Hi-Line Living: Characters come to Discover Downtown

Saturday's Discover Downtown event brought together venders and shoppers and curious onlookers and all kinds of participants, including running, walking, stroller-pushing and ice cream eating contestants.

The day started with the run and walk competitions, and Alison Adams and Marley Springer, no older than 7, came to run.

The two girls leaned forward anxiously, heads past the starting line as Hayley Yost, the one-mile walk's referee, prepared to release the contestants. The girls were determined to win.

Alison and Marley won. Yost said they ran the entire mile.

As for the 5k run, Yost said a man who hadn't registered and just wanted to run beat Neil Hancock's time by two minutes. Yost didn't know who the mystery man was.

Bethany Holzworth is a cosmetologist whose business Hi-Line Hair will be launched sometime in June or July. Her salon will be on the third floor of The 305 Building. Having worked in high-end salons in Bozeman, she said, her aim is to bring quality cuts to Havre.

Holzworth had set up a hair-cutting chair, outside, in front of the dance studio hall. She was giving free haircuts all day.

Caleb Hutchins was getting his free haircut. He welcomed Holzworth's business. He told a story about a time he went to get a haircut somewhere in town and told the barber he wanted his hair cut short, but not "old man haircut" short.

Hutchins said the barber then asked him, almost assuming, if it was a mullet style haircut he was looking for.

Hutchins said he's glad Holzworth knows more styles than mullet and "old man haircut."

Liz McIntosh of Mud Lake Iron Works had set up, with the help of her young granddaughter Natalia, her metal art display. There were metal plant holders of many designs and sizes, cone-shaped metal Christmas trees, lights included, and metal flag holders. Liz said her husband, Don, made all the metal displays.

The business started when Don made a flag holder to stake at the cemetery, the strong Hi-Line wind being the innovative push. From there, the metal art, most of it made from seeders, evolved.

Karen Kuntz is a self-professed junk collector. She came from Roundup to sell her refurbished pieces of painted wood and corrugated metal. The main themes in Kuntz's pieces are Montana and American flags. She said she gathered her materials mostly out of the dumps.

Kuntz was soft-spoken and when she wasn't selling anything, she was sitting in a foldout chair and reading a book.

Dale Shulund is a sketch artist. His booth had a wall on which many framed pencil sketches, mostly of animals, hung on both sides. He said drawing is therapy to him - his wife tells him to draw when he gets agitated, he added.

Shulund pointed to a drawing of a bison.

He said he was hunting in the Fort Belknap region when he spotted a large bison a little over 100 yards away. He said he shot it - he was hunting with a .300 Winchester Magnum - in the ball behind its front shoulder. The shot didn't seem to faze the bison. Shulund said he shot the bison a second time, this time straight in the head. Schulund said the bison responded by shaking her head, as if warding off a bothersome fly.

The bison went down after a third shot, this one also in the head, but lower. Shulund said he found the first shot lodged outside, in the hide, not having penetrated the tough exterior of the bison. He guessed the second shot didn't penetrate the skull either.

Beth Jorgenson's booth was packed on three sides with Usborne children's interactive books. Beth and Jeff, her husband, are trying to have children through in vitro fertilization.

One day they hope to be reading some of the books to their children. Jorgenson said she didn't mind telling strangers about their attempts.

Local historian Emily Mayer had a table with her books about historic Havre.

Mayers have lived in Havre for seven generations, she said. One of her main concerns is that Havre has lost too much history. Mayer also expressed concern that Havre is losing its character, citing big box stores as an example.

"It's not conducive to Havre's success to look like every other community," Mayer said.

For Mayer, people like Marc Whitacre and Erica Farmer, who have bought the Havre Historic Post Office and The 305 Building, or the former masonic temple, put a smile on her face because they're restoring the essence of Havre.

"These two buildings needed Marc and Erica," she said, before talking about how people shouldn't be buying property in the community if they're not part of it.

While Mayer was at her booth, Whitacre and Farmer were giving tours of the mentioned buildings. The couple had three tours scheduled for 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. A few tours were added in between as well.

One part of the tour that consistently proved interesting to those taking the tours was the former masonic meeting room on the fourth floor, Farmer said. People stopped to shuffle through the framed pictures of former members and they eyed the bigger displays, made of many small square pictures.

Gram's Ice Cream parlor hosted an ice cream eating contest at 2 p.m. Foldout tables were laid out in the center of the square as Styrofoam boxes filled with ice cream were set on them for children, and adults, to devour in record time. Both the group and individual eating times were broken.

Holzworth was finishing her eleventh haircut at 4:30 p.m. Someone was on deck, waiting for her haircut. It would be Holzworth's twelfth haircut.

Local band Sax Cadillac had begun playing in the parking lot of the Atrium Mall.

All that is known about the lady in the pink track suit and large sunglasses is that her name is Rose. Kirt Miller, who was playing keyboards and singing, mentioned Rose's dancing.

The band was playing a cover of Eddie Rabbit's "Drivin' My Life Away" and Rose was doing a loose version of the twist, her arms steering a large imaginary steering wheel, in rhythm.