For months leading up to this year’s Northwest Montana Fair, the Dandy Dudes & Dolls 4-H club have been preparing for the crowds.

The young people have been learning new talents and skills with woodworking to improve the front of the fairgrounds’ floriculture building.

Kirk Hammerquist, the leader of the group, wanted to spruce up a nondescript building. The 11 kids in the 4-H club agreed.

“Our club kept thinking about what we could do,” Hammerquist said. “A project like this gives the kids the confidence that they can do something.”

The project included the addition of deep flower beds in front of the floriculture building with benches to sit on. Bright flowers and a spray-painted fixed-gear bike are in the beds, with wooden flowers screwed into the doors.

It makes what was once a simple white building that hosted the flower competition into a colorful, inviting flower Valhalla. 

Angie Olsen, the floriculture department superintendent, was grateful to the 4-Hers for their hard work.

“This is huge,” she said. “It’s looking really good. It makes the building look new compared to how run down it looked before.”

Olsen, who has lead floriculture at the fair for 24 years, painted the bike and planted the flowers in the beds herself. Before then, she had a history with the Dandy Dudes & Dolls.

“Angie used to be in our club,” Hammerquist said. “So it’s great we can pay it back to her.”

Hammerquist was quick to thank some of the donors to the project. Western Building Center, CMT Fabrication and Jeld-Wen Windows provided more than $400 worth of materials.

“They were so good to us,” he said. “No taxpayer money went into this project. I love working with local companies because they know you.”

Dandy Dudes & Dolls members have a two-pronged involvement in the fair. First, they must raise an animal for either auction or a non-sale judging. This could be a steer, hog or a rabbit, among other animals. On top of this, each club member must participate in a community service project.

Hammerquist said it is more typical for each kid to complete their own project, but this year his group opted for a group one. 

Sam, one of the parents of a 4-Her who didn’t want to share his last name, said Hammerquist was a blessing for the kids in all that he does.

“The community is lucky to have Kirk teaching woodworking,” he said.

Half the kids, who range in age from 9 to 17, worked on the actual construction of the planters/benches.

Wyatt Dull, 14, said it took a lot of work to get the wood up to a good condition.

“It was cedar wood from an old deck,” he said. “It looked horrible.”

Now, the rich cedar is placed, stained and will serve as welcome respite for weary fairgoers. Hammerquist said the wood came from a deck built in the 1960s on Flathead Lake.

Not all the youngsters were woodworkers, though. Some got to use their creativity to brighten up the project.

Maggie McKeon, 11, helped create the flowers that now adorn the doors to the building.

“I wasn’t really interested in making a bench,” she said. 

McKeon, whose favorite flowers are cosmos, used that flower as inspiration.

Fairgrounds Manager Mark Campbell said the project was the start of something great.

“We have new buildings at either end, but the infrastructure is just inadequate,” he said. “We’ve outgrown it by many years. Hopefully each building will get something like this.”

The floriculture building, next to the draft horse and rabbit/poultry building will be a must-stop spot, Hammerquist said.

“But come early, the flowers wilt by Saturday,” he added.

Reporter Ryan Murray may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at rmurray@dailyinterlake.com.