Montana

World renowned sword swallower performing at the Northwest Montana Fair

Published

2 years ago

August 16, 2024

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World renowned sword swallower performing at the Northwest Montana Fair

KALISPELL — World-renowned sword swallower Dan Meyer is performing at the Northwest Montana Fair this week.

It is a crazy, have to see it to believe it, act. But for Meyer, it’s about more than just swallowing swords.

“Yes, sword swallowing is really real, but that’s not what my show is all about. It’s about finding your purpose and calling in life. And for me, I found my purpose and calling is to change the world by inspiring people to get over their fear and to do the impossible in their lives, not necessarily swallowing swords, but doing the impossible in their lives. And so for me, it’s a much bigger thing,” Meyer told MTN.

Kiana Wilson/MTN News

World-renowned sword swallower Dan Meyer is performing at the 2024 Northwest Montana Fair in Kalispell.

Sword swallowing began over 4,000 years ago in India. Meyer saw sword swallowing for the first time while on a mission trip to India when he was 20 years old. After four years and 14,000 failed attempts, Meyer swallowed his first sword in 2001.

“So an unsuccessful attempt means I decorated my shoes a lot. I had to clean my shoes quite a few times,” said Meyer.

From there his career took off and he has performed in 60 countries, holds 40 world records and has been on over 100 TV shows including America’s Got Talent.

“But that’s the easy part for me, the swords are actually the easy part. It’s getting my mouth to work and actually impacting people’s lives and their hearts and inspiring them to do the impossible in their life. That’s the hard part,” said Meyer.

*Dan Meyer has performed in 60 countries, holds 40 world records and has been on over 100 TV shows.*

As a kid, Meyer was bullied and suffered from social anxiety. But once he discovered he could do the impossible and swallow a sword he knew he could change people’s lives.

“It’s all about proving to people that you can do the impossible in your life. If this scared, shy, skinny, Wimpy Kid can do the impossible, then so can you,” said Meyer.

Meyer is the President of the Sword Swallowing Association. Only a couple dozen people in the world do this stunt. Meyer’s show is funny, death-defying and seemingly impossible. But it is completely real.

“One thing that people don’t realize is that I actually have to nudge my heart aside as I swallow the sword. The esophagus goes around the heart, so I have to nudge my heart to the left. So if you watch very carefully, you can see the blade beat with my heart like that. And you can’t fake that,” said Meyer.

Meyer has been hospitalized four times from sword swallowing injuries but that does not stop him from continuing to do his show and spread his message.

“And it’s my goal in life is to reach as many people as I can, not with a message on sword swallowing, but that you could do the impossible in your life,”

Meyer will be performing at the Northwest Montana Fair through Sunday if you want to see this impossible performance for yourself.

You can learn more about Dan Meyer at https://www.cuttingedgeinnertainment.com/.

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Montana

Your guide to local sports events, plus what’s on TV

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4 hours ago

March 2, 2026

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Your guide to local sports events, plus what’s on TV

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Montana

Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026

Published

17 hours ago

March 1, 2026

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Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026

HELENA — You probably have goals and plans for 2026—the Montana Department of Agriculture does too.

“We’re really focusing on innovative agricultural practices,” Montana Department of Agriculture director Jillien Streit said.

It’s no secret that agriculture—farming and ranching—is not easy. There are long days, planning, monitoring crops and livestock, and other challenges beyond farmers’ and ranchers’ control.

(WATCH: Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026)

Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026

“We have very low commodity prices across the board,” Streit said. “We still have very high input prices across the board, and we have really high prices when it comes to our equipment, and so, it’s a really tough year.”

But innovation, including new practices, partnerships and technology use, can help navigate some of those challenges.

“We can’t make more time and we can’t make more land, so we need to start putting together innovative practices that help us maximize what our time and land can do,” Streit said.

Practices range from using technology like autonomous tractors and virtual fencing—allowing rangers to contain and move cattle right from their phones—to regenerative farming and ranching.

