Rotary BrewFest draws crowd
KRISTI NIEMEYER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 3 years 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 learned her newspaper licks at weekly newspapers, beginning at the Mission Valley News in 1981, then at the helm of the Ronan Pioneer and, eventually, as co-editor of the Lake County Leader until 1993. She launched and co-published Lively Times, a statewide arts and entertainment monthly, before returning to the Leader in 2022, and serving as its editor until July 2026. Reach her at [email protected] | 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.
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