Sorted by date Results 151 - 175 of 182
HELMVILLE - A community development and zoning follow-up meeting was held Monday, Aug. 15 in Helmville. During the meeting community members discussed possibilities for changing zoning ordinances around the Helmville town area. Amanda Cooley, Powell County Planner, led the meeting of over 30 attendees from Helmville and Ovando. Early this summer, the Helmville community expressed interest in exploring ways that the community could grow and potential re-zoning to allow more families into the...
OVANDO - Children held impromptu foot races down Main Street, country music serenaded the crowd and food trucks provided dinner for the Fourth Annual Blackfoot Challenge Block Party Aug. 10 in downtown Ovando. "Welcome to the Annual Block Party," said Jim Stone, Chairman of the Blackfoot Challenge Board of Directors. "On behalf of the Challenge, we want to thank you all for all you do to support the Blackfoot Challenge and one another to keep our community strong." "The Block Party is hosted by...
OVANDO - “We know that prescribed fire is an important part of the ecosystem here. It makes our plant communities and forests healthier and makes our home safer,” said Steve Kloetzel, landowner. A prescribed burn was done May 21, 2021. It included 80 acres of the Kloetzels’ land, 10 acres of Blackfoot Challenge land and 10 acres of Larry Richardson’s land on Boot Tree Road near Ovando, Montana. “While prescribed burning is often used on public lands to benefit wildlife and reduce fuels, th...
HELMVILLE - Nevada Creek 4-H, based in Helmville, has 13 members from Ovando, Helmville, Avon, Bozeman and Cascade. Members are preparing projects for the Tri-County Fair Aug.16 - 22 at the Deer Lodge Fairgrounds. Those with market animal exhibits will be selling their beef, hogs, goats, turkey and lambs at the Market Animal Auction Friday Aug. 19 at 6 p.m. The public is invited to attend and support the 4-Hers. Market animal projects began between January and April depending on the animal...
Zucchinis may start showing up in people's mailboxes as Western Montana gardens are getting into the harvest season. Even though this is the pay-off time of year for gardeners, there's an option to stretch out the season for fall crops. "Like most fresh homegrown vegetable enthusiasts, I have never wanted the garden to end," said Eliot Coleman, market gardener, teacher and author of "Four Season Harvest." "That doesn't mean I longed for an endless summer; I love the pleasures of fall, winter...
OVANDO - Preparing a home to be as resistant to wildfire as possible can be done with Firewise planning said Cindy Super, Forestry and Prescribed Fire Coordinator for the Blackfoot Challenge, at a meeting July 21 at the Ovando School. The Blackfoot Challenge sponsored the presentation about learning to live with fire, developing defensible space and home maintenance precautions. "That bazillion dollar home in the forest is nothing more than a giant slash pile when a forest fire rumbles...
OVANDO - The new Region 2 Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Biologist Mike Ebinger was eager to come to the Blackfoot-Clearwater Region when the job opened. The reputation the Blackfoot area has as a leader for community-based collaboration on stewardship issues caught his attention. He replaces Scott Eggeman, who left FWP in fall 2021. Ebinger said time spent hunting and fishing while growing up in Michigan, coupled with an affinity for animals, guided him to study Resource Ecology in college....
SEELEY LAKE - Ethnobotany is the study of the interrelation between traditional knowledge and customs of a people concerning plants and their medical, religious and other uses. The Salish people have a culture thousands of years old consisting in part of interrelations with native plants in the Seeley-Swan area. Tim Ryan, Department Head of Culture and Language Studies at Salish Kootenai College in Pablo, Montana, shared his knowledge of the Salish people on an Ethnobotany Walk along the Clearwa...
HELMVILLE - Mass has been suspended for one year at Helmville's St. Thomas Parish due to a shortage of priests. This is the first time mass has not been held at St. Thomas, except for during the pandemic. After one year, the situation will be re-evaluated. Bishop Rondell first rode into the Helmville Valley in 1872, with saddlebags bulging with supplies to conduct mass, said Peggy Mannix recalling her grandmother's history notes. Masses were held in the home of Thomas Coleman. When the first...
HELMVILLE – While running across America, Greg Nance passed Helmville on Highway141 June 27 and spent the night in Seeley Lake. During an impromptu interview near the Highway 141 and Highway 200 junction, Nance shared his life passions and motivation for the adventure. Beginning in Long Island, New York City April 25, Nance aims to finish July 17 at Ocean Shores, Washington. The journey is planned to take 85 days, running an average of 38 miles a day. "Being naturally hard-headed and liking t...
HELMVILLE– The Mannix Brothers Ranch in Helmville received the 2022 Montana Stockgrowers Environmental Stewardship Award from the Montana Stockgrowers Association. Each year the ESAP award recognizes a Montana ranch that exemplifies environmental stewardship and demonstrates a commitment toward improved sustainability within the beef industry. "The Mannix family has continued the 140-year tradition of the Mannix Brothers Ranch by diversifying their enterprise and making decisions to benefit t...
HELMVILLE – Powell County Planner Amanda Cooley with Bo Walker, Montana State University extension agent, and Chad Lanes, Tri-County Sanitarian, held a meeting at the Helmville Community Hall June 16 to collect community input regarding barriers to growth and ways to encourage growth in Helmville. In addition, there was discussion to explore zoning and land use options for aiding growth. More than 50 residents attended the meeting. Cooley called the meeting after having many inquiries from Helmville residents on these topics. Zoning c...
