Montana is long on authenticity

Letter from the editor

One summer in college, my roommate drove home to Tennessee with me for a week to get a taste of the south. Born and raised in Dillon, he decided he would be doing his fellow Montanans an injustice if he didn't wear a cowboy hat every day we spent in the city of Memphis. It was a silly display, since he was more MTV than Lonesome Dove, but that didn't diminish his enthusiasm.

Here in Bigfork, we're often treated to displays of Western imitation. Wealthy tourists or part time residents seem to take special pleasure in sporting 10 gallon hats and copious amounts of leather fringe during their time "Out West." It's usually good for a laugh, and certainly a boon for the retailers of Western chic.

But behind Electric Avenue's occasional overdose of turquoise-inlaid belts, there is still a level of authenticity in Montana unlike anywhere else I've ever seen.

The Swan River Hall Pie Auction 'see story, page A2) on Friday night could have just as easily taken place in 1909 as it did in 2009. There were Wranglers and boots in abundance and cowboy hats and mustaches worn without any hint of irony. It was, in short, Western.

This Valley is home to the kinds of characters that you couldn't make up, and salt of the earth people that those in lesser parts of the country can only sing about.

After seven years in this great state I'm still in continual amazement at the level of authenticity that people here will make no apology for.

Don't forget to cast your vote

No, it's not all over the news, but there are elections next week.

So when Tuesday rolls around, head down to the Ark at Bethany Lutheran Church between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. if you're eligible to vote for the school board trustee position (See story, page A1) and make sure your mail-in ballot for the Bigfork Fire Department board has been sent back in. Those ballots need to be at the fire hall — not just postmarked — by Tuesday, so if you haven't dropped the ballot in the mail by then, drive it down there.

These volunteer posts aren't glamorous, but the people running for the positions put in a lot of time and effort both to campaign and then to serve. We owe it to them and to the community to take a few minutes out of the day to weigh in.

—Alex Strickland