Last weekend, some bar-goers in Great Falls may have noticed something under their wiper blades upon returning to their car after a night out at the bar. While the initial fear may be a parking ticket, the reality is far different. Inside a small envelope was a thank-you note, courtesy of the Montana Bar Fairies. Also included is a small card that provides a brief overview of the organization's mission.
MEET ONE OF THE BAR FAIRIES:
“I knew it was going to be good, but I didn't expect it to be this good,” says Delisa Protsman, director of the Great Falls Bar Fairies. She’s referring to the overwhelmingly positive response she’s received for leading the new initiative in Great Falls.
Fairies visit the parking lots of bars and casinos on weekend mornings, beginning at 5:45am. They place an envelope on the windshield of cars left overnight. Inside, a gift card to a local coffee shop, plus a thank you note for making a responsible decision to not drive home drunk.
“That's awesome to wake up, come back to a little gift in the morning. Anything to help promote being safe when you're drinking,” says Jesse Halter, a bartender at Snits.
Though present in Montana for a couple of years, they’ve finally established a base in Great Falls. Delisa says the desire to volunteer in town has surged.
“People are excited and want to get on the list to do it all the time,” she says. “What I really like about this program is that it isn't punitive. It's rewarding someone for making the right decision in that moment."
On top of leaving gift cards, Great Falls Fairies also hopes to educational partnerships with organizations like the Cascade County DUI Task Force. They also plan to provide grief outreach and support.
The Montana Bar Fairies have also had success in strengthening Montana’s DUI laws. In the last legislative session, their advocacy helped pass “Bobby’s Law," which recognizes high blood-alcohol concentration in deadly crashes as gross negligence and strengthens the legal consequences for DUI-related deaths.
It’s named after the late Robert Dewbre, who was celebrating his 21st birthday in March 2023 when he was hit and killed by a drunk driver outside Columbia Falls.
From the Montana Bar Fairies website:
Determined to turn heartbreak into change, Bobby’s mother, Beth McBride, and sister, Carli Seymour, looked for a way to prevent other families from experiencing the same loss. They started noticing something—a pattern. Cars left overnight in bar parking lots. Signs that someone had made the responsible decision not to drive under the influence. Instead of seeing those cars as abandoned, they saw them as symbols of change. That’s when an idea was born.
With thousands expected to be traveling this holiday weekend, the Bar Fairies hope their initiative will encourage more people to make safe choices when drinking.
