We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
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Austin Haney, most recently a summer Interpretive Ranger at the Bear Paw Battlefield, has been selected as a presenter for the Humanities Montana program. Haney recently joined about fifty presenters with Montana Conversations. Montana Conversations provides workshops and conversations on topics such as "current affairs, untold histories, native cultures, literature and more." Each year Montana Conversations provides presenters in communities across the state. I spoke with Austin at the Blaine...
Late December, 2023, Jim Doyle was sworn in as the new Blaine County Justice of the Peace. He replaced outgoing Judge Perry Miller who resigned due to health issues. No stranger to the Justice Court office, Doyle was most recently the Justice Court Administrator. He has been with the Justice Court for nearly twenty-seven years. Doyle was selected and approved as the new judge from applicants who applied to fill the vacancy. His selection was made and approved by the Blaine County Commissioners....
Edith Bilger, who lived most of her adult life in western Blaine County, became a Montana Centenarian on December 20, 2023. It's an "exclusive club" of folks who have lived 100 years or more. Family members from far and near and friends from all over the area joined Edith at the Chinook Senior Center to celebrate her 100th birthday. Last October she was listed among the centenarians honored at the Montana Governor's 54th Conference on Aging. She joined fellow Blaine Countian Virginia Olson who...
Judge Perry Miller is resigning as Justice of the Peace for Blaine County effective December 31 of 2023. It's a post he's held for 29 years. He will also resign his positions as City Judge for both Harlem (13 years) and Chinook (20 years). Miller suffered a stroke last summer and despite health improvements he said, "My eyes won't properly convert what I'm reading so I have double vision. I also tire more easily." Miller added, "After last Thanksgiving I decided I needed to retire. It was not...
Alert readers may recall I often lament the annoyances of spending extended time in the Seattle area when my wife and I take on our dog-sitting duties each fall. The daily hassles of living amongst four million other people wear me down. I enjoy our time with family, but our extended stays can be difficult at times. The upside of being in a big city is having access to cultural and educational experiences that are rarely available in small towns or rural areas. During our current five week stay...
Blaine County Library's Homeschool Hour students recently had their last session for 2023. Providing programs aimed at homeschool students, Homeschool Hour meets 1-2pm on Wednesdays. Per Assistant Librarian Emily Scofield who oversees the program, any student, kindergarten through high school, is welcome to attend. The recent program had a big turnout with 29 students plus adults bringing the total attendees to 41. Austin Haney, Interpretive Ranger last summer and fall at the Bear Paw...
This year's Blaine County Fur Fest Coyote Hunt was sponsored for the first time by the Blaine County Fair Foundation. The event was held the first weekend of December and was deemed a huge success. Fair Board/Foundation member Shandel Fouts, who was very involved in the planning, promotion and carrying out of the event, reported "It was the first time the Fair Foundation sponsored the hunt and it was a huge success." One hundred fifty-nine hunters, organized in to fifty teams, participated....
A new holiday tree ornament honoring the memory of the airmen killed in a crash over Harlem more than 30 years ago is now available for the upcoming Christmas season. Eva English, owner of Eva's Laser Engraving Etc. teamed up with leaders of the Harlem Airmen Memorial Committee to design an ornament that could be shared with visitors to the Memorial and others who want to support the upkeep of the two sites honoring the fallen airmen. The two sites, one in Harlem and one north of town near the...
Alert "Journal" readers may recall the story that ran in August about the visit by 16 former airmen who came to visit the Harlem Airmen's Memorial. The group, all Air Force veterans and mostly from the west coast, had some connections to the 13 crewmen who died during a refueling practice run high over Harlem that resulted in a crash of two of the four planes in the exercise. The crash occurred on November 30, 1992. The 16 came to visit the memorial in Harlem and another up nearer the actual...
Total Number of Teams: 20 Open Class 28 Calling Class 2 Kids Teams 50 Teams Total Total Number of Hunters: 89 Calling Class 66 Open Class 4 Kids 159 hunters total Total Number of animals turned in: 38 Rabbits 23 Raccoons 31 Porcupines 308 Coyotes 400 Animals total Prize Money Paid out Just over $18,000 between the class winners, side pots, & Calcutta Kids: Sponsored by Gruszie Family Show Pigs, Kevin Young, & Kevin Elias. Skoyen Kids (Piper & Maverick Skoyen) & Team Bob (Denton Eggleston &...
A stop at a suburban Seattle parking lot reminded me of the large number of crows in the Pacific Northwest. In the parking lot I could hear the familiar “caws” of foraging crows. Ten years ago, when my wife and I lived in Arlington, Washington (north of Seattle) every morning from my desk I could look out our second story window and see a small flock (called a “murder of crows”) working their way along the street, picking up bits of dropped food, forcing their way in to garbage bins set out for...
Two things prompted me to write this story First was my recalling one year ago when I got taken for $400 on an "imposter scam" involving my buying gift cards for a friend's supposed dying cousin. Second stimulus was a news release from the regional FBI office in Salt Lake City describing an uptick in "Phantom Hacker attacks" (where a scammer poses as an unknown government or financial institution worker trying to prevent a hack or scam) that tend to focus on senior citizens. These two types of...
