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SWAN VALLEY – The Swan Valley Community Foundation (SVCF) announced the four initiatives for the $70,000 grant they received from the William H. Donner Foundation, Inc. The initiatives include fully vesting the SVCF endowment, support for small grants, funding aging services, and developing a strategy for a sustainable Swan Valley Economy. “Our foundation is not a political organization,” said Mercer at the Swan Valley Community Council meeting, Oct. 18. “Our only point of view is we want to see the Swan Valley be a desirable, viable communi...
OVANDO - Fred Valiton said he considered buying the Blackfoot Commercial Company when Howie and Peggy Fly put it on the market several years ago but just couldn't swing the price. This fall, however, Fred found himself manning the store counter as the new owner of the historic business. Under the mentorship of the Fly's, he and his wife Leigh Ann have been learning how to run the business since the first of October. Three years ago, Mike and Liz Raymond from Columbia Falls bought the business...
SEELEY LAKE – Haunted Scapes brings family fun to Seeley Lake with a pumpkin patch, bouncy house, maze, haunted house and more. They will be open Thursday – Sundays through Monday, Oct. 31 when they will host Seeley Lake Trunk-or-Treat from 6-8 p.m. Owners of Nature Scapes Davy Good and his wife Angela came up with the idea for Haunted Scapes after taking their children to pumpkin patches outside the area. "We've talked about wanting to do a pumpkin patch for years and finally have the room to...
Addrien Marx is who and what we need for House District 92. Throw away the ugly card you were sent by the Montana Republican legislative campaign. Apparently they were all sitting on a thin branch in a tall tree and the branch broke and they fell on their heads. So I will enlighten them. Marx was a schoolteacher and knows how important education is; Marx will always work hard for education. Marx and her husband Larry bought a small business on a thread and worked hours and hours trying to make a go of it, while raising five children. When...
Election day is coming on Nov. 8. I encourage all of you to come out and vote if you haven’t done so already with absentee ballots. This has been a wild election season and as US citizens we not only have the responsibility to vote but must also actually get out and do it! I will be working at the Seeley Lake polling place as a Provisional Election Judge. I have worked many elections and have seen the process and how it works. I can tell you that our election process is in no way rigged and outcomes are not known until all the ballots cast a...
As candidates, we all have to make a choice as to what kind of campaign we want to run. Recently, mail from my opponent has been sent out blatantly lying about my positions, from public lands to education. I take these lies as a compliment, as I imagine that my opponent’s campaign staff would not be lying about my record if they were not worried about their chances of winning. When I knock on doors in House District 92, I do not even mention my opponent. My campaign is focused on providing a vision for my home states future. I talk about how w...
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Sewer District proves to be an important local issue and for good reason. The wrong decision on this issue can put Seeley Lake in a situation of unaffordable debt service on a centralized sewage processing system (CSPS) when our community is better served by individual septic systems. Septics suffer from image problems. Many people still think of them as undependable, old fashioned or as a temporary solution until a centralized system is built. Part of the blame for this can be traced to the popularity of...
My name is Danielle Sexton and here is my steer T-Bone! On Oct. 2, 2016, I went to the Two Creek Ranch to buy my steer for my 2017 4-H market beef project from rancher Wayne Slaght in Ovando. I have wanted to raise a steer most of my 4 years in 4-H. I was too small to raise a steer last year, but this year I am old enough. Sadie Smith and I were awarded the Mark Teague Memorial Scholarship which helps us pay for our steers. This opportunity makes me feel really happy and proud. My sister Gabby...
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Community Foundation (SLCF) is pleased to announce the donation of property at the Double Arrow Meadows Golf Course from Pat and Nina Brock. Pat Brock said, “After owning a ranch in Ovando for 20 years, we fell in love with the whole area and the people. We gave our gift because we felt so close to the communities and it was the right thing to do.” SLCF Vice President Kevin Wetherell said, “This generous gift of land from the Brocks, was a win-win for all. The Brocks took the opportunity to extend their legac...
SWAN VALLEY - Missoula County Public Library (MCPL) Director Honore Bray presented about the MCPL Bond and Swan Valley Library improvements to nearly 40 attendees at the Swan Valley Community Council (SVCC) meeting Oct. 18. Swan Valley resident Rick Ferguson also presented the idea of a shooting range in the Swan Valley. Bray explained the $30 million library building bond that appears on the ballot this November. Bray explained that the present MCPL building is out of space. There are requests every day for more books for which there would be...
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Sewer Board has been discussing an alternative route for the main pipe to the proposed wastewater treatment plant. Plans to send out information packets on the proposed system and the names associated with the test wells were also discussed at their Oct. 20 meeting. Currently the main pipe to the treatment site is planned to go from a lift station near Highway 83 straight up Cedar Lane and over the hill on the other side of Tamarack Drive. From there it would go...
SEELEY LAKE – Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) Game Warden Bill Koppen worked with the state to initiate the FWP decoy program in Great Falls, Mont. 25 years ago. Ever since, Koppen has used simulated decoys during the hunting season as a deterrent to keep people from shooting from vehicles and hunting public roads. During the 2014 and 2015 seasons he wrote citations that produced 30 convictions, 15 of which were to hunters who took illegal shots at the decoy. In Montana, enforcement o...
