LVCC dials back on Brewery Follies, revisits Bike Rally

Brewery Follies

When the Lincoln Valley Chamber of Commerce brought the Brewery Follies from Virginia City to Lincoln last fall, locals looking for a few politically incorrect laughs turned out in force, turning the Lincoln Community Hall into a standing room only venue.

The success of the endeavor, which paid for itself in ticket sales and raised some extra money for the LVCC, prompted the board to bring the show back to town for a two night stint this Oct. 5 and 6, but those plans changed two weeks ago.

The LVCC had planned to sell 200 tickets for each of the two shows, scheduled for Friday and Saturday evenings. They based the expected sales off last year's demand, which saw 200 tickets sell quickly and had additional demand at the door.

This year however, the Chamber has sold only about 20 tickets total by the time of their Sept. 12 meeting. Concern over the poor ticket sales prompted the board of directors to cancel the Friday night show.

While the cost of booking the group for two was only $500 more than for a single night, the LVCC also foots the bill for their motel rooms and with concerns they may not even recover the cost of a one-night show, they voted to cut their possible losses.

The reason for the poor ticket sales remains unclear. The LVCC chose to raise the price of the tickets from $20 to $25 this year, which may have had an effect, but LVCC President Laurie Richards said she's also heard that there are pay-per-view fights that weekend. She said others were concerned that problems that affected last year's show – difficulty hearing the actors, the overall noise from the large crowd and from some audience members – would be an issue again. Richards said there is a plan in place to address those issues, and the original plan for two nights was part of that.

"It's a great night for Lincoln," she said, "If we lose money, we lose money, but we're going to have fun."

Tickets for the Oct. 6 Brewery Follies show are still available at the Wheel Inn, the BVD, the Pit Stop and Citizens Alliance Bank.

The potential return of the Lincoln Bike Rally.

When the 4th Annual Lincoln Bike Rally fell by the wayside this year, motorcyclists in Montana took notice.

Representatives of Great Falls motorcycle clubs such as the Tenacious Dames Riding Club and the Blackh3earts, visited Lincoln Sept. 11 to discuss the future of the Lincoln Bike Rally with the LVCC.

After a strong first year for the Lincoln Bike Rally in 2015, the event faced a heavy rainstorm in 2016 that hit attendance hard. By the third year, weather and a decision to scale back the scope of events had an impact that saw the Rally lose money for a third consecutive year. This year, themain event organizer, Ron Zarr, had work commitments that pulled him away from planning the event and confusion over who had 'ownership' of the Rally led to its cancellation.

However, Lincoln's central location remains a strong selling point for the bike rally and members of the Great Falls groups want to see it's return.

Tina Bundtrock of the Teancious Dames and Jason Fifeild with the Backh3arts took over management of the Rally's Facebook page in July and have tentatively scheduled the 2019 rally for July 12-14, and they brought a list of proposed ideas and a commitment to ensure the rally's success to the LVCC board.

During this month's meeting, LVCC President Laurie Richards said that, under the plan presented to them, the Chamber would remain the primary sponsor of the event, cover the cost of lodging for event organizers and provide the insurance, but the Great Falls-based groups would coordinate bar or local events with Lincoln businesses, find additional sponsors, and plan, organize and manage the event.

Changes the groups would like to implement next year include the return of a biker rodeo, a bike parade and a pancake breakfast, as well as a poker run to Helmville that give bikers a chance to see the area.

"That's one of the things the bikers said. They didn't want to just stay in town, they wanted to ride their bikes," Richards said.

A pub crawl could also be on tap for those who don't want to do a riding poker run.

The Great Falls clubs have experience with planning such events ad already have two bands and several vendors lined up.

One of the concerns they discussed with the LVCC board was the length of time it took attendees to get food. The feedback from past Lincoln Bike Rallies was that local bars and restaurants didn't have enough grab-and-go-type food available. They hope local restaurants will be able to provide items such as barbecued burgers and hot dogs or sausages next year, but discussed bringing in additional food trucks if that's impracticable.

A concern voiced at the Chamber meeting was the question of where the money would come from if the event failed to support itself, as has happened in the past.

Richards explained that the clubs plan to sell sponsorships, t-shirts and poker hands beforehand to raise the money.

"They're not getting anything made until they get the sponsors to cover it," she said. Lincoln Bike Rally memorabilia and t-shirts will also be available for purchase online, rather than only on site.

Despite the checkered success of past Lincoln Bike Rallies, management of the event by motorcycle clubs with the necessary experience and contacts helped to win the support of the Bike Rally from board members who had been concerned about seeing the LVCC continue to lose money on it.

"I'll say I'm not opposed, which is a big jump for me. As long as they're running it and doing the work and raising the funds, I think it's a good thing for Lincoln and I think it can build up," said Suzie Gehring. "They're organized, they know what they're doing. They really do. That's what impressed me."