The Path to Now

Part I and II traced the beginnings of the Seeley Swan Pathfinder from its creation by the Potters and the Vernons through its ownership by Gary Noland and Millie Jette.

SEELEY LAKE - Caroline and Dwight Jenkins assumed ownership of the Seeley Swan Pathfinder March 4, 2004. As had owners Gary Noland and Millie Jette before them, the Jenkinses said their move to the Seeley Lake area originated from a desire to trade the stress of city living for a more community-oriented lifestyle and the chance to have more family time together.

Though neither of the Jenkinses had a newspaper background, Noland introduced them as having, "... a wealth of talent and work experience and accomplishments." He added, "It makes us feel really good that a younger couple, with great backgrounds and vivacious personalities, will be stepping into our shoes. They will improve over what we've been able to do, and that is as it should be."

Dwight, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate, had a BA and an MBA in economics, a law degree, and extensive experience in financial services. He was also active in the Naval Reserve.

Caroline had a BA in psychology and another in communications advertising. She also had experience in advertising and marketing, as well as training in art direction. The Pathfinder feature article on the new owners reported Caroline as saying she was "excited about doing layout and design for the Pathfinder."

Caroline titled her first editor's column, "We begin our history here" and wrote, "We look forward to developing and intertwining our family history with that of the community's."

In that same editorial Caroline said she intended to follow the lead Noland had set in terms of format and content of the newspaper. She encouraged members of the community to notify her of meetings and events and to submit articles. In the following issue, she identified the Pathfinder's distribution range, "We want to ensure that the Seeley Swan Pathfinder is a voice for the whole community. Therefore, we would like to ask the residents of Condon, and other neighboring areas such as Ovando, Greenough, Potomac and Helmville, to keep us informed of issues and their upcoming events."

The first noticeable change in layout and design came in April with the advent of a variety of different fonts used for headlines throughout the newspaper. Eventually Caroline named her editorial comments "Morsels, Mentions & Memories." The Jenkinses continued using a full-size photo on the front page and on the June 30, 2005 issue added a starburst containing the words "Montana Newspaper Association Award Winning Newspaper." To this day, the Seeley Swan Pathfinder continues to win awards while competing with newspapers across the state.

The Nov. 29, 2012 issue of the Pathfinder announced another change of ownership, necessitated because Dwight had accepted a job with The Boeing Company and the Jenkins family would be moving to Seattle. Caroline described new owners Andi and Nathan Bourne as "an enthusiastic and dynamic couple who have longstanding roots in the community."

Nathan had lived in Seeley Lake since he was five years old. Following graduation from Seeley Swan High School in 1998, he started his own custom kitchen business named Sawyer Creek Woodworks.

Nathan married Andi Stebleton in March, 2009. Raised in Fargo, N.D., Andi had a bachelor's degree in biology, a Masters in Rangeland and Fire Ecology and was employed by the U. S. Forest Service as a seasonal firefighter. The desire to avoid the long separation periods necessitated by Andi's job was the impetus that prompted the Bournes to consider venturing into the newspaper business.

Four factors convinced the Bournes they could handle the job despite their lack of credentials in the newspaper industry. Nathan already had 15 years of experience running a business. Andi had previous experience writing press pieces, management guides and other communications in the fire management field. Nathan's mother Carol Poppenga of Lewistown, Mont., had experience working at various newspapers and agreed to edit their articles to ensure they met the standard for newspaper writing. Most importantly, both Andi and Nathan knew the local communities and had already established a significant number of contacts in the schools, the businesses, the U.S. Forest Service and among the general population.

In "A Note from the New Owners," in the Bournes' first issue Dec. 6, 2012 they wrote, "We have a lot of new ideas for the Pathfinder.... The Valley is a very diverse community and we hope to appeal to the many interests and talents. We want to include more content on recreational opportunities, club events, human-interest pieces and news."

Andi said they recognized the breadth of what they wanted to cover would strain the capability of the two of them, yet they were committed to reporting events as close to their happening as possible. Additionally, she said they didn't want to rely solely on organizations reporting on their own events.

Within three months of assuming ownership the Bournes hired Mike Kolepp to cover news and sports. Currently the Pathfinder employs three part-time reporters: Colleen Kesterson primarily covers the Condon / Swan Valley area; Sigrid Olson primarily covers Potomac; Betty Vanderwielen writes historical articles and assists in covering Seeley Lake area. Nathan handles sports and community meetings and Andi covers everything else, as well as doing the weekly layout.

Andi said while she instructs her reporters to write from an objective viewpoint and refrain from interjecting their personal opinions, she values their differing approaches to the material and feels it enriches the Pathfinder.

For similar reasons, the Bournes have chosen not to write an editorial column. They said they feel people tend to peg a newspaper as having a certain bent or leaning. Once a newspaper has been pegged as environmental leaning or having a Democratic agenda, that slants how readers read environmental or political articles.

Nathan said, "Papers that endorse politicians or write their opinion about specific issues can get away with it if they have a big enough editorial staff, so it's the person and not the paper that gets the name." He added, "We've stuck to reporting on issues as factual stuff and leaving our opinion out of it."

In fact, the Bournes said they are pleased at the perplexity voiced by people who think they've got the Bournes pegged, only to encounter a Pathfinder article reporting a completely opposite viewpoint. Nathan said, "It's not that we're writing it totally opposite, it's that we really try hard to keep our opinion out of the news part of it."

According to the Bournes' philosophy, opinions are the purview of the Letters to the Editor section of the paper. Nathan said, "Basically we've left it wide open and we will print any letter to the editor (except for thank you letters to individual businesses or people) and we won't print letters that are slanderous. In that situation we call up the person and tell them what's wrong with the letter. If they want to write it about the topic not the person, then we tell them to go for it."

Nathan said he feels the weight of the Pathfinder's reach when he goes to a meeting, "There are a thousand people sitting in my seat."

Nathan added he makes a point of asking questions people have asked him about a given issue. He adds, "If people can't attend a meeting or don't want to ask a question, they can tell us the question and we'll ask it."

A major format change the Bournes have made to the Seeley Swan Pathfinder was to convert it from a 22x12 inch to a 22x17 inch size. Another change was the infusion of color. Though both Noland and the Jenkinses occasionally ran a page or two of color during their ownership of the Pathfinder, the Bournes have found an economical way to include more color pages in each issue.

The Bournes have also continued and expanded the Internet connections forged by former Seeley Swan Pathfinder owner Noland and have increased the Facebook presence started by Jenkins. The current website [www.seeleylake.com] carries each week's issue

The Bournes said they understand the profit in the newspaper industry comes partially from the number of papers sold to readers but mainly from advertising. They have chosen to focus their energy on making a great product for readers, trusting that advertising will follow as readership builds. Speaking for Andi and himself, Nathan said, "We wanted to have a product that we were proud of."

Commenting on the Seeley Swan Pathfinder's 30th Anniversary, Noland wrote, "We are grateful to have been able to play our part in that history." The same sentiment has been expressed by the Pathfinder's other owners as well, Dick and Michele Potter, Suzanne and Sheldon Vernon, Millie Jette and its current owners Nathan and Andi Bourne.

The community is invited to the 30-year celebration June 25 from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. at the Seeley Lake Community Hall. Lunch will be served, all of the archives will be available for browsing and there will be opportunities for visiting with past writers and editors of the Pathfinder.

"We hope you will join us," said Andi. "This is our way of thanking the community and everyone else who helped make the paper what it is today."