October is a Strange Month in Bozeman. One day you’re admiring the fall color and squeezing in one more outdoor adventure. The next, you’re wondering if you remembered to disconnect the garden hose, whether the snow tires are still where you think they are, and exactly where the snow shovel is.

It’s a month with a whole lot of exciting activities, like pumpkin carving contests for kids and adults, the Bozeman Made Fair, Bozeman Film Festival, Indigenous Peoples Day Fashion Show, Grossology and Pour & Gore at the Museum of the Rockies, Ice Dogs Hockey, Bobcat Football, Howlit’s Halloween Bar at the Tune Up, and trick-or-treating. You can find all of these events and many more on the Greater Yellowstone Events Calendar, both in print and online.

October is also the month when we are particularly interested in things that are a little harder to explain. Strange happenings. Ghost stories. Old murders. Places that once had hundreds of people living in them and now have almost no one. Well-kept secrets. This issue goes down a few of those rabbit holes, along with a very real bear attack, the science and spectacle of changing leaves, and a few reminders that winter is, in fact, coming.

There’s one other thing happening this October that has nothing to do with ghosts.

Bozeman’s Choice 2027 opens October 1, and this year we’re shortening the voting period to just one month. From October 1 through November 1, you can cast your votes for the local businesses, people, places, and things you think deserve recognition. If there’s a business you love, a restaurant you always recommend, a favorite place to spend an afternoon, or a local person who consistently makes Bozeman better, this is the time to speak up.

All options in the poll are added by voters, so if you don’t see your favorite, you can add it and vote for it. You only need to vote once; just don’t forget to do it by November 1. If your business is nominated, or you’ve won the poll in the past, you’re going to want to share the poll early and often, and ask for votes to reach Top 3 status for 2027. Winners are contacted when the poll ends and announced online January 1, 2027, and in a glossy print guide distributed all year long.

We spend a lot of time in this issue looking at what Bozeman and Montana used to be. Bozeman’s Choice is a chance to say something about what makes this place worth paying attention to right now.

Happy October. Stay curious—and please vote for Bozeman’s Choice.