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HELENA - A live Christmas tree from Potomac made its way to Helena and adorns Governor Steve Bullock's reception room. After deciding to use a live tree this year, the capital reached out to the Montana Logging Association (MLA). "Then the MLA reached out to me," said Potomac forester Zack Bashoor of Bashoor Land Management. The search was on. "It took days of walking around all of our (MLA) properties across the state to find the 'perfect' tree that needed to come out," said Bashoor. Bashoor...
SEELEY LAKE – The U.S. Small Business Administration is offering low-interest federal disaster loans for working capital to small businesses economically impacted by the Rice Ridge Fire that occurred this past summer. SBA acted under its own authority to declare a disaster following a request received from Gov. Steve Bullock Dec. 7. Following a meeting Oct. 3 with the Department of Labor and Office of Tourism & Business Development, Gary Miller of Citizens Alliance Bank was troubled. “At the meeting, members of the two agencies identified sourc...
SEELEY LAKE – A chorus of "Here comes Santa," echoes at the Seeley Lake Fire Hall as Santa, Mrs. Claus, Rudolph and Mickey Mouse along with Seeley Lake sisters Miya and Addy Trevino arrived in the antique fire engine Dec. 16. The excitement was contagious as Santa and Miya lit the Christmas tree and Santa was lifted in Missoula Electric Co-op's bucket to place the star during the Seeley Lake Fire Department's first annual Christmas Tree Lighting Celebration. Seeley Lake Fire Chief Michael G...
SEELEY LAKE - People from near and far enjoyed the annual Rich Ranch Community Appreciation Day Dec. 17....
Strumpfer Graduates from AIT Private First Class Cera Strumpfer graduated from Advanced Individual Training (AIT) with the 832nd Ordnance Battalion in Fort Lee, Va. Dec. 13. She graduated with three Army achievement medals: The Distinguished Honor Grad of her class; Iron Soldier for maxing out the Army physical fitness test; and Soldier of the Month. Strumpfer will be serving one weekend a month and two weeks in the summer with the Montana National Guard. She will be starting college in January...
In the wake of a wildfire season that impacted tourist-dependent areas in Western Montana, Glacier Country Tourism and Southwest Montana Tourism are partnering in a snowmobile campaign to aide the communities of Ovando, Seeley Lake and Lincoln. "Sled the Burn" aims to attract snowmobilers to the thousands of acres of forested land burned by wildfires now wide open for winter play. "We're making lemonade out of lemons here," said Glacier Country Tourism Executive Director Racene Friede. "Much of...
MISSOULA – Detective Mike Sunderland received the Officer of the Year Award with the Missoula County Sheriff's Office at the 45th Annual Missoula Exchange Club Law Enforcement Banquet Dec. 6 in Missoula. Missoula County Undersheriff Richard Maricelli said that Sunderland was nominated for his involvement and investigation of a major burglary ring in the Seeley Lake area while working as Seeley Lake resident deputy. After being reassigned as a detective in Missoula this past September, he was als...
SEELEY LAKE - Residents of Dogtown received an update on the issue of county road maintenance, or lack there of, at the Seeley Lake Community Council meeting Dec. 11. Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation Clearwater Unit Manager Kristen Baker-Dickinson gave the update. The issue came to light in the summer of 2015 when Missoula County informed Dogtown residents who access their state lease properties via Grizzly Drive and Cub Lane that the county could no longer maintain those roads. The county stated that it could not use ro...
SEELEY LAKE – Seeley-Swan High School seniors took to the stage Dec. 13 to debate the resolution "The Forest Service should manage fires by letting them burn." While both sides presented convincing arguments with supporting evidence and facts, the team opposing the resolution won the debate. Everyone in the audience had the opportunity to comment and choose which side they felt won. This was the fourth annual debate in Dr. Kathleen Pecora's senior English class. The students chose the r...
SEELEY LAKE - The annual "Giving Tree," sponsored by the Mountain Lakes Presbyterian Church women, brought Christmas joy to 15 families in the Valley. This year 92 gifts were given to 48 youth in the area. Parents or guardians indicated a clothing item and one toy that were needed and/or wanted by their children or youth under the age of 18. For each child there was a card on the Giving Tree at Cory's Valley Market. The card listed age, gender and a gift to purchase. Community members selected...
SWAN VALLEY - The Swan Valley Elementary School entertained with songs, dancing and the production of "An Island Christmas" at their annual Winter Program Dec. 14....
