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SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Sewer District Board was presented with a budget for the next fiscal year that doubles last year’s budget and discussed the User Agreement (UA) and District Rules and Regulations (R&R) at their May 16 meeting. The proposed 2019 District Administrative Budget has doubled from $47,620 to $95,625. The main increase in the budget is to pay for the part time District Manager at $38,400 per year. The manager was previously donated by Missoula County through an inter-local agreement. This winter the county determined it...
SWAN VALLEY – Imprinted on the tree slab segments above the door of the Swan Valley Community Hall are the words "Lest We Forget." Beneath them, another slab shows five saddled but riderless horses, the military symbol for fallen soldiers who will ride no more. To the right and left of the slabs are more than 100 wooden plaques containing the names and death-dates of military veterans who once lived in Swan Valley. According to American Legion Post 63 Post Adjutant Ray Opp, the Veterans Memorial...
SEELEY LAKE – "[Kathy Teague] you have touched so many people's lives and made such a positive difference," said Julie Haines, Seeley Lake Elementary Special Education Coordinator, at Teague's retirement party May 17. "You have always brought personal relevance and reality to the relationships with students. I don't know how much more meaningful you can get than that." At the end of the school year, Kathy Teague will retire after 33 years of working at SLE. She started out as the district c...
SEELEY LAKE – "We are considered one of the worst bear problems in the region," said Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Game Warden Bill Koppen. "There is just no reason for it." After a black bear and a grizzly bear had to be euthanized in the Seeley Lake and Woodworth areas in the past two weeks, Koppen is asking the community to clean up, secure all attractants and help keep the bears out of trouble. "When the bears are good, people love them," said Koppen. "When they get into trouble then they b...
We have a little over two weeks left of the Best of the Valleys voting, the votes are adding up. Make sure to cast your before June 8 so you will be counted. Winners will be announced in the July 4 issue! This is the third year we have sponsored the Best of the Valleys. Our 2017 intern Micah Drew proposed the idea, helped us create it and helped us produce the first “Best of the Valleys.” Our intent has been to help promote local businesses by encouraging people to visit area businesses, recognize those that rise to the top in a popular vote th...
SEELEY LAKE - Steve and I want to commend our new Ranger Quinn Carver for the opportunity to work alongside the Forest Service this last Wednesday. Allowing for firewood gathering prior to the community clean-up day, helped with reducing the amount of material that had to be moved and stacked for the opening of the campground. Thank you for your vision. On another note, we were disappointed with the amount of help that came from the business community. I am sure that there was a breakdown in communication and am sure that this will be remedied...
SEELEY LAKE - Another senseless bear killing…why?? After being shot in the face by a shotgun and blinded, the bear was unable to see and stumbled around while someone laughed. The game warden was able to capture the bear and put it down to end its suffering. How very inhumane this was. How cruel. What was the reason for shooting this bear? Was it in your garbage, in your chicken house, attacking you or are you just another person who just likes to kill or hurt a bear? The ignorance and killing of bears must STOP! In my 27 years of living h...
Won't be long now many will be look'n to head on down some trail. There's noth'n quite like it - horses and mules and good company. Many moons ago Will Kats and Paul Ossowski and I headed for the Chinese Wall. From Owl Creek to the Pendent and then down the Holbrook to Murphy's Flats. Anyway, while rid'n down the Holbrook, Paul was rid'n the mustang Shadow I'd sold him. This here horse would stop at a mud hole and try and drink. Seems like where he came from in Wyoming, he never saw a real...
More people suffering from lung and heart disease due to prolonged periods of wildfire smoke. More frequent fishing restrictions because of reduced summer streamflows and higher water temperatures. Increased costs to protect homes from larger, more frequent wildfires. These are just a few of the dozens of local climate change vulnerabilities identified in the draft Vulnerability Assessment, which Missoula County, Climate Smart Missoula and the City of Missoula released today. It’s available online at www.missoulaclimate.org/...
SEELEY LAKE – Missoula County Air Quality Specialist Ben Schmidt presented on a proposal to require automatic wood stoves in the Seeley Lake Area at the Seeley Lake Community Council May 13. Violations of the PM 2.5 standards over the last several winters in Seeley Lake have been highly variable. However, the Health Department still feels the trend is that of too many violations. The last two winters were exceptionally good air with just two days over in 2017-18 and no days over in 2018-19 while the winter of 2016-17 was exceptionally bad a...
SEELEY LAKE - Pyramid Mountain Lumber gave a brief update on the market and plant improvements at Pyramid’s Contract logger/Landowner/Log seller meeting May 3 in Seeley Lake. Pyramid’s Chief Operations Officer Loren Rose provided some comparisons of the random length framing lumber composite prices. In 2009 the yearly average was $222, the lowest since 1996. He said the prices have increased nearly 60 percent in the last 10 years with 2019’s average currently at $356. While some would think the mill is doing very well with such an incre...
SEELEY LAKE – More than 30 US Forest Service employees and four volunteers from the community worked May 15 cleaning campsites, piling and chipping brush and getting Big Larch Campground ready to open Memorial Day weekend. Big Larch boat launch is expected to be open with the campground May 24 at 9 a.m. as well as all the other gated campgrounds in the Seeley Lake Ranger District. Prior to the clean up day, Seeley Lake's Acting District Ranger Quinn Carver estimated nearly 200 cords of wood w...
SEELEY LAKE - Over the 19 years of the Loon and Fish Festival, Bob Korn of Swan Valley's Kornutopia created and donated at least 100 bowls annually for the Food Bank Soup Bowl fundraiser. This raised more than $30,000 since its inception for the Seeley-Swan Community Food Bank. After a six-year hiatus, Korn teamed up with Seeley Lake potter Carrie Darrah's Obsession Pottery for the fundraiser. Each donated more than 50 decorated ceramic bowls that will be sold Saturday, May 25 starting at 11:30...
