March refused to go out quietly, and the weather threw a little snow, rain, and wind around on Friday afternoon, but not enough to stop the 44th Annual Ag Appreciation Dinner, sponsored by the Ronan Chamber. Lifelong Montana residents and farmers Jack and Susan Lake were honored for their contributions to agriculture in the Mission Valley.
Due to a major water and sewer project underway on the Ronan Fairgrounds, the Lights Under the Big Sky board decided to postpone the annual light-studded event until 2024. Meanwhile, construction on the new project “is going great guns,” said Project and Grounds Manager Sjaan Vincent.
The Ronan Fairgrounds were bustling July 22-29 for the Lake County Fair, with kids leading sheep, beef, and dairy cattle, carrying chickens and rabbits, and unloading their pigs off the trailer. Horses, dogs, and cats came in just to show and then (whew) went home to sleep it off.
Before the drifts of buttery sawdust started to accumulate under the canopies at the fourth annual Chainsaw Carving Rendezvous in Ronan, carvers arrived from around the United States and the world.
After a public hearing on April 27, the Lake County Commissioners passed a resolution to create a Fairgrounds Department that will impact only the Ronan property.