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Grace Finke a senior this year at Big Sandy High School was selected to go to Girls State this month. She wanted to go "to expand my horizons on learning about the government and how things work. It's impressive. Everyone has an idea on how things may work, but it's totally different when you are actually there and creating your own real government and the process it takes to get things done." She was so impressed and she had a lot of fun in the process. "I really enjoyed learning." Her...
The regular school board meeting was held with all board members present. The new Superintendent Haaland was also present although he doesn't start his responsibilities until July 1, 2018. There were six guest presents at the meeting. There were two reports given: Bailey Gasvoda, President of the Student Body, told the School board starting in August all four of the student council members will be present at the school board meeting. Principal Heather Wolery reported three teachers are...
Keely Bahmiller was planning a garage sale for herself when the idea of forming a Community Garage Sale just kept coming to mind. Keely said, “It sounded like a fun family event. It would be fun and could be a good community event.” She also believed it might bring some business to town which would help our local businesses. Keely floated the idea on Facebook which was an instant success. “The garage sales will be held individually at each home, not all together. I’m trying to organize this to encourage people to come from surrounding areas, kn...
There was running, kicking, and passing and catching the football. Eighteen grade school kids meet every morning between 9-12 o'clock dreaming of becoming the next Pioneer football player. "It was fun. I'll do it again next year." It was just concentrating on the basic of playing football and encouraging them with a lot of high fives and words of encouragement. Helping with the little kid's camp was Kurt Stutz and a number of varsity players. Chuck Terry head Pioneer Football coach held two...
On YouTube they have instructional videos on how to drive a tractor. Seem ridiculous that driving a tractor could be accomplished by watching a video, or by reading step by step instructions. With the late start to spring seeding and the late start to summer fallowing, stepping into the tractor to help finish before the rain was exactly what was called for. Being organic means working the soil with a tractor and cultivator with spikes instead of duck foot shovels to break up the soil for the...
Editors note: I decided to approach people not local to the area and see what brought them to town, here is what I found out. I saw them ride their bicycles into town and turn down onto main street. I meet them in the Grocery Store and they were buying cold medicine. I asked where they had started their bike trip. They had started in Seattle and where going to Fort Lauderdale, Florida hoping to be there by the end of August. I would have loved to slow them down and asked them a few questions,...
It only took 58 years after President Woodrow Wilson made Mother’s Day a National Holiday in the United states. Father’s Day was celebrated in Spokane, Washington at the YMCA in 1910 by Sonora Smart Dodd. Her father, the Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart, who was a single parent who raised his six children by himself. However, it was not until 1972 when it would become official. It was Senator Mike Mansfield of Montana who carried the bill making Father’s Day Official. What makes your father so special? Why does he deserve to have a Spe...
Finding a way to serve our community is easy. All you have to do is look for a place that interests you and get involved. This year's primary election is the perfect example. It takes 10 people to man the voting place. They've been involved in serving our community for many years. They've put their time into making sure our democracy counts. Marla Drga has served for 40 years; Michelle Danreuther 30 years; Marilyn Swanson 24 years; Lil Foussard "to many years to count"-35 years; Cindy DesRosier...
A special Big Sandy School Board meeting was called to order by Chairman Darin Generuex with two other board members present, Brandon Gasvoda and Heather Pleninger along with Big Sandy Superintendent Brad Moore. Other guests present were Bailey Gasvoda, Student Body President, Mrs. Wolery; Grade School Principle, Melanie Schwarzbach, Teacher Representative and the future Superintendent Mr. Kelly Haaland. The Activity Director position was discussed at length. Mr. Haaland was asked who he thought would make the ideal Activity Director. He...
Tyler Schwarzbach participated in an incredible opportunity that will affect his involvement in civic responsibility for the rest of his life. American Legion selected Big Sandy high school junior Tyler Schwarzbach to attend this year Montana American Legion Boys State. More than 100 high school students took part. 49 states in the US currently operate Boys State programs, and about 20,000 students take part each year across the nation. American Legion Boys State was organized in 1935 and...
I loved watching the kids huddle up and give loud cheers for their team leader, Jesus! They jumped up and down in excitement and celebration. You might find this activity at a sports pep rally, but not at church, but this was Christ Lutheran Vacation Bible School. The theme was T.E.A.M. TEAM was developed around Ephesians 4:32 "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." Kristie Rutledge said, "God is the coach. We are the team." The T...
School's out and it's a great time to celebrate the quality of teachers we have in Big Sandy giving them a high five to say thank you! Somehow over the years people in our country have lost their high regard for teachers. We have some excellent teachers in our community and they deserve to be recognized and thanked. Brad Moore said, "It's hard, almost impossible to keep good teachers in Big Sandy." Montana has the lowest starting salary in the nation at $30,036, according to the National...
