Big Sandy holds annual Christmas celebration

The Town of Big Sandy held its annual Holiday Stroll and Festival of Lights parade this past Saturday, bursting with the festive spirit of Christmas and togetherness that has defined the community.

Early in the day, children had a chance to meet Santa during a pancake breakfast at the Mint Bar and Cafe on Johannes Avenue. Organizers said 115 children met with Santa and had their pictures taken.

Wire angels dressed in gold and white tinsel with horns aimed toward the heavens adorned telephone poles, as Christmas music cascaded from the small grocery store’s speakers into the downtown streets.

Marlys Edmonds, treasurer of the Big Sandy Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture, said it was the late Jim Rettig, publisher of the Big Sandy Mountaineer, the town’s weekly newspaper, who was the father of what has now become an annual tradition.

“He was the one who really got it going. He was like a little kid and so everybody just wants to make sure the stroll keeps going,” Edmonds said as she stood dressed in a red sweater with a macrame reindeer and fake antlers jutting out.

Over the years the festivities have grown to include the festival of lights, a small parade, craft and bake sales, and raffles by various businesses.

Still, Edmonds said, it was Rettig, a member of the Chamber with Edmonds, who was the heart and soul of the celebration, organizing the event himself each year.

“We tried to put all the lights up on Jim’s building like he used to, but I don’t know how he did it because there is no outlets out there and it is all brick. But it was covered; it was hilarious,” Edmonds said.

A few years after Rettig died of cancer in 2009, Edmonds said the Christmas Stroll was officially renamed the Jim Rettig Christmas Stroll.

At the Mountaineer office, Rettig’s spirit lives on. Refreshments were served in the lobby as people stopped to chat. Sitting in the corner sketching was Tomi Simenson, an artist from Chinook. On a nearby table sat her artwork with pieces ranging from renderings of horses, children in rodeo gear and other Western-themed subjects.

“I probably do more pencil than anything, but I like the water colors as well and try to do a little bit more of that,” she said.

Dee Bitz, who lives in Havre but who raised her children in Big Sandy, said the stroll gives people a chance to come together in the spirit of the season.

“It’s just a chance to meet the friends that we don’t see all the time, see them once a year maybe,” Bitz said. “It’s an awesome time to come, everybody is happy and the crafts are great. The senior citizens do a great job with their spaghetti dinner, so it’s a fun thing to do.”

The stroll coincides with a series of other Christmas themed celebrations around Choteau County over the weekend, that have come to be known collectively as Choteau County Country Christmas.

“There is so much stuff going on that it’s fun to walk around and see what is going on, you know,” said Robert Boettcher, an 83-year-old resident of Big Sandy, who, with the exception of a few years in the Army and college, has lived in the Big Sandy area his whole life.

Area businesses got in on the festivities as well. Free chili was served at Peps Bar and Lanes. The Bear Paw Coffee Shop and Deli extended its hours and changed its menu. The new items included chicken and crab salad sandwiches, salads and the popular pulled pork sandwich.

“We turn off the grill, we turn off the frier and we do a special salad,” said Cherie Stiles, the coffee shop’s owner. “We try to pare it down so if it gets really busy, the customers don’t have to wait too long.”

The Big Sandy Senior Citizens Center made its contribution to the stroll, holding a spaghetti dinner. For $8, guests could dine on spaghetti, salad and breadsticks. A bake sale was also held to raise money for the center.

“A hot commodity is our caramel roll at the senior center,” said Kandi Marino, a cook at the senior center.

But events in the Jerry Martin Memorial Hall garnered the most interest. There, people filed in and out for the craft sale and bazaar. Old and young alike filled the spacious back room, viewing and buying jars of homemade jam, baked goods, potholders, paintings, Christmas ornaments and pottery.

“There’s lots of things to buy,” said Georgia Wortman, 14, who lives 44 miles outside Big Sandy. “You can buy things for your family and then you can sell what you want.”

Wortman carried around a piece of scrap metal cut from a barrel in the shape of the state of Montana with a green heart attached to it. The piece she was trying to sell was made, she said, by her aunt.

At 5:30 p.m, the festival of lights parade began. Onlookers came out to the street bundled in their coats. Above Johannes Avenue, two doves and the words Peace on Earth hung above the street illuminating the night.