We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
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The Chinook Sugarbeeters hosted their first mixer of the season this past Friday and were joined on the mats by the Harlem Wildcats and Hays/Lodge Pole Thunderbirds. The Mixer provides each wrestler with the opportunity to wrestle three matches against similar caliber opponents if possible. No teams scores are kept. Saturday the three teams headed to Glasgow for the 22nd Annual Scottie Invitational which would provide our local wrestlers an opportunity to face opponents they may not see again...
The Blaine County Fair Foundation recently received a $1000 challenge grant. Laura Kleinjan, Foundation Secretary/Treasurer, said, "This is a great opportunity for others to double the value of their donation. The anonymous donor will match other gifts up to the $1000." Kleinjan added, "The timing of the challenge grant allows folks to make taxable deductions before the end of the year." The Fair Foundation was incorporated in November, 2016 and has since received certification from the...
The Harlem Library's annual Creative Christmas program is an opportunity for locals to get ideas for Christmas decorations and new holiday dishes. And do some visiting. This year's program to the 27 guests who gathered, was presented by Shannon Van Voast of Turner. A big fan of Pintrest, a social media website that features creative ideas, Van Voast said, "Actually, since I started looking at Pintrest I've not had an original idea." That statement turned out to be not quit accurate as she...
Blaine Countians could chose among several holiday bazaars this past weekend. The local bazaars have their roots in the Christmas bazaars, or "Christ child markets," that began in Germany in the late 1200's. Many of those early European bazaars still operate during Advent (from the first Sunday in December to Christmas Eve) and attract millions of visitors, having become a major draw for tourists. While the bazaars in Blaine County are more modest in size and length, they play a major role in...
Reporter's note: My wife and I just returned from western Washington where we spent the month of October working at Biringer's Black Crow Pumpkins and Corn Maze outside Arlington (50 miles north of Seattle). This pumpkin patch and maze was started six years ago by Gary and Julie Biringer. Gary is the third generation Biringer farmer to be in what is popularly now called agritourism-"...any agriculturally based operation that brings visitors to a farm or ranch." Agritourism is also known by...
Reporter's note: I believe the first time I saw Roy Case, and the line of "unique Montana-style birdhouses" he builds and sells, was at the Seed Show in Harlem last year. Since then I've seen him at other bazaars and community events. He's created a style of birdhouse that is beyond the more traditional with just four walls and a roof. His birdhouses are eye-catching and require some close examination to really see and appreciate their detail and distinctive style. On Roy's business card, after...
For more than a year Bonnie Hellman, of Chinook, has been using her sewing skills to help orphans in Haiti. The retired elementary teacher collects (she taught 27 years in Harlem), cuts and sews cotton t-shirts in to 'diapers' that eventually are used in four orphanages on the Caribbean island. She got interested in the ministry when she met another seamstress who was showing one of the homemade diapers to a group at a senior center in Culbertson, Montana. Since she started making the diapers,...
The East Fork Fire Appreciation Dinner was held last Saturday night at the Commercial Building at the Blaine County Fairgrounds. Soon after the 20,000+ acre fire was controlled in mid-September, Ted Crowley and his family wanted to show their appreciation to all the people who helped the landowners in the south Blaine/Hill County areas. Landowners got together and planned an event that drew 400+ guests. Ted and Barb Crowley's ranch was the site of the Central Fire Command during the fire, the...
Laura Shellman, Family Nurse Practitioner at Sweet Medical Center, addressed the monthly meeting of the local Cancer Support Group. Shellman, who joined the medical center in May, 2016, was trained and worked as a labor and delivery nurse for several years before completing a graduate degree as a Nurse Practitioner from Brigham Young University in 2012. She and her family relocated to the area from Glendive when she joined Sweet Medical Center. Shellman said she understood about cancer from an...
No one is exactly sure what year the first Community Thanksgiving Dinner was held in Chinook, but most agree it was in the 1980's. First held in the Presbyterian Church, the event later moved to the Chinook Senior Center when the present facility was completed. Organizers of the most recent edition of the community dinner say the number of diners has stayed fairly consistent and financial support has remained generous and adequate. It's one of the first community get togethers that kicks off...
There are a number of events scheduled around the county to celebrate the holiday season. In an effort to give readers some 'heads up,' here's a list of upcoming happenings we know about and received information regarding details. The list includes general events open to the public. In most cases there is basic information with a contact for more details. Have a great holiday season...and mark your calendars so you don't miss something that interests you. Wednesday, November 22. Chinook. The Ang...
Amelia Funk was the volunteer director of Chinook's Food Pantry from 2000 until she retired from the position in 2015. Until her retirement she was the only director to serve the Food Pantry since its creation in 1998. In September, 2017, Funk received a letter from AARP Montana (American Association of Retired Persons Montana) notifying her she was a nominee for the 2017 Andrus Award for Community Service based on her years of service to the Food Pantry. The Andrus Award is the Association's...
I’m looking for information about a cattle drive carried out by the Les Sprinkle crew in May and June of 1919. According to a book by Janet Allison about William and Mary Rose Davies, Sprinkle bought 5000 cattle and herded them from Idaho to Chinook, then up the North Fork to a leased summer pasture in Canada. This was after a couple of very bad years of severe winters and drought that practically took Sprinkle out of the sheep business. In the fall of that year the cattle came back south in blizzards. The majority of the cattle went to a c...
