Law officers to parade on U.S. 93

Law officers from around the state will join forces Saturday to celebrate fallen peace officers and pray for safety along the U.S. 93 corridor.

A parade, prayer walk and other ceremonies in the Flathead Valley are part of Peace Officers Memorial Day, which ends National Police Week.

“Every day across our county, peace officers stand watch over our citizens, selflessly risking their lives to protect individuals, families, neighbors and property. They do so with courage, commitment and dedicated service, and unfortunately in too many instances our brother and sister peace officers have paid the ultimate price serving and protecting,” Kalispell Chief of Police Roger Nasset wrote in a statement about the event.

Officers from Montana, Idaho and Canada will begin marching in an honor parade at 11 a.m., traveling from the north end of the courthouse loop (at the junction of Eighth Street and Main Street) to Center Street.

A ceremony honoring the fallen will begin at 1 p.m. in Depot Park.

The public is invited to attend the parade and ceremony. Kalispell Police ask people to park in the old Dollar Store parking lot, the south end of the Super 1 Foods parking lot, or along city streets.

The event is planned outdoors, but if weather conditions aren’t conducive, Nasset said, officers will move the ceremony to Flathead High School.

Prior to the parade, law enforcement officers and law enforcement chaplains will team up in a “prayer walk” on U.S. 93 from Whitefish to Depot Park and from Somers to Depot Park to pray for protection for officers and other travelers as they drive on the U.S. 93 corridor.

The walk’s 25 miles will be divided so officers walk in two-mile sections. It will begin at 8 a.m.

Although Nasset said he would love it if members of the public could participate, he has asked them not to because of safety concerns.

Organized by Mike McElderry, tribal game warden and chaplain, the walk is a portion of a larger walk that has its roots on the Flathead Indian Reservation.

Local church members have walked from the Canadian border to Evaro to pray for forgiveness and protection.

It has been a year since that first walk, and since then McElderry said no tribal members have been killed in accidents along U.S. 93 on the reservation.

Usually, there are between six and eight fatalities a year.

“Is it by chance? We don’t believe so. We think God is hearing our prayer,” he said. “We believe that God has blessed this corridor and it has become a highway of life instead of death.”

Although tribal members already have walked the U.S. 93 corridor between Somers and Whitefish, he said praying for unification of and protection for law enforcement is “an honorable thing.”

After the walk, officers will head to the Kalispell parade, then the Depot Park ceremony.

At Depot Park, speakers will be Nasset, Kalispell Mayor Tammi Fisher, Kalispell Lt. Wade Rademacher, Flathead County Sheriff Mike Meehan, Montana Highway Patrol Col. Mike Tooley, Blackfeet Nation Chairman Willie Sharp, Salish and Kootenai Tribal Police Chief Craig Couture, Gov. Brian Schweitzer and retired Kalispell Police Chief Frank Garner.

Reporter Melissa Weaver may be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at mweaver@dailyinterlake.com