GREENOUGH – This fall, Sunset School students embarked on a journey of learning how to be more kind to others. Using the book "Wonder" by R. J. Palacio as the catalyst, the students first through fifth grade learned about bullying and focused on the theme from the book stated by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, "When given the choice between being right or being kind, choose kind." "Wonder" is a book about a young boy who was born with a severe facial abnormality, and the challenges he faces when he a...
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 - This past summer, the U.S. Forest Service's Northern Region experienced one of the hottest and driest fire seasons on record, with 36 fires that burned ~710,000 acres on National Forests in Montana and Northern Idaho, heavily impacting local communities and landscapes. As a result, recognizing the scope of the fires this year, Regional Forester Leanne Marten saw the need for an expedited approach focused on safety and formed a Regional Post-Fire Response Incident Management Team (I...
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...
SEELEY LAKE – Voices were heard in the darkness as the Seeley-Swan High School Choir entered the auditorium singing Medieval Gloria to start their Winter Concert Dec. 12. This was Music Director Kristen Cottom's first concert with the SSHS musicians. The Mixed Chorale Ensemble included eighteen students. They sang four selections ending with Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. Lane Mackie-Wendel, Chloe Robbins, Chance Johnson and Amaya Harman all soloed during the piece. The eight-piece Concert Band f...
SEELEY LAKE - Emberly Mae Cahoon was born Nov. 20 to Brianne and Levi Cahoon of Seeley Lake. She weighed 7 pounds, 5 ounces and was 21 inches long. Proud grandparents Leelyn and Teresa Cahoon of Seeley Lake and Grant and Shelly Poor of Fairfield, Mont. also welcomed Emberly....
Blakely Nicole Salvino was born Nov. 17 to Josh and Taylor (Freyholtz) Salvino of Watford, N.D. at 3:09 p.m. She weighed 6 pounds, 2 ounces and was 18.5 inches long. Proud grandparents are Willie Freyholtz of Seeley Lake and Rico and Stephanie Salvino of Missoula, Mont....
Joshua Alexander Heggen, 26, died Sunday, Dec. 3 in a single vehicle accident in Fort Benton, Mont. Josh was born Aug. 23, 1991 in Lancaster, Calif. He graduated Havre High School in 2010. At five years old, he started riding snowmobiles with Dad, Papa and Dari. Josh loved the mountains. Josh also enjoyed biking, skate boarding and playing Xbox. When Josh was little his favorite thing was flashlights - he called them "yites." Last Christmas he said, "I don't need any more yites." Josh loved work...
Bible (King James version) John 17:3: And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. The most important thing we need to do in this life is to know the only true God and Jesus Christ, for this is life eternal or eternal life with God. To know the true God, we need to know the truth of God. What is True? www.merriam-webster.com defines True as: (1): being in accordance with the actual state of affairs (2): conformable to an essential reality Truth means, how things actually are. No...
POTOMAC - Potomac School boys basketball team made it to the championship game against St. Joes Dec. 15. Head Coach Brad Hall said the Pioneers came away with a great year taking second in the league. A total of 20 Pioneers played this year and were divvied up between the A and B teams. Including the tournament, the A team won nine games and lost four. The B team split the season with five wins and 5 losses. This was the second year Potomac made it to the championship game for the small schools...
SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Elementary Eagles finished fifth in the Copper League this past week. While they had hoped to finish higher up in the tournament, Head Coach Brett Haines said the players played with a lot of heart, worked hard and improved a lot throughout the season. While the Eagles had more than 25 players fifth through eighth grade, only three players were in the eighth grade. Eighth-graders Sawyer Shelmerdine and Chase Haines have played with the Eagles since fifth grade. H...
The Seeley-Swan Blackhawks and Lady Blackhawks faced an uphill battle at home with Arlee Dec. 14 and took on Valley Christian on the road Dec. 15. A rough first quarter against the Arlee Scarlets left the Lady Blackhawks down 11 points. The Ladies put together a rally in the opening minutes of the second quarter, fighting their way back to within a basket of the Scarlets but couldn't keep their momentum up. The Scarlets pulled back out of reach by the half time buzzer and the Lady Blackhawks...
Paws Up Safe Home Animal Shelter Remains Open POTOMAC – There has been confusion about the status of the Paws Up Safe Home Animal Shelter located near Potomac. While the shelter is not currently taking in animals, it is still caring for and housing 25 dogs and several cats and horses. Operator Hazel Tyler said she posted on the Paws Up Safe Home Facebook page in early November that they would not be accepting animals at this time because her husband is dealing with some serious health issues. “The shelter is not closed, nor is it clo...
