Wintry weather also a challenge for 69th edition of the Montana Seed Show
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The Harlem Swim Team, which served at the annual seed show banquet, was recognized by guests for their outstanding performance at last year's state meet where they won first place. Their work at the seed show was part of their effort to pay coaching and travel costs for next season.
Like most everything else this winter, the weather had an effect on the Montana Seed Show this year. Show superintendents for pies and breads said they saw numbers of entries down a bit. Show chairman Paul Rasmussen, who also handles the commercial exhibits, said at the last minute he had "several exhibitors call and cancel." All the seed show organizers blamed the fear of encountering blocked roads on the way home as one of the major factors that reduced the numbers of visitors and participants at the show. Still, for those who could prevail against the weather, there were several new events and the regular parts of the show, as always, were entertaining.
Thursday night's opener was the second annual Beef Cook- off. The weather was threatening with a light snow falling and blowing. There were two contestants in the cooking competition and about 70+ people came out to taste and vote on the dishes that were prepared. One cook noted, "The rules called for us to make 100 samples for taste testing. We have locked the doors and no guests can go home until all 100 samples are gone."
Friday was a near perfect late winter day with lots of sunshine, minimal wind and temperatures right at freezing. By mid-day the parking lot at the Harlem High School was full with overflow on to the side streets. But by late afternoon things slowed down as visitors headed for home to make sure they could make it, just in case there was more blowing snow.
Harlem High's TSA/FFA (Technology Students Association/Future Farmers of America) hosted their annual pancake supper with pancakes, scrambled eggs and sausage. FFA sponsor Rod Donahue said, "We average feeding around 325+ diners. This time we fed about 300. I think folks were reluctant to venture out and that hurt our numbers."
Jack Siemens, the art show superintendent, said he was sure the weather affected the number of buyers at the art auction. He added, "Some of regular buyers were not here this time. The bad weather affected the total proceeds from the auction to the artists." On the upside, there were five new artists at the show.
Saturday, usually the day for the biggest turnout, was a spectacular day in Harlem with a nice warmup, dry highways and very little wind. Some blowing was still happening north and south of town.. It was the last of the two day, early morning health and blood screenings. A spokesperson for Western Health Screening said turnout was virtually the same on this Friday and Saturday as last year.
Hannah Has Eagle, from Lodge Pole, coordianted a number of kids' activities on Saturday. She and her group have done the activities for the last few years. An additional kids' activity was offered this year through the Blaine and Hill County 4-H. Cody Solomon is a dad and the 4-H project leader for robotics in Hill County. He presented what he called an "introduction to robotics for kids" with an opportunity to build a functioning robot. Solomon said, "They have to use all the components of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) to figure out a project. After about a 10 minute introduction the kids were hard a work on their robots. Extension agents from Hill and Blaine County assisted with the instruction.
This year's interest meeting was led by actors and leaders of the Montana Actors' Theatre (MAT) and sponsored by the local Domestic Engineers group. Jay Pyette introduced a few cast members from the group's current musical production of "Sister Act." Nuns in costume and character entertained with music from the show. The production will be staged March 15-17, March 22-24 with matinees on March 17 and 24. Tickets are available at mtactors.com.
Out on the school's shop floor there were only three vehicles displayed for the antique tractor and car show. Co-superintendents Max Cedarburg and Alan Van Voust agreed there would not be many entrants with the snow and ice. Van Voust said, "I'm guessing a lot of these folks won't dig out their vehicles to drive here in such bad road conditions." Some car enthusiasts showed up but about all they could do was share stories (and tall tales) about their passion for cars, trucks, tractors and antique vehicles.
The evening banquet was opened by master of ceremonies Paul Rasmussen with an invocation by Jack Seimens. Guests went through the food line and the Harlem Swim Team members waited on guests and bussed tables.
The winners of the various competitions were read and recognized. The top winning breads in both youth and adult categories were announced, then auctioned. Next was the announcement of the pie winners. At the pie auction Jennifer Strzelczyk's number one ranked Pina Colada pie brought $400.
A few other auctions and raffles were completed before the featured speaker. Diane Donahue won the drawing for the painting of a tractor by Ned Malone. Malone won Best of Show honors in 2017 at the seed show. Connie Tveten's original painting used for the cover of this year's seed show catalog was bought at auction by Rita and Herman Gebert. Two banquet tickets were drawn: Ethan Klingaman won $50 and Laura Warburton won a Montana Silver Bracelet donated by The Clothing Company. The Harlem Swim Team was recognized for its win at the state tournament and the members' 'hustle' to earn money to pay their coaching and travel expenses.
This year's Interest Meeting, on Saturday morning, was a preview of the Montana Actors' Theatre (MAT) current production, "Sister Act." It's a musical about a witness to a murder who hides out in a convent and pretends to be a nun. MAT head, Jay Pyette, said, "If you've seen the movie, the play is much better." Several characters presented several song and dance numbers from the play. You can get information about productions, schedules and tickets at mtactors.com.
The banquet speaker was Colter Brown, a graduate of MSU in ag business and economics. In 2017 he joined the family business, Northern Ag Network, in 2017 as Ag Director. Brown noted that his father and president of the company, Taylor Brown, spoke to the Montana Seed Show in March, 1982. Relating the hard times then to the challenges ag producers face now, he said, "While agriculture had challenges in 1982, some similar to now, I want to leave something positive you can 'take away' from what I have to say."
Summing, he said, "Our part of the country has some very strong and efficient producers. Our producers are resilient, they're used to operating with a very small margin for error. If they weren't strong, efficient and resilient, they would not still be in business. They have faced tough times but and survived. It's humbling to be a part of such a great tradition."
In closing Paul Rasmussen reminded guests that next year would be the 70th anniversary of the Montana Seed Show, the longest continuous show of its type in the state. He said he was looking forward to a great celebration with some special surprises and activities for the celebration.
