GREAT FALLS — Friday, November 8 marks the annual Harvest Howl, a musical fun filled event the Great Falls Rotary Club uses to raise money for operating expenses at its Camp Rotary in the Little Belt Mountains.
After mother nature dealt the camp an unexpected blow in May, this year’s event highlighted by one of the leading bands in Western Swing music, may be the most important one yet.
“I was in the mountains for the storm that happened,” said Great Falls Rotary Club member and camp director John Juras. “I'm a Southern boy and decided I'd come up and get snowed in and got a little more than I bargained for.”
Juras has a cabin in the Little Belt Mountains and remembers the devastating spring storm in the area in May.
“There was two and a half feet of wet snow stuck to the trees and they were falling all around, including here at the camp,” said Juras. “I saw the damage from the highway looking over here.”
Many of the damaged trees fell on top of the camp’s buildings.
“We've spent about $20,000 cleaning up the trees and thinning them out so that we don't have as big of a fire hazard in the future,” said Juras.
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Juras says a lot of help from Rotary club volunteers and assistance from the Forest Service has helped.
“They came in and cut up a lot and made big piles of dead trees that will be burned this winter,” said Juras.
Despite the damage, Juras says the facility enjoyed a successful summer hosting kids camps and other events. He says the camp typically runs at a financial deficit, spending up to $40,000 above what they bring in from camper fees. They make up most of that through proceeds from the Harvest Howl, making this year’s event featuring Asleep at the Wheel and Dale Watson as important as ever.
Juras said damages from the storm and some other challenges make this year financially difficult.
“We had over $50,000 of damages that we had to pay that come directly out of the proceeds from the from the Harvest Howl,” said Juras.
The spring storm was the latest in a series of challenges for Camp Rotary. Several years ago, the bridge to the camp was de-rated and had to be replaced. The camp endured a forest fire and battled through the Covid –19 pandemic. But with dedicated volunteers and enthusiastic campers, Camp Rotary continues to bounce right back.
“We're very fortunate to be in the most beautiful part of Montana I believe,” said Juras. “Great Falls and the Little Belts are some of the finest places you can go in the world in my book, and I'm very happy to be in the middle of it.”
In addition to the foot stomping music, attendees can also enjoy food and drinks and bid on more than a hundred silent auction items. Tickets are still available by visiting the event website.
