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The nation of Ethiopia, which is in Northeastern Africa, was once a lush, fruitful, and green nation. Over the past century, that situation has changed. The nation has seen nearly 40% of its forests cut down and sold off. The result of these actions has been that the once green nation has been turned into a vast desert. The famines of the 80s, which captured the attention of the American media, were a direct result of the ecological disaster that has taken place. Over the weekend, I came across...
Electric cars and trucks are becoming increasingly common around the country. Battery electric locomotives are in development or already on the rails in some areas. This raises the question of whether or not electric tractors are on the horizon for agribusiness. I asked Ron Harmon of Big Equipment in Havre, MT about the future of tractor manufacturing. "There are some people that are working on electronic electric tractors. And let's just call them diesel electric... There's been a sprayer and...
Images from the Russian invasion of Ukraine have dominated the news for the past month, and with it, stories of the human suffering as refugees flee their homeland. With photos of bombed out cities, stories of Russian forces targeting civilians, and video of the over 2.5 million refugees that flooded into Western Ukraine and Europe, it's obvious that help is desperately needed. However, it can be difficult for individuals to know how to do something to ease the sufferings and meet the needs of...
Big Sandy Organics has experienced a growth spurt over the last few years. Big Sandy residents have certainly noticed the facility expansions as the organization has grown. In November of 2020, Thomas and Heather Dilworth purchased the company from Bob Quinn. Heather explained that the first big contract they landed came to them right off the bat: "Right after we bought the business, we had a company named Snack Nation contact us. They send boxes of snacks and goodies to homes. It's a...
Big Sandy Organics is looking for ways to give back to the community. The company has seen some significant growth over the last couple of years and now they are looking for ways to serve the town. Heather Dilworth explained that the idea behind the initiative came form her husband, who also coined the tagline: “We’re more than a company. We’re a community.” Heather explained that “he actually made a stamp out of it. And we stamp it on our envelopes and things…” She went on to explain that...
Last Wednesday, Christ Lutheran Church kicked off its services for observing Lent with an Ash Wednesday Service midday on March 6th. Ash Wednesday is the first day of the season where churches begin to prepare to celebrate Good Friday and Easter. Melanie Schwarzbach, who is currently the chair of the board at Christ Lutheran, explained: "We take time out of our week to reflect upon Jesus' journey to the cross and to be mindful of the sacrifices He made for us." The time taken out of the week...
Over the last few years, I’ve begun to rely more and more on reading glasses. Last Sunday, I forgot to bring a pair to the pulpit when I went up to preach the sermon. I asked my son to run down to my office and grab a pair. He brought back a pair of black framed readers that came from a drawer in my desk. As soon as I saw them, I realized that they were a pair of fake glasses I picked up for Halloween a few years ago. I didn’t want to stop talking and explain why I needed a different pair, so I...
Big Sandy's own Farmerlicious, Inc. received a $75,000 planning grant from the Department of Agriculture to launch a line of organic lentil snacks. The new snack will be manufactured by the Big Sandy Organics and be will be in stores locally by April 15th. The plan is currently to release in the River Market in Fort Benton and the Grocery Store in Big Sandy. Donna Cook, who came up with the snack idea, explained the lentil snack business: "I am always looking for a heart healthy snack, due to...
Last week, I spent some time reading the earliest issue of the Mountaineer that is included in the online database of newspapers. I recounted a few of the articles for context on just how old the paper was before diving into the front page editorials opining on the future of the town. One of the articles I touched on was about the Heiberg family arriving in Big Sandy from Grand Island, Nebraska to homestead west of town. Friday evening, I got a call from Jay Warrall. He spotted the Heiberg name...
The MontanaNewspapers.org website features an archive of publications from all over the state going back more than a century. The Mountaineer is one of many newspapers included on the site and is a goldmine for those looking to learn more about our little community. The oldest issue of the paper they have included in their database is from 111 years ago next Wednesday. Out of general interest, I spent some time reading that issue, particularly in light of material I have read about 1911 as an...
The Montana Actors' Theatre wrapped up its presentation of the musical "Spamalot" over Valentines weekend. My wife and I attended one of the last showings on a date and were blown away by the show they put on. Spamalot is a musical adaptation of the film: "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." For those unfamiliar with the cult classic film, it follows the exploits of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table as they search for the Holy Grail. In true Monty Python style, it is very silly. The...
John Dewey, the American psychologist, educator, and philosopher once said: “Failure is instructive. The person who really thinks learns quite as much from his failures as from his successes.” Dewey’s words represent something far larger and more profound than it seems on the face of it. For years, I had my own version of it: “I’d rather hear what I can do better next time instead of what I did great today, because knowing where to grow is the only way I will improve.” Failure is scary. Fall...
