Weather sinks Ovando's annual mid-winter Luau

Old Man Winter’s strangle hold on Montana this year caused Ovando residents to tap out on their annual effort to shake off the winter’s dreariness with a little Hawaiian whimsy.

After last weekend’s extreme cold weather and wind chills scuttled a second attempt to host the Annual Ovando Community Mid-Winter Luau, residents cried “Uncle!” and called off the event this year. It was the first cancellation of the event since it began in 2005.

Typically held every year on the Saturday following the Super Bowl, the Luau has served as a chance for community members to break out their most outlandish Hawaiian or beach wear, take a break little break from the winter doldrums and to touch base with their neighbors.

This year’s Luau had originally been scheduled for Feb. 9.

“Our first attempt in early February was during our first big snow/wind event with the 30 below zero wind chill factor, and no sun,” Kathy Schoendoerfer, owner of the Blackfoot Angler and one of the event’s organizers, told the BVD. “This isn't a get together to see who is the toughest, it is supposed to be for fun, so with everybody's blessings we cancelled it.”

By Feb. 20, things were looking up, so “Take Two” of the gathering was rescheduled for Saturday, March 2, with the usual pot luck lunch and bonfire set to get underway at 11 a.m.

But within a week, it became clear that the near record cold and snow February saw wasn’t going to end with the month, and that March was coming in like an ice-breathing lion.

With yet another forecast calling for wind chills of up to minus 30 degrees last Saturday, Schoendoerfer called it off a second and final time. In an e-mail to area residents, she admitted defeat, saying “We give up! for 2019.”

“I took a poll and…those I heard from…wanted to cancel,” she said.

Looking back at Saturday’s weather in Ovando, which wasn’t quite as bad as forecast, Schoendoerfer said they’ve seen worse and probably could have gone forward with it.

“We have had Luaus in February rains where costumes were hidden under rain coats,” she recalled of past Luaus. “The coldest we ever had, it was a beautiful sunny day and it was below zero, yet the folks turned out in their scuba outfits and hula skirts; (we) even had someone show up in a bikini over their long johns.” She added they found out that year that the beer turned to slush so most everyone stayed in the fire hall.

Nevertheless, the area did see some bone-numbing conditions at the time the Luau would have been held. Although there were no official readings available for Ovando, the National Weather Service reported that, to the southeast, Helmville saw wind gusts between 20 and 30 miles per hour with wind chills as low as minus 20 degrees. To the west, Clearwater Junction had winds gusting at about 17 miles per hour and wind chills around 11 below zero.

Although a reprise of the annual Luau won’t be in the offing again this year, Schoendoerfer said the residents of Ovando aren’t ruling out a different celebration, once things warm up a bit.

“It has been suggested that when winter is officially, by our standards, over and Spring is in the air we have a Good Riddance Winter party. I don't know.....we'll see!” she said.