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SEELEY LAKE – Seeley Lake summer resident Elizabeth Moody's birthday was a pretty big deal this year – on May 21st she turned 100 years old. Elizabeth is far from the stereotypical grey-haired, feeble, little old lady in a wheelchair struggling through a fog of dementia to grasp what's going on around her. The use of a walker and a daily afternoon nap are concessions to her body's ageing, but her mind is still sharp and so is her memory -- and her hair has retained its natural che...
SEELEY LAKE – When Glen Knopp died June 9, 2017, his obituary included the message, "In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Veterans and Families of Seeley Lake." It was a fitting recommendation, one everyone who knew him understood. After Knopp's move to Seeley Lake following his 2001 retirement from Smurfit-Stone, much of his life centered around serving the veterans of Seeley Lake. Knopp came from a background of service. His father was a Colonel and his mother a Major in the C...
SEELEY LAKE – If Millie Mae is gazing into the distance instead of engaging in the group’s conversation, her friend Joan might say, “A penny for your thoughts.” But why only a penny? Does Joan assume Millie’s thoughts aren’t worth any more than that? And will Joan really pay Millie a penny if Millie reveals all? Probably not. The phrase is simply a way of pulling someone back into the conversation, or at least inviting them to share what seems more important to them at the moment. As for the worth of their thoughts, that involves a little histo...
CONDON – The Air Force career of current Condon resident Arthur E. Busby III (aka Buzz) got off to a hesitant start. After spending five years trying to figure out where he fit, he was offered a career in nuclear weapons which resulted in several promotions and eventually took him to seven states and six foreign countries Busby's career began in 1956 at Texas A&M, which was a military school when Busby got his bachelor's degree there in Chemical Engineering. Along with the degree came a t...
SEELEY LAKE – On the brink of suicide, author Mark Sullivan pulled himself back and instead prayed to find a story to write, one that had purpose, one that could consume him and give his own life meaning. That same evening a stranger told him about Pino Lella, an Italian teenager during World War II who not only helped Jews flee across the Alps to safety in Switzerland but fortuitously found himself in a position to spy on one of Hitler's most powerful commanders. And the best part – Lella was s...
SEELEY LAKE – A mother looking fondly at her toddler playing in the sandbox might remark, "He's been fussy all morning, but now look at him – he's happy as a clam." Reportedly, Robert E. Lee particularly enjoyed using the phrase, "happy as a clam at high tide." But is a clam really happy? Since no scientific study has measured the degree of a clam's happiness or sadness, the phrase apparently is the product of anthropomorphic projection. The full phrase, as used by Lee, hints at the sup...
SEELEY LAKE – Despite a thick layer of snow still covering the ground in many yards, more than 50 Clearwater Valley residents, whose fingers were itching to get into the soil, gathered at the Seeley Lake Community Hall April 7 to hear newspaper columnist, author and gardening expert Molly Hackett speak. Clearwater Resource Council sponsored the event. Attendees came with a host of questions and Hackett answered them all. Hackett began by naming a few of her favorite gardening implements. A...
A teenager who stayed out past curfew and got bombarded with questions upon his return home might tell his friends the next day, "Boy, my dad really put me through the wringer last night." Or perhaps not. The phrase is more likely to be spoken by someone of the older generation who actually remembers doing laundry using an old wringer washing machine. Unlike its modern descendants with their spin cycles that use centrifugal force to pull water out of the clothes in preparation for being spun...
SEELEY LAKE – Part I of the report on the March 7, 2018 public trails meeting gave the results of the resident and visitor survey conducted in 2017 by the Clearwater Resource Council (CRC) Trail Advisory Council. Part II presented the views of local business owners and a discussion on partnerships between land managing organizations and special interest user groups. Part III presents the Trail Advisory Council's recommendations derived from the surveys, as well as suggestions for how to p...
SEELEY LAKE – The March 12 meeting of the Seeley Lake Community Council heard reports on four in-progress projects, proposals related to mushroom harvesting and an update on the efforts of the Trails Committee. Scott Newpower disclosed plans to build a roofed, open air, regulation size hockey rink. Seeley Lake School Superintendent Chris Stout has given permission to construct it in the field along School Lane. The primary goal of the project is to provide youngsters with a no-cost winter a...
SEELEY LAKE – Part I of the report on the March 7, 2018 public trails meeting gave the results of the resident and visitor survey conducted in 2017 by the CRC Trails Advisory Council. Part II presents the views of local business owners and discussion on partnerships. Part III will present recommendations derived from the surveys, and suggestions for how to proceed in the future. In addition to the survey information submitted by residents and visitors to Seeley Lake, the Seeley Lake Trails A...
SEELEY LAKE – In 2014 Clearwater Resource Council (CRC) launched an examination into trail usage in the Seeley Lake area with a view toward developing a comprehensive trails plan. Last year, the CRC Trails Advisory Council designed a survey to better understand the trail-related needs of Seeley Lake residents, visitors and businesses. The results of those surveys were presented March 7 at a public meeting. Part I presents the results of the resident and visitor surveys. Part II, to be p...
SEELEY LAKE – Access to Seeley Lake Elementary School (SLE) during non-school hours and problems with the intercom system were the main topics discussed at the SLE School Board meeting Feb. 20. Staff changes and leave of absences were also approved. Discussion of the safety issues were prompted by a letter submitted by Bridget Laird and other SLE staff members. The complaint concerning the intercom is that general announcements cannot be heard in classrooms that are noisily engaged in an activity and the junior high school wing cannot hear t...