“It is bringing cattle back into farming operations to be able to work with cover cropping practices to invigorate the soil for new soil health benefits,” Streit said.

The Montana Department of Agriculture is working to help producers learn, share, and collaborate on new ideas to work in their operations.

The department will share stories of practices that work from farms and ranches across the state. Also, within the next year or so, Streit said the department is hoping to roll out technology to help producers collaborate.

“(It’s) providing a communication platform where people can get together and really help each other out by utilizing each other’s assets,” she said.

While not easy, agriculture is still one of Montana’s largest industries, and Streit said innovating and sharing ideas across the state can keep it going long into the future.

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Frontier Conference women: MSU-Northern, Montana Western pull upsets to advance to semifinal round

Published

1 day ago

March 1, 2026

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Frontier Conference women: MSU-Northern, Montana Western pull upsets to advance to semifinal round

BUTTE — MSU-Northern and Montana Western pulled a pair of upsets Saturday at the Butte Civic Center to wrap up the quarterfinal round of the Frontier Conference women’s basketball postseason tournament.

The fifth-seeded Skylights started the day with a red-hot shooting performance to down No. 4 Rocky Mountain College 82-74. Western, the sixth seed, used a third-quarter surge to defeat No. 3 Carroll College 65-56.

MSU-Northern (17-11) and Western (14-13) now advance to Sunday’s semifinal round, where the Skylights will play No. 1 seed Dakota State at noon and the Bulldogs will face No. 2 Montana Tech at 2:30 p.m.

MSU-Northern 82, Rocky Mountain College 74

MSU-Northern sizzled in the first quarter, making seven 3-pointers to take a double-digit lead, and put together a crucial third-quarter run to get past Rocky and advance to the semifinal round.

Becky Melcher splashed four 3s in the first 10 minutes, and Taya Trottier, Canzas HisBadHorse and Shania Moananu added one apiece as the Skylights built a 29-13 lead. Melcher scored 14 first-quarter points and finished with a game-high 30 on 10-of-19 shooting (7 of 15 from 3-point range). She added 11 rebounds, a blocked shot and three steals to her stat line.

Rocky battled back to tie the game at 36-36 in the second quarter on a Brenna Linse basket, but MSUN responded with consecutive triples from Trottier and Melcher and took a 44-38 lead into halftime. The Bears eventually stole the lead back in the third quarter following a 9-0 run capped be an Isabelle Heggem bucket.

But the Skylights again answered — this time with a 13-2 run to take a 60-51 lead. MSUN led 66-59 going to the fourth and wouldn’t trail the rest of the way. The Skylights trailed for less than two total minutes of the game.

As a team, MSUN made 14 of 26 3s in the game. Ciera Agasiva was 3 for 3 from behind the arc, and Trottier was 2 for 3. Trottier had 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists, while Agasiva had 13 points.

Paige Wasson led Rocky (20-9) with 29 points but was 0 for 10 on 3-point attempts. Heggem had a double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds.

Montana Western 65, Carroll 56

After neither team led by more than five points in the first half, Western broke open a 25-25 tie game by outscoring Carroll 20-9 in the third quarter.

Bailee Sayler scored 10 points in the quarter, including making two 3-pointers, to help the Bulldogs take control. They led 45-34 going to the fourth, and Carroll wouldn’t get closer than six points the rest of the way.

The Fighting Saints were just 18-of-65 shooting (27.7%) for the game.

Sayler scored an efficient 22 points on 7-of-8 shooting. She was 2 for 3 from 3-point range and 6 for 7 at the free throw line. The Missoula native also had nine rebounds.

Isabella Lund added 16 points for the Bulldogs, and Keke Davis had 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Carroll (19-10) was led by Kenzie Allen with 12 points. Willa Albrecht and Meagan Karstetter scored 11 points apiece for the Saints.

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