CHOTEAU(AP)
The post office here got so many postcards from people wanting free tickets to a Willie Nelson concert that a 32-gallon container was designated for the mail. Nelson is scheduled to present an outdoor concert Tuesday, July 3 in Choteau and attendance is free, courtesy of an anonymous benefactor who specified that Teton County residents get priority for 3,200 tickets. An additional 200 were designated for out-oftowners. Alaska and New York are among the places from which people wanting those tickets sent mail. The free tickets are awarded in weekly drawings, and about half have been given away. Some radio stations in western Montana will receive tickets to award in contests next week. Since announcement of the concert more than a month ago, the Choteau post office has received a stream of postcards addressed to the Choteau Jaycees, who are handling some of the concert arrangements. The Jaycees’ Julie Barcus said 30 postcards sent from Westchester, N.Y., were discarded for lack of contact information. The concert will kick off Choteau’s Fourth of July festivities, which include a rodeo and a parade. Previous parade participants have included TV celebrity David Letterman, who owns a ranch near Choteau. When asked in May if the Nelson concert was financed by Letterman, a spokesman for his production company said there would be no comment on Letterman’s life outside his nightly show on CBS.
