Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 6094
At an April 5 meeting in Missoula, various parties interested in purchasing Pyramid Mountain Lumber — Seeley Lake’s largest employer, which announced its closure on March 14 — gathered to learn about potential funding mechanisms available for buying the mill and modernizing its operations. A couple of options emerged as paths forward: the mill could be purchased and modernized — costing somewhere upwards of $40 million, the low-end of the current estimate — or employees, loggers and various land owners could form a cooperative. Like many, whe...
For the first time in 12 years, Swan Valley School in Condon is presenting voters with two levies to vote on. A combination of factors like rising costs, increased need for technology to support education, a drop in enrollment and the loss of ESSER funds — money provided during the covid-19 pandemic to support schools — led to a general fund and technology levy to be presented to voters in a special election on May 7. “Our school has navigated the difficulties of staffing needs, the rising costs associated with maintaining a high standard...
MISSOULA, Mont. - Hale Devins, a second grader at Seeley Lake Elementary School, took first place in this year's 63rd Keep Montana Green statewide art contest with his striking depiction of this year's theme: "Go the Extra Mile Each Time You Burn a Pile." Second and third place were awarded to Madysen Lines of Browning High School and Logan Kellom of Hobson, respectively. The top three winners were selected from over 800 entries submitted by participating educators on behalf of their art...
Springtime in the garden often starts with big dreams and memories of the beauty and abundance from the past season. Here in Montana we get a break from gardening as our season is short and hopefully sweet. Often our spring thoughts turn to questions like: Is the fence high enough to keep the deer out? Will cardboard really work to quench the quackgrass? Do I have enough row cover for that mid-season frost that nailed the garden last July? Deer that aren't used to fence jumping can usually be...
Travelers on Highway 200 may have noticed the new cell tower near the Monture Creek Bridge, three miles west of Ovando. The tower was built in January by Bridger Corporation. "Construction will be completed around July," Jason Evans, Verizon site acquisition specialist said by email. "Service will be up soon after that depending on the fiber company's final install. The community should see service as early as this summer." A lease agreement for Verizon service on the tower has been filed with...
April showers bring May flowers, and also, quite likely, some mentally-earmarked spring projects. A handful of local businesses spoke to the Pathfinder about common spring improvement projects, things to keep in mind when embarking on a new project and the importance of septic tank maintenance. Tile and stonework Stan Davis and his wife Lacey, owners of Davis Tile, have been in the tile and stone industry for about 15 years. They started in California and brought their business to Seeley Lake when they moved a year ago. “We looked at the a...
Thirty-five years ago ... Thursday April 20, 1989 Two wrestlers win state medals Seeley-Swan turned in a great performance at the State. A.A.U. Wrestling tournament, a performance that culminated in two first place state championships for Seeley-Swan. The tournament, held in Butte, featured 900 of the state's best wrestlers. Unlike basketball and football, small schools are placed at gradient levels and do not get to compete with the big schools and 'AA' competition. Seeley-Swan met head on...
Swan Valley School is nestled in between the Mission and Swan Mountains and inside Jamie Matthew’s classroom, light from the east-facing windows glows beautifully. The wood on her reading loft seems to stand out in the 3 p.m. sunshine. Students had just been released, and Matthew hugged a former student in the entrance to the school before walking back to her classroom to talk about something she kind of hates talking about — herself. Matthew was designated the Montana Rural Teacher of the Year...
The Seeley Lake Elementary School Board voted unanimously on April 3 to change the school schedule from a traditional five-day school week to a four-day week structure. Starting next school year, the new calendar will include 29.5 hours of instruction each week, with a proposed schedule starting at 7:50 a.m. and going until 3:50 p.m. Per state law, schools are required to provide 1,080 hours of instruction — 720 hours for kindergarten through third grade — over the course of a school year at a minimum. The proposed school year will begin Aug...
Jamie Jima has both lived in Seeley Lake and driven for the Seeley Lake Community Foundation I Ride program for just over a year. In that amount of time, she’s covered 5,000 miles, bringing older community members to Missoula or to the local clinic in Seeley Lake for various medical needs. She started volunteering to meet people and introduce herself to the valley. “I have met lots of interesting women,” Jima said. “Some of the women who have been in this valley are very interesting … They have...
Thirty-five years ago ... Thursday April 13, 1989 County Canine officer on duty in Condon Robert E. Parcell has assumed duties as the new deputy sheriff in Condon and the Swan Valley area, according to Captain Jerry Crego, commander of the sheriff's office. Parcell began work here April 1 and he, his wife and children have moved to the Condon area. Parcell is Missoula County's only canine officer and he was in the Clearwater and Swan Valley's last fall giving demonstrations with his dog,...
The third season in Montana - construction season - has begun for drivers going to and from Seeley Lake. Montana's Department of Transportation and its contracting partner, Kiewit Infrastructure Company, has begun the last 30% of the Salmon Lake Highway Reconstruction project. Started last summer, the project intends to bring Montana Highway 83 up to current design and safety standards, said Lisa Gray, communications official with MDT's design consultant, HDR, via email. To meet those ends, impr...