OVANDO - Erick Cedaño, the Bicycle Nomad, pedaled into Ovando Tuesday afternoon, June 14. It was the first leg of his 1,900 mile solo trip cycling to St. Louis, Missouri on the path of the 25th Infantry known as the Buffalo Soldiers from 1897. Cedaño left Fort Missoula at 5:40 a.m. just as the original Corps had. A group of Bicycle Corps re-enactors from Fort Missoula accompanied him to downtown Missoula. Commemorative celebrations in Fort Missoula and Wallace, Idaho were held June 13-19 for t...
HELMVILLE - The 43rd Annual Father Mac Invitational Fastpitch Softball Tournament was held in Helmville June 3-5. This year's tournament was won by the Helmville Helmvillians when they beat Deer Lodge 8 - 5 in the Championship game. The Tournament is hosted by the Helmville Fastpitch Softball Team, a team in the Blackfoot Valley Fastpitch Softball League. Seven teams from the Blackfoot Valley League played this year from Helmville, Seeley Lake, Deer Lodge, two Missoula teams, Lincoln and Huson....
OVANDO - With the sound of wolves yipping and woodpeckers hammering away, the SSHS Discovery Days began in Mollett Park on the Blackfoot Challenge Community Conservation Area (BCCA) May 25. Students arrived by school bus to the open grassland area with wetlands and forest skirting the sides. Discovery Days is planned yearly by Trace Stone, Seeley-Swan High School teacher, as a means to get students outside and experience new things. This year, Elaine Caton, Education Coordinator of the...
SEELEY LAKE - The Clearwater Resource Center (CRC) Pollinator Garden opened Saturday, May 28 in front of Lindey's Prime Steak House. Opening activities included talks on beekeeping, native plants and activities for children including a butterfly release to wrap up the day. Planters sponsored by local businesses were filled with a wide variety of native plants with labels naming them all. Charles DeVoe of Big Sky Beekeeepers from Missoula opened the afternoon with a Honeybees 101 presentation. Be...
SEELEY LAKE - The new Pollinator Garden, envisioned and designed by the Clearwater Resource Council (CRC), will be set up soon at Lindey's Prime Steak House. The purpose of the pollinator garden is to demonstrate what a pollinator garden is and provide education to the community to inspire people to include habitat for pollinators in their yards and gardens. The public kickoff celebration is Saturday, May 28 from 12 - 4 p.m. Pollination is the process of moving pollen from one flower to another...
Preparing for the gardening season invariably includes weed and water management. Useful tools, besides the hose and hoe, are mulches. Once vegetable plants have sprouted and are three to four inches tall, the use of a mulch can reduce weeding, keep the soil cool, reduce pathogens and help maintain even soil moisture and temperature. Mulching guru Ruth Stout suggested in her book “Gardening Without Work” that mulches will decompose into the soil and more must be added through the season. The mulch will add to soil organic matter and enrich the...
OVANDO - Ovando School celebrated eighth grade graduates Abby and Kyle deRonnebeck on Wednesday, May 18. The siblings will be attending Seeley-Swan High School in the fall. "My favorite class is math," said Abby."I look forward to high school and making more friends. I loved Ovando School and the teachers and the friends here." "My favorite class is science," said Kyle. "I liked the teachers and kids at Ovando School, and I want to make more friends in high school." Their class quote that repres...
OVANDO - Bo Walker from the Powell County Montana State University Extension Service conducted a listening session in Ovando May 10. The session was part of a statewide needs assessment process by the Extension Service to learn about issues currently facing Montanans. An online survey is available for those who can’t go to a listening session. The survey will close May 31. The purpose of the survey is to gather feedback from community members to improve resources, programs and services the Extension Office provides to Montanans. Results of t...
SEELEY LAKE - Artist Angela Bennett and her work "Watercolors on the Water - A Lifetime of Work" will be presented at The Lodges on Seeley Lake May 15 from 1-6 p.m. The free art exhibit will highlight Bennett's original watercolor paintings from the past 10-15 years. "This is an opportunity to see nearly the full body of Angela's work – which we usually only see in pieces," said Kerry Bertsch, co-owner of The Lodges and Bennett's daughter. "Many of them have been created right here in her s...
BLACKFOOT VALLEY – Remnant populations of common camas (Camassia quamash) tell a story of bygone days. History tells that many of the seasonally wet meadows and forest edges in and around the Blackfoot Valley were once home to hundreds, if not thousands of acres of common camas plants. Due to the historical and cultural significance of the camas plant to the Salish, Pend O'reille and Kootenai tribes, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) are working with the C...
OVANDO - The grizzly bear followed his nose towards the scent of calving. It skirted the five-wire electric fence around the corral and headed for the open gateway into the barnyard. With its first step through the gate, it felt a zap! Barking in alarm, it wheeled and ran away. This is the desired outcome of using electrified bear mats. In 1999 Tim Manley, retired Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) Region 2 bear specialist, designed an "unwelcome mat" to deter a bear from freezer access in an...
As the snow leaves and bare dirt is visible, gardeners are ready to dig in, literally. What we call the beginning of the growing season often starts with the garden cleaning up season. Gardeners are eager to rake up leftover plant material and mulches and see the bare dirt. Although the bare dirt does warm up faster than mulched ground, there are others to consider in our garden ecosystem. As the soil warms, the garden ecosystem begins to come alive. The Natural Resources Conservation Service...
OVANDO – Growing up in a musical household, Zia Kloetzel of Ovando developed a passion for music. Not only is she deeply motivated by music, her mother Andrea Morgan said she has discovered it brings other people joy. After she was contacted this past summer by a scout from American Idol, Zia began the auditioning process for the 2022 Season of American Idol. She received a golden ticket during the auditions in Nashville, Tennessee and will continue the contest during Hollywood Week, airing M...
