Bigfork icon Elna Darrow dies

Elna Darrow, peerless volunteer, champion of Flathead Lake and tireless advocate for the Bigfork community, died of natural causes last Thursday, Feb. 26. She was 65.

Elna and her husband, George, have been fixtures in Bigfork since they moved to the Village in 1976. The couple owned Kootenai Galleries on Electric Avenue for 30 years, up until 2006, and Elna was involved in nearly every community group and event that Bigfork had to offer.

"She was one of the most consistent, dedicated community volunteers that I have ever seen," said Doug Averill, who worked with Elna on a variety of projects over the last 30 years.

"About a year ago she fell down some stairs and had to be in terrible pain," Averill recalled. "But she was still showing up to public meetings to make sure we did it right."

Elna played an integral role in the creation of the original Bigfork Neighborhood Plan in 1993 and stepped up again a few years ago to help steer the revision to completion.

Over the years she built a reputation at those countless meetings as someone who would carefully consider her stance on an issue, and then refuse to budge.

"I always appreciated that she took a stand and wouldn't come off it," Averill said. "In the long run we had great discussions and came to a good compromise and everyone seemed to appreciate the outcomes."

Among Elna's long list of other accomplishments was helping to start the annual Riverbend Concert Series and organizing Bigfork's Tamarack Time each autumn to benefit the Swan River Nature Trail. She was also a continual advocate for improvements in Sliter's Park, including the construction of the band shell. The Darrows were enthusiastic supporters of the Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts and were active in helping decorate Bigfork each Christmas with the "elves" from the tradition's outset.

As recently as last May, Elna was still politically active, running for a seat on the Flathead Valley Community College Board of Trustees, for which she was narrowly defeated.

Charlotte French, who worked extensively with Elna on the concert series and Tamarack Time, said she was on her way to a luncheon on Saturday morning that was to include Elna, when she got the news.

"It was so strange to find out when we had a place set at the table for Elna," she said.

It was Elna's tireless and conscientious leadership that French said will leave an impression on her.

"Even after all the prep work for Tamarack Time, she was always so careful to call everyone and thank them," she said.

The Community Foundation for a Better Bigfork honored her a few years back with its "Big Hat" Award, an honor given to someone who's service to the community is exemplary.

Elna's involvement was not limited to Bigfork, though. She served on the board of directors for the Flathead Lakers from 1987 to 1997 and served as the organization's vice president during a portion of that time. She was also the chair of the Flathead Basin Commission for four years during her stint on that group's board from 1988 to 2001. Elna and George were awarded the FBC's Paul Williams Stewardship Award in 2008 for their contributions.

Robin Steinkraus, the executive director for the Flathead Lakers, said Elna's work was instrumental in the Kerr Dam re-licensing and mitigation plan, which opened the process to public review and resulted in significant improvements for river and lake ecology.

"Elna's contributions to the Bigfork and Flathead Lake communities were truly remarkable and she will be missed," Steinkraus said.

Throughout her commitment to a long list of projects, Elna remained a private person, sharing a quiet 32 years with George at their home on Chapman Hill Road, Paladin Farms.

Though they did not have any children together, George said Elna was an excellent step mother to his four children from a previous marriage. His children Karen and Reed both live in the Flathead Valley and his oldest son Roy lives in Powell, Wyo. and his youngest, John, near Spokane.

George said it had been both their wishes to be cremated, and said a ceremony to spread Elna's ashes along with a celebration of her life would be held sometime this spring at their farm.

"A proper celebration will be planned and will be the best kind of event we can put together," he said.

Don Thomson, who didn't start the Bigfork Playhouse, but may as well have, worked with Elna both as a community member and a neighbor, since Kootenai Galleries was just across the street from the theater.

"They both were, and George is still, involved in things that are at the heart of the community," he said.

Bigfork Land Use Advisory Chairwoman Shelley Gonzales has worked with Elna on the neighborhood plan revision and through frequent meetings of the Bigfork Steering Committee and made no equivocation about her contributions.

"She was an incredible woman who had many interests in arts and nature and the well-being of Bigfork," Gonzales said. "She unselfishly donated so much of her time to make Bigfork a better community and her contributions are immeasurable. She's going to be missed hugely by this community."