 10:30 a.m., North Valley Public Library, 208 Main St., Stevensville. 777-5061.

17-21: Summer Theater Camp Session 1, theater skill workshop, Hamilton Playhouse, 100 Ricketts Road, Hamilton. Grades K-3, 9 a.m.-noon, $90 and grades 3-12, 1-5 p.m., $125. Call 406-3759050 or visit hamiltonplayers.com.

13: Free outdoor concert featuring “The Cold Hard Cash Show,” 7 p.m.

27-29: 10th annual Hardtimes Bluegrass Festival. Performing Bands, band contest, awards lots of jamming. Call 821-3777 for more information or www. hardtimesbluegrass.com 28: Bitter Root Arts Guild presents Art In The Park, 9 a.m.- 4 p.m., Legion Park, Hamilton. Call 406241-6181. 28: Annual Chamber Microbrew Festival, 3-10 p.m., Second and Bedford Streets, Hamilton. Lots of brews to choose from plus wine, cider, great food and music. Call 363-2400. 28: Second Time Around Jewelry Sale sponsored by Bitter Root Humane Association, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Elk’s Lodge, 203 State St. Call Sue 6429840 or Mary at 642-3765. 23- August 3: Youth Theater Workshop, 1-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, Stevensville Playhouse, 319 Main St. Ever wonder why the chicken crossed the road? Now you can find out. “Poultry in Motion” cleverly combines the well-known characters of Chicken Little, and the Little Red Hen, in a story that will keep you guessing what feather brained thing is next. $150. Call 777-2722, email info@ stevensvilleplayhouse.org or visit http://stevensvilleplayhouse.org.

June 2018

Flathead Calendar

June

July

22: Innasci, 9 p.m., The Raven, Woods Bay.

1: Joel Fetveit, downtown Bigfork.

22: Brent Jameson, 6 p.m., Marina Cay Tiki Bar, Bigfork.

1: Northwest Accordion Jam, 2-5 p.m., Polson Elk’s.

22-23: Mission Mountain NRA Rodeo, Polson Fairgrounds. Call 406-883-1100.

3: Barton & Caselli, 6 p.m., East Shore Smokehouse, Highway 35, Polson.

22-23: Flathead V8’s, Garden Bar, downtown Bigfork.

3: Chain Reaction at Marina Cay Tiki Bar, Bigfork.

Garden

Bar,

22-23: DJ, 10 p.m., South Shore Lounge, below China Gate in Polson.

35, Polson.

Highway 35, Polson.

5-22 – Port Polson Players present “After the Ball,” 8 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday. Theatre on Flathead Lake, Polson. Tickets $19 adults, $18 seniors and students. Call 406-883-9212 or visit portpolsonplayers.com.

12: Singing Sons of Beaches, 6 p.m., Highway 35, Polson.

6: Craig Barton, 6 p.m., Marina Cay Tiki Bar, Bigfork.

13-14: DJ, 10 p.m., South Shore Lounge, below China Gate in Polson.

6-7: Bigfork Summer PRCA ProRodeo, 7 p.m., gates open 6 p.m.. newwestrodeo.com.

12: Christian Johnson Project, 8-11 p.m., Garden Bar, Bigfork. 13: Billy Angel, 6 p.m., Marina Cay Tiki Bar, Bigfork.

13-14: Ten Minutes Late at Garden Bar, downtown Bigfork.

20: Mike Murray, 6 p.m., Marina Cay Tiki Bar, Bigfork. 20: Yabba Griffiths and Traxx at Garden Bar, downtown Bigfork. 20-21: DJ, 10 p.m., South Shore Lounge, below China Gate in Polson. 20-22: Good Old Days in St. Ignatius.

21-22: Polson Main Street Cherry Festival in downtown Polson. flatheadcherryfestival.com.

23: Christian Johnson Project, 5-8 p.m., Kalispell Brewing.

21-22: Live History Days at Miracle of America Museum, 36094 Memory Lane, Polson. 406-8836264 or miracleofamericamuseum. org.

24: Andre Floyd, 6 p.m., The Raven, Woods Bay. Garden

19: Christian Johnson Project, 8-11 p.m., Garden Bar, Bigfork.

21: Pedactor Project at Garden Bar, downtown Bigfork.

