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New energy and ideas from school parents has resurrected the Parent Teacher Club(PTC) at Seeley Elementary School(SLE). "Fifteen years ago there was a Parent Teacher Club at the school," said Michelle Dunn, current PTC president. "As happens, those parents moved on as their kids grew up and the PTC languished." Dunn and her family, including two children now in 7th and 8th grade, moved to Seeley Lake in 2020 from Potomac. As part of the organizing committee of the Potomac PTC for five years and...
Helmville has Irish roots that go back five generations in many of the residents. St. Patrick's Day is celebrated with a parade, a corned beef and cabbage potluck and special music on the weekend. The parade route runs from the Post Office to the Copper Queen. Parade participants included American Legion Post #9 from Lincoln, motocross riders, Mannix Ranch, families in side-by-sides, a horse and buggy, dogs, kids and balloons. More than 70 people packed the Copper Queen for the potluck. "The...
Montana's 2021-2023 Poet Laureate Mark Gibbons spoke and read from, "In The Weeds," his latest anthology of poems, Saturday, February 25 at Alpine Artisans Open Book Club. The Poet Laureate is an honorary post that comes with responsibilities to promote the appreciation of poetry as an ancient and ongoing form of expression, said the Montana Arts Council, sponsor of the Poet Laureate program. "I say everyone is a poet," said Gibbons. "What's a poet? Someone who writes down the things that come t...
Completing a Girl Scout project to replace the Condon Community Sports Court in 2022 earned Isabella Cruz her first Gold Award from Girl Scouts. The Gold Award is the highest honor and only 5.4% of Girl Scouts complete it. She completed a second Gold Award in October 2022 and will be recognized with the Congressional Gold Medal this spring. "While finishing the Condon Community Sports Court, her best friends had some very scary experiences," said Patricia Cruz, Isabella's mother. "Isabella...
The creator of a floating lantern that descended into a Seeley Lake yard after Christmas has come forward, solving a local mystery. Nine-year-old Amelia Walter and her family contacted the Pathfinder by email after a story on the lantern appeared in the Pathfinder on Jan. 19 describing how Seeley Lake resident Kris Divis saw her dog barking at an object rolling across the snow in the yard. As Divis investigated, she saw a well-traveled floating Chinese lantern had landed, with a child’s handwriting on it. The marker inscribed message said: ...
The First Old Salt Festival is coming to Helmville June 23-25, 2023. Aromas of food cooked over an open wood-fired pit from renowned chefs, music and conversations will fill the air at the old airstrip southeast of Helmville on the Mannix Ranch."It's meant to be a celebration of Montana land stewardship," said Cole Mannix, event chairperson, in a phone interview. "We're trying to engage people in our urban areas with rural communities and celebrate what ranching can do for maintaining an intact...
Mowgli, a hand-raised, ring-tailed lemur is making a new home for himself in Seeley Lake. Mowgli belongs to Jenn and Chuck Kaiser, who recently moved to Seeley Lake from Oklahoma where they had a pet store and exotic animal traveling zoo. Jenn explained that Mowgli is also a licensed support animal for Kaiser to help with PTSD and has "never met anyone he didn't like." Mowgli was born November 2021 at the Kaiser's USDA licensed exotic animal farm. His parents were not socialized by their...
World Champion Adaptive figure skater Dacia Loconte, age 16, got her start at the Seeley Lake Lions Club rink. In 2022 Loconte earned Junior Ladies Free Inclusive World Championship, Ladies Inclusive World Championships Silver Medalist and Ladies Free Inclusive and Unified Bronze medalist in the 2022 Virtual World Championships for Adaptive Skaters. “As a three-year-old watching the Olympics, Dacia said she wanted to be an ice skater,” said Beth Loconte, Dacia’s mom. “We started skating at the...
"We lost yet another golden eagle to lead poisoning yesterday," said Brooke Tanner, founder and executive director, Wild Skies Raptor Center, Potomac, Mt. "It happens every winter after the snow settles. Prey is harder to find and they must scavenge to survive." After a weakened eagle is found and brought to Tanner or other raptor rehabilitation facilities, the birds are given chelation therapy to bind the lead in their systems and hopefully allow the lead to pass through. Success varies,...
Equipment and training for podcasting and videotaping was recently received by Seeley Lake Library from Missoula Community Access Television (MCAT). “I remember it like Christmas!” said Michele Holmes, Seeley-Swan High School librarian and Business and Technology Teacher. “MCAT asked what types of multimedia equipment we would want...I immediately thought of the upcoming elective that I am teaching--videography. I had already received a grant from the Seeley Lake Community Foundation for a high quality video camera, so I thought--why not have...
The Seeley Lake Community Council met Monday, Jan. 9 at The Barn. The Missoula County Rural Grant Pilot Program for county residents was announced by Sarah Bell, Missoula County Grants and Community Programs. Micro-grants of $100-500 and Impact Grants of $500-4,000 are available. “We want to see what needs are in each rural community in the county,” said Bell. “We know that each community has it’s own personality and unique needs.” The Micro Grant will be open to new applicants on a monthly basis and is designed for projects that can be comple...
SEELEY LAKE - Seeley Reads is a biweekly podcast hosted by Carrie Benton, Seeley-Swan High School (SSHS) library tech and Haley Haines, SSHS Paraprofessional & Family Resource Coordinator. The podcast highlights the Missoula Public Library 2023 reading challenge, "Missoula Reads." "Our podcast is about books, we're total nerds and we love books," said Benton at the beginning of their introductory podcast. "We want to promote the library, the reading challenge and the equipment that's available f...
