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Koozies, earrings, candles and more will take center stage in Seeley-Swan High School this Saturday, Dec. 16 as the high school business class opens up a market to sell their handmade products. The business class, led by teacher Michele Holmes, has been spending the semester researching and creating products that the students could grow into their own businesses, and in turn make some money from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Dec. 16. One of the biggest values Holmes looked at is passion. She said she...
Seeley Lake and much of western Montana have seen a decent amount of moisture, but temperatures have stayed well above average to limit snowpack and delay some winter activities. Winter road closures in the Seeley Lake Ranger District have been pushed back a week, the Lolo National Forest announced on Dec. 5. The transition to winterized roads will start on Dec. 11 and is expected to be finished by Dec. 15 - one week later than planned. "Winter has arrived on the Seeley Lake Ranger District,"...
Amid plenty of activity this weekend, the Seeley Lake Stocking party is hoping to give back to the community by providing free toys and time with Santa at the Seeley Lake Foundation building on Dec. 17. Seeley Lake stockings, now in its fifth year, was started to be a place for families to bring their children for good fun and a toy. Sheila Czifro, one of the founders, noticed there were plenty of events in Seeley during the winter, but not enough for children, especially those in need. “We don’t want to carry anything home at the end of thi...
Elden Leroy Rammell, 87, passed away on December 6, 2023, at Logan Health Medical Center in Kalispell, Montana. Services will be held at a later date. Buffalo Hill Funeral Home caring for the family. John U. Homen, 53, of Seeley Lake, passed away peacefully on Thursday, December 7, 2023. Arrangements are under the care of Garden City Funeral Home. www.gardencityfh.com...
Thirty-five years ago... Thursday Dec. 15, 1988 Residents contribute over $11,000 for this 'home' for books, response to new library is "overwhelming" Local residents are not shy about using the new public library in Seeley Lake, according to Loretta Cooper, librarian. The public support for the new facility has been overwhelming. "That's what kept me going," Cooper said enthusiastically. "People are coming in, they are using the library, and they are glad to have it." Cooper has been recording...
Gov. Greg Gianforte joked he would cut down the Capitol Christmas Tree himself with a chainsaw, but a feller buncher beat him to the punch and slashed a massive Douglas fir on Lubrecht Experimental Forest last Monday, Nov. 27. Gianforte and his wife Susan met with state conservation officials and local loggers to cut down the tree on state trust lands within Lubrecht. Gianforte said active forest management seen in Greenough will better the state's forests while keeping the timber economy...
A new communications tower could come to the center of Condon in the future, but little has been shared on what purpose the tower has, when it could be built or what cell services will be carried on it. The Pathfinder originally published the public notice of a new cell tower on Nov. 30. It is unclear why the notice was published. The tower would be owned by Harmoni Towers, one of the largest tower companies in America. Since the land is unzoned, there is no requirement from the state of... Full story
The Swan Valley Community Council approved its members for a planning committee that could solidify some regulations and zoning for the Condon area at its Nov. 21 meeting. The Community Council is working to update the area’s community plan for the first time since 1996, and this time it could include more powerful rules like zoning limits for the first time ever. Council member Grace Siloti asked the board to approve the list of nine people and a three person advisory committee. The planning members will be Luke Lamar, Johnny Simons, C...
The Seeley Lake Fire Department foundation is following tradition this year, as members put up their annual Holiday Angel tree. The Angel Tree, located at the Seeley Lake Fire Department, was started five years ago as a way to make Christmas magical for members of the community who need help with buying presents. . Parents who want to add an angel to the tree can go to the Fire Department and submit a form for their children to get a gift. They can submit information about their child to make th...
More than a dozen residents stood by the confluence of Holland Creek and the Swan River to hear from Forest Service officials and their plan to log and restore roughly 6,000 acres of land from Rumble Creek to Owl Creek. The field trip was part of the plan's public meeting, which featured experts in fire, forest health and wildlife. The Forest Service argued that the area needs alteration after previous managers suppressed fire for one hundred years, leaving thick stands at risk for wildfire and...
Non-profit organizations are invited to submit grant proposals to the Seeley Lake Community Foundation for 2024 projects. The SLCF awards grants of up to $3,000 for projects to benefit the area of Seeley Lake, MT. Applications are due Jan. 31 each year, and grant award decisions are made by early March. The Seeley Lake Community Foundation helps local groups fund important community projects in the areas of: art & culture, community & economic development, basic human needs, education, and natural resources & conservation. In this capacity,...
Thirty-five years ago... Thursday Dec. 8, 1988 Seeley Lake Ranger District gets third award for effort This past summer the Canyon Creek fire on the Lolo National Forest came close to consuming an award winning bridge inside the Scapegoat wilderness. In the summer of 1987, Forest Service employees on the Seeley Lake Ranger District constructed a new bridge over the North Fork of the Blackfoot River. Using materials native to the area and no motorized equipment, the bridge crew replaced three spans of the 90-foot bridge, bridge abutments and...
The Seeley Lake Rural Fire District Board caught up on expenses and other happenings at the department, but some actions were hindered because of accounting errors discovered during its Nov. 21 meeting. The board also heard from a citizen concerned with patient care. The fire board did not meet in October, so the meeting was to approve expenses for the last two months. The board approved the September expenses, which reached over $70,000. That money paid for a new type one fire truck and new extraction tools. The October expenses, closer to a...