This counterfeit $50 bill was received by a Seeley Lake resident this past week. While at first glance it looks legitimate, closer inspection reveals several discrepancies with the main one being "Motion Picture Use Only" on the front and back. This isn't the first time this "funny money" has shown up at businesses in Montana - there were reports from Butte and Kalispell of $20 bills circulating. The incident was reported to law enforcement. This is the only one reported as of Monday....
SEELEY LAKE – What do 54 bells, an accordion, a barbershop quartet and the Feigley's have in common? The sixth annual Music Galore sponsored by the Seeley-Swan Mountain Bells hosted music from all of the above and more local talent May 14. The Seeley-Swan Mountain Bells started in 2012. For six years, they have performed their spring concert and included local musicians to join in the fun. This year's theme was "A Salute to America." With many traditional patriotic songs as well as American F...
Prior to John James Audubon's birth in 1785, not much was known about bird migration. Some people believed birds went underground in winter, hibernating like bears. Some thought waterfowl spent the winter under the ice. Others believed birds turned into other birds in winter. One silly scientist even suggested birds flew to the moon in autumn and returned in spring. In 1805, Audubon discovered a cave where eastern phoebes returned to nest each spring. He tied silver thread around the legs of...
BILLINGS, MONT. - Pastor Herbert A.W. Schiefelbein died in the Christian faith on April 29 in Billings, Mont. at the age of 91, after a brief illness. Pastor Schiefelbein was born Oct. 19, 1927 in Milwaukee, Wisc., the youngest son of Arthur and Olga (nee Klatt) Schiefelbein. He was baptized into Christ Oct. 29, 1927, at Immanuel Lutheran Church, where he was also confirmed in the faith on Palm Sunday, 1940. He was a member of Immanuel Lutheran Church and School, where he received his... Full story
Back in the day when I was a lad and ol’ Shep was a pup, if anyone got angry and said something off color, most grown ups would say “watch your language!!!” or threaten to wash our mouths with soap. However, just up the road from the old homestead where we lived was another homestead where two older brothers lived. I can still see them with the team and bobsled heading for the timber to get wood. The older one named John would demean the younger one and cuss at him til the air was blue. Taking the name of the Lord time and time again. It did s...
OVANDO - Despite the busyness that comes with the end of the school year, Ovando School's supervising teacher Leigh Ann Valiton found time to prepare and host the school's annual May Day Tea on May 15. With choreographed dances and a poetry recitation students showcased major cultural themes throughout American history, decade-by-decade, beginning with the 1920s. Valiton prepared a series of monologues in order to set the scene for the different performances. The monologues highlighted major...
SEELEY LAKE - Jessica Anderson and Richard Pockrandt of Seeley Lake welcomed their daughter Hazel Rae Pockrandt May 12. She was 5 pounds, 12 ounces and 19 inches long. Also welcoming Hazel into the world were her three siblings Hunter and Mason Bennett and Riley Pockrandt.... Full story
SEELEY LAKE – Sparrow's Vine Parenting and Pregnancy Resource Center welcomed new Executive Director Greta Treser this past February. Treser hopes that, with Sparrow's Vine, she will be able to help families grow stronger and enjoy being together through fostering healthy relationships. Treser has been a stay-at-home mom for the past 20 years. Treser's husband James pastored a church in Whitehall for 13 years. As a pastor's wife, Treser helped with Sunday School, Vacation Bible School and y...
SWAN VALLEY - For the first time in the 29 year history of the American Legion Post No. 63 Annual Condon Chili Cook-Off May 18, there was a three way tie for first place. Ronda Feucht, Tony Quadros and Rick "Yogi" Johnson were each awarded $100 for their champion chilies. Though recipes were not shared, the champions provided a little insight into what secret ingredients set their chilies apart from the other seven competitors. "There are two actually but the primary one is chicken apple sausage...
SEELEY LAKE - In her first ever season of golf, Seeley-Swan High School freshman Tegan Mauldin was the sole student to represent the Blackhawks at the 2019 Class C State Golf Tournament this past week. Mauldin, who posted a 131-129 – 260 two-day score on her home course, was proud of her performance in the tournament. Landri Paladiehuk of Ennis, Mont. won the tournament for the girls with an 88-85 – 173 two-day score. "I feel like I did pretty good considering I only picked up my first club two...
MISSOULA - The Seeley-Swan Girls won the Western C Divisional track meet May 16-17 outscoring second place Charlo 123 to 91.5 while the Boys came in second with 98.5 points behind Manhattan Christian with 103. The Girls wasted no time making their mark in the record book. In the first event on the track, the 4x100 relay team consisting of Terra Bertsch, Lily Mercer, Sariah Maughan and Klaire Kovatch broke the school record with a time of 50.89 seconds. Mercer, Andi Bohlman, Alex Bohlman and...
Memorial Day ceremonies Residents and visitors to the area are invited to attend Memorial Day ceremonies in Seeley Lake and Condon this Memorial Day. A ceremony in Seeley Lake will be held Monday, May 27 at 11 a.m. at the Seeley Lake Memorial Garden on Highway 83 just north of Seeley Lake. The event is hosted by Veterans & Families of Seeley Lake and will honor service members that have passed. Arrive early as parking is limited. In Condon, a Memorial Day Ceremony will be held Thursday, May 30 at 11 a.m. at the Cold Creek Bridge. The...