Shortly after Christmas, Kris Davis, Seeley Lake, saw her dog barking at something rolling across the snow in the yard. As Davis investigated, she saw a well-traveled floating Chinese lantern had landed, with a child's handwriting on it. The marker inscribed message said, "I miss you and I love you, love Amelia." "I had the feeling that this lantern was a little girls' memorial to someone she loved," said Davis, who has experienced her own losses. "I don't know who Amelia is or who she lost,...
OVANDO - Three basketball games are scheduled in Ovando for the first time in ten years. The 2022-23 season of the Blackfoot Valley Basketball League welcomed the Ovando Colts with 12 players for the "B" and "C" squads. For the last ten years Ovando and Helmville have had a co-op team that met in Helmville as neither community had enough kids for full teams. The basketball collaboration between Ovando and Helmville began in 2013 when Brady Stone was invited to play in Helmville when Ovando did...
What was going on last week with that crazy cold weather? Was it an Alberta Clipper, Bomb Cyclone, Winter Storm Elliot? A record low temperature on December 22 of -48 degrees in Potomac and the third coldest day since 1959 recorded at Lindbergh Lake had people scrambling for extra layers, more firewood and wondering how the outside animals could handle it. Satellite reports from the National Weather Service (NWS) showed -53 over the ponds along Hwy 200 east of Ovando. "December 22 was -35 at the...
HELMVILLE - Everyone participated as Helmville School performed many musical numbers and two plays, "The Littlest Christmas Tree" and "A Dickens of a Christmas" December 14 at the Helmville Community Hall. Music opened the evening by K-2 students playing "Jingle Bells" on xylophone keys. "Jingle Bells" was also performed on guitars by the 5-6th graders. "Carol of the Bells" was played 5th grader Nate Spatig on his guitar. Lucas Spatig 8th grade, played "Angels We Have Heard on High" on the...
“It was the craziest year on record with black bears in many places in Region 2,” said Jamie Jonkel, Wildlife Management Specialist, Region 2 Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP). Due to environmental conditions, there was a food failure for black bears in most of Western Montana. “It was one of those food failure summers that we see every 7-12 years,” Jonkel said. “Sometimes it’s a hard winter for the deer population. This year it was a hard summer for black bears.” Ten or more bears were still known to be wandering around East Missoula and...
OVANDO - "Dear Mrs. Claus" was the name of the play performed Dec. 19 at the Ovando Gym. "How do reindeers fly? Why does Santa wear red?" and other pressing questions were flooding Mrs. Claus' mailbox just before Christmas. Mrs. Claus turned to the elves expert advice to send answers with help from Buddy, her Personal Elf Assistant. A musical showcase began the evening with students performing music accompanied by Matthew Nord, of Tangled Tones Music Studio, Missoula. Nord has been teaching the...
By Jean Pocha OVANDO Life size painted figures of Ovando's leading historical citizens have recently been placed around Ovando by Ovando School students. The project is part of the school's Montana history curriculum. In collaboration with the Ovando Museum and art teacher Ms. Mitchell, the students put up the figures around Ovando in mid-November. "Part of our social studies curriculum is understanding where we came from, and how events, people and places have shaped our communities today,"...
By Jean Pocha OVANDO - "What can we do to get people to stop in Ovando," mused Howard Fly, then owner of the Blackfoot Commercial Company(BCC). During the morning coffee hour at the BCC in early 2000, Fly and others brainstormed activities that would help extend the business season in Ovando. The day after hunting season ends marks the beginning of a long, quiet period until the spring thaw. "We wanted something that would give us a boost at the end of the season," said Peggy Fly, Howie's wife....
By Jean Pocha A young snowy owl is in rehabilitation and will be spending the winter at Wild Skies Raptor Center in Potomac. The injured owlet was discovered September in a field near Utqiagviv (Barrow), Alaska, unable to fly. The owlet is the youngest of six chicks in a nest that Owl Research Institute (ORI) monitored in the summer of 2022. ORI in Charlo, Mont., has been monitoring Snowy Owl activity in Alaska since 1992, and Wild Skies Raptor Center has been rehabilitating raptors since 2010....
By Jean Pocha Water quality concerns in the community will be determined following a project approach that Water and Environmental Technologies (WET) will use to collect and analyze information, shared Bill Decker, Sewer Board General Manager at the Seeley Lake Community Council meeting earlier this month. “WET proposed a three-phase approach to resolving Seeley Lake’s wastewater issues. WET committed to working side-by-side with the Sewer District throughout this process to develop a practical situation that is both economical and appropriate,...
By Jean Pocha The RV dump station at Clearwater Junction has been closed since spring 2019, with no foreseeable opening, the Seeley Lake Community Council and members of the public heard at their regular meeting on Nov. 14. For repairs or rebuilding to happen to the RV dump station at Clearwater Junction, the Montana State Legislature will have to vote to appropriate funds at the next session, January 2023, stated District Ranger Quinn Carver. County Commissioners have written a letter to Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) asking for the dump stati...
By Jean Pocha “I started this craft show so Seeley people could get some nice, fun crafts and so local vendors had a place to display their wares,” said Carrie Darrah, organizer of the Seeley Lake Winter Craft Show on Sunday, Nov. 20. “Roads are good and it’s a beautiful day; I’m hoping for a good crowd.” “Overall, vendors were happy with sales today,” Darrah commented after the show. Vendors had wares including books, pottery, sewing, high-voltage wood burned products, photography, wreaths, local authors and pet products. Lunch was avail...
By Jean Pocha "It would be unprofessional to taste that," said local auctioneer Kevin Ertl as a chocolate peanut butter cheesecake was paraded by him at the Annual Sew and Sew Club Harvest Dinner held in the Ovando Gym on Nov. 12. "People helping people is our motto," said Angela Williams, Sew and Sew Club President. "There's no sewing involved these days; the Harvest Dinner is our annual fundraiser. Funds are used to help community members in need and to address local community needs. We...
