Dragon Boats great way to end summer
The third annual Montana Dragon Boat Festival is being held this weekend at Flathead Lake Lodge in Bigfork.
If you have ever been to the festival, chances are you will be returning, and if you haven’t gone yet, then by all means take advantage of the lovely weather and enjoy a day or two by the lake searching the horizon for incoming dragons!
Flathead Lake Lodge is a perfect setting for this event, which sprawls across several acres of waterfront, and also features a children’s activity area sponsored by the Nurturing Center. There’s also food, music, and lots of fun, and the event itself is free.
As many as 100 teams of 22 people are expected to compete in the races, which draw racers from all across the united States and Canada. Racing is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday.
Don’t forget, there is no on-site parking, so the easiest way to get there is to park at the intersection of Montana 35 and Montana 82 four miles north of Bigfork and take the shuttle bus. The cost for parking is $10 a vehicle and is good for both days.
Get set for startup weekend
Area entrepreneurs and anyone with a bright idea for a new business will have a unique opportunity next week to pitch ideas, form teams and launch business startups — all in 54 hours.
The Glacier Startup Weekend is an entrepreneurial blitz that will bring together a variety of innovative thinkers. Montana is well-known for its entrepreneurial spirit, so it’s anyone’s guess what potential new startup will prevail as the winning idea.
Participants will get an extra measure of inspiration from keynote speaker Michael Goguen, a managing partner at Sequoia Capital who’s well-known not only as a successful venture capitalist but also a generous Whitefish philanthropist. He will speak Friday night at Flathead Valley Community College during the Startup Weekend.
It’s not too late to sign up; go to www.glacier.startupweekend.org to learn how you can make your dream of a new business come true.
Kudos to Evergreen Fire team
A significant upgrade to the Evergreen Fire Department’s national insurance rating should come as good news to Evergreen residents, and those involved with the largely volunteer department should be proud.
The National Insurance Services Office recently boosted the department’s rating from 5 to 3, on a scale of 1 to 10, with Class 1 being the highest rating possible. That means residents and businesses within the department’s protection area may soon be in for insurance premium reductions.
A rating review comes around about every 10 years, so fire departments have limited chances to meet the criteria for a higher rating. Evergreen Fire Chief Craig Williams attributes the higher rating to additional training, more personnel and newer equipment, and improved water supplies compared to the last time the department was reviewed in 1999.
Williams also credits the Evergreen community for its support of the department, along with volunteers who make up about half the department’s staff. Indeed, credit in this case is due all around!
Editorials represent the majority opinion of the Daily Inter Lake’s editorial board.