Page 6 - Flathead Beacon // 3.5.14

6 | MARCH 5, 2014 NEWS FLATHEADBEACON.COM

Whiteish welcomes Olympian Maggie Voisin during a parade.
GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
Whiteish Welcomes Home ‘Mighty Maggie’

An unforgettable season drove her 9-year-old daughter Dresden
to the Feb. 24 homecoming event, where
that led Maggie Voisin the young girl cheered on her idol and
waited anxiously for an autograph and
to the Winter Olympics chance to meet Voisin.

comes to an end with a Decked out in Team USA gloves and
joyful homecoming
a jacket, the Whiteish native arrived
atop a ire engine that paraded through
the heart of town, past cheering crowds
By DILLON TABISH of the Beacon
before stopping at Depot Park for a cer-
emony that embodied the town’s charac-
WHITEFISH — It seemed itting teristicspirit.

that it was a bluebird powder day. Suit- Royal members of Whiteish Win-
able for an Olympic skier’s homecoming.
ter Carnival, dressed in regal attire, be-
Hobbled between two crutches af- stowed a unique community honor on
ter being shut out at the recent Winter Voisin, naming her a royal knight of the
Games, a resilient and optimistic Mag- throne in front of her parents, Kristin
gie Voisin returned to the open arms of and Truby, and more than 200 people.
her proud hometown.
“Mighty Maggie, with magniicent
Less than 48 hours after the closing Montana-made maneuvers, amazing

ceremony half a world away, Whiteish and merry to the marrow, a masterful
welcomed its precocious star as only a marvel, hear our mindful message: you
small town would. Even with short no- are our great hero of the ice and snow,”
tice, residents huddled together by the declared John Peschel, placing a bright Maggie Voisin signs autographs in Whiteish. GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
hundreds to celebrate the milestone medal around Voisin’s neck.
the center of an energetic crowd.
perseverance in global interviews: “I’ll
achievement of one of their own. Some “There will be more medals for you Earlier that day, she expressed dis- be back. I’m not going anywhere.” Many
hoisted signs with words of praise, oth- to win. Right now you’re golden, shining belief in everything that had transpired believe she was poised to become one of

ers rattled cowbells in celebration. from within.”
in the past few months — rising from the the youngest Olympic medalists ever.
Teenagers iled out the doors of Voisin’s The crowd erupted. Voisin revealed ski slopes of Big Mountain to the Winter Even now after the Winter Games, she
former middle school a block away and a blushed, sheepish smile.
X Games, where she earned a silver med- ranks second in the world standings.
joined the crowd that formed along the “Your success will be forever wo- al, and then the Olympics, where she Over the next three months she will
downtown streets of Central Avenue. ven into the fabric of your family, your became the youngest member of Team
heal. She’ll let the calm of the Olympic
Parents left work to grab their kids friends and the community of White- USA in more than 40 years.
aftermath settle in. Go back to being just
and bring them to see the 15-year-old ish,” said Mayor John Muhlfeld.
Though her dream of competing for a
a teenager. But then the snow will ly,
freeskiing prodigy.
With the white slopes of Big Moun- medal crashed after she broke a bone in and a new season will begin, and with it

“It’s really cool: She’s our Olympian,” tain glowing in the backdrop, she spent her leg during practice, she held up her the next chapter.
said April Harrington of Kalispell, who
almost an hour signing autographs at
chin in the Olympic spotlight, showing
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