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HELMVILLE - Montana Highway 141 is a 32-mile-long road that meanders through western Montana without passing through a single town. Close to the northern end of the highway however, a mere mile long deviation will land you in the collection of buildings that make up Helmville. Less than 250 people call Helmville home. But once a year, nearly 2,000 people descend upon the community for a weekend, swelling the population enough to jump into the top 50 most populous cities in the state. The...
OVANDO - Leigh Ann Valiton paces back and forth down the two aisles of the Blackfoot Commercial Co. Her store, and attached Inn, is open until 7 every evening, but it's currently 10 p.m. and she shows no sign of leaving. Every few minutes she goes to her desk and refreshes the GPS tracker on her phone. She looks up, "It says she's here. Do you see her?" The woman in question is Fay Cunningham from New Zealand. Cunningham is competing in the Tour Divide Race, a 2,735-mile long mountain bike race...
Seventy thousand Montanans would lose their health insurance, more than 20 million nationwide. The bill would be a disaster - especially for rural areas. Hospitals would not be able to recover the costs of emergency treatments for people without insurance and some may have to close. Many services that insurance companies are required to fund like maternal care, prescription coverage, annual physicals, etc. will face elimination from insurance plans. You won’t be able to change jobs if you’re sick, because insurance companies will no longer hav...
When you're sleeping in a hotel bathtub you are at your all time low. Why are you sleeping in your hotel bathtub when there are two nice warm beds in the main room next to you? How can a bathtub be comfortable or fitting? First become small, small like you are nothing. Lean against the wall opposite the faucet. Place a leg on either side and try to relax. As if you are on a sunny beach. Now why are you sleeping in a bathtub? Because you are trying to keep feelings of love and remembrance from...
SEELEY LAKE - Nearly 10 years ago, on Friday, August 3, 2007, the Jocko Lakes Fire burst to life on the eastern shore of the Jocko Lakes, ten miles east of Seeley Lake. By Saturday, August 4, the fire took a shocking run, straight towards the homes and businesses of Seeley Lake. Fire departments and fire crews responded from Seeley, Condon, Greenough-Potomac and other nearby communities. As the fire grew, a Type II Incident Management Team arrived, and then the Alaska Interagency Type I Team. The fire burned 36,388 acres, came within a mile of...
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Kids Fishing Tournament returns to Seeley Lake Saturday, June 24. Children ages seven through 13 can expect fishing, lunch and prizes. The event is free for all participants. The idea for the event started when Gary Ikerd was teaching a class “Hooked on Fishing” to the Seeley Lake Elementary (SLE) fourth graders. “We decided we needed to do something for the kids,” said Ikerd. He and his wife Martha McManus started the fishing tournament in 2002. Boats will be ready to load at the Big Larch Campground boat ramp st...
Rituals surround us every day in small and big ways. In a previous article, I described that our morning and evening routines are rituals. Of course, we never think of our routines as rituals because these ritual behaviors can be so common and familiar. For example, we might exercise at 8 a.m. every day, eat breakfast after exercising, shower after breakfast, feed the dog and go to work. Such behaviors are scheduled in our minds as patterns for our daily routines but patterned behaviors are...
With the recent discovery of aquatic invasive species (AIS) larvae in Montana’s waters, the pressure is on to protect this pristine resource which is so vital to recreation, tourism and the overall economy of our state. Last fall, AIS were detected in the Tiber Reservoir east of Shelby, while suspicious samples were drawn form the Canyon Ferry Reservoir, the Missouri River below Toston Dam and the Milk River. While zebra and quagga mussels have been present in waterways from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast, Montana has been fortunate up u...
The spring bear hunting season closed June 15 in Bear Management Units 290 and 280 in the Blackfoot Watershed. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks reports harvest numbers were lower this year than previous years. The spring bear season began April 15. Hunters are allowed to harvest one bear per year in BMUs 290 and 280. If they did not get their bear during the spring season, they can hunt the fall season Sept. 15 through the end of general rifle season Nov. 26. In the spring, male bears, called...
CHASKA, MINN – Tim and Connie Clark of Seeley Lake announce the birth of their grandson Elliott Robert Clark born June 7 in Chaska, Minn. He weighed 8 pounds, 12 ounces. Elliott was born to parents Robert Clark, formerly of Seeley Lake, and Grace Pellow of Minneapolis, Minn. He joins his brother Harrison. He was also welcomed by grandparents Brian and Sheila Pellow of Minneapolis; Jackie Johnson and Bob Pellow of Minneapolis; and Carol Richmond of Montana....
