Couple to reign as carnival king, queen
For the first time in the 51-year history of the Whitefish Winter Carnival, the people selected to be King Ullr and the Queen of the Snows are married in real life.
Jim Stack is the new king and Lisa Stack is the new queen. They were crowned Saturday night in Whitefish.
Jim Stack grew up in Cut Bank and is the son of Robert and Joan Stack of Kalispell. His family spent countless summer and winter vacations in Whitefish where he learned to ski at Big Mountain at age 6 when the only two lifts were a rope tow and a T-bar.
After graduating from Montana State University, Jim worked at IBM in research and development, and later left his position as project manager to return to his favorite ski town of Whitefish and the Flathead Valley. He has served on multiple economic development organizations and spent more than 16 years on the Whitefish Lake Protection Committee, serving as chairman for the majority of those years.
Lisa Stack is a third-generation Montanan, the youngest child of Jack and Mary Gorton of Kalispell. She is an alumna of St. Matthew’s School, Flathead High and Montana State University with a degree in finance.
In 1987, she began working with InvesTech Research and married her boss the following year. She has served on the Whitefish Economic Development Corp and as administrative assistant to the Whitefish Lake Protection Committee for 13 years.
In 1993, the Stacks organized and led an 18-month community effort that successfully combined 15 different telephone exchanges in the Flathead Valley into a single toll-free calling area. In 2009, the Stacks were selected by the Whitefish Chamber of Commerce as Citizens of the Year .
Together, they own InvesTech Research and Stack Financial Management with clients and subscribers in all 50 states and more than 42 foreign countries.
Jim frequently is quoted in USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Money Magazine and other financial publications, and has appeared on CNN, CNBC and “The Today Show” and as a regular guest on “The Nightly Business Report” for more than 26 years.
Always working and playing side by side, Jim and Lisa have kayaked the Grand Canyon and Class V whitewater rivers in Chile, Nepal and New Zealand.
In 1999, Jim used those skills in a midnight wintertime rescue on Whitefish Lake for which he later received a Carnegie Medal for Heroism. The Stacks since have donated a rescue hovercraft to the Whitefish Fire Department for use on Whitefish Lake.
“Joined at the paddle, mind and soul,” according to a news release, Jim and Lisa Stack say they are both honored and excited to have been selected as king and queen for the Whitefish Winter Carnival.