The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
The Lincoln American Legion Post 9 Honor Guard leads the parade into Ovando from the parking lot of Trixi's Saloon.
Andrew and Diane Scott of Auckland New Zealand join in the fun during the Ovando's Independence day parade.
Art Shad, John and Jan Farrar, and Jackson the black lab recreate 'The Spirit of 76." John Farrar, a revolutionary war buff, convinced Shad, who was visiting from Florida, to "dress up a little bit" for the parade. John admitted that though his uniform jacket is actually a reproduction, made by Jan, of those worn on the Lewis and Clark expedition, it had the right look.
A young boy in a donkey cart looks back at the parade behind him as they head into town.
A fire engine from the Ovando Volunteer Fire Department blasts a stream of water into the air, cooling off the parade spectators.
Fred Valiton watches the parade with a stars and stripes clad 'Donald Trump.' Valiton said last year, 'Ronald Reagan' put in an appearance.
A girl run-through a stream of water from an Ovando Fire Engine.
Downtown ovando is packed as people line up for hamburgers and hot dogs.
Everybody loves a parade
When New Zealanders Andrew and Diane Scott rode into Ovando July 3, they didn't know they'd be "international ambassadors" in a parade celebrating American Independence the next day.
Kathy Schoendoerfer, Ovando's de facto ambassador for cyclists, said they had planned to leave on the morning of the Fourth, but were convinced to stick around for the towns annual Independence Day Parade.
"We decorated up their bicycles, put cowboy hats on them and they had a blast," she said. " I heard from other cyclists who passed them later in the day. Apparently, they had such a good time they were telling anyone who would listen about the 4th of July parade in Ovando."
Every year Ovando hosts a uniquely informal parade on the Fourth, an affair that generally makes two laps around the town and invites everyone to participate. The result is a lineup that includes everything from the requisite American Legion Honor Guard, fire engines and horses to hastily decorated ATVs and kids on scooters. This year even a group of Harley Davidson enthusiasts accidently found themselves welcome to be in the parade. They made both laps around town.
Schoendoerfer said this year's parade- took everyone a little bit by surprise.
"To all of our recollections, it was the most people participating, and the most people watching," she said. "And we don't get it; we don't know why."
She said one of the reasons the parade was so large probably had to do with the 30-plus people with the Teller Family reunion who came to town. The family recently bought a ranch in the area, and Schoendoerfer said "the price of admission" for family members to attend the reunion was that they had to take part in the parade.
Still, that didn't explain the sheer size of the crowd in town, which had everyone talking.
Schoendoerfer said the Ovando Volunteer Fire Department and Helmville Quick Response Unit went through more than 250 hamburgers and 150 hot dogs at their annual barbecue.
"They had to run around and start getting more out of the freezer because they were running low. It was phenomenal. I love it," she said.
The Nicest Place in Montana
The success of Ovando's parade may be due to a reputation, built over the last several years, as a town that hosts family-friendly events and is welcoming and open to everyone from cyclists and fly fishermen in the summer to hunters and snowmobilers in the fall and winter.
That welcoming attitude earned Ovando recognition as the Montana Tourism's Community of the Year for 2018, and this year has it in the running in the Reader's Digest "Nicest Places in America" contest. Readers Digest has held an annual search "of places across America where people are kind and civility is winning," since 2017.
This year the contest garnered 1077 nominations, and Ovando earned recognition as Montana's finalist, pitting it against 49 other entries that consist of towns, neighborhoods and even businesses and schools.
"I was totally surprised ," Schoendoerfer said. "Last month I get a call from a journalist from Readers Digest who said they were talking about doing a report, a series for the nicest places for each state."
She thought they were still looking into things when she learned Billings TV station KULR8 had a story on the towns status as a finalist.
Bill Brockett of Kalispell, a web developer and founding partner of TownTalk.biz, an online directory of small businesses in communities across the west, nominated Ovando.
A July 1 post on the TownTalk.biz Facebook page, apparently from Brockett, explained that Readers Digest called him to ask about the nominated community of Hidden Springs, Idaho. They were also interested in possible nominations in Montana. He suggested Bigfork and Ovando.
"Today they called back and they have fallen in love with Ovando!" the post read.
"I thought they were still looking into the matter, but we got Montana, which surprised me," said Schoendoerfer, who is surprised at the towns sudden boost at the national level. "It's becoming its own little thing. We just sit here and smile and are nice to people and I guess people really appreciate it. It's crazy how this thing has a life of its own now."
Her only real issue with the nomination is that the story about the town identifies her as Kathy Schoenfelter. Her name hasn't been corrected yet, but she's glad they made the change to call her the owner of a fly fishing shop. The first draft said she owned a 'bait and tackle" shop – something downright slanderous in the fly fishing world.
To check out the nomination- and to cast a vote for Ovando before the contest ends July 21 - go to http://www.rd.com/nicestplaces/the-nicest-place-in-montana-ovando.
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