Jon Tester for U.S. Senate

Jon Tester wrapped up the Main Street Montana Tour over the weekend with stops in Boulder, Butte, and Billings.

At the Elkhorn Cafe in Boulder, Jon met with a crowd of folks to talk about the campaign. Don and Jason from Intelligent Discontent were on hand for the event and posted a report on their blog.

Then it was off to Evel Knievel Days in Uptown Butte. Jon rode a motorcycle in the parade and met with local folks about the campaign.

The tour wrapped up with a day of canvassing in Billings. Jon joined many volunteers on the doors and later on, stopped by a campaign rally and barbecue in Pioneer Park.

Jon is turning 50 this month, so his wife, Sharla, and the campaign staff want to invite you to help us celebrate! Can you host a birthday party for Jon on August 20th? Our goal is to hold parties statewide to celebrate Jon’s birthday and his campaign to bring Montana values and Montana ethics to Washington.

“I knew we had to do something special for Jon’s 50h birthday,” Sharla said. “With so many people working so hard to support his campaign, we wanted to find a way to include everyone. We’re going to set up a conference call so that Jon can speak to every party at the same time.”

Hosting a party is simple — simply invite friends, neighbors, and family to come over. You can keep your party private or post it on the website so that supporters in your area can join you. When you sign up to host, you’ll get ready-to-use email invitations and party planning tips.

“We’re asking each host to set a fundraising goal of $500,” said Stephanie Schriock, Tester Campaign Manager. “To meet that goal, you just need 10 people to give $50 or 20 people to give $25. We’re all going to pull together to make this a memorable birthday, so I hope you’ll sign up today to help get the party started.”

You can sign up to host by filling out one form online. It just takes a minute and signing up early will help you meet your goal quickly. For more information, email houseparty@testerforsenate.com or give Andy a call at (406) 449-0117.

Yesterday, Jon visited with businesses in Kalispell and Bigfork, continuing his Main Street Montana tour.

Jon continues today in Boulder and Butte. Tomorrow, he has a list of events planned in Billings. Stop by the campaign calendar and check out the schedule for more details.

From the Billings Gazette:

Rosenthal’s original report of the incident recounted how Burns pointed to a member of the Augusta Hot Shots crew across the airport waiting area and telling her:

“See that guy over there? He hasn’t done a God-damned thing. They sit around. I saw it up on the Wedge fire and in northwestern Montana some years ago. It’s wasteful. You probably paid that guy $10,000 to sit around. It’s gotta change.”

And from KTVQ, the Billings CBS affiliate:

Tod Miller, a veteran wildland firefighter offers that Senator Burns oughta know better.

“Mr. Burns should understand as a Marine there’s a chain of command and orders are given from the top down, and the crews that he was speaking to are required to follow those orders and there is a right and a wrong way to go about it and certainly they were doing the right thing. They were following orders. And there’s always going to be a difference of opinion of how fires should be fought.”

Jon continues his Main Street Montana tour today with travel to Bigfork and Kalispell. This morning Jon is touring a cherry orchard near Flathead Lake, and this afternoon Jon will visit with main street businesses in Kalispell.

Yesterday Jon had some great events in Missoula and the Bitterroot. In the morning, he had a listening session at the Uptown Diner in Missoula. A number of supporters turned out to share their thoughts and hear Jon on the issues. See today’s Missoulian for coverage of the event.

Later in the day, Jon traveled to Corvallis and met with folks from the area at Memories Cafe. In September, Tester will return to the area for a debate in Hamilton.