Christmas in July

I am always amazed how much time is spent in the preparation for Christmas and how fast the actual day goes by. The 4^th of July is Island Park’s big day, it’s “Christmas”. Months of preparation go into organizing the holiday weekend.

The Chamber of Commerce organized the Sawtelle Stampede. The Boy Scouts spent weeks gathering donated items in preparation for the annual Scout Garage Sale. The Hurds worked hard to wrap up their remodeling of Robin’s Roost and stock their shelves for their first 4^th of July as grocery store owners. Joe got himself a spanking new wrecker. The rebuilding of the Big Springs boat launch road was completed. Lakeside readied for the night’s public fireworks display. The ambulance, fire and law enforcement services were all fully staffed and at the ready for any need that might arise. From Last Chance to Henry’s Lake, businesses throughout the caldera had worked tirelessly to prepare for those visitors who planned to spend their holiday weekend in Island Park.

As the holiday weekend arrived, the line of vehicles driving up Ashton Hill testified that everyone’s work was not in vain. Every available cabin was full of renters or owners. The campgrounds were full and many unimproved camping spots were also crowded. The rivers were fished or floated. The runners ran the race. Everywhere one looked were dust trails created by ATVs. It was as if a multitude of low-hanging jet vapor trails could be seen throughout the forest. Merchants and restaurants worked hard to attend to customers as quickly as possible despite the increased traffic.

Finally, Saturday night arrived and the celebratory fireworks were set off. The occasional strings of firecrackers were lit but the forest made it through another 4^th. Mother Nature put a period on the holiday with a Sunday evening rain, knocking down the dust and letting us know that the weekend had ended.

Just like that, the week that required months of preparation ended and the post-holiday exhaustion kicked in. Unlike Christmas where one has a week to recharge, with a new week brings new visitors to the caldera and the people of Island Park must be on their “A” game. 

50th Anniversary of the Great Mack’s Inn Power Failure

I was helping Richard Bishop, a life-long Island Park resident install some pine railings when he asked if I had heard about the July 4^th that the lights went out in Mack’s Inn. Richard was 13 years old and spent the summer with his good friend, Ralph Foyrer. Ralph and his older brother Arvet stayed with their parents in the family cabin on Cabin Lane at Mack’s Inn. Short on playmates, Arvet tagged along with his younger brother and Richard.

Underneath the Foyrer cabin was a large crawl space that could be accessed from a 4 foot tall exterior door. Arvet claimed the space as his workshop. One early summer day, Richard and Ralph became annoyed with Arvet’s constant company. They questioned why he was not spending more time in his “workshop”. Arvet responded that the area was haunted! Giving the situation some careful consideration, Richard produced a handful of screw-in glass fuses. These little gems were the answer to all of the ghostly problems.  He instructed Arvet to throw one of the fuses at the ghost and it would vanish from the crawl space for the entire day. Arvet joyfully accepted the fuses and left to confront his tormentors. Throughout the month of June the boys did not see much of Arvet, who was busy in his workshop.

As July 4^th approached, cabins throughout Mack’s Inn were being opened for visitors. Richard and Ralph heard tale of a widespread loss of power throughout the area. Fearing the worst, they rushed to Arvet’s unoccupied “workshop”. Crawling into the back recess of dirt crawl space, they found hundreds of fuses! Richard said that they glistened in the beam of his flashlight like mounds of pirate treasure. Fearing that they would be blamed for the outage due of the advice they had given Arvet, Richard and Ralph gathered up several shopping bags of fuses from beneath the cabin. In their best stealth mode, they worked their way throughout the area and replaced the fuses undetected.

Several years and children later, Richard related this story to his family. They listened with skepticism and accused him of spinning a yarn. One afternoon seven years ago, Richard’s son Lowell was called on to replace the bathroom floor in the Foyrer Cabin that had since changed hands. As he excavated the soil in the crawl space under the bathroom, he uncovered a pile of rusty screw-in fuses. He immediately realized that an apology was due his dad.

Growing up in Island Park was simple but never dull. Thank you, Richard for sharing your stories with me. It was my privilege to listen to them.

Yellowstone Country Safety * No Fireworks in the Mountains *

Private fireworks create a serious fire danger in the Island Park area.  Please save them for when you return home. Thank You.