Common values shared at "Tell Your Story"

SEELEY LAKE – More than 25 people gathered for the second "Tell us your story – Why did you come here and why do you stay?" Wednesday, Feb. 16. Six community members shared their stories and highlighted those values they hold dear and how they are exemplified here.

"Every story is unique and every story is important because it is those stories that make up what this valley is all about," said Organizer Tom Beers. "People come from different places, different backgrounds, different styles so we want to hear those stories because it builds community."

Beers kicked off the evening. He and his wife built their place on Placid Lake in 2017. However, he has been playing at the lake since he was a child.

"We love the outdoors," Beers said. "This valley to me, Seeley Lake is the heart. I don't know if you want to say God's country or the last best place, but I just think right here where we are is the heart of that."

While Beers has seen a lot of diversity in the Valley over 60 years of visiting the area, he feels the values are fairly common. The thing that stands out to him the most, is how the community pulls together to fill the needs of individuals or the community, whether it is a death or the Fourth of July.

"That coming together, to me, is what a community is all about," Beers said. "It is the people and the place is why we are here on this valley. It is our home, we love it and we aren't goin' no place."

Betty Orr first visited Seeley Lake in the summer of 2015 for a destination wedding. She grew up on the edge of a national forest in the Black Hills of South Dakota but was working as a lawyer in Washington, DC.

Her biggest concern about moving to a small town was what she would do on Friday night since she is a widow. She quickly learned there was a group that would get together to drink on Friday night.

"I never felt like a stranger and people did gather every Friday night," Orr said. "There was a sense of community that I could regularly slip into."

On impulse, she purchased her house with a porch overlooking Morrell Creek.

Orr shared the story of her friends taking her on an "easy" hike up Lewis and Clark Pass. Even though she questioned if it was a method of hazing "to see if the city girl could keep up" she indulged her friends and purchased all the right gear to go hiking. After looking at her new backpack, socks and shoes for a few weeks, Orr realized hiking was not on her bucket list.

"There are a lot of wonderful activities that are not hiking or skiing and you can be kind of a slug but you can still be an active member of the community," Orr said. "I love it here."

Orr registered to vote in Seeley Lake after being invited to a Campaign Rally for Addrien Marx. This required her to renounce her ability to vote in DC, something that held little authority since even as a registered voter she was not allowed to vote for local representation. The decision to sell her condo in DC was made after she saw the community work to ensure that everyone who wanted to be vaccinated got vaccinated.

"That experience said Seeley Lake to me," Orr said. "We cared about one another, we turned out as many people as we could and it was a community that I wanted to be a part of."

Rachelle Harman is originally from Ohio. Her father is Arabic and her mother was a hillbilly from West Virginia. She and her husband Robert moved to Seeley Lake from California.

"There was something about coming around Salmon Lake that just made my blood pressure come down," Harman said.

They visited the area and stayed at the Tamaracks Resort, a place that reminded her of a resort community that she stayed at with her family with she was young.

"The values and the community effort that is here, is just remarkable," Harman said.

While she said her parents brought together two cultures from opposite ends of the spectrum, her family prospered. The silver thread through everything was hard work, sacrifice and survival and relying on the community of people they surrounded themselves with. She sees those same values in Seeley Lake and loves how people come together and support each other.

"Coming to a small town like this, we can do it," Harman said highlighting whatever the need, standing together will solve it. "I really want those values to be maintained for me, for my children and my grandchildren."

Jenny Rohrer from the Swan Valley is the 17th generations of farmers. Growing up in small town Minnesota, she could not wait to get out to the larger city. She got into film making and making documentaries

She met her now husband Gary Lazarowski when he was living in Lincoln, Montana. Because she hadn't spent much time in Montana, they were looking for property. When she told someone in Lincoln that she was going to visit Seeley Lake they said, 'Oh that's the place where people go over to each other's houses and drink cocktails.'

"I said, 'Oh, okay, that is for me,'" Rohrer said.

"Coming up 83 and dropping around Salmon Lake is just spellbinding," Rohrer said.

Rohrer ended up building at the Summit with a view of Mount McDonald.

"It took a while to find my people but once I did, it is such a strong community," Rohrer said. "My life is more full than their urban lives and my friends are more numerous, solid and reliable. I love it here."

"I found my people primarily within Alpine Artisans and the arts community and there is so much creative energy here and so much generous time given to the community, you are never going to get me out of it."

Will Kats was raised in Nebraska by Dutch immigrant farmers. While they were hard workers, Kats said farmers have no sense of adventure. He, on the other hand, wanted to be a mountain man. In the 1970s he bought 40 acres because it was near the Bob Marshall Wilderness. He cleared the land, made everything from scratch and trapped.

In the 1980s he spent a couple winters in the Bob. One winter he put on over 1,100 miles on snowshoes leaving his wife alone to fend for herself for more than a month at 6,000 feet.

"It put me in touch with the wild settings and wild animals," Kats said. "There's not too many places in the lower 48 you can still do that. The diversity of furbearers here was greater than Alaska ...and they were in good population."

He started his own business as a builder and has been self-employed for more than 40 years. He's met people from across the world that have moved to the area.

"They always say 'We love it so much here.' 'This is one of the best kept secrets in the country.' 'It is so beautiful here,'" Kats said. "I think to myself they will be gone in two years. A lot of times I'm right."

He has built homes that were sold six or seven times. Even though it is a "revolving door community" Kats still feels there is a real sense of community.

"People will beat a path to your door if you are honest, work hard and are proud of your work at the end of the day. That is all that I have attempted to do and I believe other people have shared that ethic as well."

Because of his connection to the natural world, Kats has seen substantial changes due to global warming. He said that of the places he frequented in the 1980s, 60-70% of the timber is dead, burned up or on the ground. That changes the habitat, there are not as many species and they are not as abundant. Unless there is a large-scale planting effort, Kats estimates in 40-50 years there will not be harvestable timber.

Kats predicts that people that used to leave in the winter will start coming here in the winter. When he built his cabin at the top of the mountain, it snowed too much.

"It doesn't any more," Kats said matter-of-factly.

"Trapping lifestyle was an adventure every day and one day is not like the next," Kats said. "I tried to know what I wanted, not put money before everything but enjoy life."

Ron Shaffer considers himself a full timer now after making it to his fourth winter in the valley and living here part time for eight years. He was an Arizona city boy who grew up with a grandfather who was an extreme outdoorsman. He spent summers on the Spotted Bear Ranch south of Glacier when he was growing up.

It wasn't until in his 30s that he returned with his family, traveling and fly fishing around Montana.

After four years of searching for a place to live in Montana, in October 2014, he drove down Highway 83 and realized this was it. He finds it ironic that so many people leave Montana, make their fortune and then return.

"We had it all right here, we didn't have to leave. We get convinced that we need piles of money, and we have to have all this security and we have to have all these things but what do we give up in the process trying to retain those things and we end up right back here."

Shaffer continued, "I didn't come here wanting Seeley to adapt to me, I wanted to adapt to Seeley. I'm a stick in the mud and could care less if Seeley ever grew. The experiences you can have, especially in Western Montana, are amongst the best in the planet. It is a beautiful place. This is a wonderful place and I wouldn't live anywhere else."

To watch the video visit the Seeley Swan Pathfinder Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SeeleySwanPathfinder/videos/674759086873068

Another "Tell Your Story Event" will be held later this spring. If you would like to share your story, contact Beers by calling 406-546-6400 or email beersplacid@gmail.com.