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The Seeley Senior Center would like to thank the Lion’s Club and the Leos for all their help making our St. Patty’s fundraiser the best one ever! We would like to thank everyone who attended and helped. We would also like to thank Rod Stevens and his friends who generously donated to the center. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts, The Board of Directors...
Holy Thursday: At the Lord's Supper approximately 2,000 years ago, Jesus instituted His Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist for Holy Communion with Him: Jesus said the blessing, broke the bread saying, "This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me," giving His Apostles the power to offer His Sacrifice as validly ordained Priests. Jesus gave thanks, gave them the cup saying, "This is my blood...which will be shed for many for the forgiveness of sins." Approaching death, Jesus spoke literally with emphasis, clarity and repeti...
John Fitzpatrick, who represented House District 77, including Anaconda and Granite County in the 2023 Legislature, announced on March 10 that he is a candidate for the Republican nomination to represent new House District 76. The Legislative Redistricting Commission radically altered the boundaries of several legislative seats in southwestern Montana. It created HD 76 by combining the Georgetown Lake area, where Fitzpatrick resides, with all of Granite and Powell Counties along with the Seeley Lake area of Missoula County and Canyon Creek...
Soup’s on is an iconic call to come eat what’s been prepared. I am fascinated with food history! I quickly learned from a Google search that the phrase comes from a German word “sup, or suppa,” meaning some kind of hot broth meant for soaking bread. The phrase “soup’s on,” or “soup’s up” no longer refers exclusively to soup, however. Soup is no longer described simply, as a broth. Now there are countless varieties from which to choose: hot, cold, commercially canned, homemade, spicy, sweet, savory, with pasta, rice, beans, vegetables, etc. It...
When our community faces difficult times like these, it can help to look back at our history and see how tough and resilient we have been. Looking at the photos and exhibits in the Historical Museum at the Barn shows what the people who built Seeley Lake went through, and how we became what we are today. In the early 20th century, when the first major timber sale took place in Seeley, loggers worked under conditions hard to imagine today. We have photos of winter camps, since trees were cut during the winter and logs skidded to the frozen...
For a few days recently it has seemed like spring. Maybe it is. On the Ancient Roman Calendar the Ides of March occur on March 15. Winter is supposed to separate from spring precisely on March 15, according to the ancient Romans. They never made it to Montana. On the Modern Montanan Calendar the days of winter and spring bounce around on both sides of March 15. We take the spring weather when we can get it. "Beware the Ides of March," one Shakespearian character said, and when that line was...
For 75 years, our family-run lumber mill, Pyramid Mountain Lumber, has been a cornerstone of Seeley Lake. They've weathered economic storms, provided jobs for generations and supplied lumber that built countless homes across Montana. Now, facing a seemingly insurmountable challenge — the lack of affordable housing — they are on the verge of shutting down. The irony is gut-wrenching. They offer good wages, a stable work environment and the satisfaction of contributing to Montana's infrastructure. Yet, they can't find enough qualified wor...
In our younger years we can be awakened by a frightened child, or the on-call phone dagger from the ER or ICU. As we "mature" (get old, fall apart, what-happened-to-me), that renting of our dream cloud is more likely an insistent ringtone from the bladder. So there you are, cozy, maybe the room and the floor aren't so cozy. After a period of deliberation, sometimes lengthy, an impulsive toddle to the bathroom ensues. Now imagine this occurring on a boat. The little boat bathroom can't be used...
Church, Know Thyself Acts 17:27-28a (NLT) “His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him — though he is not far from any one of us. For in him we live and move and exist.” If we want to know more fully who God is, we need to dig deeper into understanding ourselves. As the French Reformation-era theologian John Calvin put it: “Without knowledge of self, there is no knowledge of God. Our wisdom, insofar as it ought to be deemed true and solid wisdom, consists almost entirely of two parts:...
Why do we eat? What is the purpose of ingestion of each morsel that touches our mouth? Do we live to eat or eat to live? And ultimately, does food matter? The human body is a complex ecosystem made up of trillions of cells that need energy to function. However, energy itself is not enough. Similar to any economy of scale, our bodies need high-quality energy so it can be converted with utmost efficiency into differentiated products which in turn power a multitude of demanding and discerning organs. This high-paced, high-efficiency production...
The MBR plant will only be an option for the RV park if the Seeley Lake Sewer District elects to share the facility. Without the participation of the Sewer District the RV Park will use another type of treatment, which they currently have a discharge permit for. An MBR system may be a good option for the District, but it is only one of many possible options. The District, along with its professional consultants and the input of District residents, will choose the best, most cost effective treatment, not necessarily being an MBR system. Mr....
On Feb. 14, “ValentAsh Wednesday,” this year, we began the holy season of Lent, and many of us received blessed ashes as a symbolic gesture of our repentance and of our resolve to live the 40 days of Lent to grow in virtue. In this holy season, we accompany Jesus in His 40 days of temptation in the desert. It is a time of purification and growth. It is a springtime for the soul. And it is a journey to freedom. In our Lenten journey to Easter, we are encouraged to move from where we are to where the Lord wants us to be: to a greater obe...
The winter of 2023/2024 brought a ton of sunshine and blue skies to Seeley Lake, and it also brought a ton of challenges for the ROCKS team as we struggled to keep our winter recreational areas functional and fun. No strangers to adversity, we who rely so heavily on the weather, everyone persevered. While our winter activities looked a wee bit different from normal years, we skated and we skied whenever we could. As we maintained the yurt with the Nordic Ski Club, we marveled at the ingenuity with which they forged ahead with a paltry amount...
