Hi-Line Living: An Independence Day tradition created in Havre, Montana

Pepin Park was already teeming with people Tuesday at noon when the annual Fourth of July Festival was scheduled to begin.

The thunder of guitar riffs and booming voices of a band performing at the park could be heard from blocks away, while the air was thick with the smell of grill smoke and sunscreen.

People of all ages were at the park. Toddlers tried to tackle inflated beach balls, youths in bright colored T-shirts and baseball caps threw frisbees or made conversation.

Grandparents in sunglasses sat in folding chairs, shielded from the sun by the treetop canopies.

The scene was reminiscent of a Norman Rockwell painting with uniformed scouts taking part in a flag ceremony and American Flag bunting hanging from the gazebo.

For 17 years, this festival has turned Pepin Park into the place to be for the Fourth of July in Havre - no cover charge and no invitation are necessary. It has become as much of a hallmark of the Fourth of July in Havre as the Jaycees fireworks display.

"I think it's a great thing to get the community together," said Cortney Filler, who was at the park with her husband. Despite being a lifelong Havreite, Filler said, this year was only her second time coming to the festival.

Others at the park, such as Bill Lanier, are regulars. Lanier said he has been coming to the festival since 2003, its second year. As a scout leader, he takes part in the flag ceremony. Lanier said, aside from the larger crowds, the festival has remained the same.

For Allen "Woody" Woodwick, however, this year's festival was different. It is the first without his older brother, Vince, who died of cancer in February. Woody said this year's celebration would be bittersweet.

Woody and Vince were the two minds behind creating the festival, which has since mushroomed into a new community tradition.

History

Woody said that before the festival began, there were no community events on the Fourth of July. One year his wife, Keri, complained that there is nothing to do in Havre during the Fourth of July. Woodwick, along with his brother Vince, who had just moved back from Nebraska, decided to do something about that.

"Sometimes there is the attitude around Havre that there is nothing going on in Havre, so there is no reason to stick around," Woody said. "I look at that as backwards, I think if we did something people would stick around."

Debbie Woodwick, Vince's widow, said Woody proposed doing something just two weeks before the Fourth of July.

The original plan was to have bands play at Pepin Park and people to bring their own food. However, a few days before the gathering, a friend told the Woodwicks the festival would have a barbecue because a local rancher had just given him 100 pounds of meat. Condiments were donated and hamburger buns were donated.

"So we ended up having a barbecue the first year, and once you end up with that one year, people expect it," she said.

Debbie said that the first year, organizers had only one small grill, but eventually the crowds swelled to such a size where it became necessary to have two.

Debbie said despite the lack of promotion 400 people showed up the first year. She estimated that, on average, at least 1,200 people come each year.

"There are some years we fed over 1,500 people," she said.

A line of people extends across the park each year inching forward slowly. Debbie said that, despite the long wait to get food, she has never heard anyone complain.

She said people would say they didn't mind standing in line because they were talking to friends.

"They were visiting with people they would not normally visit with off the street and get to see old friends," Debbie said.  

The music

Woody has always been in charge of organizing the music.

He said that the first year he came up with an idea to do a battle of the bands for the festival, where musicians would pay a fee to perform. The plan, though, soon had to be abandoned because nobody signed up. A bass player for the local band Blind Luck himself, Woody reached out to some groups and musicians in the area. He said one band was willing to come and play, but they were missing a bass player. Woody then agreed to fill in.

The number of available acts often depends on what day the Fourth of July falls on in a given year, he said. If it falls on a weekend, bands might be playing somewhere else. Sometimes Woody and musicians from different bands come together to form a temporary band.

Last year, for example, some members of Blind Luck and some members of the Milk River Band showed up. That led to the two bands combining their members for the day to form Near-Sighted Creek.

Woody joked that the name came about because the band was "not quite blind and not quite a river."

Woody himself often takes center stage, either performing as part of a band or playing guitar with his grandson Benjamin.

Last year's festival turned out to be especially memorable for the Woodwicks.

Woody and Vince's brother Steve came up from Great Falls to attend the festival for the first time. Their sister, Colleen, also came in from Seattle.  

Woody said it was the first time he and his siblings had all been together for a long time.

It also turned out to be the last time the four would be together. Vince died six months later.

Vince

Though not there in body, Woody said the day before, Vince would be at this year's festival in spirit.  

"The whole festival is a memorial to Vince," Woody said.

Sherri Simonson, who took over Vince's role as the festival's director last year, had a poster made composed of photos of Vince that was propped up at the serving table and songs were performed in his honor at the park Tuesday.  

Though it has since become a community effort, it was Vince who was the backbone of the festival, Debbie said. She said that each year in May, Vince would make up flyers and personally approach businesses large and small for donations.

It took a few years for businesses to take them seriously, but Vince was always able to get some donations either in the form of money or in-kind contributions, Debbie said.  

A raffle was started when the manager of the Holiday Village Mall offered to donate a quilt for the festival organizers to raffle off, Debbie said, so that first year the raffle items consisted of the quilt and two of Vince's pencil drawings.  

Businesses since then have donated an array of items to be raffled off. Money generated from the raffle is then used to pay for the next year's festival.

The day of the festival, Vince's work did not stop, even after he began winding down his role.

"You would never see him sitting in one spot," Debbie said.

She added that Vince would always be walking around during the festival handing out necklaces, candy or other cheap items for kids, or joining in with the face painting.

"That was his favorite part of it, the face painting," Debbie said. "He just thought that was so much fun."

Entertainment

Though it remains the same at its core, oftentimes organizers make small adjustments to the festival.

Woody said there are years when the festival has had changing stations where people can change their babies.

There have been others when organizers have held a parade, though Woody said parades don't tend to generate much interest.

The entertainment provided can vary. This year for example, the Agile Rascals Bicycle Touring Theatre, an acting troupe traveling across Montana by bicycle, performed a play they wrote.

Another year Bill Chambers, a local storyteller, told old western stories.

Musicians of all stripes are welcome to perform.

"I have always said if the crowd doesn't like it, we will refund their admissions," Woody said.

Community

As the years have gone on, the festival has gained a foothold in the community.

Woody said in recent years donations as well as the number of volunteers have increased.

He said more than 100 people in a given year volunteer, ranging from regulars to one-time volunteers.

Debbie said that some years, there are so many volunteers they have to turn people away because there is not enough to keep them busy.

The outpouring of support also comes in the form of money including people buying raffle tickets or voluntary contributions made at the serving table or directly to the Woodwicks.

Sometimes, the amount of money they receive in donations is so great, it exceeds the amount generated through the sale of raffle tickets.

The festival has not only drawn Havre residents but also people passing through.

Debbie said people have attended the festival from not just around the U.S. but also around the world.

She said attendees have come to the festival from Canada, Norway, Australia and the United Kingdom.

At its heart, though, the festival is a community affair.

Woody said people often reach out to him in person or through social media asking how they can contribute to the festival.

"That's the really cool thing, people are coming forward to help out and volunteer. That makes the effort worthwhile," Woody said.