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A REPLICA of the former Uhde’s Cash & Carry store, left, sits next to the original store the Lewis family of Rollins owned. Both buildings are at The Miracle of America Museum in Polson. The families that ran the businesses had a long-standing feud, which no one knows was the origin. (Ashley Fox/Lake County Leader)
STANDING LEFT to right are Fred Uhde, Faith Uhde, and a Native American friend of theirs, in Rollins. (Photo provided courtesy of Peggy Lewis)
PICTURED ARE Viola and Cecil Lewis, who once owned a store in Rollins. (Photo provided courtesy of Peggy Lewis)
FRED UHDE is pictured relaxing in an adirondack chair as he reads the newspaper. Uhde owned the former general store that once stood in Rollins. (Photo provided courtesy of Peggy Lewis)
PEGGY AND her husband Gail Lewis are descendants of two families in Rollins that were once involved in a feud that no one knows was the cause. (Photo provided courtesy of Peggy Lewis)
During the Great Depression, two Rollins families were involved in a bitter feud.
Fast forward 60 years later, two of their children are married.
In a modern-day love story vaguely reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet, Peggy and Gail Lewis of Polson have spent the last decade traveling and laughing, not bothered by what their feuding families would think.
“It’s been fun,” Peggy said of their adventures, laughing.
Peggy explained that she grew up in Kalispell while Gail lived in Rollins.
Both were previously married, but their spouses passed away. They met 10 years ago, and the rest, Peggy said, is history.
While he spoke to visitors at The Miracle of America Museum in Polson during an openhouse last week, owner Gil Mangels even declared he wasn’t sure what caused the families’ resentment of each other.
Gail said it could have been a dispute over property lines, but no one really knows.
Peggy explained that the two businesses were “the only two” in Rollins at the time.
Walking through the replicas and remainders of the old, wooden stores that the families owned, a general store by Peggy’s grandparents, Fred and Faith Uhde, and a gas station operated by Gail’s parents, Cecil and Viola Lewis, the couple shared what the stores looked like so many years ago, confirming which equipment was authentic or how the setup was in their childhood.
“My grandfather’s store was bulldozed down, so Gil has a sign and some scales and other things,” Peggy said.
Right next to Peggy’s grandfather’s store sits Gail’s parents’ little store.
Smiling, he recalled how the shelving high up on the walls held certain items.
The foes were competitors from the 1930s through the 1960s, Peggy said.
She acknowledged that the deceased relatives would probably be upset with their union, but Gail’s sister was excited when she heard the news of the two together.
Letting bygones by bygones, Peggy and Gail go to family reunions for each of their families.
“It really is a very loving group (at this point in time),” she said of relatives as she laughed. “It’s all good now.”
Although they aren’t worried about family politics, there is one topic that Peggy said can get pretty dicey.
“Gail is a bobcat (fan) and I’m a grizzly (fan),” Peggy said, adding between chuckles, “but we’re managing that.”