Distinctly Montana Magazine

D I S T I N C T L Y M O N T A N A M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G 2 0 2 0 60 business. Mayor Larry Bonderud called with a simple plea: "Please don't—it's always been here." After all, everyone needs an alibi—not that it worked for Jesse DeWese. Back in 1956, a dispute between DeWese, a dog catcher, and Arthur Sullivan, who refused to pay for his dog's license, ended with Sullivan and an innocent bystander being shot dead in the Alibi. DeWese fled to the MINT BAR across the street and was arrested soon after. Sometimes it takes a village to save a sign. Chinook's "The Lady in the Glass" sign was first put up in 1948, much to the chagrin of the proper womenfolk in town. They were scandalized by the cowgirl in a martini glass and by the sign's other name—The Lass with Her Ass in the Glass. When the ELKS BAR closed in 1993, the sign sold, landing in storage in Malta. Anita Magnuson and the Lady in the Glass Committee raised funds, purchased the massive sign, and had it refur- bished and rehung in its original location. Gabe Harry tells me the building's owners, Don and Jill Leo, light it for special occasions—like Gabe's wedding day—and for the all-class reunion. Spe- cial occasions, indeed. A LOVE/HATE RELATIONSHIP The cost of repairing and maintaining a vintage neon sign is high. And owners have a love/hate relationship with their signs because of it. A neon stream with a single fish blinks haphazard- ly on MONTANA TAVERN'S sign. The sign symbolizes Spring Creek that runs beneath the building and can be viewed through a cut-out in the bar's floor. "Some days part of the stream doesn't light up. I think it's the humidity or cold temperature," the manager, Amy MacBlaine, says. "Fin- gers crossed it keeps working. The guy who used to fix it doesn't do it anymore." Luckily for LARIAT MOTEL'S owner, Waylon Fortune, Ben Parrish of Billings Sign Service still moves signs. Waylon grew up in Hardin. At that time, the Lariat Motel had a sign at the entrance and one with an arrow on top of the hardware store several blocks away. When Waylon bought the motor inn, the entrance sign was gone so he had the remaining sign moved. "Our sign is our anchor," Waylon says. Now the Woody look-alike marks the motel entrance and resembles the vintage Lariat Motel postcard he shows me— one that was left for guests back when Gideon bibles were always found in the nightstand drawer. THE LOST ART OF NEON BENDING Along with moving signs, Ben Parrish keeps vintage signs up and running with the help of Glen and Katrina Banks. All three are neon benders. Neon benders heat and shape glass tubes, then fill them with either neon or argon gas. The type of gas, the phosphorescent coating inside the tube, and any tint in the glass determines the light's color. Adding mercury makes the color more vibrant but is temperamental in cold weather. Unlike newer box signs with light behind plexiglass, neon lights are exposed to hail, extreme temperatures, and wanna-be bison rid- Unlike newer box signs with light behind plexiglass, NEON LIGHTS ARE EXPOSED TO HAIL, EXTREME TEMPERATURES, AND WANNA-BE BISON RIDERS.

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