23: Highway 93 Band, 7-10 p.m., Big Arm Marina.

24: Joel Fetveit, downtown Bigfork.

Bar,

25: Margarita Mondays with Kenny Solo Jam, 7 p.m.; live music, 10 p.m., The Raven, Woods Bay.

22: Joel Fetveit every Sunday evening at Garden Bar, downtown Bigfork.

26: “What About Bob” Karaoke, 6 p.m., East Shore Smokehouse, Highway 35, Polson.

23-28: Lake County Fair at Lake County Fairgrounds in Ronan. 24: “What About Bob Karaoke,” 6 p.m., East Shore Smokehouse, Highway 35, Polson.

27: Tommy Edwards, 6:30 p.m., The Raven, Woods Bay. 28: Christian Johnson Project, 8-11 p.m., Garden Bar 8-11 p.m., Bigfork.

26: Singing Sons of Beaches, 6 p.m., East Shore Smokehouse, Highway 35, Polson.

28: Singing Sons of Beaches, 6 p.m., East Shore Smokehouse, Highway 35, Polson.

26: Christian Johnson Project, 8-11 p.m., Garden Bar, Bigfork.

28: Free Night at the Museum with west yard tour, 6:30 p.m., Miracle of America Museum, off Highway 93, Polson. 29: Chamber Blast Sporting Clay Fun Shoot at Big Sky Sporting Clays. Call for details, 406-883-5969.

photo courtesy Valley Journal

26-Aug. 12 – The Port Polson Players presents “Foxfire,” 8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, Theatre on Flathead Lake, Polson. Call 406-883-9212 or visit portpolsonplayers.com. 27: Man and a Box, 6 p.m., Marina Cay Tiki Bar, Bigfork.

29: Movie on the Lawn, 8 p.m., Polson Bay Golf Course Driving Range. Hosted by Xi Alpha Gamma Chapter of Beta Sigma Phi Polson and Polson Golf Course.

4 4th of July parade, noon, downtown Polson followed by ice cream social at 1 p.m. at Polson Flathead Historical Museum; fireworks show at dusk.

29: Roots Uprising, 6 p.m., Marina Cay Tiki Bar, Bigfork.

4: Bigfork’s 4th of July Parade, noon, downtown Bigfork.

29-30: DJ, 10 p.m., South Shore Lounge, below China Gate in Polson.

4: New Wave Time Trippers at Marina Cay Tiki Bar, Bigfork.

7: Symphony Night at the Farm, 7:30 p.m., grounds of Rebecca Farm in Kalispell. glaciersymphony. org or 406-407-7000.

4-7: Eric “Fingers” Ray at Garden Bar, downtown Bigfork.

8: Joel Fetveit, downtown Bigfork.

Bar,

18: Ken’s Country Combo, 6-10 p.m., Polson Elk’s.

28-29: Flathead 3 on 3 Basketball Tourney played in downtown Polson. theflatheadlake3on3.com.

5: Singing Sons of Beaches, 6 p.m., East Shore Smokehouse, Highway

10: “What About Bob Karaoke,” 6 p.m., East Shore Smokehouse,

19: Singing Sons of Beaches, 6 p.m., East Shore Smokehouse, Highway 35, Polson.

28-29: Fourth annual Flathead Lake Festival of Art at Sacajawea Park, Polson. sandpiperartgallery.com.

29-30: Undercovers at Garden Bar, downtown Bigfork..

6-7: DJ, 10 p.m., South Shore Lounge, below China Gate in Polson.

15: Joel Fetveit every Sunday evening at Garden Bar, downtown Bigfork.

7: Amish Auction, 9 a.m., St. Ignatius.

17: Barton & Caselli, 6 p.m., East Shore Smokehouse, Highway 35, Polson.

Garden

18-22: The Event at Rebecca Farms – Kalispell.

27-28: Chain Reaction at Garden Bar, downtown Bigfork. 27-28: DJ, 10 p.m., South Shore Lounge, below China Gate in Polson.

