UPCOMING EVENTS
"Winter Training"
December 15th
3:30-4:30 pm
Steve Gideon, the Darby Track & Cross Country Coach, marathoner, triathlete, and road biker will be at Antara Sports to answer questions and speak about winter training for events such as the Snow Joke Half Marathon at Seeley Lake in February. Don’t miss this opportunity to get some inspiration or pointers Saturday, Dec. 15th, 3:30 – 4:30…Christmas shop and start thinking about fitness goals in the new year. Hors d’oeuvres and drinks will be provided. Valerie Montesano, will also be present for chair massages 2:30 – 4:30, before and during Steve’s visit.
In January...
Melanie Bain and Erika Gordon will talk about getting fit in the new year with their Boot Camp Challenge.
Annie Creighton and Tony Neaves, will talk about the very popular sport of skate skiing.
February is lining up with, Jody Glenn discussing body sculpting with weight lifting.
We all hope that you can stop by for some fun, interesting, and motivating talks.
In the Bitterroot Athlete Valley
It has been an eye opening experience and a welcome one at that. I have had much positive feed back with people saying, “Hamilton needed a store like this.” I have a bunch of wonderful friends and contractors to thank for helping to bring it all together. Friends helped in painting; setting up display units; unpacking, hanging, and pricing clothes; setting up my video/DVD player; helping with my Grand Opening, getting the word out, and a host of other jobs to put Antara Sports together! Contractors built dressing rooms; a community/race board, outdoor sign; and got power to the sign (it had not been lit in over 15 years!). I’ll save it for the end to thank all who helped with sweat “equity”…OK, no equity, just sweat!***
Courtney Babcock, the professional runner and Athens Olympian, came to the opening. She now lives in Missoula and also brought her Olympian friend Diane Cummings, who also lives in Missoula. Courtney shared her Athens profile coverage on a DVD. We played it all day. It was very interesting and inspirational. Courtney and Diane also did quite a bit of shopping; being from Canada, they loved the Sugoi brand clothing and a few others.
Since then, reality has really set in…Hamilton and the surrounding area has such a wide variety of sports enthusiasts! I could carry quite a wide variety of clothes and shoes. I am filling requests and ordering new lines for the Bitterroot athletic community. Now I really appreciate what business owners experience starting up a business, wearing many hats. Thank goodness for my graphics/advertising/web designer Mike Henderson (Big Red Barn Design). One less thing I have to do. He is behind my newspaper ads and is currently working on getting my website up, www.antarasports.com. (Have you heard any radio ads on the Trail 103.3 or Country 107.9?) Mike and I will be working on an online shopping cart (I might need some “volunteer models”!) and other interesting information like mini seminars, and races on the site. If you have not seen the community board in the store, this will be a place to not only find races/fun runs/goals to motivate you, but a meet and greet board for various outdoorsy-types to connect, such as rock climbers. Molly Kohler, who is writing a book on rock climbing, came in and said she didn’t know many climbers in the area. We talked about the idea to meet and greet on the board. I already knew two other rock climbers, Lisa Philipps and Meg McCraken (of Simple Yoga). So we will be posting info such as this for you to meet more friends to climb with. Let me know if you have a desire to meet and greet on the board for other activities, which may extend to the web site if you are interested. That’s all for now and remember Steve this Saturday, Dec. 15th.
***A big thank you to Matt Guzik, who helped to line up Courtney Babcock for my opening, painting, putting fixtures together, dressing my community board, and lending his Olympic torch. Thank you to Leslie Drake and Lisa Kersher for helping to price clothes and donating 8+ hours behind the counter assisting guests at my Grand Opening! Plus, so many more friends that helped. It is amazing what it takes to put a store together. I would still be at it if I didn’t have friends like you all. I thank you very much: Lynn & Mitch Kotula, Brenda Slaughter, Lisa Philipps, Becky Mildenberger, Carmen Gottfried, Meg McCraken (Simple Yoga), Kerri Bailey, Susie Thomas, Josh Alexander, Alicia Arrigoni, Karen Philips, John Clingbile, Marcey Schultz, and my Aunt Bea Billings who helped me into the wee hours of the night a couple times. A special thank you too, to John Croft for his kind support and my first sale. Everything everyone did, no matter how small you may have thought it was, was a HUGE help to me. I couldn’t have done it without you all. It has meant a lot to me and I really appreciate it. This could only happen in a small town like Hamilton. (If I left someone out…forgive me and remind me! It was a whirlwind-blur time for me!)