The Local Advisory Council on Mental Health in Blaine County invited county students to participate in a coloring contest during Suicide Prevention and Awareness Month (September). The council is made up of mental health professionals and others concerned with the mental well-being of local residents. For the last few years the coloring contest has helped raise awareness among students about suicide, a malaise that claims 40,000 lives in the U.S. each year. The contest gave students an...
Will Robb joined the Chinook Police Department in August as a new Patrolman. The Nebraska native and his wife, Jessica, moved to the Chinook area just over a year ago. Dr. Jessica Robb, DVM, joined the Blaine County Veterinary Service last year as a veterinarian. Will and Jessica have a fifteen month old son, Braxton. They first resided in the Cleveland area and now live in Chinook. Will grew up in Elwood, Nebraska (south, central Nebraska), a town of about 700 people. He said, "Even though I...
The parents of the CHS Class of 2018 kicked off their first fundraiser last Friday night with a spaghetti dinner at the Eagles in Chinook. For the last several years senior class parents have hosted a 'drug-free, alcohol-free' post-graduation event. Michelle Lowham, a senior's mom and one of the volunteers at the spaghetti fundraiser, said, "The After Party is a place where the new grads can come and safely celebrate after graduation. As parents we're raising funds and giveaway items to help...
City elections were set for Tuesday, November 7. With no contested seats for either mayor or council positions in Harlem, there was no need for an election there. Chinook was filling the mayor and three council seats, but only one council seat was contested. In Harlem, incumbent Mayor Bill Taylor decided not to seek reelection. Kim Hansen, who had served on the city council, filed to run for mayor. There were no other candidates who filed for mayor and no contests for council positions. There was no need to hold an election. In Chinook,...
B.J. O'Doherty joined the Blaine County/MSU Extension Service as the new Ag Extension Agent on October 17. His duties will include working with local farmers and ranchers as well as with 4-H, the youth development segment of the extension service. O'Doherty replaces Ben Hauptman who took an agent's job last spring near where he grew up in Granite County. O'Doherty grew up in Stone Mountain, Georgia where he completed high school. Most of his adult life he's lived in the west, having recently mov...
The Blaine County Sheriff's Office and Chinook Police Department are using a new web-based software that will improve crime statistics reporting and streamline dispatch operations that serve both agencies. Undersheriff Frank Billmayer explained, "The eFORCE system utilizes computer-assisted dispatch (CAD) and will give officers a record management system (RMS) that reduces paperwork and streamlines the issuing and writing of citations. The RMS capabilities allow department managers to create...
5-year old Anna Getten is currently a freshman at Chinook High. Last June she competed in her last National Junior High Rodeo. This year was her second trip to the nationals. After winning the requisite points in the Montana rodeo circuit and finishing among the top four finishers at the Montana state rodeo, she moved on to the nationals held in Lebanon, Tennessee. There she joined the 1,000+ junior high contestants who made it to the top level of their sport. The Lebanon region, always hot...
Ken Finley raises produce in an area along the Milk River near the Chinook Water Treatment Plant. The last day of September he held a Customer Appreciation Day. It was a near perfect fall day with mild temperatures and sunny skies. Finley said, "I've been wanting to give back to the folks who support my vegetable stand all summer. This seemed like a good weekend to do it and pumpkins are the seasonal vegetable of choice this time of year." Weather forecasters were predicting a dramatic cold...
This was the fifth year the Harlem Civic Association hosted a Fall Festival-sometimes billed as 'the last picnic of the season.' The Association hosted a first ever Hunger Walk as part of this fall's event. Organizers said 70+ people signed up and paid the $30 fee to walk. The money will go toward support of the local food bank. The Civic Association has operated for more than a decade funding and organizing various events to "improve life in our community." By walk time, at 2 pm, the weather...
By Steve Edwards BCJ News Reporter's note: My interest in the Country Club hall on the Big Flat started when a fellow diner asked Ed Snider, at a Harlem Senior Center dinner, "Do you remember the time you took us to the Turner Country Club?" My ears perked up because I'd never heard about a country club near Turner or anywhere else on the Big Flat. After some more questioning Ed told me, "The Country Club is a place with quite a history. Contact Richard Hickel up in Turner and he'll tell you all...
By Steve Edwards BCJ News Last week the first quarterly drawings in the new Sweet Escape raffle series were completed. Sarah McKinney won the first quarterly trip for this year. She won a trip for two for four nights/five days and can chose among Hawaii, Cancun, San Diego or Las Vegas as her destination. Jill Leo won the third drawing for the monthly Montana trip. That trip, for two, is for three nights/four days and Leo can pick from 12 cool Montana destinations. Art Kleinjan was the third monthly runner up winner and will receive $200. Trip...
Newborns to five year-olds in Blaine and Hill Counties can receive an age appropriate book each month…for free! The free books are a part of the Plant a Seed…Read! effort connected to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library project. The popular artist started the book distribution program in 1995 in her home county in Tennessee. The initiative was based on research results that show a major part of a child’s brain development happens from birth to age five. Reading aloud to a child in that age category is connected to improved levels of readiness wh...
