Plenty of fun planned on the Fourth of July

by CAROL MARINO
Daily Inter Lake | June 30, 2015 9:00 PM

American flags will fly across the Flathead Valley and beyond as communities celebrate the Fourth of July in style.

Pick a favorite spot to watch one of the community parades or pyrotechnic displays.

Here’s a look at what’s happening:

KALISPELL

Kalispell’s Fourth of July Parade heads down Main Street at 10 a.m. Pull up a lawn chair for a front-row seat along the sidewalk. Afterward, head to the Conrad Mansion for a free ice cream social on the spacious lawn, along with free face painting and family fun. Self-guided tours of the mansion will be available at reduced rates. Call 755-2166 for more details.

Lone Pine State Park near Kalispell hosts a free fireworks viewing from 9 to 11:30 p.m. Get a bird’s-eye view over the Flathead and enjoy the pyrotechnics displays from Bigfork to Columbia Falls. Bring a flashlight but leave any fireworks at home since they are prohibited in the park.

WHITEFISH

The 36th annual Whitefish Arts festival bookends the Fourth of July celebration in Whitefish. A long tradition of high-quality arts and crafts, from metal sculpture and woodworking to jewelry and fine art, will be for sale on the lawn at Depot Park. Food vendors will also be on site offering a variety of tasty fare and local musicians and performers will entertain. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free.
The Stumptown Quilters Society hosts its “Everything Old is New Again,” quilt show from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sunday in the Whitefish Middle School gym. Modern and vintage quilts, boutique, vendors, a silent auction and raffle are featured and admission is free.
On the Fourth, fireworks start shortly after dusk over Whitefish Lake. Watch from City Beach or from your favorite watercraft. A free shuttle is available from 7 to 11:15 p.m. from the O’Shaughnessy Center downtown to the beach.

BIGFORK

Bigfork’s Fourth of July activities kick off with the fifth annual Freedom 5K Run. Registration and check-in are at 8 a.m. and the run starts at 9 a.m. at Brookside Yard (formerly Brookie’s Cookies). All proceeds will go toward children of fallen soldiers for post-secondary education in Montana. For more information, call 406-240-9278 or visit www.gratefulnationmontana.com
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 121 Crestview Drive hosts a free community pancake breakfast from 8 to 10 a.m., accompanied by sausage, eggs and orange juice. There will be live music and the raising of the American flag. The Bigfork Fire Hall will offer a lunchtime barbecue.
The parade starts at noon downtown. Horses, clowns, floats and fire trucks will head down Grand and Central avenues. General parking is available in the high school parking lot.
At 4 p.m. the Ducks for Bucks race will be held at the Old Steel Bridge. Purchase ducks at the Chamber office, The Jug Tree or Roma’s. Proceeds go to the Bigfork High School Scholarship Program.

LAKESIDE

Dress up your boat and yourselves in patriotic style and participate in the annual Fourth of July Boat Parade, staging in front of Acqua Pazza at 3:45 p.m. The parade gets under way at 4 p.m. Boaters will fall in line behind a 26-foot white Stan Craft sporting a Statue of Liberty on the bow. The route heads south toward the Lutheran Bible Camp in Hughes Bay. For information, call Holly Larson, 270-2317, or Bye Bitney, 212-7468.
Lakeside hosts its annual pyrotechnics display beginning at 11 p.m. over Flathead Lake. Tune your radio dial to 107.3 FM to listen to synchronized music.
The celebration continues Sunday with the Live! in Lakeside concert from 4 to 8 p.m., featuring a variety of local guitar talent and sponsored by the Crown of the Continent Guitar Foundation. Gates open at 3 p.m. The concert will be held on the lawn at the Lakeside Towne Center, 306 Stoner Loop. The picnic menu will be accompanied by beer and wine from Tamarack Brewing Co. Tickets are $15 at the gate or $10 in advance at Tamarack and Glacier Perks.

POLSON

The Fourth of July in Polson is a family fun-filled celebration that includes a parade, music and fireworks.
The 1-mile Firecracker Fun Run opens the day’s events as runners dash down Main Street starting at St. Joseph Medical Center at 11:45 a.m. A parade begins at noon at Cherry Valley Elementary School and continues down Main Street. The theme is “Home Is Where the Heart Is.” Parade entry forms are available online at www.polsonchamber.com and at the Chamber office at 418 Main St.
Afternoon events include an old-fashioned ice cream social at the Polson Flathead Historical Museum and a free community concert in Sacajawea Park. The concert will culminate in the annual fireworks display.

TROY

For more than 100 years, the town of Troy has thrown an old-fashioned Fourth of July celebration culminating with a top-notch fireworks display.
A parade starts at 11 a.m. Admission is free to the all-day, family-friendly event in Roosevelt Park where they will be an arts and crafts fair, live music food booths, a beer garden, Cruisers car show, music and more.
Fireworks begin at dusk.
Other happenings in Lincoln County include the Yaak River Tavern Independence Day celebration. Bring the family to celebrate the Fourth with a fun-filled day of festivities starting at 11 a.m. with games for the kids, a horseshoe tournament, barbecue, live music by the Run Boy Run Band and fireworks at dusk.
For more details, visit yaakrivertavern.theyaak.com

POLEBRIDGE

Polebridge shines every July 4 with its own unique brand of parade. Head up the North Fork for a chance to join this wacky and fun event starting at noon ... more or less. The historic Polebridge Mercantile and the Northern Lights Saloon will be open featuring live music Friday and Saturday.

MANY GLACIER

Celebrate Many Glacier Hotel’s Centennial on the Fourth of July. The hotel first opened July 4, 1915 in Glacier National Park.
Historic walking tours lasting 45 minutes are scheduled at 11 a.m., 1 and 4 p.m.
From 2 to 3 p.m. Xanterra General Manager Marc Ducharme, Glacier National Park Superintendent Jeff Mow and Glacier National Park Conservancy Chief Executive Officer Mark Priess will offer presentations and historian Ray Djuff with the Glacier Foundation will give a slide show. Djuff also will sign copies of his book, “Glacier’s Historic Hotels & Chalets: View with a Room.”
Enjoy music in the lobby from 4:30 to 6 p.m. and the dining room will offer a centennial-themed menu. A ranger talk is scheduled for 8 p.m.
Events will be capped off by a hootenanny in the St. Moritz Room beginning at 9 p.m.
All events are free to attend, however parking is limited.

COLUMBIA HEIGHTS

God’s Ten Commandment Park celebrates its first anniversary and pays tribute to law enforcement and firefighters with a celebration from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday through Sunday.
The park is located at 7401 U.S. 2 in Columbia Heights. There will be free hot dogs and beverages, along with free Ten Commandment magnets handed out. Everyone is welcome.

THOMPSON FALLS

Venture back in time at David Thompson Days Saturday in Thompson Falls. Living history activities get started at 8 a.m. at Ainsworth Field with atl spear throwing lessons. Admission is free.
A parade gets under way at 10 a.m. celebrating a time continuum from earliest recorded history to present day.
The Declaration of Independence will be recited at 11 a.m. at Power Park south of the post office.
Living history demonstrations will be ongoing from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the park, featuring an early 1800s encampment of geographer David Thompson, fur trading, flintlock rifle operations, primitive fire making, historic crafts and much more.
Fireworks will be launched from 6 p.m. to midnight at the Wild Goose Landing boat launch.

— compiled by Daily Inter Lake Community Editor Carol Marino