Countdown: Fair time nearly here

If visions of cotton candy and funnel cakes are dancing in your head, there’s a reason for that. It’s nearly fair week!

For 111 years the annual Northwest Montana Fair and Rodeo has been a tradition in the Flathead Valley. After all those years it’s still a gathering spot where neighbors meet neighbors and a good time is almost guaranteed. Those prize-winning garden vegetables and well-groomed livestock that were part of the first fair in 1902 are still featured at the fair, but it’s grown to include so much more — relay races, pig wrestling, mutton bustin’ sheep-riding for the kids, rodeo action, a demolition derby, the carnival, two concerts, a parade and, of course, the delicious fair food served up by a plethora of local nonprofits.

Although the fair officially begins Wednesday for a five-day run, many events start early, beginning with an open horse show Sunday morning. Watch Sunday’s Inter Lake for the official fair program, plus a feature story and historic photos tracking the many decades of the popular event.

See you at the fair!

Give us your best shot!

Photos galore! Our readers are outdoing themselves with dozens of outstanding entries in our “Your Life Covered” photo contest.

We call it “The Flathead Valley Through My Eyes,” and we have been delighted with the results. The spectacular landscapes remind us once again why we love to live here, and the people and animal photos are full of fun and excitement as well.

If you haven’t entered yet, or you just want to see the gallery of photos, visit www.dailyinterlake.com/YourLifeCovered and get started. You need to have a Facebook account to participate because the contest is a promotion for our Facebook page — just one more way to stay on top of the local news.

And in case, you haven’t heard, there are big prizes involved, too. The grand prize is a weekend getaway to Seattle sponsored by the Flathead Travel Service valued at $1,500. There are also great prizes from the Lodge at Whitefish Lake, Snappy Sport Senter and When in Rome Pizzeria.

Check it out. You will be glad you did.

Alpine Theatre wins applause

Pinch yourself. Are you dreaming? Did you take a flight to New York City and end up on Broadway? No, here you are in the Performing Arts Center in Whitefish, Montana, experiencing world-class professional equity theater —  the Alpine Theatre Project. 

For four weekends this summer, we celebrated the best of Broadway with some of Broadway’s brightest stars. During each performance the audience was introduced to local students of the Broadway Master Class and treated to a song or dance showing the results of their experience working with the visiting Broadway stars.

Those kids and their parents must still be pinching themselves about that dream opportunity.  

For the rest of us, the Alpine Theatre Project should not be taken for granted.

It is a precious rising star, shining bright, adding to the quality of life here in the Flathead. Our hats are off to the founding artists, Betsy Morrison, Luke Walrath and David Ackroyd, who chose to live in this small mountain valley and to amaze us with the highest standards of professional theater.

Editorials represent the majority opinion of the Daily Inter Lake’s editorial board.