Bigfork Elves transform town in beloved holiday tradition
For more than 30 years, the Bigfork Elves have been transforming the Village by the Bay into a picturesque Christmas town, fit for the silver screen. On the Saturday before Thanksgiving, an army of decorators descend on city streets, armed with lights, garland, bows and trees. Led by a number of “flight leaders,” the Elves disperse to their assigned sectors and go about the important mission of spreading the holiday spirit throughout the community.
The tradition was founded by Bigfork residents, Don Thompson, Edd Blackler and Ret. Air Force Col. Frank Crain, who also instituted the military ranking system whereby elves progressed from private all the way to general, as their years of volunteerism added up.
It all started with a conversation in front of the Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts Center in the early 1980s.
“We started thinking that it would be kind of fun to go get some trees and tie them up and down the street and decorate the town and make it look like Christmas, which we did,” Blackler recalled.
The next year, a friend who owned a Christmas light business in Chicago donated “a whole gob of lights” and by the following year, a troupe of volunteers responded to assist with the endeavor. Blackler was assigned to the Bridge Street Bridge and in those days, didn’t have the luxury of a bucket truck.
“I just shimmied right up the side of the bridge and pulled [the decorations] up with a rope and tied it on,” he said.
In the early years the Elves met — and still do to this day — on Saturday morning in front of the Bigfork Inn, where orders are handed out over coffee. All in all, it takes a few hundred elven volunteers three to four hours to adorn Bigfork, fueled by the Christmas spirit along with hot chocolate mixed with a dash of Bailey’s or peppermint schnapps.
“It’s amazing so many people hear about it and want to get involved,” Blackler said. “We always say, ‘How many of you is this your first time?’ And all kinds of hands go up.”
For 18 years, Blackler, Crain and Thompson organized the effort before handing over the reins to Doug Averill, with Flathead Lodge. The lodge staff all chipped in — and a few of the ranch’s regular guests would even fly out specifically for the occasion.
“We would get anywhere from 200 and 300 Elves come out on decorating day,” Averill said. “It was just a fun community thing, all in good spirits to bring people together and have fun together.”
He recalls that Decorating Day, scheduled for Nov. 23 this year, often fell on the same day as the infamously contentious Bobcat-Grizzly football game.
“It forced everybody to work a little faster so they could get home and watch the football game,” Averill said.
The military rankings drew a large population of veterans to the event, and resulted in more than a few laughs — like when real-life Army Maj. Gen. Paul Vallely accepted his Bigfork Elves private insignia, Averill recalled. For others, the Elves had a presence in their lives year-round. Former chief bulb twister Ray Schlitz used to take the Christmas lights home and comb through the strands over the course of a year. As he worked through the lights, he replaced the broken bulbs, which not only readied them for next Christmas, but helped with his arthritis.
After approximately 20 years under the Averill’s management, the responsibility was passed onto the Bigfork Area Chamber of Commerce.
“I hope the town can continue it …. we need some young blood,” Averill said. “It’s very easy to do — it only takes three or four hours, and you meet your neighbors and lots of new people.”
On Nov. 16, a contingent of the Bigfork Elves spent the morning at VFW Post 4042 for bulb twisting and tree gathering, where they prepared supplies for Decorating Day. A dozen women fluffed up last year’s bows and tied new ones, which will adorn some 600 trees also harvested that morning. Aiding in the efforts were a group of bulb twisters, who tested each light strand, replaced any broken bulbs and organized the strings for easy hanging this coming weekend.
Longtime volunteer Peach Graeff said it was the Elves that brought she and her husband to Bigfork. She first learned of the Elves through a 1995 magazine article and saw a segment on Good Morning America just two weeks later. The Graeff’s, who were living in Illinois at the time, pulled out an atlas so they could find out exactly where this magical Christmas village was located.
“We were elves before we ever sold our home in Illinois and moved here,” she said. “The thing that really brought us, and sealed it in our hearts, was the people. The community comes together to make our little village as special as it is. … It’s the true meaning of Christmas.” ¦
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Get involved
Volunteers of all ages and experience levels are needed to assist with Decorating Day, this Saturday, Nov. 23. Volunteers are asked to meet in front of the Bigfork Inn in downtown Bigfork at 8 a.m. for instructions. Decorating is usually complete by noon. The chili feed begins at 10 a.m., made possible by the Bigfork Inn and Bigfork Ladies Service Club.
After decorating is complete, the BIgfork Art and Cultural Center’s Handmade Market kicks off at noon and runs until 7 p.m., followed by Bigfork’s Holiday Art Walk from 4-8 p.m.
The Tree Lighting will take place at 7 p.m. at the Bigfork Inn where guests can enjoy Christmas carols, a bonfire and a reading of “The Night Before Christmas.”