The Fork & Spoon on Lone Mountain Trail announced a new “Locals’ Tuesday” promotion this week, offering twenty percent off entrees for anyone who can prove they live in Big Sky. The restaurant posted a handwritten sign in the window Tuesday morning. By afternoon, the definition of local had already become the primary topic of conversation at both the post office and the Yellowstone Club gatehouse.

Owner Marcus Driggs, who moved from Bozeman in 2019, said he wanted to thank the community that supported his business through the slow seasons. He accepted a Montana driver’s license, a utility bill, or a property tax statement as proof of residency. He did not anticipate the spreadsheet.

“My neighbor Gary has a place in Moonlight Basin but winters in Scottsdale,” said Barbara Hensley, who bought her condo in 1998 when the meadow was still mostly elk. “He shows up in December with his Arizona license and expects the discount. I’ve been shoveling this roof since Clinton was president. We are not the same.”

Gary Milbank, reached by phone at 406-555-0187, said he spends ninety days a year in Big Sky and employs three local contractors. “I pay more in property taxes than most people make,” he said. “If that doesn’t make me local, the word has no meaning.”

The resort workforce population, many of whom live in employee housing or commute from Four Corners, largely stayed away. “I work sixty hours a week at the hotel,” said lift operator Jesse Cline, twenty-four. “By the time I get off, the special is over. Also, twenty percent off a forty-dollar burger is still thirty-two dollars. I’ll eat a sandwich in the break room.”

Driggs said he would review the policy before next Tuesday. He has already received three anonymous letters suggesting a tiered system based on years of residency, acres owned, or number of winters survived without leaving. The Fork & Spoon will reopen Wednesday with the regular menu. The sign remains in the window.