Twelve Reasons to
Come to
Harlowton,
Wheatland County,
Montana
The People
The Schools
Health Care
Our History
E57B & The Milwaukee Road
Arts & Entertainment
4th of July Rodeo
Chief Joseph Park
County Fair & Festival
Jawbone Creek Country Club
The Great Outdoors
Opportunity
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(art by Rose Wise)
The Wind Festival is history now.
A brief outline of events and winners is given below.
Click to see photos from the festival.
The Montana Festival of the Wind got off the
starting blocks in good form on Saturday with the Wind Farm Trail
Challenge from Judith Gap to Harlowton after opening ceremonies at
Blade Park. Athletes from as far as Billings and Great Falls completed
the course which included a three-mile run north of Judith Gap, a bike
ride from the Gap to Harlowton, and a final three-mile run around
Harlo. Men who placed in the event were Ben Scott (Lewistown), Charles
Harper (Billings), and Bret DeYoung (Pray). Women placers were Heather
Scott (Lewistown), Kim Miller (Judith Gap), and Absaroka Jones
(Helena). Two of the participants did the middle lap together on their
tandem bike. Patrick Judge and Steve Bullock of Helena placed first and
second in the 5K Fun Run.
As the runners were getting started, an arts and crafts fair was taking
shape at the Youth Center along with a Chili Contest directed by Bill
Fortune. Fifteen vendors and twenty chili cookers joined in. The Chili
Contest became one of the highlights of the weekend as judges tasted
and tested the many varied offerings and customers enjoyed a chili
luncheon - all you could eat - from 11 to 2. Paul Painter’s 21
Insect Chili took first place. Indian Chili by Kiran Tyabah rated
second and Les and Barbara Shaw’s (Ryegate) Mild Chili took
third. John Paulson got honorable mention for his Grilled Sirloin Black
Bean Chili.
During the morning, Justin Hawkaluk led a Fishing Event at the Chief
Joseph Park Pond. Dakota Harth received a prize for catching the
biggest fish of the day. Leslie Dodge and her helpers taught young and
old how to build kites in the morning and how to fly them in the
afternoon.
Dozens of locals and visitors convened at the Judith Gap Wind Energy
Center at 1:00 pm for a tour of the wind towers led by John Bacon.
Three o’clock saw a convening of tall tale tellers at the Harlo
Theater for the First Annual Windbag Contest hosted by Scot Mitchell.
Festus Miller took third place, Adrie Min won second, and Dave Wallace
went home with the coveted Golden Shovel Award for his Bear Bottom
story.
Other contest winners were announced at the theater. Shoot the Wind
Photography Contest (directed by BranDee Sedgwick) winners were Leslie
Howard DeWeese (Opheim) - first, Leslie Dodge (Harlo) - second, Scot
Mitchell (Harlo) - third, and Brett Thackeray (Lewistown) and Amy
Jewell (Ledger) - both honorable mention. Winning photos and other
entries are on display at Wade’s Drive-In. A People’s
Choice Award will be given at the end of the Festival.
Written on the Wind Contest (Zach Jones, coordinator) winners were
(high school poetry) Kelly Guderjohn (Jordan) - first, Tiffany Thomas
(Jordan) - second, and Malcolm McRae (Jordan) - first for high school
essay. Adult winners were Franci McMahon (Boulder) - first for a short
story and Lauretta Colvin Berg (Martinsdale) - second for a poem.
Paint the Wind Contest (Nancy Stoltz, coordinator) winners for first
and second grade were Skylar Harth, Tyler Casady, Aubrey Norman, Lars
Mysse, Ryan Schuchard, Taylee Bornong, and Matthew Frick. Third and
fourth grade winners were Josephine Shaw, Autumn Harth, Bailey
Schuchard, Rachel Hiner and Hugh Shaw. Winner in fifth through eighth
grade were Kayla Lawson, Alex Casady, Cody Schuchard, Patrick
McLaughlin, and Jared Burreece. Contest entries and winners are on
display at the old coffee shop between Biegel’s and NAPA.
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Friday saw forty people from central Montana attend the Alternative
Energy Conference at the Hillcrest School. Topics as varied as heat
pumps and biodiesel, wind and solar energy, incentives and conservation
were presented by experts from Bozeman, Helena, Missoula, Butte, Judith
Gap, and Ryegate. The program concluded with a tour of Dave and Jean
Wallace’s alternative energy home near Ryegate followed by a
dinner and public discussion at the Ryegate Senior Center.
Saturday’s events started with the Ride the Wind Motorcycle Rally
sponsored by Larry Steuben and Snowy Mountain Trading Post. The rally
circled from Harlowton through White Sulphur Spring via Eddie’s
Corner with a stop at the Lazy Doe in Monarch for lunch. A Poker Stroll
centered on Steuben’s vintage motorcycles located at Central
Avenue businesses was held during the day in conjunction with the
rally. Mike Widdicombe had the best hand with four-of-a-kind. Jim
Spaans took second and Misty Castle third. Harley Clifton of Aurora,
Colorado, was the winner of the pedal car raffle.
The Invenergy Wind Festival Golf Scramble at Jawbone Creek Country Club
was a big success with over forty golfers participating. The Haar
Family team took first. The Bergs took second place.
Jean Wallace’s HAPY program taught children how to fly paper
airplanes at the Hillcrest School in an afternoon aerodynamics
exercise. The DayCare development group with help from Thrivent
Financial sold tacos on Central Avenue and provided Chicken Bingo
nearby in the late afternoon.
The first Montana Festival of the Wind came to a close with a Street
Dance hosted by the Oasis Bar on Saturday night. Quintana played for
the crowd from five to midnight.
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The Wind Festival Committee will meet soon and start preparing for The Montana Festival of the Wind 2008. |
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