For folks around Chinook the first weekend in October has come to mean: “Fall is here, time to gather pumpkins for Halloween at Finley’s Pumpkin Patch.” Ken Finley (dubbed Grandpa PumpKen by his family) died this past spring but thanks to son Jeff, and Jeff’s extended family, Ken’s legacy of providing pumpkins for locals will continue. Not only do kids still get to wander the patch to find their own pumpkins for carving, they can use the kid-sized sling shots to shoot tennis balls at pumpkin t...
National Volunteer Week is traditionally celebrated the third week in April. It’s a week when the country’s 60 million volunteers who volunteer 4.18 billion hours of service are officially recognized. Senior Center Director Ginger Hansen, who joined the Center only a few months ago, decided to celebrate the Center’s volunteers a bit early this year. She planned and held a special event for the Center’s volunteers in early October. Hansen explained, “Volunteers assure the Center is able to contin...
Last October Gary and Beverly Jensen, traveling companions from Chester on several prior bus tours, called asking if I would help them organize a bus tour. The destination was the Ark Encounter and Creation Museum in northern Kentucky, near Cincinnati. I'd heard of the two attractions and learned the Ark and Museum were based on a 'young earth creation' view of the story found in the Bible. The Jensons contacted Diamond Tours, a travel company that specializes in trips for seniors, and reserved...
Virginia Olson was back in Chinook from Great Falls after attending the annual Montana Governor's Conference on Aging. The event brings health care providers and caregivers together from across the state to discuss issues facing aging populations especially in a sparsely populated state like Montana. Organizers of the conference identified 35 Montanans who were at least one hundred years old and would be honored during the conference. Five of those invited, including Virginia Olson from Blaine...
Mark Vitaris, Canadian author and location photographer, spoke to about twenty-five people last week at the kickoff program of the Blaine County Museum's "Off-season Speaker Series." Museum Director Sam French said she was pleased with the turnout noting it "exceeded my expectations." She added, "Mark's presentation definitely resonated with folks who attended." The event was held at the Chinook Senior Center. Vitaris spent five years visiting, photographing and researching the borderlands along...
The first in a series of diverse presenters and topics will kick-off on Thursday, October 5 at 7pm. Museum Director Sam French said the off-season series begins when the museum's focus can shift from hosting out-of-staters and tourists during the summer to offering more programming and exhibits geared to locals. This particular program will be offered at the Chinook Senior Center (at 324 Pennsylvania). First off-season speaker lives in Canada Mark Vitaris earned a B.A. in Communications, from...
Sawyer Loney became Chinook's Superintendent of Streets back in late July. He succeeds Jim Teel who retired after thirty-seven years with the city, most of it in the position Loney now holds. I caught up with Sawyer recently at the City Shop to learn a bit about his personal history, his career to date with the city and his thoughts about how he might shape the position he now holds. Sawyer Loney's background First, I was curious about Sawyer's first name. He hails from the Eureka, Montana area...
Alert readers may recall a few weeks ago I wrote about my approaching tenth anniversary writing for the "Journal" (December, 2023). Reviewing my list of "stories I wish I'd written" I found today's topic: life hacks. Some readers may not recognize the term as the phrase was only coined in the early 2000s. But likely every reader has indulged in creating life hacks. They are everywhere and they make our lives survivable. The term "life hacks" was created by a journalist writing about a gathering...
For the past two summers a dedicated group of volunteers has been meeting in Fort Benton for two week-long work sessions each summer. They are refurbishing the "Mandan," one of three keelboats built in the 1960's for the movie "Big Sky." Only one of the three boats has survived and it has been on the shore of the Missouri River in downtown Fort Benton for nearly sixty years. In 2024 it was hoped to have the old boat ship shape again and on display for its sixtieth anniversary at the spot. The...
Lesley Zellmer, from Chinook, recently mentioned to me she had just returned from Oregon where she participated in a relay run from Mount Hood to the Coast at Seaside, Oregon. I knew she was a runner but was not familiar with this relay which, turns out, has been held for 41 years and, for the record, is 196 miles long. Per the relay group's official website, "The Hood to Coast Relay (HTC Relay) is the most popular and largest running relay race in the world, annually drawing participants from...
Now in its second season, the Drool in the Pool event held this Labor Day weekend seems to be well on its way to becoming an end of the year tradition at the Chinook City Pool. Organizers said 19 dogs were registered for the event with some even willing to swim in the pool, though not all. P.A.W.S was there showcasing a couple of cute adoptable pups. The doggie theme was complemented by pronto pups cooked and served onsite by the Chinook Lions Club. It may be a truism that "you cannot lead all...
Businesses, non-profits, civic clubs, professional groups and even local chambers of commerce rely on slogans to quickly convince a target audience to buy a product, a service or to believe in something. Readers will likely recognize the value of a successful slogan by thinking of advertising slogans that stick in their minds-like Kentucky Fried Chicken's "finger lickin' good," "America runs on Dunkin (donuts and coffee)" and one of the most enduring slogans still recognized by 90% of Americans...
Fairgoers may recall a young woman sitting at a long table in the Commercial Building. Her table was full of 'giveaways,' interesting 'do-dads,' and lots of informational pieces all promoting healthier lifestyles for kids. The young woman is Ann Armstrong and she is the Blaine County Prevention Specialist, a job she's held since last March. I was curious to learn about Ann's work and plans for our youth. Here's information about some of the programming Ann has done in Blaine County and other...