Remember that old Rodgers and Hammerstein tune? It Might As Well Be Spring, from the musical Oklahoma? It feels like spring should be here but hasn't arrived yet. It might as well be, and should be, but isn't yet spring. I remember Februarys in years past when Jan and I would take long walks on the banks of the river. Winter eased up to the point where it felt good to get out. Taking a fly rod on those walks would come next. The past few days have been sunny enough. But instead of rising trout,...
In the vibrant tapestry of a community’s well-being, a fundamental thread stands out — access to comprehensive healthcare. Comprehensive healthcare recognizes and addresses the interconnectedness of physical, mental, and social well-being, and it provides an essential foundation for individuals and families to live healthy lives. Healthy individuals are the building blocks of a healthy community, and when our community is healthy, everyone benefits. A comprehensive healthcare approach focuses on driving positive health outcomes, even when tha...
Since our last Pathfinder report, we have traveled the 240 miles from Fort Pierce, Florida to Key West. Along the way, I would estimate we have heard some version of Jimmy Buffet 500 times. Apparently, tourists expect a mind-numbing repetition of "tropical" music, none written in the last 40 years. Don't worry, be happy. I have substituted "cheeseburger" in the Buffet song for "humble pie," as I have made about every goober mistake you can make on a boat. I thought I was quite the docking artist...
Today, March 7, is the commemoration of two early Christian martyrs: Perpetua and Felicity. They were residents of Carthage in North Africa and died in 202 A.D. In that same year, the emperor Septimius Severus forbade conversions to Christianity. Perpetua, a noblewoman, Felicity an enslaved woman, and other companions were all catechumens (preparing for baptism in the Christian faith). They were imprisoned and sentenced to death. In prison they were baptized. Perpetua’s father, who was not a Christian, visited her in prison and begged her to l...
It’s always difficult to say goodbye. Whether it’s to someone we love, a relative, or a close friend. Why is that? The obvious answer is our deep relationship to whom we’re saying goodbye. If we love someone and lose that person to a relationship breakup or death, the feeling of loss is the same. If it’s a close friend, the feeling of loss might be a little different, but saying goodbye remains difficult. Aside from this obvious understanding of loss, what else could be inducing the feeling...
Have you ever been driving Highway 83 and noticed the surface of Salmon Lake rippling with rising fish? It's likely what you were seeing weren't trout, but rather the landlocked version of sockeye salmon called kokanee. These mini salmon have been stocked in the Clearwater chain of lakes for over half a century by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks to provide recreational fishing opportunities. The story of the Clearwater kokanee is interesting and involves biology, laboratory science and most impor...
My fly tying friends are at their vices already. They're tying skwalas - old favorites and some inevitable new ones. They can't help themselves. And they can't help but add too much of this, and a dab of that to their flies. Every flytier in western Montana where the early season skwala stonefly hatch occurs probably has at least one favorite skwala dry fly pattern, a fugitive from the accumulation of wild overdressed experiments gone wrong. Taken together, that scrap heap of abandoned flies...
In 1987, the Seeley Lake Writers Club started a project that two years later — in time for Montana's Centennial — was published as the book "Cabin Fever." This remains the best compilation of articles and interviews of the first 100 years of the Seeley Lake area. One of the key figures in the writers group was Mildred Chaffin. We have read many of the fascinating stories she wrote, but her own life makes for quite a story as well! Mildred was born in Evaro in 1908, back when Evaro seemed to be even more remote from Missoula than it is tod...
I attended the Feb. 15 Missoula County Board of Health meeting in regards to the “new policy” Missoula Public Health, Environmental Health has for Seeley Lake. While the Missoulian and Pathfinder covered the presentation, both presented the changes to the Special Management Area (SMA) requirements as “proposed.” The chair of the board of health stated there would be a public process before the board implements new regulations. However, based on my experience, the health department is already enforcing the new policy that functions more like a n...
One of the many things I love about Seeley Lake is the volunteerism I see everywhere. When I bought my home here almost 10 years ago, one of the things I planned to do when I retired to Seeley full time was volunteer in some fashion to serve the community. That is actually how I ended up on the DARLOA BOD. I felt that the DARLOA BOD had arrived at a more harmonious place than it had been in some preceding years and I wanted to help keep it that way. Of course HOA’s have a way of always having some contention and DARLOA (being quite large) is n...
It’s been a few years since I deliberately fished for winter whitefish. The last time, I joined some friends at a café in Darby for a late breakfast. The object was to fuel ourselves up with enough calories to withstand a chilly afternoon on the river, where we planned to catch a mess of whitefish. After that, the plan was to cook a few for an early dinner according to one of Mike’s all-time-great whitefish recipes (he’s a great cook) and if enough were left over, to smoke them. Who would do the smoking was uncertain. Both Jim and Mike are gr...
Well, the next step in your residential property tax increase is happening. Banks are sending updated "mortgage bills" to homeowners. Guess what? You owe more money! Recently, a young friend reached out, concerned about his $100 monthly mortgage increase and he didn't know why. That's a lot of money — $1,200 a year. Drumroll for the explanation. Since the bill comes from the bank, it's the lender's fault, right? Nope. By law, a residential mortgage statement must show the escrow portion — the amount you pay for insurance and taxes for your hom...
