Buttons and Bows 4-H prepares for fair
Sage Harapat sits in the passenger seat of her mom’s car as they bounce down Jewel Basin Road to visit the neighbor, a duck swaddled in her lap.
The neighbor in question is Linda Stewart, who has been the organization leader for Swan River Buttons and Bows 4-H Club for the past 40 years. Bigfork High School freshman Harapat, alongside 16 other club members between the ages of 9 and 18, are preparing for the upcoming Northwest Montana Fair in Kalispell Aug. 13-16. They will have entries in mini horse, market hog, poultry, rabbits, leatherwork, foods, photography, embroidery, knitting, crocheting and more.
Jenna Pliley, Stewart’s granddaughter, comes to Stewart’s house from Kalispell to practice with the family’s mini horses; Shorty, Deeks and Sugar. She brushes them out, trots them in patterns and practices obstacles and jumps with Stewart as the judge.