WOW. Just spent a couple of hours at the Heritage Inn, going room to room, checking out some pretty amazing art - mostly paintings and sculptures. Among the highlights:
- Meeting artist Mark Ogle of Kalispell, who is the older brother of Jim Ogle, a fellow young Airman who lived next door to me in Texas back in 1992-1994. I remember Jim and his wife Carla telling me that they were from Montana, which at that point I knew only as some large state near Canada with very few people. But now, of course, after living in Montana since 2002, I completely understand why Jim & Carla were so friendly - and so nostalgic to return to Montana (which they did, in 1995, I learned from Mark).
- Saying hi to Cliff Rossberg; he looked and admitted to being pretty beat by the chaos of the last few days, but said that the traffic and the business had been very good.
- Enjoying the pencil art of Don Greytak of Havre; although the vivid colors and large scale of other artists were quite stunning, the simple b/w pencil drawings by Don were simply amazing.
- Seeing the flurry of activity surrounding NFL quarterback John Elway; the amount of security around him was somewhat surprising.
And upon returning home, I found this gem: a great review of the event AND a brief history of the Auction from fellow Montana blogger Prairie Mary.
All in all, quite an enjoyable experience. I’ll get some more links and thoughts up later.
