Lincoln, MT survives hard times

Two seasons of poor snowfall and a summer full of fire have put a crimp on the Lincoln economy, driving away tourists and leaving many pockets empty.

By MARTIN J. KIDSTON – IR Staff Writer

But despite the setbacks dealt by Mother Nature, the community, led in part by the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce, is finding ways to survive the hard times and capitalize on the setbacks.

"We’re a tourist town and we depend on our winter environment," said Laura Nicolay, a member of the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce. "I don’t consider the snow season our off season. I consider it one of our many seasons."

Five years ago, Nicolay said, the Lincoln chamber was nearly defunct, with only three members and $60 to its name.

Since then, the chamber has made a comeback, now boasting nearly 30 members, three volunteer associates, and a healthy bank account.

With newfound confidence, Nicolay said, the chamber plans on expanding its television advertising to both the summer and winter seasons, along with its radio ads, and continue building its list of Lincoln attractions and events.

"I think Lincoln has finally decided to work together," Nicolay said. "I think our advertising campaigns have helped a lot, too, telling people this is a destination community."

Nicolay said the town’s unity and the chamber’s efforts appear to be working. In recent years, the Lincoln Rod Run — a hot rod festival — has grown from 10 participants to nearly 200. Last summer’s Forth of July display was Lincoln’s biggest ever, and Nicolay said the annual Race to the Sky continues to grow in popularity.

But Nicolay admits there have been setbacks along the way, mainly those dealt by Mother Nature. Two straight seasons of poor snowfall have hurt the winter economy, and last summer’s fires hit close to home, driving away summer tourists.

"I think the fires were an economic boon in one sense," Nicolay said. "But I think we lost out on a lot of our tourism."

Theresa Garland, owner of Garland’s Town and Country, said the past two winters have been trying times for many local merchants. While nearly 1,300 residents live in Lincoln, only 600 stay year-round. Visitors are highly visible, and when they don’t come, Garland said, it’s easy to tell when things are slow.

"There wasn’t any activity around town last winter," Garland said. "When you don’t have any snow, it’s tough to recreate. It made business kind of hard, and I think that was pretty universal."

But Garland said that while the summer fires hurt some businesses, it helped hers. Calling the fires a big boon, the surge of firefighters in town helped her make up for business lost the prior winter.

"I think the fires pulled everyone up," Garland said. "The Forest Service was really good about using all of our services. You had all those people spending all that money."

Rollie Fischer, chairman of the Lincoln Community Council, said that last year the snowmobile count dropped off by a third. He said that hurts in a town where merchants rely on winter recreators to replace summer tourists.

"Winter is tough enough up here," Fischer said. "The only real thing is snowmobiling and cross-country skiing."

Now, Fischer said, the community is banking on a good snow season to attract snowmobilers and cross-country skiers to town. A winter advertising campaign, intended to market Lincoln as a winter hot spot, may help. And according to Nicolay, the local snowmobile club is driving hard to bring riders to town.

"The snowmobile club has put together a snowline telling what the weather conditions are," Nicolay said. "People can check that every day to see what our snow conditions are."

Reporter Martin Kidston can be reached at 447-4086, or by e-mail at [email protected]

http://helenair.com/articles/2003/11/06/helena/a07110603_02.txt