Riding for a cause during Pink Week

Visitors at Artemis Acres guest ranch south of Kalispell will saddle up for a good cause this week during their second annual Pink Week.

The idea for Pink Week came last year when Myndi Holbrook, a Whitefish native, wanted to celebrate the ranch’s three female wranglers. For one week last August Holbrook, Alexis Clevenger and Melissa Maitland donated all their tips to Wings Regional Cancer Support to help cancer patients pay for transportation to and from hospital visits. With a few later donations, they raised more than $1,600.

Ranch owner Cecil Noble loved the idea and reached out to Holbrook to help make it an annual event. The goal this year is to raise even more for Wings.

Riders can enjoy one- and two-hour rides on the horses, which are decorated in pink. On Saturday cancer survivors will be treated to a free ride and barbecue.

With the help of Murdoch’s Ranch and Home Supply, which donated the pink halters for the horses, and Rosauers, which helped supply the barbecue, Holbrook said it’s encouraging to see help coming from many places.

“I think that’s the most exciting part. A lot of people do want to help and they do want to support people in the hospital, so giving them an opportunity to do that, they just jump right on it,” she said.

This year’s wranglers are Clevenger, Maitland and Megan Paulson, and Chuck Bright is the resident barbecue chef.

Supporting breast cancer helps the ranch reach out to a lot of people, Clevenger said, and Pink Week is all about helping those who’ve been affected.

“Unfortunately breast cancer is so widespread that somebody knows someone with breast cancer in their family,” she said. “It affects a lot of people very deeply.”

Artemis Acres is located at 610 Patrick Creek Road in Kalispell. Pink Week runs until Aug. 6. For information, call 755-3723.