June 2018

Miracle of America Museum Live History Days celebrates 30th

he Miracle of America Museum will be celebrating its 30th Annual Live History Days the 3rd weekend in July in Polson, MT. The July 21 and 22 event promises to be a fun time and build memories for the future by rekindling memories from the past. Guest exhibitors usually include wood carvers, flint nappers, blacksmiths, spinners, musicians, sawmilling, leather workers, pine needle basket weaving, candle making, vintage clothing dressups and so much more. Admission for this annual fundraiser is a minimum of age 2 to 12 $5.00 and 13 and up is $6.00 Rides usually include trains, military vehicles, motorcycle sidecars, tractors, etc. The tennis ball cannon using a Army 106 recoilless rifle is a crowd favorite, as well as a chance to get in a real jet cockpit and don an aviator helmet for a photo op. Vintage flywheel engines will be operating various devices such as water pumps and can crushers. Of course, the usual kid friendly interactive displays are always fun and make for good photo ops. A new building this year bringing the total to 41 village buildings, not counting the three vintage outhouses is the antique gunsmithing shop. Guest exhibitors and some vendors may be welcome as long as it ties in with history. Miracle of America Museum is Montanaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest and most diversified museum. Open all year with over 250,000 items shown on 5 acres and in over 40 buildings. Call Gil at 406-270-7895 or museum at 883-6804, miracleofamericamuseum.org. Come enjoy Live History Days with us at the Miracle of America Museum, 36094 Memory Lane Polson, MT. C GIL MANGELS

Flathead Lake Festival of Art

he Fourth Annual Flathead Lake Festival of Art is Saturday and Sunday July 28 and 29, 2018 in Polson. This 2-day juried Fine Arts Show meanders along the shoreline in beautiful Sacajawea Park and features 30 of the most talented artisans in Montana. David Webb, Native American flute maker and Nathan Eyre, wood artist will

entertain with flute, guitar and voice. Come by land or by sea; the Festival is by the bridge over HWY 93 with public parking and boat slips available at the historic Salish Hotel and the City Dock.

Sunday, July 29. The event is free to

Please

visit

sandpiperartgallery.

The art festival begins at 10 a.m. each morning and ends at 5 p.m. on Saturday, July 28 and 4 p.m. on

com

the public and appropriate for all ages. The Festival is hosted by the non-profit, all volunteer Sandpiper Art

Gallery

Main

Street. Festivals.

sandpiperartgallery@gmail.com for additional information .C

June 2018

mmm… pie

Few things scream “Summer” more than a beautiful slice, or two, of freshly baked pie. If you’re not up to making your own at home, or can’t decide which flavor you want, use this guide to pick out the must-visit places, as recommended by our readers. Make it a long road trip to try ‘em all, or work them into your existing summer plans. And enjoy!

1. two medicine grill

Kalispell

314 US-2, East Glacier Park, MT 59434 M-Su 6:30 am.- 8 p.m. Pies for Strength pies- Razzleberry (huckleberry, blueberry, raspberry) (406) 226-9227

Bigfork

2. loula’s Cafe

300 E Second St, Whitefish, MT 59937 M-Su 7 a.m.- 3 p.m. Flathead cherry or wild huckleberry 406-862-5614

Polson

3. Windmill Village bakery

Map

26715 US Highway 93, Ravalli, MT 59863 M-Sa 7 a.m.- 3 p.m. (406) 745-2270

Ronan

4. the huckleberry patch

Seeley Lake Missoula Lolo

72532 N Couture Loop, Arlee, MT 59821 M- Su 9 a.m.- 7 p.m. Huckleberry pie, of course! (406) 726-4825

5. huck’s grill

55 Mullan Gulch Rd, St Regis, MT 59866 M-Su 7 a.m.- 9 p.m. Huckleberry (406) 649-2407

6. ekstrom’s stage station

Florence Hamilton Philipsburg Darby

Anaconda

81 Rock Creek Road, Clinton, Montana, 59825 406-825-3183

7. bernice’s bakery

190 S 3rd St W, Missoula, MT 59801 M-Su 6 a.m.- 8 p.m. 406-728-1358

8. glen’s Cafe

157 Long Avenue, Florence Montana 59833 M-Su 9 a.m.- 3 p.m. 406-273-2534

9. Coffee Cup Cafe

500 S 1st St Hamilton, MT 59840 M-Su 6 a.m.- 3 p.m. (406) 363-3822

10. river rising bakery & deli

337 West Main, Hamilton Montana M-F 6:30 a.m.- 4 p.m. Sa 8 a.m.-4 p.m. (406)363-4552

associated press

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