Annual Events: Choteau

Snow or shine the Choteau Christmas Stroll gathers friendly folks to shop, run and mingle. The Choteau Pavilion is a primary hub of activities featuring the 5K Jingle Bell run, dinner from a civic organization, and displays/sales by independent consultants and home-based businesses. Downtown, kids can ride on the fire truck and take in a free movie at the Roxy Theatre while the adults shop for specials on Main Avenue and enjoy hot cider from the Chamber of Commerce.

In late June, give or take a weekend or two, the community swells with encouragement and support for the next generation. Join us for the celebration of the Teton County 4-H Fair, where the talented youth of Teton County showcase their 4-H projects over three days with demonstrations and exhibits in the Choteau Pavilion, concessions and games in the City Park, and a livestock show and sale in the Weatherbeater Arena in Choteau.

The 4th of July celebrations starts early and ends after the litany of events is exhausted. Prior to the "Big Day", the City Park is ablaze with activities. Held in conjunction with the Prairie Mountain Players Community Band Concert, Duck Races on Spring Creek and the Kids Carnival in the Choteau City Park, the Art on the Green art and craft show features everything from hand-tatted doilies to watercolors and bronze sculpture. The Grizzly Marathon 5K & 10K Fun Run starts early on the 4th early and is followed by the Chamber of Commerce Parade, an event that always features a variety of youth, civic and business floats, the local community band, cowboys and horses, and antique cars. Come to the Chamber's Steak Fry, also known as the pitchfork fondue or the great homemade picnic in the Choteau City Park and Pavilion for savory delights. After lunch, folks spice up their life and go to the American Legion NRA Rodeo to watch cowboys and cowgirls ride bulls, bareback and saddle broncs, barrel race, wrestle steers, rope calves and, a crowd favorite, milk wild cows. As the sun slips behind the Rocky Mountain Front, Choteau's volunteer firefighters put on a hometown pyrotechnic display with orange starbursts, sizzling hissers and sonic booms.

The Teton Antique Steam and Gas Association sponsors an annual Threshing Bee in mid September at the Weatherbeater grounds in Choteau. A testament to how Grandpa and Grandma worked and lived, you'll find old farm and ranch implements of all kinds chugging up a storm of steam and clatter. The two day affair brings families out to see how things were really done and how the tradition is carried on by enthusiast, mechanically inclined volunteers.

The Shadows of the Past Art Auction is more than fund-raising event; it is a chance to socialize with old friends and get acquainted with art. The Front Range Art Association organized the event nearly twenty years ago. They are pleased with the caliber of artists, the quality and breadth of art and the good that comes from supporting the community. Check for details.