Sorted by date Results 551 - 575 of 2897
Making predictions is never easy, especially for small business owners and their managers. Unlike their larger counterparts, small firms do not always have the resources necessary to monitor and adapt to new consumer trends and/or changes in the economy. Even entrepreneurs who’ve experienced numerous business cycles face new circumstances that confound their instincts and knowledge. As we enter the new year, it is important to assess the economic landscape to determine the best course of action to grow and expand your business in the coming mon...
I know that all owls are cool and most people like them, even if they can't identify them. There are many books just on owls of North America, and there is even a Facebook group called Owls of Montana with 3,674 members. If you like owls it's worth looking at that page as the pictures are fabulous. Most of the pictures are of Great Horned owls, but all of Montana's 15 owls have been photographed if you scroll down far enough. It is a private group, but anyone can join if they have an interest in...
People want to grow old in their community and the home they love, but getting the care they need can be a challenge in our beautiful, rugged, rural corner of the county. Nationwide, an estimated 3.6 million people lack access to proper medical care due to transportation issues. Here, in beautiful little Seeley Lake, we are doing something about that. Thankfully, in 2016 local folks from the Seeley Lake Community Foundation (SLCF), Seeley Swan Medical Center, Missoula Aging Services, Missoula Co...
Small animal spays and neuters are the most frequently performed surgeries in most standard veterinary practices. While these procedures have been done routinely for several years there are some theories that have been challenged in the veterinary world. There are also some pet parents who question whether they should have their pet altered. There was a general rule to spay (remove the ovaries and uterus in a female) or neuter (a general term to alter either a female or male but is mostly used...
Claire Muller, executive director for the Seeley Lake Community Foundation, volunteered in 2022 for the Red Ants Pants Foundation for their Girls Leadership Program, where mentors and mentees received a training on Rural Identity from Megan Torgerson, the founder of the Reframing Rural podcast. Muller said they listened to her narrated essay, “Patchwork Quilt” and explored how to talk about and celebrate the rural Montana places they lived in. “We did a quick exercise of writing a poem about our homes and I loved it,” Muller said. “Afterw...
I wanted to take an opportunity to thank everyone for another great year. The ebbing of Covid definitely helped things to feel a little more normal. We did still have high usage of our campgrounds and recreation opportunities, but not at the levels we had the last couple of years. All in all still a good year. I will throw out a quick recap of some highlights from 22 and then go into a couple of big things happening in 23. Recreation – As I said, we had a good year this year but not as intense as the last two. Campgrounds were well used and d...
Navigating Medicare and Medicaid can be confusing, but at Missoula Aging Services, experienced Resource Center staff are available to help people compare plans and save money on prescriptions. Following Medicare Open Enrollment each fall, the Medicare Advantage Plan Open Enrollment period begins for Medicare beneficiaries who are on a Medicare Advantage Plan. Medicare Advantage Plans are a type of Medicare health plan offered by a private company that contracts with Medicare to provide Part A and Part B benefits. In Missoula County, Medicare...
Augustine is credited with the expression “Solvitur ambulando” which means, “It is solved by walking”. Whenever I hear that, I wonder, what is solved? Perhaps many things. The apostle John wrote, “Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus walked.” (1 John 2:6). Jesus was a pedestrian. In the Bible, it’s less common to find him preaching in the Temple than it is walking. He walked out into the desert to be tempted. As he walked by the Sea of Galilee he saw two brothers. “Come and follow me,” he said. He even walked on water. It was whi...
If you were to look at a map of the Mission Mountains 100 years ago, you would see a lot of blank space. Except for verbal descriptions and sketches shared by the early-day Native people, priests, trappers, hunters, and prospectors, the Mission Mountains were, for the most part, uncharted at that time. McDonald Peak was one of the few mountains named on the early maps. Most of the mountains, lakes, streams, and other features were not shown. Many of the place names on the present-day maps of...
What a strange word! It originated with the ancient Greeks, and although unfamiliar to most of us, its meaning is critical. Do you remember the old grandfather clocks with a pendulum? The pendulum swings from one side to the other to enable the clock to function and maintain time. It's the pendulum movement that helps us understand the meaning of this word. The pendulum repeatedly swings from one extreme to another – from one side to the other side. That's basically what our strange word means ...
Each year on January 6 – twelve days after Christmas - Christians around the world celebrate the feast of Epiphany, also known as Three Kings Day. [ In the United States, in modern times, the Catholic Church celebrates Epiphany on the Sunday following Christmas.] For many, this day ends the Christmas season and Christmas decoration are taken down and put away for next year. Epiphany is a holy day that celebrates the revelation of Jesus to the three Wise Men (or Kings/Magi), when they arrived at His place of birth after following the unusual s...
With the calendar turning to a new year, bears across the Northern Rockies are snug in their winter dens. The months leading up to this hibernation season were especially difficult for many of them, however, due in part to a poor summer crop for multiple berry species. Berries are a staple of the Northern Rockies, with long-standing cultural importance for the Indigenous tribes of the region. From mammals like deer and grizzlies to native birds and pollinators, the fruits sustain biodiversity across many landscapes. And with huckleberry pies,...
Rev. Jon Bergen has moved from Scotland to be the new minister at Seeley Lake Baptist Church beginning Jan. 1. Ahead of starting his new position, he shared some thoughts on celebrating “Hogmany” and his anticipation of building new relationships in Seeley Lake in 2023. Christmas is past and the New Year is about to begin. Happy Hogmany (Scottish for New Years Eve), it may be a wee while before I say that and people understand what I mean. As the new year starts, I’ll be starting my new adventure in Seeley Lake, Montana. A new year, a new l...