Cowboy Claus made his annual visit to the Ovando Christmas Fest for the 23rd time. He rode into town on Bill and Dena Hooker's faithful steed Nic, who has been carrying Cowboy Claus to the Christmas Fest for 15 years. This years' celebration on Nov. 25 included craft vendors filling the Ovando gym and Rob Henrekin's wagon with his team of black percherons ferrying visitors back and forth from downtown Ovando to the gym. Children's activities happened at the church and Christmas trees were...
The teacher shortage in Montana hits communities like the Seeley-Swan Valley hard, and that is particularly true with music teachers. The most recent music teachers for Seeley-Swan High School, Seeley Elementary and the Swan Valley School left for other teaching jobs after several years in the schools, leaving our schools searching to find replacements. Seeley Elementary was able to persuade former kindergarten teacher Sheila Devins, a 2022 finalist for Montana Teacher of the Year, to stay on...
The bridge spanning the Blackfoot River on Sunset Hill Road will be getting repaved, meaning the pass will be closed for a few days at the end of November. Missoula County said in a press release that the bridge will be closed from 8 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 29 to 4 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 30. The closure will last for as long as the construction is needed. There will not be any overnight openings of the site. The public works division of Missoula County will be replacing the driving surface for those two days. County engineers recommend looking for...
To kick off the holiday season, Alpine Artisans’ 2 Valleys Stage is presenting Missoula’s outstanding dance troupe, Bare Bait Dance, with their holiday show, The Night Before at Seeley-Swan High School on Sunday, Dec. 3 at 3 p.m. Founded and directed by Joy French, Bare Bait Dance is a professional, contemporary modern dance company. A 501(c)(3) non-profit, Bare Bait operates Westside Theater in Missoula. Now in its 13th year of producing professional dance concerts in Western Montana, Bare Bait Dance is bringing a little joyful creativity to...
Thirty-five years ago... Thursday, Dec. 1, 1988 Whitetail Cabins Burn One day short of one week after a grand opening, the new owners of the Whitetail Cabins five miles north of Seeley Lake, were awakened early Tuesday morning by a fire that claimed four of the twelve rental cabins that they recently purchased Two of the cabins burned to the ground with the exterior sides of two adjacent cabins charred and scorched to the point where they will probably be torn down rather than repaired. The...
Griffen Smith of the Pathfinder Several bridges in Seeley Lake, Greenough and Condon are in need of major repairs or replacements, but work on the bridges likely won't start until 2027 because of a lack of funding. That means the Boy Scout bridge, which was shuttered by the Montana Department of Transportation for structural concerns on Nov. 15, will likely sit idle until Missoula County secures state or federal dollars to replace it. Missoula County Public Work Director Shane Stack told the...
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte met with loggers and state forest officials to cut down the Capitol Christmas Tree on state trust lands in Greenough on Nov. 27. The tree was located inside of a state timber sale, and loggers noticed the size and proportion early on. The tree will be taken to Helena where it will be lit in a formal ceremony next week. Check the Pathfinder next week for a full interview with Gov. Gianforte...
The Seeley Lake Community Council heard concerns from Missoula County about area septic systems, Seeley Lake Transfer Site improvements, and recycling program updates — welcoming many guest speakers in its monthly meeting on Nov. 13. Jeanna Miller, the Missoula county environmental health manager, raised concern of hazardous minerals in Seeley’s ground water. Miller gave a review of the nitrate contamination in Seeley Lake, how it works with septic systems and next steps the Missoula County Health Department can take to fix the issue at han...
Seeley Lake Elementary School will keep its technology, outdoor education, tutoring and other extracurricular activities after the school announced it received another five-year, competitive federal grant. The school won the Nita M. Lowery 21st Century Community Learning Center Grant, valued at $150,000 annually. Bridget Laird, a high school English teacher and former SLE teacher, wrote the application for the grant, which she also received for eight years beginning in 2015. While funding from the first grant ran out at the end of 2022, SLE was...
Scott Porter carries a tub of onions into the Seeley Lake Food Pantry on Nov. 16. Enough food to feed 60 families flowed into the Clearwater Valley from the Northwest Montana Veterans Stand Down and Food Pantry. The pantry has worked out of the Evergreen area in the Flathead Valley for the last 25 years. The group recently decided to outreach to the Seeley Lake area after it received an excess of food this fall. "We plan to keep working with the food bank in Seeley Lake and building that...
The Ovando School students and teacher's aide Angela Williams performing sign language while the crowd did the Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of the Annual Harvest Dinner. The Harvest Dinner is put on annually by the So and So Club of Ovando. This year's dinner was highlighted by a high bid of $1700 for 2 dozen eggs donated by Norma Hughes Auctioneer Kevin Ertl and spotter Ben Slaght celebrate when the bid got to $1000. Rachel Bignell holds the eggs up high. All proceeds go to a fund for...
The Seeley Swan Hospital District Board discussed adding a new vaccine freezer, agreed to keep a safety deposit box at the bank and addressed other wear and tear at the Medical Center during its Nov. 14 meeting. While the board is still investigating whether a new A/C unit is necessary for the medical center, board member Martin DeHaven said the water damage in the ceiling from early this year was fixed. A second project focused on spiders found in the building. Any concerns of bugs or mold in the area have been put to rest, he said. There are...
