What’s Up With That?

By RACHEL HERGETT Chronicle Staff Writer

Flashing lights

Although the Ice Garden is closed, Bozeman still has a hockey team, and the Bozeman Amateur Hockey Association and the Junior A Icedogs have been wracking their collective brains to try to find ways to let people know it.

“People don’t seem to know we still have hockey in town,” said Julie Keck, who manages the rink at the Gallatin County Fairgrounds.

So, taking a cue from Bridger Bowl’s blinking-blue powder light atop the Baxter Hotel, a BAHA board member suggested a pair of flashing red lights above the rink at the fairgrounds.

The lights, which were installed last week, are turned on at least one hour prior to home games.

The rink building is probably about 30 feet tall, and the lights, mounted at each end of the building, are mounted five feet above the roof.

And while they may not be in as prime a location as the powder light, the BAHA board still thinks it will work as a way to draw people to the Icedogs’ games.

Plus, they were installed in good fun, and the board, if no one else, gets a kick out of them.

“It was kind of a silly idea on a whim,” Keck said.

As for visibility, initial tests of the lights’ range suggest it’s at least a few blocks.

“I know somebody that lives on Tracy south of Peach who could see it from his house,” Keck said.

The Icedogs’ next home game is Friday. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m. A complete schedule is available online at www.bozemanhockey.org.

Snow off the mountain

Sometimes, after a day on the slopes, skiers and boarders still haven’t had enough of the mountain, so Glen Stark, owner of Starky’s Deli, is bringing a taste of the hill to the restaurant.

In addition to beer and appetizer specials from 4 to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, Starky’s is also showing a smattering of indie ski films on a plasma television.

The staff members, who Stark believes have a little experience on the hill, choose the films.

“All the guys who work for me are ski bums,” Stark said.

And the resident ski bums have chosen everything from local footage to extreme ski and boarding films.

“They run from kind of arty stuff to comedic blooper reels,” Stark said.

The restaurant plays the videos without sound, and keeps the music on, so the entertainment is optional.

Stark said the restaurant has seen some of the ski crowd, but hopes to draw in more.

“One of these days I’m going to send one of my guys with a sign to Rouse,” he said.

And Stark found another benefit to showing the films in the early evening, when the mountain crowd and Starky’s early dinner diners overlap.

“Kids as young as 2 sit there and watch these ski films,” he said. “They’re just mesmerized.”

Mysterious flashing lights got your attention? Rachel Hergett may be reached at rhergett@dailychronicle.com or 582-2603.

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