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Swan Valley Connections, a natural resource conservation and education nonprofit based in Condon, has purchased a new office space. After 28 years in the Condon Work Ceter, staff members anticipate moving into their new location, named the "River House," early this spring. It is located about a mile south of their current location. In May 2024, staff at Swan Valley Connections were told the Northern Region of the Forest Service, based in Missoula, was considering conveyance, or a transfer of...
On Dec. 29, some members of the Seeley Lake community experienced an internet outage. Blackfoot, AT&T and T-Mobile services were affected. Verizon services were unaffected. The outage was limited and many businesses in town were able to operate normally. Missoula Electric Cooperative announced a planned outage in the Double Arrow area on Jan. 2, which was expected to impact members from Jan. 6 through Jan. 9 for one, one and a half hour time frame throughout the day. Once an area had an outage,...
Missoula County is now accepting Impact Grant applications and is continuing to accept Micro Grant applications to support community-driven projects that enhance the quality of life in rural areas of Missoula County. Individuals, nonprofit organizations, citizen groups, community councils, schools and special districts are encouraged to learn more and apply online at http://missoula.co/ruralgrant. The Rural Grant Program, which the Missoula County commissioners initiated in 2023, includes two unique funding opportunities: Micro Grants, with...
The 69th Legislative Assembly began its work on Jan. 6. There are a number of major, controversial measures which will be discussed, argued and voted on including: THE CONTINUATION OF MEDICAID EXPANSION The Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, contained a provision which allowed states to expand Medicaid coverage to people who had limited or lacked health insurance coverage. Passage of the state law necessary to implement “expanded Medicaid coverage” contained a sunset clause which causes the program to expire in 2025. The 202...
It is that time of year, it being cold and dark and dreary, to amuse ourselves by making resolutions for the new year. My research shows that resolutions suffer a die-off of about 20% a month, so that at the end of the year approximately 1% of our good intentions will still be active. In the practice of medicine, in the presence of such awful results, we would do a “root cause analysis,” which is another way of saying “if we keep this up, we’ll all end up in jail.” Why do only 1% of resolutions make it to the finish line? To begin with, mos...
“The peace of Christ must control your hearts — a peace into which you were called in one body. And be thankful people.” (Colossians 3:15 CEB) For a while now I have been struck by the shallowness that often exists in some faith communities. It’s as if people do not trust one another enough to tell the truth about themselves, their struggles and vulnerabilities. It may be that rugged individualist mentality, that “pull yourself up by your own bootstraps” ideology, haunting so many of us that we are afraid of appearing weak or less than human...
After winter break some teams experience a readjustment period, needing to get back into the mindset to win games after the holiday season. But for the Seeley-Swan Blackhawks, they were in it to win it and won all four games at both the junior varsity and varsity levels against the Superior Bobcats on Friday, Jan. 3. The night started with the junior varsity games - the Lady Blackhawks played a half game and the Blackhawks played a full game, and both teams won their games. Afterwards, the...
The January meeting of the Seeley Lake Community Council will be held at the Barn (2920 Highway 83) on Tuesday Jan. 14. Pizza will be served starting at 5:30, and the meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Planned speakers/topics are as follows: ● Commissioner Strohmaier — Missoula County updates ● Undersheriff Meeder (via Zoom) — Community safety concerns ● Shane Stack — Public Works Director, update on bridges ● Heidi West, Missoula County Rural Grant Program — Grant applications ● Cheri Thompson, Seeley Lake Sewer District — Updates ● Quinn Car...
With colder temperatures upon us, perhaps it’s time to swing by your local library and find a cozy book to enlighten the mind or warm the heart. Your local Seeley Lake Public Library has many new popular titles in both nonfiction and fiction for adults. Your local library also regularly swaps out DVDs, books on CD, large print, adult fiction and nonfiction titles, holiday reads and children’s books. We typically have a puzzle going in-house, which is another great winter activity, as well as free puzzles to take home, including plenty that are...
Thursday Jan. 4, 1990 New S.O.S. doctor begins five-day schedule Dr. Robert (Bob) Nelson, 51, of Great Falls began practicing full time in Seeley Lake at the S.O.S. Health Center this week. This S.O.S. Center had announced in December it had secured a new doctor for the facility after a long search following the retirement of Dr. Schreiber last May. Dr. Nelson has rented a place to live here and will be working on a tentative five-day schedule Monday afternoons through Friday mornings. His...
The rivers run low, flowing slow and cold in winter. It amazes me, every year, that so much life could abound, dormant beneath the seemingly still currents that I see in winter. Even the water that gurgles and trickles over the riffles seems to run slower — although in my mind I know that physically it doesn’t. There will be three, four, five times as much water running in the rivers in the spring when the trout are breaking the surface everywhere to feed on the myriad of bugs that like them now lie dormant, semi-comatose, and still except for...
Public Services • Alcoholics Anonymous (AA): Mon, 7pm, Holy Cross Lutheran Church, www.aa-montana.org • Missoula County Treasurer: 2nd & 4th Thurs, 9:30am – 3:30pm, closed for lunch 11:30 – 12:30, Satellite Office, 3360 Highway 83N • Montana Veterans Affairs Division: 3rd Wed, 10am-2pm, Citizens Alliance Bank. 406-721-1288 for apt. • Potomac Food Bank: Second to last Sunday each month, 5-7pm, Potomac Greenough Comm. Center • Seeley Lake Caregiver Support Group: Third Tues, 1-2pm, via ZOOM. For log in info call Missoula Aging Service the Wednesd...
