Page 17 - Flathead Beacon // 7.23.14

FLATHEADBEACON.COM
NEWS
JULY 23, 2014 | 17
Customers dine on Flathead Lake at Acqua Pazza in Lakeside. GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
THURSDAY FEST
we’ve moved!
GREAT NEW LOCATION...
SAME AMAZING FESTIVAL!
Enjoy the High Energy Sound of the
Sponsored by
THURSDAY, JULY 24 from 5:00 to 8:00 pm
2nd Ave East between 1st and 2nd Streets East in front of The Museum at Central School
Live music, food, vendors, arts and crafts and a beer and wine garden.
www.downtownkalispell.com
Moonshine Mountain Band
mally known as The Docks has reopened as ScottiBelli’s Acqua Pazza, following the success of the owners’ Italian res- taurants in Kalispell. Helping promote this growth is the newly organized West Shore Visitors Bureau, which played a huge part in organizing the recent Lake- side Community Fair and Summerfest.
The Lakeside Town Center was built in the late 1990s but had fallen on hard times during the recession and was com- pletely vacant in early 2013. That’s when Andra and Josh Townsley purchased the building and refurbished it. Since then, six new businesses have moved in, in- cluding the two restaurants and Reme- dies pharmacy. Kalispell Regional Med- ical Center has also opened a clinic and gym.
Andra Townsley, who is also one of the owners of Tamarack Brewing Co., said some patrons have asked if she is concerned about competition between the brewery and the new restaurants, but it doesn’t bother her.
“The more great businesses in Lake- side, the more people will want to come to visit,” she said. “It’s been a snowball effect because other people are seeing that things are happening in Lakeside and they think ‘I want to open a business there.’”
She added that Lakeside’s location along the shores of Flathead Lake al- ready draws a lot of people. That’s exact- ly what attracted Wayne and Kathleen Newton to the area eight years ago.
Wayne began performing as a child in the 1950s and appeared on the Grand Ole Opry. That eventually led him to Las Vegas, where a hotel first booked him
Farmhouse restaurant in the Lakeside Town Center. GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
to sing while he was still in high school. Since then he has hosted thousands of shows on The Strip and appeared in nu- merous movies and television shows.
While the Newtons spend most of the year in Las Vegas, the family said they spend as much time as they can in the Flathead and purchased land south of Lakeside in 2010. Wayne said the area reminds him of what Lake Tahoe was 30 years ago and it has offered the fam- ily plenty of opportunities to escape the hustle and bustle of their regular lives. What Lakeside did lack, however, was a place to buy home accessories or good house-warming gifts, according to the Newtons.
“If you were just looking to grab a
quick hostess gift you had to drive up to Bigfork or Whitefish,” Kathleen said. “We wanted to bring something like that to Lakeside.”
This winter, the Newtons stum- bled upon an open storefront along U.S. Highway 93 that they thought would be the perfect place for their busienss. Af- ter a few months of preparation, Kat’s Korner opened for business. The shop has a wide variety of items, including jewelry, chandeliers, clothing, furniture and antiques.
One antique is a birdcage that Wayne found at a shop in San Francisco more than a decade ago. He asked the stor- eowner for the story behind the piece and it turns out a prisoner at Alcatraz Is- land had built it. Upon hearing the story, Wayne bought it and now it’s for sale in Lakeside.
Much of the store is fashioned with items selected by Kathleen, but Wayne and their daughter Lauren have “Ko- rners,” where you can even buy some Las Vegas merchandise.
“Kathleen wanted the shop to be for everyone,” Wayne said. “So if you’re a young woman looking for a gift for a friend or a couple looking for a hostess gift, something here will fit the bill.”
The Newtons said they are not sure yet if they will keep the store open sea- sonally or year-round, but noted they are looking forward to getting to know the community even more through this “family project.”
“It’s been a fun project to be a part of,” Wayne said. “Even if I’ve only been making runs to the dump.”
[email protected]