Havre locals celebrate Fourth of July at Pepin Park festival

Pepin Park was filled with people Tuesday afternoon to eat food and listen to music in celebration of Independence Day.

The celebration began with a flag ceremony by Havre Boy Scouts.

The event's meal was prepared by the Havre Lion's Club, and music was performed by Corey Kopp and Brad Taylor, with Steve Neiffer operating the sound equipment.

The raffle was held by this year's event organizer Cassie Denny and co-chair Sheri Williams. The celebrations ran from noon to 5 p.m.

Havre Lions Club President Jerry Kuhn rallied his volunteers together to cook for the event. The grills used to prepare food were on a Fresno Chapter of Walleyes Unlimited trailer and a Havre Lions Club Cook Trailer.

"Frankly, it's just great seeing all the people in town and being able to give my time and the rest of the club members time to serve the community." Kuhn said, "The thank-you's and appreciation, it takes a lot of volunteers to put on something like this and we are just happy to be one of many giving back to community, it's all rewarding."

The Lion's Club meets the first and third Thursdays of every month at 6:30 p.m. at the Elks Club.

"Some of our members came on over and were happy to serve," Kuhn said, "We're always looking for more community-minded citizens, if they'd like to join the Lion's Club, we're an open service organization."

"The Havre Lion's Club is excited to see you guys at the Great Northern Fair this year. Swing by and have a pronto pup and some cheese fries," Kuhn said.

Other volunteers who helped cook were Doug Larson, Jim Rowlatt, Bob Patera and Ray Toth. Another dozen volunteers helped serve the food, including state Rep. Paul Tuss, D-Havre.

The music performance was put on by Havre locals.

"I provided the speakers and the sound board," Neiffer said. The music genre ranged from 90s alternative to older music genres.

The first performer who played was Kopp, also known as "Sad Dad" for the style of music he plays. Kopp owns his own music shop on Fifth Avenue.

Brad Taylor was another entertainer for the event. Taylor plays guitar and specializes in a good variety of music genres from the golden oldies back to the 1800s.

"I like to play songs that were on the charts, some that still are, such as old Simon and Garfunkel," Taylor said, "Old country, light jazz standards and pop. So basically, everything except real hard rock."

Donations for the raffle come from many local businesses, such as Gary & Leo's Fresh Foods, North Star Athletics, Valley Furniture, Gram's Ice Cream, The Key, and Parker's BBQ Pit. Other businesses that donated were Walmart, Coca-Cola, and Ben Franklin's. BNSF provided the beef patties for burgers.

This was Denny's second year hosting the raffle during the Pepin Park July Fourth event. Denny saved the 2022 festival from potential cancellation and plans to attend next year's Fourth of July celebration at Pepin Park.

"The raffle money is going towards the funding for next year," Denny said.