Lakeside devoted to fireworks display

Gail Heller celebrated the Fourth of July the old-fashioned way as so many other Americans do - watching a fireworks show in the twilight skies near her home. Heller, a resident of Lakeside, turns out for the pyrotechnics that are launched over Lakeside Bay every year.

"As I watched the boats pull into the bay and hundreds of people from around the valley pull into Lakeside, I began to feel very lucky to have and to know such dedicated and caring people in Lakeside who spend days preparing for this," she writes. "They spend the Fourth putting everything in place so it would work perfectly that night."

A few faithful friends do a bang up job each Fourth to launch Lakeside's fireworks.

Rudy Heinle has spearheaded the fund-raising effort and helped to coordinate the show for the last six or seven years. He says he collects from a regular roster of donors and calls the support from the community "easy money." It takes several thousand dollars to put on a pyrotechnics program the quality of the Lakeside show.

Heinle has owned the Spinnaker Casino Bar and Grill for 12 years and got involved with the community event as a member of the Lakeside Chamber of Commerce. He credits Tim Knopfle, owner of Advance Docks, for the use of his barge from which the fireworks are launched.

"Without Tim's barge, we couldn't do it," says Heinle. In the years past Knopfle had largely been responsible for putting on the show.

Heller also gives a big thanks to Craig Wilson, Roger and Bart Granlud, Jason Miller, Jerry Gulledge and Todd Hunter for their commitment to the event. "These guys spend the Fourth putting everything in place so it would work perfectly and be safely set off," she writes.

This year Wilson and Roger Granlud also spent several days building new mortars and racks for the fireworks. Heinle estimates it will take about three years to completely update the system, but he says he's in it for the long run.

"The fireworks display on the lake is unique to our community," says Heinle. "When you get 200 boats out on the lake at 10 o'clock at night, and the fireworks overhead, well, it's just so scenic."

"We all need to thank these dedicated people for helping to make Lakeside a wonderful place to live and a place to be proud of."

As for Heinle's part in it, he has always had an interest in fireworks. "They're a blast," he says.

N.W. Montana Veterans Food Pantry thanks the community of Flathead Valley, Red Belly Barbecue and all the people who supported its recent summer yard sale. The two-day event was held in the Shopko parking lot and raised $3,700.

Those proceeds will go directly to our local veterans and their families by helping the pantry pay its monthly rent and utilities and keep their doors open. The community's support was greatly appreciated. This is the second year that the pantry has sponsored the sale and it plans to make it an annual summer event.