A history-filled night on the town

Angela Pratt, left, inspects a costume as Rachel Dean tries on a jacket during rehearsal of "The Long and Short of It."

People celebrating Festival Days can celebrate with some famous — and some notorious — figures from the region's history courtesy of the Hill County Community Foundation.

To celebrate the 32nd annual Festival Days, and its mission to promote social improvement in the county, the foundation is sponsoring "A Night on the Town with Shorty, George, Jim and the Gang, " written by local dramatist Martin Holt.

The play has two sets of vignettes, based on figures from local history like Great Northern Railway magnate James J. Hill; Havre businessman, philanthropist and reputed bootlegger, among other things, C.W. "Shorty" Young; and cowboy, rodeo star, former lawman and horse thief "Long George" Francis. The two sets of vignettes will be at separate locations.

The event starts Saturday at the Palace Bar with two runs. A happy hour starts at 5 p. m. for the first show, with a North Central Montana Transit bus transporting participants to the first location, then to the second, and finally back to the Palace.

The second run starts with a happy hour at the Palace at 6:30 p. m., with the bus taking the audience to the second run starting at 7:30 p. m.

Tickets for the limited-seating showing were presold, but people who didn't get a ticket are invited to come to the Palace to see if any tickets were not picked up. Any available tickets will be auctioned, with the minimum bid the original price, $35 for a single or $60 for a couple.