A few days ago the morning sky was shrouded in dark gray. The traffic on the East Side Highway, usually clear and visible from my perch above it, moved slowly, like wraiths passing slowly through the barely-visible edge of the mist. You wouldn't even know the mountains were there if you hadn't seen them beforehand. The valley could be a mostly flat plain in eastern Montana or Nebraska for all that we could see. By mid-afternoon the day heated up just enough to evaporate some of that dense moist...
7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 God's love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. (1 John 4:7-9) God's very nature, God's essence and being, is love. A God who is love will always choose loving relationship with us and all of creation. It is out of love that God sent Jesus into the world-fo...
Before you fire up the snowmobile or get out the ice fishing gear, please follow some simple tips and use caution before heading out onto the ice. For new clear ice only UNDER 4” THICKNESS - STAY OFF 4” - Ice fishing or other activities on foot 5” - 7” - Snowmobile or ATV 8” - 12” - Car or small pickup 12” - 15” - Medium truck Many factors other than thickness can cause ice to be unsafe. White ice or “snow ice” is only about half as strong as new clear ice. Double the above thickness guidelines when traveling on white ice. It’s a good idea to...
Irrespective of personal beliefs, many people feel that Christmas has become too commercialized and too secularized. Today, many observe the holy day of the Christ Mass without any acknowledgment of Christ at all. More attention is focused on parties, presents and television specials without any reverence for the main focus of Christmas, namely, the incarnation of our Lord, and His taking on of our flesh to save us. Santa Claus gets more attention than Jesus. Perhaps, however, this problem can begin to be corrected by understanding where the...
Most big game hunting for this season will come to an end with the closing of the Traditional Muzzleloader season on Dec. 18. The abundance of snow in the valley, however, means that many winter activities have begun. Many will travel to the trailheads and unload their cross-country skis or snowmobiles to access hundreds of acres of Forest Service and State lands. Some will flock to fishing access sites and state parks to ice fish or skate on freshly frozen lakes and others will be using this time to continue to hunt or trap. Users riding...
Dear Editor, Regarding the pending preliminary decree of the Flathead Compact, Mr. Chris Tweeten, lawyer and 1985 Montana governor appointee to the Reserved Water Rights Compact Commission (RWRCC) was caught on tape in 2012 at a public meeting stating, “We agreed to do this extraordinary thing, frankly, with respect to agreeing to subject or to remove non-Indian rights on the reservation from the jurisdiction and control of the state and place that somewhere else at the tribe’s request.” Who gave the RWRCC authority to subject non-I...
Dear Editor, Something’s amok at Holland Lake Lodge (HLL). HLL, Inc. and POWDR Corporation claim the resort’s cabins are “generally dilapidated” and POWDR further described the infrastructure as “failing.” The Flathead NF justified the project, in part, by claiming the lodge and associated buildings were in a state of disrepair, some to the point some of needing to be demolished. Yet, HLL marketing for 2023 claims “six charming lakeside cabins” and refers to them as “rustic.” Are the cabins dilapidated or charming and rustic – worth $395...
Dear Editor, Elbow Lake leaseholders were surprised this week to receive from the DNRC a proposal for gravel pit testing in the vicinity. Surprised because (a) the proposal does not state the ultimate reason to conduct the test; (b) the comment period is short – ending on December 19; (c) the applicant is the very company (LHC) that applied for a gravel pit permit in 2017, in the same location. They faced significant opposition then – including in the pages of the Pathfinder – and ultimately chose to remove gravel from an existing pit elsew...
Six years ago this month, my parents gifted John and I a wooden bowl as a wedding gift. It had been carved out of one of the eight walnut trees in the backyard I had grown up in, after they decided to cull the trees on the orchard our house had been built on back in the 70s. In the last few years the walnut bowl has lived in different spots around our home in Philipsburg. I haven't known exactly how to make use of it. Its ridges are as rough as the limbs my brother and I built tree forts on; it...
By Stephen D. Moon Revelation/Hazon 22:7 - “See, I am coming speedily! Blessed is he who guards the words of the prophecy of this book.” To guard is one who keeps watch to prevent loss over something of value; a state of vigilance; preparedness. A good thought-life is one who brings every thought into captivity of the Messiah. It is in the thought-life the journey battles are won or not. Knowing that our minds, heart and bodies are the dwelling place, the intention is that we guard the words of prophecy, not by our own strength but by the vir...
SWAN VALLEY - The rollout of a proposal by one of North America’s biggest ski developers to triple the size of Holland Lake Lodge and bring industrial tourism and commercial recreation to the rural, wildlife-rich Swan Valley in western Montana was a complete and utter disaster. After two months of vehement public opposition, the expansion proposal by POWDR, the Utah-based ski developer that promotes “soulful” experiences through high-impact recreation, fell to earth in flames – like the 1937 Hindenburg dirigible disaster in New Jersey. The air...
By Kevin Wetherell Clearwater Montana Properties, Inc. The effect of rising interest rates Mortgage rates have more than doubled this year, as 30-year mortgage rates have risen from below 3% last year, to near 7% presently. As a result, the number of homes sold in Seeley Lake has dropped 30% over last year at this time. Although the number of homes currently on the market in Seeley Lake has risen to 16, most are no longer selling quickly as they have in the past. Looking at homes currently on...
