To avoid accusations of “fake news,” we feel obliged to point out that this is not an actual photo of last year’s Last Best News fundraiser. But it felt like this much fun. Really.
It’s time for the second annual Last Best News fundraising party.
The first Last Best News bash was held on Feb. 26, 2016, on an unusually beautiful day that brought about 400 people to the Garage Pub at the Yellowstone Valley Brewing Company. I wrote in the aftermath of that event that we hoped we wouldn’t need a fundraiser again for a good long while. However, as I said, “we also agreed that the party was so much fun that we ought to make it an annual event.”
And here we are. This year’s LBN bash is set for Friday at the Garage Pub, 2123 First Ave. N., from 5 to 8 p.m. The Weather Channel tells me that the high Thursday will be 79, “record-breaking warmth,” and that Friday’s high will be 59, “cooler with a passing shower.” Well, 59 is still pretty pleasant, right, and what’s a passing shower among friends?
I guess what I’m saying is, you should ignore weather forecasts and all other considerations and focus on this: last year’s fundraiser-party was a blast, and there is no reason to think that this year’s bash won’t be at least as much fun.
We are not in danger of being hauled off to debtor’s prison this year. We are, given our status as an independent, online-only newspaper that depends on advertising and voluntary reader support, doing fairly well. This year, we are planning to use whatever money we make to do more reporting in the hinterlands of Eastern Montana, to bring you as much coverage as we can about people and parts of the state you don’t normally read about.
And it really is more of a celebration than a fundraiser. There will be a $5 cover charge and some 50-50 tickets, but that’s it. Everything else will be geared toward having fun and thanking our supporters who turn out for the event.
There will be lots of live music. The Peach Pickers will be there—that’s the band I’m in with brother John Kemmick, Bob Brown, Pat Rogers and Ron Schuster—and we’ll be joined by some of our favorite musicians in town.
That would be Jessica Lechner, a great songwriter and guitarist with a set of pipes that will set you back on your heels; Alex Nauman and Ryan Riley, two guys who’ve played in numerous combinations around town and have carved out a niche as a dynamic duo; and A.J. Sheble and Austin Schilling, Cut Bank natives who used to play in The Henge and have lately been appearing as a bred-in-the-bone duo, drawing on a songbook of Americana classics.
We will be providing hors d’oeuvres and other goodies and the Garage will be serving up its assortment of beers and in-house vodka and gin, with all the trimmings.
Please do come and help us celebrate, and please share this story and spread the word as widely as you can. See you Friday.