SEELEY LAKE – Three eighth-grade students in the Jobs for Montana Graduates (JMG) Middle School Program gave a presentation to the Seeley Lake Elementary (SLE) School Board Feb. 20 detailing the student-initiated T-shirt business. The JMG program is incorporated into Michele Holmes' eighth-grade technology class, which focuses on integrating tech skills with job, life and career skills. In her role as JMG Career Specialist, Holmes gave a brief overview, explaining JMG requires all p...
CONDON – Volunteerism is a way of life in rural communities. Perhaps no volunteers deserve more credit than the emergency personnel – the firefighters and members of the Quick Response Unit (QRU). To express their thank to these individuals and also to the local law enforcement personnel, the Condon Community Church (CCC) hosted a special appreciation meal Feb. 10. CCC Pastor Bruce Rippy said their church likes to be involved in Condon community events and are always looking for ways to reach ou...
POTOMAC – Since his father, uncle and two cousins had served in the U.S. Navy, it seemed only natural to Scott Miller in 1967 that, rather than wait to be drafted into the U.S. Army, he should enlist in the Navy instead. As a corollary to growing up on a ranch in Stevensville, Mont., Miller had learned to handle repairs on farm equipment. It was that mechanical ability the Navy recognized when they headed Miller down a career path as an electrician. Because of his prior experience, Miller was n...
SEELEY LAKE – Weather is always a tricky variable when it comes to snow sculptures. Unfavorable snow conditions of the past few Januarys are part of the reason the Seeley Lake Snow Sculpture Contest was discontinued. Nonetheless, the Seeley Lake Chamber of Commerce decided to resurrect the contest for Winterfest 2018. Despite Mother Nature's oscillations between hot, cold, snow and rain, seven plucky groups defied the odds and created what one snow sculpture judge described as "really cool" s...
SEELEY LAKE – Each year, the Art Mobile of Montana (AMM) hires a qualified art instructor to load approximately 30 fine art pieces into a van. The instructor then drives all over Montana displaying the pieces and giving art lessons at schools and other venues. While the job has many rewards, 2017-18 instructor Tess Fahlgren said it also has a lonely side. Asked what was the best part of her AMM experience, Fahlgren replied without hesitation, "The kids. Definitely the kids." She added that it i...
OVANDO – Sheri Ritchlin is many things – author, lecturer, essayist, blogger and amateur videographer. During the winter she is the Hermit of the Stray Bullet Café. Ritchlin said, "I have a strange kind of schedule. The birds look oddly at me. When they pass me they're going south and I'm going north." Her nomadic schedule has her "mansion sitting" for friends in South Carolina in the heart of the summer and living in a field in California in a camper, appropriately named Mr. Fields, during the...
Part 1 of this series on holiday gift-givers talked about Saints and Santas, Part 2 about The Three Kings. Part 3 about Baby Jesus or Christkind. Part 4 will discuss Non-Christian Gift-Givers Though the December holiday season is generally thought of in terms of Christmas and its surrounding Christian-oriented celebrations, for some groups and predominantly non-Christian countries, other traditions are sometimes connected with gift-givers. Many of these countries draw their traditions from pre-C...
SEELEY LAKE – From kindergarten through Middle School Band, music teacher Kristen Cottom directed Seeley Lake Elementary (SLE) students through a concert of winter-themed music Dec. 19. At the same time, she gave parents an overview of the music exposure their children will be introduced to as they progress through SLE. The kindergartners were shy as they fidgeted on the risers and gazed at the bleachers crowded with a few familiar faces and a whole bunch of strange ones. Some were so absorbed w...
Part 1 of this series on holiday gift-givers talked about Saints and Santas, Part 2 about The Three Kings. Part 3 will discuss The Baby Jesus or Christkind as Gift-Giver In European countries such as Austria, Germany, Slovakia and some South American countries such as Columbia, Christmas presents are brought by the Baby Jesus or the Christkind. In Hungry he is called Jezuska, or Little Jesus. Though the Christ Child is generally pictured as a young, blond child with angel wings, he is never...
Colleen Kesterson of Condon remembers the smell of Christmas. She said, "Always the fragrance of pine and fir bring back memories of the sweet smell filling our house after a day's trudge through the woods to find and cut our Christmas tree. Also, I remember the evergreen boughs were placed near the heaters and their fragrance filled the church on Christmas Eve. All through the winters in the 70s, when I moved to the Swan Valley, I could smell the trees every time I stepped outside – Christmas c...
SEELEY LAKE – Seeley-Swan's new high school auditorium stage was almost too small to hold the 80 singers and musicians who came from Missoula on Dec. 17 as part of the 2017-2018 concert season presented by Alpine Artisans' 2 Valleys Stage (2VS). The performers, Missoula Community Chorus (MCC), is a non-audition chorus open to all who love to sing. Their mission is to "Inspire Community Through Music." The concert program took its name from the first song the group performed, "Glow" by Eric W...
SWAN VALLEY – Though scarcely one year old, Swan Valley Connections (SVC) hosted a grand 20-year celebration Dec. 6 at the Swan Valley Community Hall. In January 2016, Swan Ecosystem Center (SEC) and Northwest Connections (NWC) merged into SVC, hence the one-year status. Those parent organizations have roots reaching back two decades, hence the cause for celebration. The evening consisted of an on-going slide show, short films highlighting SEC and NWC and a number of people sharing memories a...
