Hi-Line LIving: A celebration was had

Havre's Festival Days brought thousands of Havreites and Hi-Liners to the area to take part in a multitude of events throughout the weekend.

The festivities began Thursday with the Havre-Hill County Library Book Sale, where bags of books, which have been donated to the library for the event throughout the year, are sold most of them for $1 for a bagful of books.

Friday, the events were fully underway, with the Hi-Line Quilt Guild Festival of Quilts Show, the Steve Heil Memorial Car Show, the beginning of the 48-Hour Softball Tournament, the Havre High School football game against Sidney and the 3rd Annual Glow Run at Montana State University-Northern.

The softball tournament brought 19 community co-ed softball teams from across the state to compete against one another in a grueling, two-day, round-the-clock event.

The parade Saturday, a long-standing tradition, organized each year by the Havre Area Chamber of Commerce, was flanked by crowds of people.

"It's kind of the highlight of the weekend," said Debbie Vandeberg, the director of the Chamber. "Everybody loves the parade."

Each year, three floats are chosen to win awards: the mayor's choice, best commercial float and best noncommercial float. This year, HRDC won the Mayor's Choice category, Rose's File N Style won commercial and the North Central Hangar of the Montana Pilot's Association won for best noncommercial float.

Hundreds and hundreds of people were lined up along 5th Avenue to watch the parade make its way from Havre High School to 4th Street and kids ran along the street to pick up the candy being thrown by the parade participants.

The Havre High School marching band led the caravan as they do every year, playing songs they have been practicing since returning to school. The high school cheerleaders followed, prepping the crowd for the day's celebrations.

Many people went home with more than they went into the weekend with. Melissa Kapperud took home the Willard Vaughn Wheat Sculpture that has been on display for weeks leading up to the fair. The 10-and-a-half-foot-tall sculpture made its way around many parking lots before it found its home during Festival Days.

Jackie Roberts and Heather Baird won vehicles from Custom Collision Repair after winning a competition in which essays were ssubmitted telling why someone should receive the vehicle.

Later that day, the E-1 Demolition Derby roared into the Great Northern Fairgrounds to entertain those who wanted a little more carnage out of their weekend.

Saturday was full of events including, but not limited to, the run of the special trains at the Frank DeRosa Railroad Museum, the Custom Collision Repair Car Show, Barbecue and Burn Out, the Bullhook Bombshells Roller Derby team's kid's carnival at Pepin Park, the MSU-Northern vs. University of Montana-Western football game and more.

The Montana Actors' Theatre put on their annual Death By Chocolate event, where potential sponsors of the troupe, as well as community members just looking for a good show and good food, gathered at the St. Jude Thaddeus gymnasium to watch a murder mystery where the characters were based off real-life Havre personalities.

Sunday saw the winding down of the events, but still offered much for the community to do.

The Festival Days Run/Walk, the commercial products and craft show, 4-H barbecue at Town Square and other events let the area down easy from the full schedule of events for the weekend.

The weekend was a celebration of Havre and everything the community has to offer. It's the last major community event of the year before winter hits and people recede indoors to stay warm for the winter. All in all, the weekend is the one last hurrah before summer officially is over.