Much Ado About Mutton
Reed Point Celebrates 36 Years of the Sheep Drive
Reed Point
Photography contributed by Sig Smith, Linda Hedstrom and Larry Mayer
Many great ideas start out as ‘what if’ conversations in “watering holes.” With the help of a little imbibing of a cool beverage or two, the creative juices start to flow, and from that ‘what if’ a plan, sometimes even a good one emerges.
That was how “Bachelor Daze” began in Reed Point, Montana, in 1980. Several bored, yet colorful, “regulars” were gathered at the Waterhole Saloon and started brainstorming visions of community entertainment, as Diane Hahn, who owned the Waterhole Saloon with her husband Chris, recalled.
“We don’t do anything on Labor Day,” she remembered them saying. “There’s plenty of bachelors around here, let’s have an auction and sell them!”
Bachelor Daze kicked off and enjoyed a full decade of success. The first celebration included a small parade, an afternoon of contests including log sawing and egg tossing, and a Jaycee-hosted pig roast. Bidders at the bachelor auction purchased a dance at the street dance that night their bachelors. A gentleman in his 90s fetched the top bid of $20 and $90 was raised, which was donated to the school.
Bachelor Daze became an annual Labor Day event, bringing area farmers, ranchers and neighbors together. It was a time of gathering and socializing, a break from work and a chance to let loose, all while raising money for community projects.
Then came 1989 – Montana’s Centennial celebration.
For months, the talk around the state was all about the Cattle Drive. The six-day event, beginning in Roundup and ending in Billings, was scheduled to culminate on Labor Day – great for the centennial, but it didn’t rest well in Reed Point.
“We knew we’d be done that day,” Diane said, realizing that most people would choose the cattle drive over the celebration at Reed Point. “But then we came up with the idea to have our own drive – only it would be sheep.”
The community latched on to the idea with vengeance and with only two months until Labor Day, they became a sanctioned sheep drive event and swung into action. Soon support and attention began pouring in from around the area for the Reed Point Sheep Drive.
“We didn’t know what we were in for,” Linda Hedstrom reflected. Linda and her late husband, Chet, were involved with the Labor Day event from the beginning. “We thought maybe a few thousand and hoped for 5,000 – almost 14,000 showed up!”
Local business owner, Russ Schlievert unofficially became the spokesman for the event. His list of self-proclaimed qualifications for the role included once owning a bum lamb and having a sheepskin coat and several wool sweaters in his closet. The truth was, though, he was a great promoter. The theme of the day, of course, was sheep, mixed in with a lot of humor.
The media picked up on it and dozens of articles were written with sheep puns and parodies of the much- publicized cattle drive. Thanks to the incredibly popular cattle drive, press from around the world had already flocked to Montana and soon caught wind of Reed Point’s story. NBC positioned a camera on top of the Waterhole Saloon to bring live coverage to their viewers. The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, along with local television and newspapers, clambered to capture the event.
When the day arrived, pastures outside of town became car lots and overflow traffic lined both sides of the frontage road and interstate. Extra law enforcement was called in from Billings to keep traffic flowing. The six blocks on Main Street were packed ten deep with spectators on both sides of the street. Food vendors sold out in record time, souvenir booths emptied, and several thousand sheep paraded through the center of the rural Montana town.
With a budget of less than $1,500, six weeks of planning, and fewer than 100 volunteers, the community pulled off what became dubbed, “The #1 Centennial Event in the State.” It was declared by Montana Wool Growers as the largest gathering of Montana “sheep people” ever.
When the dust finally settled, the First Annual Reed Point Sheep Drive raised over $10,000 which was used to not only kickstart a fundraiser for an addition to the local library, but to complete it too.
The excitement only grew from there. The Reed Point Community Club (RPCC) grasped the momentum with even bigger plans for the following year and by Labor Day 1990, the town was ready. More events were planned to include sheep dog trials, spinning competitions, shearing demonstrations and a crowd favorite, the log-sawing contest. The ambitious plans funded a new community fire truck.
What began as a parody to the Cattle Drive of 89 has since become a Montana Labor Day tradition as a long-standing tradition of honoring the community heritage and sheep industry, while providing food, drink, and entertainment.
Jerry Friend has been involved every year since Bachelor Daze began and is also a member of the RPCC. He says over $250,000 has been raised through the efforts of the Sheep Drive and is the biggest annual fundraising event for the community. The money garnered has changed the dynamics of the town – funding community improvements and helping local youth. In addition to the library and fire truck, funds have been used for building improvements and equipment and training upgrades for the firehall, EMTs, and the school.
“We’ve impacted a lot of people,” Jerry said. “There are things this community has that we wouldn’t have without the money raised by the Drive. We’re now working on renovating the Depot.”
Many that attend have been coming for years to enjoy the full day of events and traditional hightlights, which include the running of the sheep, a parade, an auction of donated items from area businesses and the crowd favorite - the log sawing contest.
A special recognition to:
Photo Albums and Scrap BooksLinda Hedstrom & Sig SmithThe following sheep ranches over the years:Swenson, Langford, Halverson, Laubach, Ott, Anderson, Lewis, Gibby, Allestad, MayoTo make a monetary donation or to donate an item(s) for this year’s auction to be held on Sunday, Sept 1, contact: reedpointsheepdrive@gmail.comLate in the afternoon, in front of the Waterhole Saloon, spectators gather to see how fast a team of two can saw through a thick log using a 100-year-old, two-man crosscut saw that’s been in every contest since 1980. The crowd chants “pull, pull,” while the teams set their rhythm in an effort to beat the record time of less than 30 seconds.
The day wraps up with an auction of donated goods and a street dance bringing an end to a very full day.
The success of the 36-year-old Sheep Drive hasn’t come without hurdles. It’s become a challenge to find ranchers willing to subject their sheep to the stress of the Drive and make the time and effort to do it.
The first year, a flock of 2,000 sheep ran down Main Street after being trailed from a local ranch. Over the years, multiple sheep ranchers in the area have taken turns herding their sheep to town. Some years over 2,000 and some as low as 150 sheep make the trip.
“The number of sheep has declined,” Sig Smith, also involved for decades, said. “Bands are getting smaller, so it’s hard to find the numbers like we used to.”
There’s also been a struggle to attract new volunteers.
“That hasn’t changed,” Audrey Ott, RPCC chairperson, said. “This year, we’re down to six people and we’re still doing the Drive. It’s a lot of work.”
They persevere every year, overcoming obstacles to bring the popular and widely known event to the thousands of spectators that continue to flock to the small town every Sunday before Labor Day, swelling it to ten times its daily size. Vendors, food trucks and artists, some coming from hundreds of miles away return to take part in the show.
“It’s been an amazing run,” Jerry said. “We thought if we kept it going for five years, that would be amazing and now here we are planning our 36th Running of the Sheep!”