Aber Day Everything

By Mick Holien

Does it seem to you that summer months move about twice as quickly as the winter and although there is considerable effort to promote shoulder season activities, Polsonites continue to pack seemingly as much into a 24-hour period as possible.

And as Labor Day weekend casts a glance our way with the turn tomorrow to August the choice of activities feels a bit overwhelming but a nice challenge.


I swear I hear about as many activities after they’ve happened as vice versa.

And they cover a spectrum – almost a redundancy with wide here – with attendees split about equally between summer and year-round residents.

Which is good after all imo since often when summer visitors arrive at their “cabin” it proves increasingly difficult to enhance their return to that plethora of area activities.

But with the area population basically doubling to more than 10,000 in the summer months, consider the influx of brain trust and expertise that we all could benefit from.

This is the 10th anniversary of Freedom Days, a local effort which in part was responsible for the bridge to me renamed the Armed Forces Bridge.

But the remembrances of that weekend’s activities have faded about commiserate with the decay of the bridge banners marking the occasion.

The brainchild of Rick Skates of First Citizens Bank who convened a large committee and subs who met for months leading up to the bevy of activities. I remember telling Rick that he had so many generals involved (I remember 13) we’d never get anything done and a few sergeants were needed aboard to do the work.

But someone events still continually seem to come together, maybe not exactly a visualized but pleasing enough for most spectators.

There are fairs and sometimes rodeos at every turn and music, you talk about music, the remaining days are packed to the guild with diversity and mostly within a hour’s travel time.

A week from now comes Summerfest which in addition to the popular car show and Art in the Park, with vendors dotting the Lake County Courthouse lawn, an inaugural concert will be held on the new permanent stage constructed on the banks of the Flathead River.

Car show trophies will start the activities north of the bridge and a lively concert opens the weekend outdoors on Friday at the Red Lion.

So think about doing something kind for someone this weekend and stay tuned for specific activity information.

The headline of new Summerfest is the Aber Day Reunion concert on the permanent new stage, the cornerstone of the Regatta Shoreline Amphitheater.

This is an Anderson Charitable Foundation Production.

Music with Andrea Harsell starts after trophy presentation with her lively group followed by the legendary Mission Mountain Wood Band.

And then the treat with Sam Riddle bringing his high-energy brand to the stage to top off the night.

It is quite an occasion since Riddle is the son of M2WB bass player/vocalist Steve Riddle with the duo sharing the same bill for the first time – A bit of a passing of the torch.

We also have a surprise or two in order, camping is available and there’s a wide variety of vendors for all your eating needs.

And beer – What do you think.

Tickets available locally this week – Info: Mick Holien 544-2478.

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