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The area known simply as “The Canyon” has a quite the reputation.

“When I first started, it used to be a pretty rough area,” Nonie Pruett, the co-owner of Southfork Saloon and a resident of the Canyon since 1968, said, before colorfully describing the types of establishments — some for alcohol and some for other, um, adult pleasures — that used to dot the landscape.

The area, generally comprised of the towns of Coram, Martin City and Hungry Horse, is still today sometimes painted in an unflattering light. For the outsiders who peer in, the Canyon is described as some version of the Hollywood-scripted middle-of-nowhere, “wrong spot to pull of the highway” kind of place. They paint it in a cartoonish fashion, its bars packed with scruffy hunters and wild bikers who “don’t take kindly to strangers in these parts.”

And sure, the Canyon isn’t perfect and there are probably a few unsavory characters hanging around, but the image sometimes pictured is, of course, unfair; a lazy, crude generalization. Problem is, it’s one Canyon residents and business owners alike have fought for years.

Packers Roost is the Canyon’s most visible establishment, since its location on U.S. 2 means just about every visitor heading north to Glacier National Park drives by it, and Greg Vorhees said his bar still hears its name bandied about in a less than flattering light.

“I still have people that walk in the bar and tell me, ‘we were told, if we go to the Canyon don’t go to Packers. It’s too dangerous,’” he said. “And it’s not like that at all.

“I’ve been getting that for a dozen years from tourists and locals alike,” Vorhees added. “I had that conversation a month ago with somebody that was in there. I said, ‘well, you’re missing out on some of the best food in the valley and the best music.’”

Still, stories are hard to change. Without regular visitors pouring through the area or large — and expensive — marketing pushes to tell a different tale, the reputation persists.

But Vorhees, Pruett and about a dozen other local leaders are working to change all that.

One barstool on skis sliding down a hill at a time.

THIRTY-EIGHT years ago, the first barstool races were run.

“It started with people being bored in the winter months,” Pruett said. “And deciding they were going to try to ride sleds downhill.”

Some decades later, the locals built a larger event around the barstool races and called it Cabin Fever Days, and the three-day weekend festival returns this Friday through Sunday.

In recent years, the Trapline Association (the nonprofit that organizes Cabin Fever Days) has made a concerted effort to make the weekend and the Canyon more accessible and hospitable, while still hanging on to a bit of outlaw spirit.

“The event had a reputation for a little bit of chaos,” Stacey Schnebel, co-owner of Stonefly Lounge and a past president of the Trapline Association said.

“We all love the direction that we have gone,” she continued. “We have made it more family-friendly and that was intentional — to bring kids events while being sensitive to the fact that it is Cabin Fever Days and there is going to be a bit of chaos and reverie.

“We’re not trying to get that out of the event.”

Kids events this year include a magic show, a cupcake walk, a pool tournament, gunny sack races and kids sled races. The child-friendly activities are based at Lietz Fire Hall in Martin City.

The other main thrust of the Trapline Association has been to increase the amount of money the weekend raises for local groups in need. Pruett said that even in the beginning the barstool races served as a fundraiser, but these days the efforts are well-coordinated and organizers say they were able to donate $13,000 last year to number of groups, namely the Martin City Fire Department and the Canyon Quick Response Unit. Money is raised through the sales of buttons and t-shirts, entrance fees to the many competitions, corporate sponsorship and the bars themselves, who donate a percentage of their sales from the weekend.

“We have an excellent relationship,” Schnebel said of the many bars that are part of Cabin Fever Days. “There’s not a competitive nature when it comes to this joint effort. We come together and we all put in our effort, energy and money to pull this off. It’s really developed a cohesive nature from business owners and other residents who are giving of their time every year.”

THE BARSTOOL races are held on Sugar Hill in Martin City, beginning Saturday and ending with the championship races on Sunday. There are four different competition classes — non-steerable, steerable, open and the colorful show class, which doesn’t race but instead has a winner chosen based on the creativity of their design. Rules are pretty simple: competitors need to have either a stool fixed to skis (non-steerable), a stool fixed to skis with a means of flexing side to side (steerable) or “anything” mounted on a ski or skis (open). Each entry costs $20 and each class pays the winner $100.

The weekend is more than just the races, too. There are 14 different bands slated to perform across the different stops — all of which are connected by a shuttle — and many locations have their own unique competitions to add to the weekend’s flavor and raise additional money.

Packers Roost holds a mountain man competition; the Southfork Saloon has pool tournaments, snowshoe horseshoes and shuffleboard; the Dam Town Tavern has a snow sculpture competition and its own special type of bingo; and the Stonefly has a dart tournament, a sanctioned arm-wrestling tournament and a roshambo (rock-paper-scissors) tourney.

“It’s a great spectator sport,” Schnebel said of roshambo. “The roshambo-ers need to have one foot in the (rosham)-box. The winner is our rosh-ambassador and they wear a sash. We expect them to wear their rosham-sash to the competition next year.”

At the end of the day, though, what pleases Schnebel and the other organizers most is the chance to show off the place they call home, and to re-write the Canyon’s story.

“My pride and joy is seeing the event flourish and raise more money every year,” she said.

“It’s nice to bring people in so they can see,” Pruett said. “They see us in a different light so it’s kind of nice for that to happen.

“It shows people that we’re people, too, just like them. Good people.

“I’m really proud of it.”

For a full schedule of events and more information, visit www.cabinfeverdays.com.

Entertainment editor Andy Viano can be reached at 406-758-4439 or aviano@dailyinterlake.com.