COLUMBIA FALLS — For seven decades, Heritage Days has been more than just a festival. It's been a reminder of everything that makes Columbia Falls home.
The week-long celebration has included car shows, barbecues, and the beloved annual parade.
Rudy Koestner, a drummer in the Glacier Fife and Drum Corps, said the event reflects the deep roots of the community.
"Heritage is what built Columbia Falls, everything from railroads and logging and natural history of the park, the rivers, the mountains. There's a strong heritage for every new person that moves here as well as everybody who has been born here and lived here their whole lives."
This year's theme centers on America's 250th anniversary.
"The theme this year is our semiquincentennial, our 250th, so we wanted to perform some of our songs," Koestner said.
The Glacier Fife and Drum Corps has been doing more than marching. The group has been bringing American history into local classrooms.
"Kids sometimes wondered who are these strange looking people, they look like pirates, and by the end of the programs they were sopping up American history," Koestner said.
The Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution were also on hand to connect the celebration to its deepest roots.
"Everyone of the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution have traced their heritage back to someone who has served in the Revolutionary War," Son of the American Revolution Michael Naylor said.
For Naylor, the freedom to celebrate 70 years of Heritage Days didn't come free, it was earned by those who served.
"Anybody that's worn the uniform, who has served this country deserves respect, and so that's what we try to do today," Naylor said.
