Swan Valley Community Council Member ~ Two, Three-year Terms ~

Elda L. (Ellie) Greenough - Swan Council

My father moved our family from a large metropolitan area to a small Midwest farm when I was nine months old. A family vacation in the mountains of Montana spurred my move to this valley in April of 1978.

My first job was cleaning and oiling logs on a newly constructed summer getaway cabin. The next four years were spent working on the carpentry shop of a log home building company.

When the company sold, I worked as a cook and waitress for local restaurants, drove school bus for 15 years and became the postmaster relief for nearly 20 years before being appointed Postmaster in 2005.

I am a founding member of the Swan Valley Quick Response Unit (QRU), a charter member of the American Legion Auxiliary and a member of the Condon Community Church. I also assisted my late husband, Max, in the operations of our mom-and-pop business. It grew from strictly logging into building site preparation, road building and whatever else could be done with a crawler tractor, chainsaw, dragline and dump truck, all changes that were necessary to keep pace with the changing face of Valley employment.

Over the 40 years of living here in this Valley, I have witnessed a pattern of the arrivals and departures of many residents. The shut down of area logging forced many others to either adapt to other forms of employment or work out of the area in order to keep food on their tables here.

The populace has aged and this area has become a weekend or summer get-away for many. Families with young children have come and gone and many children of longtime residents have moved away.

I don't want to see this valley lose its aesthetic values, the values that have kept residents staying here for generations, but I don't want to see it become impossible for residents to remain and make a living for their families if they so choose.

I would like to participate in research, education, adaptation and sensible management of our resources in order for these dreams to remain reality for now and generations to come.