As Neil Hart tossed the coin in the air, he couldn’t help but feel grateful to be part of the experience.

That experience was as honorary referee for the 69th Annual Montana East-West Shrine Game on June 18, 50 years after he had officiated it for the first time.

Hart, 84, spent decades as a teacher, coach and referee for multiple sports in Montana, Wyoming and South Dakota. He was inducted into the Montana Officials Association Hall of Fame in 1987, but to be honored at pre-game festivities at the Great Falls Shrine Game was a special treat.

“We were treated royally,” he said of he and his wife Janice’s treatment at the event. “They invited me up on stage at the banquet the day before the game and I spoke to the players and cheerleaders.”

His speech reminded the athletes that even when football ends for them, referees are always wanted.

“I gave them three things to remember if they want to officiate,” he said. “One, they have to know the game. That you can assume they do otherwise they wouldn’t have been sitting in that room. You have to have your body in condition to stay up with the game and you have to know the rules. You are never entitled to make a mistake with the rules.”

Hart first officiated the East-West game in 1965, and again in 1974, 1979, “and one time after that.” They sent him a coin to practice with before the big game, but he said it didn’t flip very well.

Born in North Dakota, Hart went to school in Killdeer until his sophomore year of high school. That’s when he moved to Bozeman, where his father bought a ranch in the Gallatin Valley.

Hart got into officiating purely by accident.

“I wasn’t good enough to make the basketball team,” he said. “It was during the war years so the young, able-bodied men were gone. These two old-timers got us into officiating while I was still in high school.”

Hart proved to be a little better at football than basketball and played at Montana State University as guard. He officiated high school games Friday night and suited up for the ’Cats on Saturday night.

After graduation, Neil and Janice married in 1952 and moved to Spearfish, South Dakota, where Hart took a job as a coach, referee and biology teacher.

In the summers Hart would return to Bozeman to get his masters degree. While there, he met the principal of Flathead High School.

“He asked if I was interested in getting back into Montana,” Hart said. “He said he was going to have a biology job open if I wanted it. I took it and came to Kalispell in 1957.”

He quickly became an assistant coach in football and wrestling. Neil Eliason and Hart went on to make girls track a reality in Montana, moving it from an Amateur Athletic Union power to a high school team.

The two gained such a reputation as track moguls in the state that Hart represented Montana at a national track conference.

“I put in a bid for a national track meet in Kalispell,” he said. “No one else had really put in the effort to get a location so they agreed.”

The meet was set for June 1964. When a deluge fell on the Flathead Valley and water levels inundated Columbia Falls and Evergreen, things got hairy.

“We had coaches calling us every day asking if we were having the meet,” Hart said. “Some were already in town and others were on the way. As bad as conditions were, we had the meet and had some great athletes here.”

Hart retired from teaching in 1982, but stayed close to local sports. Along with Archie Roe and Bing Capps, an official “pool” was set up so coaches didn’t have to call their buddies who may or may not be available. He also taught officiating at Flathead Valley Community College for several years. But Hart isn’t the only one in the household to care about sports.

“I love football,” Janice said. “We support the Braves, but now we support Glacier as well because our daughter works there.”

The Hart’s daughter, Callie Langohr, is the principal of Glacier High School and former principal of Flathead High School. This makes football allegiances split for the Harts. Even so, Janice has no qualms rooting for either team.

“I actually do a little officiating myself,” she said. “From the stands at least. But I never boo. That’s in poor taste.”

A second daughter, Carrie Bautzmann, officiated basketball from an early age. She lives in Michigan with her husband.

The Harts were treated to dinner at the East-West Game, and Hart went onto the field with another Kalispell resident. Noah Hannah, a boy who had severe spinal curvature until spending time at the Shriners’ Hospital in Spokane.

“He was nervous but very excited,” Hart said. “It was great to have him out there and see what the Shriners do. I was glad to donate my dimes to them all these years.”

Of all his years of officiating, he recalls one game in particular.

“It was Flathead against Great Falls,” Hart said. “Great Falls had this two huge guards who were giving the backfield hell all game long. The center for Kalispell asked for a time out to fix his leg. We all knew ahead of time this was going to happen. He had an artificial leg and it was sticking out sideways. The two guards, their eyes just get huge. They didn’t know about the artificial leg. They never got in the backfield the rest of the game they were so rattled.”

After decades of teaching, coaching and officiating, Hart said it was nice to be honored at the game. And that’s a lot to think about during a coin flip.

Reporter Ryan Murray can be reached at 758-4436 or rmurray@dailyinterlake.com.