Example Article for Montana Roadtrip
Roadtrip Around Montana - Manhattan Spudfest
Author: Brenda Phillips
Road Trip around Montana – Manhattan SpudFest
Brenda Phillips
We decided to take in the 39th Annual SpudFest... aka: STARCH TREK 2025 at Manhattan, MT. We walked past the fire hall that was still serving pancake breakfast.
The streets were lined with crowds of people for the parade. The parade was so long that we actually only saw half of it. Quite a few floats and representation from all the radio stations in the Bozeman area. I was surprised; I've never seen that in our parades. There was a really cool covered wagon drawn by two big black draft horses from the C-T Red Angus ranch. There were two garbage companies represented from the Bozeman area. One guy was rolling around in a pink motorized garbage can. Several of the floats had bubble machines spewing bubbles out over the crowd. The candy (and other treats) was so abundant that the kids' loot bags were overflowing. There was a lawn mowing business with 4 guys on zero-turn lawn mowers running around, kind of like the Shriners would in their little putt-putt cars. The fire department is always the finale of the parade. The shiny fire trucks had speakers that were blasting the George Strait song "They Call Me the Fireman". 12 volunteer firemen dressed in full turnout gear, line danced to the song along the whole parade route. They got lots of cheers as they danced, gave out candy and passed through the crowd collecting donations in a boot.
We walked through town checking out all the food trucks that lined the main street. The park was full of vendors with all kinds of local Montana-made items. There were tents with several different authors and quite a few different artists in both painting, woodworking and metal sculpting. It was a really cool small town atmosphere and it was great to see all the people socializing.
We went through the Manhattan Area Museum, which is just off the main street, in the building that used to be the fire department and the jail. There were two small really rustic jail cells in the back of the building. The museum is small, but it's very interesting with all of the antique items they have collected. They have a nice, big display of women's hats. I was surprised to see so many hats in one place. There was no fee for the museum, but they did have a donation jar. The museum was near the senior center, which was serving up some loaded baked potatoes.
There was also a car show and live music for a day full of adventures.
I am just amazed at the interesting events that happen in these local towns. As far as I'm concerned, they are big towns, with big hearts, big ideas and big histories. I invite you to keep your eye out for activities and events around us and get out and see something new.
