Page 38 - Flathead Beacon // 2.10.16

EVENTS 40 MOVIE REVIEWS 41 SIDE DISH 44 FACES & PLACES 45 PAWS & CLAWS 46
Arts&Entertainment
CABIN FEVER DAYS A FAMILY AFFAIR
FOR THE RUBYS, THE FESTIVAL IS A CHANCE TO CONNECT TO COMMUNITY
BY CLARE MENZEL
CAabin Fever Days in Martin City. BEACON FILE PHOTO
few years back, Alan Ruby, the
owner of the Hungry Horse Liquor Store, dressed up as the Lone Ranger and disguised an in at-
able Jägermeister bottle as a horse. Then he mounted his steed and sent it down the hill at the Cabin Fever Days barstool ski race. He ew down the snow for a few triumphant moments before he caught an edge and crashed, tweaking his back.
As a local business owner, the Martin City event, which is a major fundraiser, is one of Alan’s favorites.
“You’re laughing side by side on the hill with people and you go, ‘We’re all in
this together,’” he said. “We’re not some- body sucking money out of the commu- nity. We’re putting it back in. If you’re not involved, you’re just another business owner in the community.”
He wanted to participate in the event the following year, but he knew his bar- stool racing days were over. So he called in the reserves – his two sons, Chris and Mark – to represent the liquor store.
“I thought, ‘I bet my sons, in their early 20s and 30s, would be much better at healing than I am,’” Alan said. “I had no doubts that they would embrace it.”
Embrace it they have. Chris, who now
lives in Missoula, and his friend Dylan Richmond found a barstool from an old science classroom, split a snowboard down the middle, and MacGyvered it to the feet of the barstool. They had panda bear and monkey costumes left over from Halloween, and dressed up the barstool as a banana.
“From there, it kind of evolved,” Chris said. “We didn’t realize what a big hit it’d be, with the younger kids, the monkey and the panda.”
So Chris and Richmond returned the next year with the same costumes and tons of friends in tow. Now the monkey
and the panda are Cabin Fever Days mainstays.
“I’m getting as many friends to join and keep bringing attention to the Can- yon,” Chris said.
“It’s neat to see it grow,” Mark, who lives in Kalispell, said. “The Canyon has this rough-and-tumble legacy, and some people don’t want to see that go away, but it’s really a family-friendly event and good for a lot of laughs.”
Mark and Chris have a sister, Kelly, who is a youth minister in Bozeman. Every year, she asks for this weekend o to join her family. Because it con icts
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