"Tell us your story" fosters community

SEELEY LAKE – Conversation was lively following the "Tell Us Your Story" event Oct. 14. New connections had been made simply by listening to each share about their life and experiences - "I didn't know we both rode the bus to Missoula for high school," "Now I know who you are when I see you at the gym," "You're the one who works with that organization...I need to talk to you."

The storytelling event featured residents who shared their stories about why they moved to the area and why they love it in. According to Organizer Tom Beers, it was an effort to build community by gaining a deeper understanding of each other. Not only can a community accomplish more than individual groups but the stories shared also highlighted common values in the local people and the surrounding landscape that can serve to further unite the community.

Donna Burgess first came to the area in 1942 when she was 16. She stayed with friends on Holland Lake. She returned in 1947 when friends invited her to Placid Lake. She and her husband Jack built one of the first cabins on Placid Lake.

When the Burgesses moved here there was no plumbing, just an outhouse. They used kerosene lanterns and there was no telephone. All the roads to the area from Avon and Bonner were dirt.

Burgess is now 95. There are five generations in her family that have enjoyed the cabin on Placid and worked in the Seeley-Swan Valley. She still spends five months at the cabin and moves to Helena during the winter.

"Seeley Lake, with all its amenities, has made this desirable and doable," Burgess said.

Lynn Carey moved here in 1951. The schoolhouse was located just north of the Seeley Lake Ranger District on the straightaway on the west side of Highway 83 before the Canoe Trail. It wasn't until the late 1950s that they built the grade school. He graduated in 1964 from Missoula County Public Schools, the year before Seeley-Swan High School was built.

Tom Browder, a few years younger, also endured the long bus trip to Missoula for school before SSHS was built in 1964. Neither realized they were classmates separated only by a few years until after they shared their stories.

Both now retired, have devoted their time to serving the community by serving on boards and volunteering with various groups. Their stories from the past generated laughter and provided a lot of history of the area.

"Here I am retired and living on Double Arrow. A lot of my friends have moved home," Carey said. "[My wife] Rose and I are already home."

"There is no place like this," Browder said.

Garry Swain echoed the theme of giving back to the community.

Swain grew up in Canada and played professional hockey for nine years. He came out west with his friend Jerry O'Connell in the early 1990s looking for property.

After O'Connell purchased property on the Blackfoot River up Nine Mile Prairie Road, Swain continued to return for fishing trips and he fell in love with the area. It reminded him of Canada because the people were so friendly and the warm greetings people offer.

He moved to Seeley Lake in 2013 and worked as a real estate agent. He quickly learned to appreciate the heart of the community.

"I've never seen a community that rallies around issues and some of the tragedies that we have had and the medical issues," Swain said. "There is a GoFundMe page within an hour. It is just an amazing community."

Now he has stepped into leadership roles with various groups and volunteered with local organizations.

"It is my way to try and give back to a community that has been so good to me," Swain said. "I love this area."

Carrie Benton has also fallen in love with the people of the area.

She was living in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania when she and her husband DJ decided they wanted to return home to Montana.

"We wanted to come to a place that we could stretch our wings, breathe and find a calm," Benton said.

While she broadened her job search to "out west," she got an interview at Mountain Lakes Presbyterian Church in Seeley Lake. When they came out to visit in December 2012, Benton recalled driving on Highway 200 and seeing the mountains.

"I saw this noticeable calm descend upon my husband ... that was the last sign I needed," Benton said.

The Bentons moved to the area in 2013 first living on the Lubrecht Experimental Forest and then moving to Seeley Lake. They have loved living off the land, from road kill stew to now raising chickens and growing vegetables in their large garden.

Benton has grown to love the people. She said as a pastor she has walked with people through their most difficult and darkest times and feels it is a gift to have that level of trust.

Liz Britt was the newest resident to share her story. Her partner Rob Shaffer always promised they would move from Arizona to Montana. However, they spent a lot of time looking for the right place before purchasing property in Seeley Lake in 2015. They moved here full time in December 2017.

"What got us was the town and the area," Britt said. "It is a great place to be. The people are so nice here. We didn't know anybody and now three years later we know a lot of people."

Beers thanked those that shared, "this was an awesome evening for us." He is hoping to do another story-telling event in January.

Beers said, "The more we know about each other and the more of a community we become and the more we care about each other."

The event was broadcasted live and the recording "Tell your story!" is available on the Seeley Swan Pathfinder Facebook page. Those interested in sharing their story at the next event are encouraged to email Beers at beersplacid@gmail.com with "Storytelling" in the subject line.