‘Renaissance man’ Bill Hottell lived a full life
Much more laughter than tears filled a standing-room-only Methow Valley Community Center gym on Dec. 14, at an event to celebrate the full-to-the-brim life of Bill Hottell. Hottell had died Nov. 9 at Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane after a stroke. He was 87.
The celebration kicked off with music, of course, by Terry Hunt and his bandmates. Hottell, his wife Diana and the rest of the Hottell Ragtime Band had famously enlivened the Methow Valley with their music for 41 years at Antlers Saloon and Cafe — from New Year’s Eve 1972 to the night the bar closed, on New Year’s Eve 2013…