Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 25
SEELEY LAKE – Shoppers filled Deer Country Quilts Saturday morning, Oct. 14 when 29 quilters from Helena chose to take a road trip to Seeley Lake. The quilt store was the group's first stop before going for lunch, checking out other stores and then returning home. The goal was simple: Help support local businesses following a summer with huge economic loss due to the Rice Ridge Fire. The road trip was the brainchild of Connie Roope, owner of Prickly Pear Quilts in Helena. She understands how m...
SEELEY LAKE – “No” was the response most Seeley Lake residents received from the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office in the first days of the Evacuation Order issued the evening of Aug. 28. With the task of establishing control and managing people’s safety there was little more they could say. Many suffered in silence or shared their frustrations on social media. As the evacuation drug on, conversations shifted and deputies started to discuss reasonable accommodations with those who presented issues. Looking back on the historic fire season th...
SWAN VALLEY – Fifth through eighth-grade students from Swan Valley School, Salmon Prairie School, and area home schools came together at the Upper Swan Valley Historical Society (USVHS) Museum Monday, Oct. 9 to help create footage for the Next Exit History app. The free app, begun as a graduate student project at the University of West Florida, Pensacola, now lists more than 60,000 sites worldwide. The goal of the app is to acquaint people with historical sites. Footage such as that supplied b...
Regarding the letters to the editor concerning the sewer project during the past four months, Don Larson states that, “All the 20 against the project were by residents who live and vote in the Sewer District.” I guess Don needs to look more closely at the Sewer District map, as the primary residences of two of the most vocal individuals opposed to the sewer are in southern Montana and Arizona. Referencing those who wrote in support of the project, Larson writes, “Only seven live and vote in the District.” Wrong again, Don. I personally know ma...
SEELEY LAKE - Rumor has it that critical engineering documents, revealing the design, actual plan components and budget for the proposed sewer, are finally in the hands of the sewer board. Can that group demonstrate the integrity, maturity and confidence needed to provide constituents the time to access, review and develop questions regarding their proposed project now that “full” engineering information has been delivered to them? While each property owner (and interested renter) may not feel fully qualified to analyze the entire set of doc...
SEELEY LAKE – A group of approximately 110 well-owner, landowners in the airport area east of Seeley Lake are concerned about the location of the proposed sewer system. We all take our water from private, individual wells and we are concerned about the possible pollution from the treatment plant which is proposed upstream and upflow from our properties. As we understand it, medical wastes will not be removed from the millions of gallons of treated water released from the plant, once fully operational. If true, these wastes will inevitably f...
SEELEY LAKE - Over the past year, since the Seeley Lake Sewer Project was defeated in the election last fall, I have read several articles about how much the lake is polluted and how the proposed sewer project is going to miraculously fix that. The two letters to the Editor last week point out the fallacy of that and what the real truth is…. SEELEY LAKE IS NOT POLLUTED. Furthermore, the claims that water quality in the lake has diminished in the last few years are unsubstantiated by the data and there is no historical baseline data to c...
3:15 a.m. I open one eye and look at the alarm clock as it sounds, my body not wanting to leave the warmth and comfort of bed. My brain starts slowly processing the day's task at hand. Ten hours in the saddle, thirty miles to ride into the wilderness to our hunting camp and back out, the rugged, rocky trail, the mules loaded with hay. Damn. No. I can't force my body out just yet. Ten more minutes of useless sleep... 4:02 a.m. The lights are on at the barn. I hear hoof beats running in the dark a...
SEELEY LAKE – The stress, chaos and loss that surrounds wildfire is still fresh on the minds of Seeley Lake residents. The Seeley Lake Community Foundation is organizing an effort to offer temporary refuge to those who have lost their homes or been evacuated due to the Sonoma County fires as a way to pay it forward. More than half of the residents of Seeley Lake are seasonal. This makes some furnished homes available for use by those affected. The Foundation’s goal is to get many of these homes donated for the temporary use by the Sonoma County...
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Ranger District has announced a Nov. 30 deadline for submitting 2017/2018 Winter/Spring Recreation Event Special Use Permit applications. Applications received past this deadline will not be accepted for review. A Recreation Event Special Use Permit is required for organizing any use or activity on National Forest System lands that meets either of the following criteria, regardless of whether the use or activity is intended to produce a profit: • Where an entry or participation fee is charged. Donations are c...
SEELEY LAKE - Brian D'Ambrosio will be discussing his book on the history of Big Sky Cinema, "Shot in Montana," Saturday, Oct. 21, at 7 p.m. at the Grizzly Claw Trading Company. Alpine Artisans Open Book Club sponsors the event. D'Ambrosio lives in Helena where he writes for a variety of publications. His favorite subjects are history, biography, architecture, boxing, NFL tough guys, photography, forgotten inventors and obscure American poets and authors. For more than 100 years, film...
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Community Council got back on schedule with their meeting Oct. 9. It was the first meeting since the spring after all of the summer meetings were canceled due to lack of quorum or the Rice Ridge Fire. The council was given an update on county activities from Missoula County Commissioner Jean Curtiss. Sheriff T.J. McDermott discussed the departure of Deputy Mike Sunderland from Seeley Lake and the search for his replacement. Two new members were sworn onto the council and the council reorganized its leadership....
