Copyright Kalispell Inter Lake
While the No Kings rally may be old news, I have spoken with many community members throughout our valley for the past several weeks — individuals without a single ax to grind — and it’s clear that hundreds, if not thousands of people still believe that the Polebridge Mercantile was behind this protest up the North Fork. I would like to be clear for the record: The Polebridge Mercantile had zero knowledge, affiliation, connection nor involvement in the No Kings protest. Not a single member of the protest personally spoke to any owner before, during or after the event; including the owners of Home Ranch Bottoms Bar, which makes me wonder why the protest wasn’t held in front of their bar instead of my bakery? Despite the protesters’ pleas of innocence, they were not respectful to private property rights. Blocking traffic and limiting people’s ability to enter my small business for nearly an hour and climbing up on my privately-owned vehicles with bullhorns to shout their divisive, political messages are not the Montana way. Yet, when respectfully confronted about the damage they caused to a small business, they attacked my family and business (blueberry bearclaws!) with lies. This is the radical left in America: who hurt small businesses, disrespects private property, and when rightly held accountable, they beseech anyone daring to stand up. I ask you, as my fellow neighbors in Flathead County, please tell everyone you know that the Polebridge Mercantile has no political affiliation, and please continue your support of our 111-year-old family business. But they say every cloud has a silver lining; in the weeks since the protest, I believe a nefarious web of self-dealing and illegal activity by the organizers has come to light. The same No Kings organizers are themselves conducting unethical and, in my opinion, illegal activities by blocking public access and violating zoning setback regulations, while doing so under the guise of “protecting the North Fork.” I believe members of the North Fork Land Use Advisory Committee have willfully turned a blind eye to zoning violations to serve political favors to their comrades. An elected state representative stood by, washing their hands of blatant violations of every Montanans’ public access rights because her friends and fellow “environmentalists” are the landowners. I firmly believe that in the end, the public good will triumph over the selfishness of individuals seeking to eliminate a half-century-old established access point to the North Fork of the Flathead River, while flaunting and violating public law. I call upon all citizens, community members, and government and elected officials to assist in restoring public access to Forest Service Road 10915, which provides a vital public access point that connects Polebridge to the North Fork of Flathead River via public county road (River Road.) These radical, self-anointed “Kings of the North Fork” comrades, who live by the credence of laws for thee, but not for me, must not be allowed to prevail. Will Hammerquist lives in Polebridge and is an owner of the Polebridge Mercantile.
