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GATEWAY PRIDE PROJECT
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JULY 15, 2015 | FLATHEADBEACON.COM
HERITAGE DAYS KICKS OFF
RESIDENTS CELEBRATE ‘PRIDE OF COLUMBIA FALLS’ H BY CLARE MENZEL
Columbia Falls first began celebrating its heritage over 60 years ago. Back then, the festival was called “Progress Days.” A lot was different – one of Sat- urday morning’s first events was a tour of Plum Creek Lumber Co., music was provided by a 60-piece band, and kids competed in a watermelon race.
Then again, so much has stayed the same. Plum Creek is the town’s largest employer, people have never stopped dancing to good music, and the kids are still playing games; the activities just look a little different today.
There is one thing the coordinators might consider importing from the old days, though: During the inaugural event, male residents went head-to- head in a beard-growing contest. Per- haps the descendants of Dennis Ben- zien, Bill Fish, Bob Moody, Norman Allen, and E. L. Mateka—1956’s tied winners—might want to try their luck, and good genes, in a rematch.
Be it beards, booming industry, or the close-knit community, as event co-coordinator Sherley Reynolds says, “there are so many things we have to be proud of in Columbia Falls.”
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Don Reynolds pilots a 1952 McCormick tractor down Nucleus Avenue during the Heritage Days parade in Columbia Falls. BEACON FILE PHOTO
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