Homesteaders ready to celebrate

It is the time of year that the population of Hot Springs gets a boost… for a weekend. The 68th Annual Homesteader Days Celebration is an event that features a fun run, car show, rodeo, and live music. Food and vendors tempt residents and visitors, while the action is spread across three days - from downtown to Highway 28.

Friday, June 8, will have vendors setting up at noon featuring arts, crafts and food booths. Fergie’s Pub will feature live music beginning at 9 p.m.

Registration for the Car Show will begin Saturday morning, 9 a.m. on Wall Street. The rods and classics will line Main Street to be admired and judged at 3:30 p.m. The annual Skunk Alley Run (3k and 10k) will kick off 9:30 a.m., and a breakfast fundraiser for the town’s public library is 8-11 a.m. at the Tribal Nutrition Center on Spring Street.

Kids can go to the city park for free activities, ncluding games with prizes. Adults too big for that kind of fun can register for the Doubles Horseshoe Tournament, starting at 10:30 a.m. at Creekside and A Street, for a $20 fee.

Main Street will clear and make way for the Kiddy Parade beginning at noon. The Rubber Ducky Race will have participants cheering on their favored synthetic fowl downstream for prizes.

The big shin dig will take place on Broadway, just east of the school grounds in the rodeo arena, as riders and ropers compete. The annual Street Dance will have a second round from the Flathead V8’s from 9 p.m. until 1:30 a.m.

Rise and shine Sunday morning for a pancake breakfast hosted by the Masonic Lodge, 8 -11 a.m. LaRue Museum will again be open from noon until 4 p.m., and Tom Clontz and Larry McCain will play western music until the Grand Parade on Main Street begins at noon. The annual homesteader procession will feature Gwen Nelson as the honored Grand Marshall.

The Senior Center will host familiar faces re-greeting with smiles and hugs for the Homesteader Reunion, and the rodeo events will continue beginning 2 p.m. at the arena. For information about Homesteader Days, call 741-2662 or 741-2361.