Opening weekend of the 2016 general hunting season resulted in an encouraging tally of harvested big game animals through the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) hunter check stations in west-central Montana. The total harvest of 212 animals was identical to the harvest checked on the opening weekend in 2015 and was achieved with 10 percent fewer hunters afield. Over the first two days of the season, 2,786 hunters stopped at the four check stations in west-central Montana, with eight percent harvesting game. Elk harvest was down at the...
POTOMAC - October is Fire Safety Month. A group of four Greenough/Potomac Volunteer Fire Department (GPVFD) volunteers spoke to Sunset and Potomac Schools Oct.19. The group from the GPVFD included Chief Ryan Hall, Assistant Chief Justin Iverson and volunteers Tim Nesmith and Justin Kennedy. More than 90 kindergarten through eighth-grade students and staff watched the presentation which began in the Potomac/Greenough Community Center (PGCC) and then moved outdoors. After introducing the GPVFD...
SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Fire District Board of Trustees welcomed Connie Clark to the board. They discussed the need for paid officers and an assistant chief. No decisions were made. Continued discussion along with the budget approval are on November’s agenda. Clark was sworn in as the new board member filling Bruce Bourne’s term. The Missoula County Commissioners appointed Clark after being the only applicant for the open position. Fire Chief Bob Vanden Heuvel assigned Shelly Johnson and Kristy Pohlman as medical crew chiefs and will...
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Community Council hosted two candidate forums, Sept. 19 and Sept. 29, at the Seeley Lake Community Hall. They also hosted the Justice of the Peace candidates at their Oct. 10 meeting. Candidates for state and local races answered questions from moderator and Council Chair Klaus von Sutterheim and the audience. All candidates that appear on the ballot were invited. This week the Pathfinder features the candidates for Missoula County Commissioner and Justice of the...
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Community Council hosted two candidate forums, Sept. 19 and Sept. 29, at the Seeley Lake Community Hall. They also hosted the Justice of the Peace candidates at their Oct. 10 meeting. Candidates for state and local races answered questions from moderator and Council Chair Klaus von Sutterheim and the audience. All candidates that appear on the ballot were invited. This week the Pathfinder features the candidates for Missoula County Commissioner and Justice of the...
“What do mortals get from all the toil and strain with which they toil under the sun? For all their days are full of pain, and their work is a vexation; even at night their minds do not rest.” (Ecclesiastes 2:22-23) Some of us are a bit reluctant to slow down. We know that when we do, we may notice something we are trying to avoid – a difficult conversation with a friend, an upcoming appointment with a doctor. Whatever it is, we usually do not want to face the reality that some things are beyond our control. We have no control over how a friend...
SEELEY LAKE – Fubuki Daiko filled the Seeley-Swan High School gymnasium with their traditional Japanese drumming Tuesday, Oct. 18. Their high-energy performance included elements of dance, meditation and drumming. Their synchronized movements accompanied the rhythm that shook the ground and could be felt outside the gymnasium. The four-person drum ensemble played Taiko, a broad range of Japanese percussion instruments. The performers rotated through the various instruments, sometimes s...
The Seeley-Swan Lady Blackhawks split the final week of the regular season winning against Darby and falling to Valley Christian. The Ladies record heading into District Tournaments is 8-2 in conference and 12-4 overall. Versus Valley Christian The Lady Blackhawks headed to Missoula to take on the Valley Christian Eagles Oct. 18. The Eagles handed the Ladies their fourth loss of the season. The Eagles remain the only team to win against the Lady Blackhawks in both meetings during the season....
SEELEY LAKE & POTOMAC – The Seeley Lake Elementary Eagles wrapped up their season with a 5-4 record for the eighth grade A team and 7-2 record for the B team of seventh graders. "We are so proud of all of the girls who played volleyball this season," wrote Head Coach Angela Harris in an email. This season Coach Harris and Assistant Coach Jama Mauldin focused on bringing the girls together as a team. Concepts such as celebration and communication were part of the team goals. "As a team, we recogn...
KALISPELL – The Blackhawks Cross Country team placed two runners in the top 15 medal winners at the state meet held at the Rebecca Farm in Kalispell, Mont. Oct. 22. Cera Strumpfer placed ninth with a personal best of 20:28.97. She ran a very fast 6:22 first mile time. Logan Maughan finished 10th with a time of 17:12.31 passing six runners at the end. Running in only his third race of the year, Avery Smith knocked 1:06 off his best time. Playing in a football game the night before, sleeping in h...
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley-Swan Blackhawks finished out their season 0-7 with a loss to the Flint Creek Titans Oct. 21. Blackhawks Head Coach Ryan Sokoloski described the season as a "rough season" but was pleased with the effort the team put in. "Due to injuries we had to put a lot of people in positions they weren't used to at critical junctures in games," said Sokoloski. "They fought to the end, which is what I'm proud of. I can't ask for any more." Bradley Miller scored the final touchdown of...