SEELEY LAKE – After years of deferred maintenance, the Seeley Lake Chamber of Commerce's fireworks barge has a new deck. Thanks to the work of the Seeley-Swan High School shop class and donations from several local businesses the barge is ready for another Fourth of July fireworks show on Seeley Lake. Chamber member Jessica Kimmel thought the SSHS shop class would be a great resource to assist the Chamber with the project. After replacing two flat tires, Chamber representative Eric Hayhurst b...
SWAN VALLEY - The Swan Valley Regional Planning Committee voted to add appendices to the draft growth plan at their meeting June 14. The committee also discussed and edited three sections of the Land Use Element. Despite Chair Ken Donovan’s objection to including appendices in the draft plan, he and the rest of the committee voted to include appendices. Donovan was concerned it would make the document redundant. Committee member Diann Ericson compiled the additions to the appendices from text the committee eliminated from the draft plan. E...
SEELEY LAKE - Students and teachers from a Washington, D.C. suburb spent the first week of their summer vacation in Montana at the Rich Ranch. The middle school classes at the Bullis School, an independent, private K-12 school in Potomac, Md. takes an annual trip every summer. Last year they visited the Florida Keys. This year 11 students and two teachers spent six days, June 11-16 at the Rich's Montana Guest Ranch to experience small-town America and the Wild West. "For them to choose Montana...
Designing and building a car is hard. Designing and building a car that goes fast? Even harder. Carson Geary loves that challenge. The Drummond High School sophomore from Ovando took part in his school's F1 in Schools competition for the second year. The competition started in Montana three years ago. When Geary's science teacher Darcy Schindler mentioned the program in class, he was hooked. "It was just the excitement of being able to race a car and going different places and getting to meet...
LEWISTOWN, MONT. - The Seeley Swan Pathfinder won four awards in the 2017 Better Newspaper Awards Division 1 at the 132nd Annual Convention of the Montana Newspaper Association. Lincoln's Blackfoot Valley Dispatch also came home with six awards. Nathan Bourne was the award-winning photographer this year for the Pathfinder. Bourne took first place for his news photo of the Mission Mountains Mercantile fire and his fireworks photo. The judges from the North Dakota Newspaper Association said the...
When I first moved West in the 1970s I fell in love with aspen trees. They symbolized wildness and spontaneity, new adventures and breaking away from entrenched paths. My youthful anthropomorphizing aside, it’s hard not to like an aspen grove with its fluttering leaves and tall white trunks. Apparently, many species feel the same. Almost 200 species are supported by aspen groves! Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) is the widest ranging tree in America. It is in the Willow Family along with cottonwoods, poplars and of course, willows. Entire gr...
GREENOUGH - Stoney, the iconic cow that guards the intersection of Highway 200 and Highway 83, answers to a new owner. Last month Scott McIntyre and his associates bought Clearwater Junction-the convenience store, gas station, bar and yes, the cow. "I've been going up there since I was a kid and we just thought we'd make an offer," said McIntyre. McIntyre is best known for owning the Badlander Complex, a series of bars in downtown Missoula that includes the Badlander, Golden Rose and the newly...
I write this as Father’s Day is drawing to an end. You won’t be reading it for another few days, or possibly later than that, but I still found myself reflecting on my father today and decided to share a bit with you. My father was a great father. He still is! He is a godly man who loves the Lord with his whole heart and has played an active role in the lives of my sister and I while loving us unconditionally. I respect him greatly, love him dearly, cherish my many wonderful childhood memories of him, and continue to look forward to the tim...
SEELEY LAKE - Glen George Knopp, 74, passed away at his home in Seeley Lake June 9. Glen was born Dec. 13, 1942 to Glen L. and Rose L. (Freauff) Knopp in Pocatello, Idaho. After graduating from high school, Glen enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1964. He completed basic training and was stationed in Washington, D.C. as a fuel specialist for Air Force One under President Lyndon B. Johnson. In 1966, he was transferred to Ankara, Turkey as a logistic specialist at a remote radar station.... Full story
SEELEY LAKE - On a Tuesday afternoon, June 6, I set out for my first real adventure since moving to Seeley Lake. After a few weeks of running around town with the Morrell Mountain looming as a backdrop, I decided I needed to see the view from the top. I wanted to make it an all day activity, so I grabbed a bike and headed off towards the mountain. From Seeley Lake, it was a fairly easy eight-mile ride to Morrell Mountain road. Although I haven't been on a bike in a few months, I got to the base... Full story
Highway 83 Construction Update SEELEY LAKE- Last week’s constant rain deterred paving crews resurfacing Highway 83 north of Seeley Lake. Project manager Frank Tabish said that despite the missed days, he doesn’t expect any delays in the project time line which is estimated to be fully completed by mid-October. According to Tabish, the construction is about a third of the way done. There are about three weeks of asphalt milling and paving left, and the plan is to chip seal the 16-mile stretch of road in the middle of July. After that, gua...
