Copenhaver Outfitters carry home souvenirs of the hunt.
These women have formed a support group for those suffering from arthritis. Standing (L-R): Terry Bolton, Martha McManus and Cathy Rapp. Seated is Barbara Earwicker.
The Valley Market opened Oct. 1, 1985.
In celebration of 35 years of the Seeley Swan Pathfinder, each week we will run parts of articles that appeared in the issue 35 years ago and 20 years ago. The entire issue will be uploaded to our website seeleylake.com for you to enjoy. We hope you will enjoy the journey with us as we follow our community through the past 35 years as documented by the Pathfinder.
35 years ago: Oct. 2, 1986 issue
No new Post Office 'til late 1987
Seeley Lake residents concerned about the location of the proposed new Post Office will have to cool their heels until January, according to Beverly Burge, Information Officer at the Salt Lake City Division of the U.S. Postal Service, which serves Montana, Utah, Idaho, Oregon and Nevada. Burge said last week that a site has not yet been selected, but one of six being considered will probably be chosen in late December or early January.
Burge would not release any information about the location of the six sites now being considered. When a site is finally selected, then the location of the other sites will be made public, too, she said.
Burge explained that once a site is selected, then bids will be let for the new facility. The Postal Service will not own the building but will lease it from whomever owns the land...
To read more visit https://www.seeleylake.com/home/customer_files/article_documents/1986-10-02.pdf
35 years ago: Oct. 2, 1986 issue
Trophy class hunting
by Suzanne Vernon
The Copenhaver pack string wound its way down the road from the Lake Creek trailhead last week with antlers and elk racks slung over the backs of horses and mules. It had been another successful hunt for Steve Copenhaver, his guides and their guests, even though his Dwight Creek camp saw an early snow and a grizzly bear threatened to rip their tents to shreds.
That grizzly ate about 60 pounds of deer and elk meat in two nights of harassing the Copenhaver camp. "We couldn't get the pole up high enough. He kept feastin' on elk," one of the hunters chuckled. None seemed disappointed about the encounter with the grizzly, except maybe that they never got a good look at him.
Steve Copenhaver explained that the Scapegoat Wilderness grizzlies are wild and afraid of humans, but they aren't afraid to come into a camp after midnight and rustle up a little grub. Steve's 72- year-old father Howard Copenhaver stayed in "to babysit camp" while Steve rode back 14 miles to civilization with the outfit.
"As long as there's somebody in there, he (the bear) won't tear things up too bad," Steve said, adding that last year they left the camp empty overnight, and a grizzly "really made a mess of things."
Putting up with bears in camp is nothing new to either Steve or Howard Copenhaver, longtime Ovando residents. Howard has been outfitting in the Scapegoat Wilderness since the late 1920's, making him the oldest outfitter in the country. (He has recently been hounded by writers and national sports magazines... but that's another story)...
To read more visit https://www.seeleylake.com/home/customer_files/article_documents/1986-10-02.pdf
35 years ago: Oct. 2, 1986 issue
Valley Market celebrates first anniversary
Dick and Shirley Duncan moved to Seeley Lake to retire in 1983, but their life of leisure lasted barely one year. On Oct. 1, 1985 they opened Valley Market - one of the most successful businesses ever to be built in Seeley Lake.
Dick Duncan is no stranger to the retail grocery business. For 25 years he worked in Missoula as vice president of Super Save Markets, a Montana-based corporation with two retail grocery stores in Helena and three in Missoula.
From the moment Dick and Shirley settled down in Seeley Lake three years ago, friends and acquaintances began urging them to build a full-service retail grocery store here. Late in 1984, the Duncans finally relented and began planning Valley Market.
A study was done of the Seeley-Swan-Blackfoot area and it was determined that a full-service store would sustain itself here.
Valley Market has far surpassed those initial goals and expectations according to Dick. "It's been a very gratifying experience," he said, adding that people in the community have contributed substantially to the success of the business.
"I'd like to think that Shirley and I had something to do with it, though," he laughed. And indeed they have. They offer personalized customer services such as "stock request" forms available at the checkout counters...
To read more visit https://www.seeleylake.com/home/customer_files/article_documents/1986-10-02.pdf
20 years ago: Oct. 4, 2001 issue
Four women form arthritis support group
In September, four women met to form a support group for folks suffering from arthritis, a chronic and debilitating disease that causes bone joint pain. There are over a hundred different forms of arthritis, with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis being the most common. Painful deformed joints are the telltale signs of osteoarthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that not only causes inflammation and immobility in the joints but affects other organs as well....
To read more visit: https://www.seeleylake.com/home/customer_files/article_documents/2001-10-04.pdf
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