Store's opening delayed by elk collision

By CHRIS PETERSON / Hungry Horse News

How do you delay the grand opening of a store?

Try hitting an elk. A big elk.

The North Fork Store in Columbia Falls was supposed to open Nov. 15, but that morning as business partners Pat Rose and Corey Akelund were heading up Highway 206 a bull elk stepped in front of Akelund's car.

Wham!

The elk — a 1,000-pound bull — shattered the windshield and knocked Akelund, the driver, completely out as the animal partially entered the cab and then rolled over the car's hood.

Somehow Rose — on the passenger side — was able to control the car, knock it out of gear and avoid oncoming traffic before coming to a stop about a mile from where they hit the elk.

Then Akelund came to.

"What happened?" he asked.

The two were hauled to the hospital, the elk was hauled to the North Valley Food Bank in Whitefish. Both men ended up with no serious injuries, but the store opening was delayed a week.

After more than a year of being closed, the little convenience store on Railroad Street opened up. It's a family-run business, with Rose, his wife, Erin, their sons, Anthony and Lorenzo, and Akelund all pitching in to get things done. Akelund is from North Carolina. He said Rose talked him in to coming up to help with teh store.

The store is typical convenience at this point. Gas, snacks, milk, beer, coffee, pop, chips, newspapers, magazines, etc.

But Rose said the plan is to add a little Mexican restaurant in the back by the summer.

Why?

"I couldn't find good Mexican food," he said.

So he's going to cook his own.

They have a bit of a commute to get to Columbia Falls, however. Erin also owns and runs the Cherry Way Inn in Woods Bay, south of Bigfork.

The idea is to make the North Fork Store a neighborhood place, Akelund said. Folks are already coming in saying how glad they are to see the store reopened.

It's been a store for about 40 years, but the last owners shut it down a little more than a year ago.

The store is open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. everyday and will be open Christmas Day from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.