Rotary BrewFest draws crowd
KRISTI NIEMEYER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 3 months AGO
Customers order beers from the Ronan Co-Op Brewery during Saturday's Rotary BrewFest on Main Street. (Kristi Niemeyer/Leader)
Hellcat Maggie entertained on Main Street during the Rotary BrewFest. (Kristi Niemeyer/Leader)
New tents supplied some welcome shade for Rotary BrewFest attendees. (Kristi Niemeyer/Leader)
Kristi Niemeyer is editor of the Lake County Leader. She learned her newspaper licks at the Mission Valley News and honed them at the helm of the Ronan Pioneer and, eventually, as co-editor of the Leader until 1993. She later launched and published Lively Times, a statewide arts and entertainment monthly (she still publishes the digital version), and produced and edited State of the Arts for the Montana Arts Council and Heart to Heart for St. Luke Community Healthcare. Reach her at editor@leaderadvertiser.com or 406-883-4343. | August 17, 2023 12:00 AM
Main Street wasn’t just occupied by cool cars Saturday. The block in front of the Elks was home to folks chilling out at the second annual Rotary BrewFest.
Rotary president Dennis Duty described this year’s event as “fantastic,” and said it drew “the best crowd we’ve had for any of our events so far.” He estimated that the beer fest and raffle raised between $25,000 and $30,000 for three Polson youth programs: second and third grade swim lessons, the sixth-grade girls’ basketball program and Polson Youth Soccer.
Rotary member Jake Bauman believes the addition of more shade, courtesy of bigger tents, translated into more customers. Plus, he said, “the weather was great today.”
Flathead Lake Brewing Company, Ronan Cooperative Brewery, Bias Brewing and Tamarack Brewing Company joined hometown favorite, Glacier Brewing Company, which ran out of beer about 30 minutes before closing time.
“It really went fantastic,” said Glacier’s Sarah May. “A lot of people came out – new people I haven’t seen before – so it definitely is attracting people outside of Polson.”
Lou Hamel at Flathead Lake Brewing Company was also upbeat. “It’s been busy – a great turnout, a lot of people enjoying themselves and the weather has cooperated,” he said.
Local band Hellcat Maggie entertained during the four-hour event.
