Lebowski Fest set for Saturday

Saturday evening at Harvest Moon Lanes, KNMC will be holding Lebowski Fest, a celebration of the classic movie “The Big Lebowski” and a fundraiser to help local musicians replace equipment they lost in a series of burglaries last year.

“This aggression will not stand, man,” a press release for the event said, quoting the film.

Dave Martens, the event’s primary organizer, said he’d always thought Havre should have a Lebowski Fest, as so many towns across the U.S. do, and this seemed like a perfect opportunity to do that, and, at the same time, help local musicians still recovering from having tens of thousands of dollars worth of equipment stolen.

Martens said these local musicians dedicate their time to music and play in countless community events, and helping them isn’t just the right thing to do for what they’ve given, but good for the community.

“We lean on our local musicians super heavily to make these local events work and they often don’t make much money or any money at all from them,” he said.

Indeed, many musicians lost a great deal to burglaries, and not just in monetary value.

Among those who had equipment stolen, as well as a great many other things, was local musician Trygve “Spike” Magelssen, who said his home was broken into three times in October and November of last year.

Magelssen said he lost well over $20,000 worth of items in his house, including seven guitars, among them a Gibson Les Paul he bought with some of the money left to him by his late mother Joanne Jones.

“It’s a lifetime of music and collecting these things, and now all of that stuff is gone,” he said.

He said having his home broken into repeatedly feels violating and it took nearly a month after the last one to start sleeping normally again.

“It was really traumatic,” he said.

Despite how bad the experience and loss has been, Magelssen said, seeing his friends in the music scene reach out to him and try to help with an event like Lebowski Fest has been uplifting, if a little embarrassing.

Another musician who was burglarized was Drew MacRae, who also had a number of guitar’s stolen, and much like Magelssen, the significance was more than a matter of money.

MacRae said one of the items that was stolen was a Stratocaster given to him by his father, who is in ailing health, his first real instrument.

“A lot of that stuff you can’t replace,” he said.

Martens said Chris Preputin, another person in the local music scene, came up with the idea of having a fundraiser to help people like MacRae and Magelssen, and he was 100 percent on board with the idea, which he hoped would raise some spirits, not just money.

Preputin said a lot of the people who had things stolen spent decades putting together their collections of equipment and it made sense to him to try to help them out, especially when they make very little if anything at so many of the events they play for.

“It was a no-brainer,” he said.

He said “The Big Lebowski” is a favorite among local musicians, and the film has an amazing and memorable soundtrack so the event ended up being a perfect fit.

He said music is fundamental to the events that keep the community thriving and he hopes the community will help give back to them when they are in need.

Martens said they have gotten a lot of volunteer support for the event, with a number of local businesses donating time and items to the event, including some of the people at Bergren Transmission who will be helping with sound, and Spruce and Steel which donated two guitars to raffle off.

Valley Furniture also donated a 5-by-7 rug as a reward for the costume contest, which Martens said was very generous and will hopefully really tie someone’s room together.

Raffle items will also include a rail spike coat rack donated by Rooted MT.

Live bands will be featured throughout the night playing songs from the soundtrack including Arthur Digby’s Iron Lung of Big Sandy, Coko & Friends, and Velvet Skyline.

Tower of Power chili will also be available throughout the night.

Doors will open at 6 p.m. and a showing of the movie will begin at 6:30 p.m.