By Penney Howe and Jimmy Canton, Stevensville
The tents are down and the cleanup is almost done. We are sad but happy that we were able to give such a great tribute to our Veterans on short notice. We thank everyone that came, everyone that helped and all of those who have gone before us, who made the greatest of sacrifices in order that we may be able to celebrate.
We would like to extend a special thank you to the following businesses for their help with our tribute: Todd Townsend and his Montana Firewood/Townsend Equipment for the wood for the eternal fire. Dale Brown and Outbacks, Inc for the bathroom facilities, Rob Garding and the Lolo Creek Band for the live music. Hamilton Pack for their great BBQ and Polish Dogs (they are delicious.) We also would like to extend our thanks to the ladies at Cowboy Troy’s who tried really hard to be here but had supply chain issues (next time.) And Liz Cook, at the Bitterroot Star, we thank you for your creativity in the production of our ad. And last but not least, Michelle McConnaha at the Ravalli Republic for helping spread the hue and cry.
Additionally, we would be remiss if we didn’t publicly thank the extras on site that helped us put this event all together either as our extra muscle, fire starters, or an extra hand when we needed it (and if we have forgotten someone, please forgive us. As usual Jimmy remembers faces but doesn’t remember names): Phil Tummarello as our cook for the day, Jan Wisniewski and his tent crew, Zack Strain for the delivery truck, Yousif Strain as the lead member of the Eternal fire crew, Shannon Flocher for the big tent, Mike Rodda for our lead parade truck, Blue Star Fabrication for the Army truck in our parade, Kent Smart and the Fort Owen Ranch for the fire truck and Mike Dahl for driving it in the parade, and our other parade participants though we don’t know who you all were! And from one of the old time Bitterroot families, Thad Leonardi, for the vibratory roller. We would also like to thank all of the drivers on US 93 who stopped to let the parade move across the highway. That was inspiring to see that no one got angry!
But most of all we have to thank those in our great community who attended on short notice, but looked like they were having fun and those who danced. The people who did the work are important, but those who attended were the GREATEST!
We are already getting questions about what we are going to do next. All we can say is watch and see and we promise that we will try to give a little more notice than we did for our “The Honor They Deserve” event!
Thank you.