Lighthouse Home gets new look before festival

In preparation for its yearly Harvest Festival, the Lighthouse Christian Home just north of Somers got some help from Rock this City volunteers to spruce up the place.

A local painter saw a request from the home and set out with other volunteers from churches to help out.

“The decks needed painting,” said Hogie Hogan, owner of HisBiz Painting and Home Maintenance Services in Somers. “What we found was that the whole house needed painting. We had from eight to 20 people working on it for six days.”

Because it was entirely a volunteer project, Rock this City members went to local paint stores and asked for donations.

Sherwin-Williams and Columbia Paint donated massive amounts of paint to cover both the main house and the outer house where three Lighthouse residents live.

Hogan said the folks at the Lighthouse didn’t see the generosity coming.

“They were surprised,” he said. “They were totally blown out of their socks.”

Dottie Maitland, a longtime volunteer at the Lighthouse Home, said the residents and volunteers were grateful for the improvements.

“We were amazed at what we got,” she said. “We are so dependent on volunteers. The Flathead Valley is one of the most giving places I’ve ever been.”

Rock this City is a way for local churches to give back to nonprofits, charities and businesses. Hogan has participated for three years.

The new paint job is a timely improvement for Lighthouse, since one of the facility’s two big fundraisers is rapidly approaching.

This weekend, the home will put on its annual Harvest Festival, a five-hour event with live entertainment, a petting zoo, and plants, baked goods and crafts the residents have created.

The Harvest Festival is from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday at the Lighthouse Christian Home at 384 North Somers Road. Call 857-3276 for more information.

Reporter Ryan Murray may be reached at 758-4436 or at rmurray@dailyinterlake.com.