Some men are born great, some men achieve greatness, and a rare breed of men even Shakespeare never imagined has the title "Old Sore Head" thrust upon them.

That's the fate of Bob Christenson, the run-away winner in the 11-man race for the title of "Old Sore Head" in Rudyard.

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The election was a fundraiser for the town senior center, with $1 a vote. Christenson's can had upwards of $800 more than the next contender stuffed into it, with more than $3,800 raised for the cause.

Christenson's first official duty was to wear the Sore Head sash and sit on a crimson throne at the head of the homecoming parade.

His daughter, Bonnie Anderson, came along. She said he loves his new title and "has the driest sense of humor ever." 

Between Chester and Havre, Rudyard, pop. 250, is known as a town with "596 nice people and one Old Sore Head."

None of the men who have served as ambassadors of the town in the Sore Head role have really embodied the title. The last one, Cliff Ulmen, was an enthusiastic Rudyard booster.

Christenson was the only Sore Head candidate who wasn't in town when Harry Smith of NBC's "Today" show came to Rudyard for a closer look at the election (the crew also visited Bynum and Chinook this year).

Instead, Christenson was off riding a zip-line in Big Sky to celebrate his 80th birthday in a big way.  

"We had a good time zipping," he said. "It was just something from my bucket list."

The NBC crew had a wealth of one-liners from Rudyard wits for the show. Locals introduced Smith to frog eye salad and roped him into the contest as a contender. 

Christenson said he was "sort of" surprised to win (and who would want to think of themselves as a shoo-in for that title?) but allowed as "the guy from New York (Smith), he thought the big money was on me." 

Christenson said there doesn't seem to be any rules on how long his reign will last, but maybe he'll have the sash for the rest of his days.

The sash is "sort of different. I don't know," he said. "You don't usually want to be looked at as a sorehead." 

But, homecoming was a good day, he said, and the fundraiser was good, too.

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