The Grocery Store’s Big Screen TV SuperBowl drawing took place Saturday morning. The grand prize went to Madison Jenkins. Ronnie Simpson described the Jenkins’ reaction: “They were ecstatic. They’re probably watching the game on it right now. It’s a pretty cool smart tv.” Madison described her own reaction: “I was pretty shocked because I never win anything.” Shoppers could enter by just shopping at the grocery store. “To get an entry, you had to spend $50 at the store, and you were able to...
The Big Sandy Public Library will be celebrating the five year anniversary of the opening of the main street building on Monday, February 14th. To celebrate the new building’s birthday, they will be raffling off a quilt, which is on display at the library. Tickets are 6 for $5 and can be purchased at the library or from a member of the Friends of the Library. They will also be offering cookies and refreshments. Visitors can check out the various binders documenting the history of our branch a...
How Big Sandy got its name is a bit of a mystery, but an article from the February 2, 1922 issue of the Mountaineer offers a reasonable answer. Karen Reinertson and Renee Hanson found it last week while researching for the Old Timer’s Column. It’s an interesting story, which explains how Big Sandy Creek, which runs near our little community, was named. The town itself is named after the creek. Here is the account published around a century ago. —Erik HERE IS THE STORY (The original headline!) Th...
My daughter turned 11 this weekend. When we moved to Big Sandy, she had recently celebrated her first birthday. I am scratching my head as to how the time has gone by so quickly and how few years I have left before she is an actual, legal adult and going off to college. I know that this is not a unique realization, and I have been well aware that her growing up was inevitable. Still, every birthday and milestone is a reminder that time is going by. In context of this discussion, I want to point...
Montana History author, Roberta A. Beute will be visiting Big Sandy for a reading of her first book on Tuesday, February 15th at 4 PM at the Big Sandy Public Library. As It Was: A Common Thread began as an effort on Roberta’s part to preserve some of the stories of the ranchers in the Sweet Grass Hills. She began by interviewing her neighbors, many of them homesteaders or descendants of homesteaders. Before long, she was researching the various factors that brought all of the people and r...
Big Sandy hosted a Gun Show over the weekend of January 28th to the 30th. The event, which featured 15 vendors and 50 tables, attracted a steady stream of customers and folks just looking to browse and visit with others interested in buying or collecting firearms. As Glen, one of the vendors, put it: "All gun shows are good gun shows. Some are just better than others." This year's show was organized by Keith Hanson, the former owner of The Mountaineer and Mayor of Chinook. Local vendor and...
The Gun Show over the past weekend provided an opportunity for locals to shop for guns, ammunition, and other shooting sports items. It also brought a lot of traffic to our community and benefitted out local businesses. From the restaurants, to The Motel, to The Grocery Store, the show brought money into our community as people came through to look at and buy guns. Keith Hanson, who organized the event, explained that the show benefits both the vendors and the community businesses: “When my w...
Early in my career in ministry, a particular author wrote a series of popular books on dating and marriage. He was a young man and had been married for a short period of time. He was also good looking, charismatic, and had a great marketing department pushing his work. That individual made a great deal of money selling dating/marriage advice. Recently, he put out a statement indicating that his books were not very wise, and that he was sorry for any damage he caused. He mainly did so because...
A movement is underway to establish and enhance locally grown vegetables and other foods for the Northern Choteau County area. I spoke with Bob Quinn, who explained the concept and timeline to me. “This is an idea that Thomas and Heather Dilworth came up with. They asked if I could help them with designing and maybe helping find somebody that could run a greenhouse (a large hoop house) to raise as much local food as possible for the town… They were looking at getting a grant and building it and...
The Big Sandy Library will be launching a new book club this Friday, the 28th, at 2 PM. The “Loosely Bound Book Club” will live up to its name by providing the town’s readers with a place to discuss the books they are reading, rather than filling a schedule where everyone is reading the same book. The advantage of the loose approach is that it provides an opportunity for participants to share what they are thinking or enjoying in their own reading adventures. It also gives participants the c...
When I first moved to Big Sandy, my daughter (who was one at the time) and I started visiting a resident at the nursing home. She loved having my little girl visit, and we both enjoyed our conversations. During my time visiting with her, I learned a very important truth. That truth was that we only have as many days as we have. That seems sort of obvious, but it is easy to live life as though we are going to live forever and have all the time in the world to do everything we want to do. The...
The Big Sandy Choir traveled to Bozeman this week to make a second appearance on PBS as a part of a fundraising program that features high school choirs from around the state. TJ Bond, Big Sandy's music teacher, explained the course of events that followed the 2019 appearance: They didn't do it last year due to the pandemic. But this year, they really wanted to do it, not just for the fundraiser, but also to get everyone's spirits back into the music. Very specifically, they really enjoyed our...
The Fort Benton Summer Celebration lineup will feature a major addition this year: The Summer Celebration Slam. The Slam is a demolition derby organized by Eric Tadej. Registration is open for drivers, with 50 available slots for the main class. With a total purse of $40,000, those slots will fill up fast. "We opened registration on Sunday to 50 cars for the main class and basically right when I opened registration people started calling to register and pay paling. I got five guys registered...