Local Government • Missoula County Commissioners Public Mtg, 2nd & 4th Thursdays, Courthouse Annex, Room 151, Missoula, 2pm. http://www.missoulacounty.us/government/administration/commissioners-office • Seeley Lake Community Council, 2nd Mon, 6pm, Seeley Lake Historical Museum & Visitors Center, 2920 Highway 83. For the agenda and virtual access visit the Facebook Page for Zoom link. http://www.missoulacounty.us/community/community-councils/seeley-lake-community-council • Swan Valley Community Council, 3rd Tues, 6pm, Swan Valley Commu...
Senior Menu For any area senior unable to afford the lunches, assistance may be available. Frozen meals are also available. Please call Ria Overholt with Missoula Aging Services at 406-728-7682 for information. The Mission Mountains Mercantile serves senior meals Monday, Thursday and Saturday. Please call 406-754-2387 by 6 p.m. the night before the meal to order. Visit the Mission Mountains Mercantile Facebook page for the menu. The Seeley Lake Senior Center (Sela Senci) provides congregate meals and delivers ‘meals on wheels’. Congregate mea...
To ring in 2025, the Pathfinder's looking back on staff-curated "best ofs," or the stories we thought were notable from the past year. We hope you enjoy our selections and that your New Year is off to a great start. Jan. 11, 2024 Lack of snow hurts towns economy By Griffen Smith Jack Frost went missing this December, and local Seeley Lake businesses said the lack of snow has hurt the town's winter sports economy, although there might be relief in sight. The Clearwater, Swan and Blackfoot...
If I go outdoors at night, I can hear the low-throated cooing of owls, what I now recognize as their mating calls. For years I didn’t recognize what I heard on these winter nights as the love songs of owls. The gently mysterious and lonesome call might be the only sound that pierces the quiet of a winter's night. My sense of it is deepened by knowing that it precedes their mating, nesting and preparing to hatch a brood of helpless little owlets whose survival is totally dependent on the parent bird's soft downy warmth and fierce hunting to prov...
On Dec. 22, Seeley Lakers adorned trucks, ATVs, businesses and other vehicles with festive lights for its Parade of Lights. The parade traveled along Highway 83 and a bonfire was lit later in the evening....
On the night of Dec. 17, the parking lot at Seeley Lake Elementary School was full. People were gathered for the 2024 holiday concert. At the door, a student greeted incoming audience members with programs, which had pastel drawings of items like gloves and candy canes. The concert began with Principal Christina Hartmann welcoming the crowd. She then passed the microphone to Sheila Devins, the music teacher at SLE. Devins thanked the crowd as she stood in front of a painted mountain backdrop...
Swan Valley Connections, a natural resource advocacy and education nonprofit based in Condon, was awarded just over $219,000 from Missoula County’s Department of Emergency Management as part of a federal grant the department was awarded in October. The funding was officially approved at a Missoula County Board of Commissioners meeting on Dec. 17. The Community Wildfire Defense Grant was funded from money within the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed during the Biden Administration. Missoula County was awarded $4.8 million to spend over f...
This is a Christmas story, but definitely not the Hallmark kind. If you are a bit squeamish, skip this one. This is known as a trigger warning, seeing how I am an up-to-date, sensitive guy. It was Christmas Eve, and I was on call for cardiac surgery. Pam and I attended a couples get-together, conveniently located just a block from the hospital. I knew the cardiac surgery crew — scrub tech, circulating nurse — were in the cardiac catheterization laboratory standing by while the cardiologists did an angioplasty — opening coronary arteries that...
We were appalled when our property taxes took a 34% leap last year, especially because the governor and the Legislature could have prevented it, but did nothing other than to return a token portion of our prior payments in the form of a rebate. It was good political theater, but pretty pathetic. Property taxes are a significant burden, and their regressive nature is a serious concern. While we understand the vital role these taxes play in funding essential services like schools and local government, the continued upward pressure on them is...
The Grouch That Stole Christmas was performed by Ovando School students in the Ovando gym Dec. 19. All 23 students, prekindergarten through eighth grade, participated in the music recital and the play. The evening program began with the students' winter music recital showcasing the xylophone and ukulele music the students have been learning from Michael Nord of Tangled Tones studio. Ten songs were played with a mix of holiday and modern tunes from Blue Suede Shoes and Peace Like a River to Amazi...
Anne Marie Jette Reinhard sadly passed away at her home in the Upper Swan Valley on Dec. 7, 2024. Her loving daughters, Kathy and Teri were at her side. Anne Marie was born in Bonner, Montana on Oct. 6, 1941 to Evelyn and Arthur Jette. She was the second of five children, the only girl. Anne lived in Bonner and Missoula for her first 10 years. The Jette family moved permanently up to Swan Valley in 1950. After attending St. Francis Xavier Elementary and the Smith Flats School up in Swan, Anne Ma...
