New Ronan Chamber of Commerce Manager Katie Jo Elliott is looking forward to serving the community and the area that is her home.

A Realtor with Luedtke Homes and Real Estate in Ronan, Elliot had some experience with the Chamber of Commerce as a junior ambassador while in middle school in Ronan, but says she didn’t truly learn about the ins and outs of the organization until being chosen Chamber manager in November.

“I didn’t really have any expectations coming into this. I had an idea of what the Chamber is, but I didn’t really know until I got the position what the Chamber is all about and what it does for the community,” she said. “I just really enjoy being involved in the community and I thought this would be a good opportunity to do that.”

A 2013 graduate of Polson High School, where she played softball and volleyball, Elliot earned degrees in animal science and business from Montana State University before returning home to the Mission Valley in 2018.

The decision to come home came after spending months in Wolf Point on the Fork Peck Indian Reservation as part of an internship.

“I thought I was tough, but after spending time in Wolf Point, I came to realize just how blessed we are in the Mission Valley and on the Flathead Reservation,” she said. “Every day in Wolf Point, I saw poverty, drugs and alcoholism. It’s just a rough place to live. I was glad to get the chance to come back home.”

While she was happy to be coming home, it was a move she had not expected to make when she left home for college in 2013.

“I never thought I would come back home after I left, but I just missed it too much. I really missed my family, friends and the mountains,” she said. “There’s nothing like driving over the hill in Ravalli and seeing the Missions through your windshield. There are not a lot of views that compare to that one.”

It is an amazing view that she now gets to share with her husband Blade Elliot, a professional rodeo cowboy who specializes in bareback riding. The pair met in Bozeman in 2016 and were married in Ronan in September of last year.

These days, the duo share the many miles of road between rodeos whenever they can, but are always glad to be back home at their ranch outside Ronan, where they raise horses and registered black angus cattle with the “help” of their dachshund Kevin.

When not working, on the road or working the ranch, Katie Jo enjoys giving back the community, helping her church serve meals at the senior center and volunteering with the high school softball program.

Elliot says she is still settling into her new position with the Chamber of Commerce and there is a lot of planning yet to be done for 2020, but there are many new projects that she is excited about.

“Ronan, myself included, is so fortunate to have the board of directors that we do at the Chamber of Commerce,” she said. “The Chamber and Ronan community are full of wonderful people that are all just working insanely hard to keep the small town we love going. I am so excited to be a part of it.”

Reporter Jeremy Weber may be reached at 758-4446 or jweber@dailyinterlake.com.