Thompson Falls rings bell on the Fourth

The 2017 Independence Day celebrations of Thompson Falls saw a slightly different route this year for the small town, including a walk through history, with the Declaration Of Independence being read.

Even though the town had shifted gears when it came to celebrations, that it didn’t stop Judy Bertram and Ted Houghland (Local Mountain Man) from putting together a unique day at the Old Jail Museum for locals and tourists to enjoy.

Houghland, in his authentic mountain man attire, went through the history of Thompson Falls to a packed room within the museum.

Though the event was originally aimed at children, it turned out adults were the ones to make the trek to take a step back in time and learn what it took to be the man that discovered Thompson Falls.

While Mountain Man Ted went through the stories, a few visitors took to touring the jail cells upstairs. While looking through historic Thompson Falls, the “bellowing” of the stories below seemed to take you further back in time to embrace the feel of a true July 4 celebration.

At 2 p.m., Vietnam Army Vet. Patrick Anderson (A door gunner in the helicopters) rang the old school bell up top the old jailhouse while young Dillon Eaton cried freedom.

All the while event patrons and volunteers then filed out of the building to the shade of a tree to hear the Declaration of Independence read.

Young and old, not a whisper, nor a movement was heard. Heads bowed, listening to the words of our forefathers carry on a light breeze through the old maple trees of this year’s July 4th.