Brewery hosts benefit auction

By MIKE RICHESON

Bigfork Eagle

When the Flathead Lake Brewing Company opened, Neil Prescott thought it was a miracle.

Yes, he likes the beer, and he thinks Jason Courtney is “the best brewer in the world,” but what Prescott loves most about the brewery is the people.

“There are some awesome people here,” Prescott said. “Awesome.”

Prescott, 47, hails from Liverpool, England, and the brewery is his version of the Eagle and Child - a pub in England where writers J.R.R. Tolkein and C.S. Lewis would get together and discuss the main issues of the day.

“The friendship and level of conversation I have here is like no other I have ever experienced,” Prescott said. “There is this incredible meeting of the minds.”

Because Prescott has a large network of friends he frequently meets at the brewery, Sarah Courtney has organized a benefit that will take place this Sunday at the brewery from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Prescott will soon undergo surgery to amputate his right foot, and will cost about $25,000.

Prescott, who is here on a religious visa, doesn’t have insurance or the funds to pay for the operation.

He was born with a defective foot that always wanted to roll over to the side, which resulted in wounds that led to infection. Doctors partially amputated a bone in his foot two years ago, and Prescott has made his way around with a crutch ever since. Although he is nervous about going under the knife - and saw - he said the amputation is a chance for a new life. He must return to England in June 2008, and he would like to be at the tail end of his physical therapy by then.

Prescott is an interesting and compelling personality. His journey from England to the shores of Flathead Lake began in 1995 when he left his 22-year career as a pharmaceutical analyst to attend a Christian minister training course in Wisconsin - a surprising move considering he had never been interested in religion or God.

“I had followed an old tradition of finding a job after leaving school and staying in it,” Prescott said.

But a life of stringent policy with very little thought began to wear on him.

“No thought required, just meet the deadlines,” Prescott said. “This became intolerable, and I knew there was more to life than that.”

He completed his religious education but came away disappointed at what he saw as man trapping God in “mumbo-jumbo.”

Prescott’s version of Christianity is mystical and deeply personal. He readily admits that he can’t prove God’s existence, but his experiences lead him to believe, and that is enough for him.

“I am content not to know,” he said.

Losing part of his leg and being just a year away from heading back to England, Prescott takes it all in stride.

“I’m on the verge of an amputation, and I don’t have a care in the world,” he said. “There might be a time when I have to worry, but you cross the bridges you’ve got to cross. I am certain that I am taken care of.”

Although he is faced with the loss of a limb and a long recovery process, Prescott said he wouldn’t change a thing. He compares life to scenes from “The Karate Kid,” where a student learns “wax on, wax off” over and over but doesn’t know why. But one day, when he needs to react, the movements are instantaneous and natural.

“This life is extraordinary, and I watch it go by and have to marvel at the strangeness and wonder of it,” Prescott said. “The best people I know, the people I love and appreciate, and from whom I have learned the most, all live within a short distance from me here in the Flathead Valley. The chances of that happening are very small.”