Early in the 2017 Season Many markets in the country are experiencing a supply and demand problem with housing inventory, and Seeley Lake is no exception. Our major selling season usually runs from May to September. At the beginning of the 2017 selling season, we were already experiencing a lack of inventory. Buyer demand has been strong but our home inventory just hasn't been able to keep up with the demand. The lack of supply, coupled with a healthy demand, led some to speculate the we were...
POTOMAC - Potomac School kindergartners through eighth-graders participated in the annual Bike-a-Thon Oct. 12. The Bike-a-Thon is a fundraiser to raise money for educational activities. The number of miles ridden and amount raised was unavailable at press time....
"As I looked across the rolling expanse of prairie, filled with the beauty of a Montana sunset, I sent up a little prayer of thanksgiving from my heart for this our very first home. Only a rectangle of prairie sod, raw and untouched by the hands of man, but to us it was a kingdom ... "... We have no regrets; life is fuller and sweeter through lessons learned in privation, and around our homestead days some of life's fondest memories still cling. We are of Montana, now and always ... I feel that...
POTOMAC – The Potomac School Board heard public concerns and addressed regular items including reports and the principal’s plan at their Oct. 9 meeting. During public comment a letter from a community member was read raising concerns about volunteer positions at the school and sport policies. In some sports, volunteer coaches have been told they are not to coach anymore because staff will be used as coaches. Other concerns included the new bus policy where parents and siblings are not to ride to or from games anymore on the busses due to liabil...
Not so long ago we had a President that declared, “We are not a Christian nation.” A statement which would likely have surprised and upset our founding fathers. And though today’s headlines might lead one to discouragement and despair, this present darkness should hold no surprise for the Christian. While reflecting on the state of the world in general, and our nation in particular, I was reminded of two things that point to a future hope: The first, a theory by Scottish historian, Alexander Tytler who observed in the early 1800’s a pattern...
SWAN VALLEY – In keeping with Fire Prevention Week Oct. 8-14 Swan Valley Emergency Services opened their doors and hosted their annual open house Saturday, Oct. 14. Attendees enjoyed drinks and goodies while being given a tour of the Fire Hall and equipment demonstrations including the heart monitor and thermal imaging camera. Attendees also practiced with their fire extinguishers. Those interested were able to get their blood glucose, blood pressure and blood oxygen level checked. New this y...
SWAN VALLEY - Potter Dodie Wood's Rustic Pots Studio was new to the tour this year. While she has displayed her pottery at Russ and Larrine Abolt's studio in the past, this was the first year she had the time to open her own studio for tours. Wood has been doing pottery on and off since the late 1990s as a hobby. Most of her pieces she gives to friends and family although she has sold some of her work at the Mission Mountains Mercantile and Holland Lake Lodge in the past. Wood came up with the n...
Fall colors and snow-capped mountains were a sight to behold as art enthusiasts traveled through the Blackfoot, Clearwater and Swan Valleys for Alpine Artisans, Inc.'s annual Tour of the Arts. Artists displayed their work, gave demonstrations and shared stories and trade secrets with those who stopped. This year's tour featured more than 25 artists in five artist studios, three galleries and two historical museums from Lincoln to Ovando, north to Seeley Lake and Condon and in between. Many of...
MISSOULA – DISH recently designated Eagle Satellite as a “Premier Local Retailer,” the company’s highest honor for businesses that demonstrate excellence in performance and customer experience. Following a highly selective process, Eagle Satellite joins the top five percent of authorized DISH retailers in the Premier program. As a result, customers in Missoula have a front-row seat to experience the latest products, announcements and offers available from DISH. “Eagle Satellite is truly tuned in to the needs and preferences of customers...
SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Elementary girls volleyball season wrapped up at the Copper League Tournament in Frenchtown, Oct. 14. While the girls finished eighth in the league, Head Coach Angela Harris said the A Team's record is not a good reflection of how well they played and the skills they have on the court. Harris said the season was a challenge since it started two weeks late. They jumped right into playing games giving them minimal practice. However, Harris said by the tournament t...
MISSOULA, MONT - "Well that was a PR," said an out of breath Lane Mackie-Wendel shortly after he finished the Missoula City cross country meet Oct. 11. Despite an array of injuries plaguing the cross country team, the Blackhawks had five boys and two girls toe the line for the Wednesday night race that saw three athletes set lifetime bests. The cold, blustery evening meet started off with the girls varsity race. Jayla Kauffman and Chloe Robbins started the race and Kauffman finished with a time...
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley-Swan Lady Blackhawks successfully defended their home court from the Pirates of Victor Oct. 14. The victory improves their record to 5-8 overall and 4-4 in conference. The previous time the teams met, the Pirates got the upper hand winning in five games. After game one of the latest match went to the Pirates, 19-25, it was looking like it would be another close battle. However, the Lady Blackhawks picked themselves up and came back with three wins in a row, 25-20, 25-19...
Town Clean Up SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Rural Fire District encourages residents of Seeley Lake to remove the evacuation warning and order flagging and signs from their property to help clean up the town. Since all the evacuation notices have been lifted, it is no longer needed. Movie Night Returns, Oct. 21 SEELEY LAKE – Movie Night returns to the Seeley Lake Fire Hall Saturday, Oct. 21 at 6:30 p.m. Join the Seeley Lake volunteers for chili and the movie “Captain Underpants” in the fire hall bay. While the event is geared towards element...
