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Celebrating Old Glory in Yaak, America

| July 15, 2025 7:00 AM

For the second year in a row, I felt drawn to celebrate America’s Independence Day in the Yaak. And it was glorious.

The day’s celebration kicked off at half past noon with a parade along Highway 508 that lined up between the Yaak River Tavern & Mercantile and the Dirty Shame Saloon. There were pickups loaded with dogs and kids waving flags. 

There were bicycles, four wheelers and side by sides decked out in patriotic tinsel and draped in bunting. There was a fire truck and a logging truck and everywhere there were smiles.

The parade route stretched a mile or so to the Yaak Community Hall and when we reached it, everything swung into high gear.

People gathered near the entrance to the community hall, where the American flag hung over the steps. First, there was an announcement met by cheers that the people of Yaak were so generous in raising funds to upgrade the community hall that the state was awarding a matching grant to rebuild its foundation and prepare the great building for its next 100 years. 

Then, the yearly ritual began.

With hands over our hearts, everyone joined in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by an invocation that included prayers of gratitude and prayers for our country. 

Finally, as the crowd held itself in respectful silence, several honored veterans and a few public servants, including myself, read aloud the Declaration of Independence from beginning to end. If you have never taken part in such a ritual, as an American you will recognize everything familiar in Thomas Jefferson’s words.

And you will realize that these words were not assembled merely to explain the reasons for our separation from Great Britain. They were written to mark a turning point, for the better, in world history. 

These are the words that have echoed throughout every decade of our history since their unveiling in 1776 and, by now, they have infused every ribbon and corner of our nation’s DNA. The declaration does not merely reflect America’s founding aspirations. Its familiar strains and stanzas embody what it means to be an American.

When I finished reading the part of the Declaration assigned to me, I watched out over the crowd and saw that everyone was just as captivated hearing the words of the Declaration as every American must have been enthralled, hearing them for the first time. 

All that while, the American flag stood, as it always has, in silent witness to the event.

The potluck food was delicious and the conversations around the picnic tables lighthearted. As I drove home late that afternoon after another day spent celebrating the Fourth of July, it occurred to me more poignantly than ever that, as Americans, we may sometimes fly other flags to celebrate our favorite teams or to express various loyalties and sentiments. 

But only one flag flies silently above all the others to remind us that there is one flag that binds us all and one flag that commands our allegiance. And its colors are Red, White and Blue.

I hope you’ll join the good people of Yaak, America, next year in celebrating the Fourth of July.

Dan Wilson, Flathead District Court Judge, 2026 candidate for Montana Supreme Court