More water testing done by the Seeley Lake Sewer District led to a conclusion that nitrate levels in the sewer district are related to human causes, something that has been questioned by the public and backed by the Missoula County Public Health Department for years. Now, the Seeley Lake Sewer District is focusing on moving efforts toward engineering solutions. The announced closure of Seeley Lake’s largest employer, Pyramid Mountain Lumber, one week before the sewer board meeting cast a shadow over the gathering, but some attendees saw the b...
Volunteer-organized Easter egg and treasure hunts brought color, candy and smiles to Seeley Lake and Condon....
All the way from London, England 2 Valleys Stage is proud to present the electric string band, Stringfever. Composed of siblings Ralph, Neal and Sophie Broadbent along with their cousin, Graham Broadbent, Stringfever are world class musicians playing five and six-stringed electric violins, viola and cello in a truly original show. Stringfever's unique acclaimed version of Ravel's 'Bolero' has all four playing on one cello simultaneously. Then they challenge the audience to play Name That Tune as they race through 20 of the best loved film...
Thirty five years ago ... Thursday April 6, 1989 Wrestlers do well at District Seeley Swan wrestlers made a strong showing at the A.A.U. District Tournament in Ronan last weekend qualifying the bulk of the team to advance on to the divisional tournament. In the district tournament wrestlers had to finish in the top six of their respective weight classes in order to advance to next week’s divisional in Missoula. Read this and more at: https://www.seeleylake.com/home/customer_f...
Both Seeley Lake and Swan Valley Elementary School Boards are discussing switching to a four-day school week. A couple nearby schools — Seeley Lake High School and Potomac School being two examples — have adopted the four-day school week schedule, and statewide, as of 2022, 222 schools operate four days a week out of 826 total schools, according to the state Office of Public Instruction. Staff, board members and parents at both elementary schools are weighing the pros and cons of making the switch. Factors like better staff retention and rec...
Ballots this year will include a variety of political representatives for people in the Seeley-Swan Valley to choose from as the calendar rolls closer to primary elections, and some opportunities for people to get involved in local boards or districts. So far, it doesn't look like voters in the Seeley-Swan will have any special district or school board elections to vote in, though the school board candidate filing period is open until March 28. Ballot language for things like levies could also b... Full story
The monthly Swan Valley Community Council Meeting on March 19 had reports from the Swan Valley Volunteer Fire Department and the Forest Service. In addition, special guest speaker Jim Nave from Montana’s Department of Natural Resources and Conservation discussed water rights in the Swan Valley. “The Swan Valley is one of the only basins in Montana that still has surface water rights available,” Nave said. “Other basins are closed for new surface water rights.” The Swan Basin encompasses the Swan River drainage to its confluence with Flathead...
The 2024 Montana BPA State Leadership Conference was held in Billings on March 12-15. One thousand three hundred and thirty five students and local chapter advisors from the middle level and secondary level attended in a spirit of friendship and goodwill. BPA Montana Association assisted the members through participation in the areas of competitive events, leadership, community development and professionalism. Students from 101 Montana schools demonstrated their knowledge in business and...
Thirty-five years ago … Thursday March 30, 1989 Records show February ‘89 coldest month in years SWAN VALLEY — Precipitation recorded at Lindbergh Lake in January was above normal, while February precipitation was about average according to weather observer Marty Kux. The most snowfall measured “on the ground” at Lindbergh Lake this winter so far was still about 34 inches of the white stuff on the ground. As he explained the weather data collected during the past two months, Kux noted that last month turned out to be the coldest February...
Pyramid Lumber Mill announced on March 14 that it will cease operations and close, ending 75-years in operation as a family-owned business and four generations as Seeley Lake's largest employer. In a press release from the mill, Pyramid Lumber listed labor shortages, lack of housing, rising costs, "plummeting" lumber prices and cost of living in western Montana as factors that "crippeled Pyramid's ability to operate." The company's board of directors and shareholders voted unanimously at their...
Seeley Lake Elementary School Superintendent Josh Gibbs will step away from his position at the end of this school year. His contract ends June 30. After four years at Seeley Elementary, Gibbs is taking a position as the principal at the high school in Colombia Falls, which he said is a step up in his career, but is also closer to both his and his wife's families in the Flathead area. "I love it here in Seeley Lake and I think the school and the teachers, all the staff, we've made great gains...
Proposed schedule changes at the garbage dump, Special Management Area updates and a forestry report on treatments at local campgrounds rounded out the Seeley Lake Community Council meeting on March 11. Garbage dump schedule change A proposed schedule change for the Seeley Lake Refuse Collection Site, or the garbage dump, led the Seeley Lake Community Council meeting. A 2020-2023 study of the number of site visits per day showed that Sunday had the highest number of site visits at 37%, Wednesday 33% and Saturday at 30%. The proposed new...
Thirty-five years ago ... Thursday March 30, 1989 Records show February '89 coldest month in years SWAN VALLEY– Precipitation recorded at Lindbergh Lake in January was above normal, while February precipitation was about average according to weather observer Marty Kux. The most snowfall measured "on the ground" at Lindbergh Lake this winter so far was still about 34 inches of the white stuff on the ground. As he explained the weather data collected during the past two months, Kux noted that l...
