Polebridge parade all but canceled

For all intents and purposes the Polebridge Fourth of July Parade is canceled. That does not mean everyone agrees with the cancellation. However, the WWII airplane flyover is canceled, there will be no Porta Potties, no reviewing stand, no prizes, no Rob Fisher to lead the parade, no veterans reading and that pretty much takes the guts out of the whole thing. To top it off, the Polebridge Mercantile will be closed on the Fourth, which means no baked goods.

I don’t know about the Northern Lights. Last I heard the owner was in favor of no parade but undecided about whether to close the saloon. I guess if someone wants to walk an American flag from the store to the North Fork Road and back no one would or could stop them.

Apparently the North Fork Preservation Association will hold its annual meeting outside this year to maintain social distancing.

The Landowners Association is still up in the air. The hosts of the Crazy Hat Dance and the Ice Cream Social have withdrawn and the Board of Directors will have to decide whether to replace them or cancel the events and possibly other events as well. The Board will meet this week to discuss these issues so we should know more by next week. In the meantime, the NFLA June meeting will be held as usual on the second Sunday of June. There will be a 7 p.m. presentation by Lois Walker on the history of the North Fork Road and the general meeting at 8 p.m. The June meeting is usually lightly attended so it should be OK with Phase 2 reopening guidelines.

The Firewise Committee continues to plan for the Firewise Day on July 8 and we will await news on the Interlocal scheduled for the afternoon of the 8.

Church services were held this last Sunday with 17 in attendance and social distancing was observed. Also Paul Marotz currently plans to continue his square dance nights and game night hosts also plan continue.

My own opinion is that we should hold all scheduled events and let people decide for themselves whether or not to attend. I am 83 with a history of heart surgery. My mind works just fine and I will make my own decisions about how much risk I will take.

Flathead County has had 37 cases of coronavirus and one fatality — both weeks ago. Reopening increases the risk of more cases.

If that happens we will deal with it. If we only consider possibilities we will be on lockdown forever.

That does not seem prudent to me.

What do you think?

Larry Wilson’s North Fork Views appears weekly in the Hungry Horse News.