The Barracuda Swim Team started out with a splash! No pun intended. The under eight relay team made up of four boys started the race from the starting blocks with a big belly flop. One of the boys laughingly told me the splash he made blinded the other swimmers and helped him get ahead. It was a nice day and surprisingly bug free for Harlem. There were 14 teams totaling 140 swimmers Big Sandy had 25 of their 43 swimmers there for this first meet. There are six meets before Divisional which will...
By Zoe Merrill I'm always woken up by the bird's morning songs who live in our shelter belt. They wake me up at 4:14 every morning. It's still dark out! It always starts with one song, probably the same early riser, but she is joined quickly as they sing out to each other. Some mornings I cuss at them, because I hear nothing but noise as they all sing with their own voices. Clearly not in harmony. I try to roll over and shut it out, sometimes successfully, but it can't be a deep sleep, because...
Sheriff Deputies Jeremy Echols of Big Sandy and Eric Visocan from Fort Benton were at the FE Miley School to help teach bike safety. And although your children have been taught a few safety tips it's parents that need to make sure our children are safe on their bikes this summer. It was interesting listening to the grade school kids as they repeated numerous safety tips they already knew to receive some small rewards. The first safety tip mentioned by the kids themselves was wearing bike helmets...
The Power Award nomination process was lengthy as there were 37 nominations just from students alone. Teachers and the general public also made nominations. Picking the final four out of the 37 nominations was a taunting task. Next was a interview process for those final four to determine their value systems. The final four all deserve enormous recognition. They are Adriene Gibson, Jasmine Genereux, Baily Gasvoda, and Brock Proulx. Winners of the Power Award, Brock Proulx and Baily Gasvoda,...
Between May 29th and June 8th the Jeff Reichelt Memorial Library will be holding a food drive for the food bank and you’ll get to walk away with free books. In other words a “Book Sale Food Drive”. The non-perishable food items can be brought to the library, left there, and you can pick out your books from a large selection. Library Hours: Tuesday 12-6; Wednesday 10-2; Thursday 12-6: and Friday 10-2. Food most requested and needed are hot and cold cereal, juice especially lemonade mix and grapefruit juice, condiments especially ketchup, mayo,...
Sophie Reichelt was asked what is the highlight of your high school career? "Oh, this is very hard. That's positive because there are so many!" "Ok this was really huge for me. Some people might not think so but this year I was a state champ in Science Olympia with Grace Finke in the Write It Do It event against every kid in the state of Montana. That was a really big deal for me." Mom pipes up and says, "It was a really big deal". According to the national Science Olympia rules "In the event,...
Every year the F.E. Miley School invites the public to their Extravaganza. Programs and cookies are given at the door so you know exactly what you are going to see in each classroom. Obvious homemade chocolate chip cookies yelled at you to eat them when you walked by. They were that good! The Kindergarten class did an incredibly good job. They had Hands on Science Experiments to show and tell you about. Each table had a display of the experiments and the results. They weren't shy at all and...
Graduation is a great celebration of individual senior success. Along the two end walls of the gym each senior set up booths with memories of student's past. Most dressed up for the occasion but some wore clothes expressing their own unique approach for example Weston Allderdice wore a kilt. Family and friends starting show up 45 minutes early to make sure they got a seat. There was 30 minutes to go and some moms were already crying. As Pomp and Circumstance was played by the Pioneer Band, the...
In the spirit of the community caring for each other, Marlys Myers along with about 12 other community members have met and formed a new group called CSI-Big Sandy (Community Services and Improvement Big Sandy). Marlys said, “We are basically just creating it. We put a lot of thought into dissolving Chamber, but we still wanted to do stuff.” The emphasis has changed a little. “The Chamber was about bringing people into Big Sandy and this group is about doing things for the people of Big Sandy.” They still want to do the Christmas stroll...
Rotary was granted a small grant which allowed a committee of five to attend Building Active Communities Initiative (BACI) 2019 Action Institute, a conference to determine if it was possible to create safe walking paths in Big Sandy. Carla and Raymond Courtnage, Rhonda Works, Krystyl Kulbeck and Lorrie Merrill attend a two-day conference with a wide variety of professionals in attendance. The goal is for Big Sandy to have safe, accessible walking routes that connect neighborhoods, schools,...
It was a beautiful day to be outside. The season when farmers love the smell of overturned dirt, the look of freshly worked fields. What's wonderful is dirt smells different depending on where you live. You aren't actually smelling dirt but the organic chemical called geosmin. Bacteria actually works geosmin to help create the unique smell of the soil. "Land, then, merely soil; it is a fountain of energy flowing through a circuit of soils, plants, and animals" says Aldo Leopold from a Sand...
The most important people at the Big Sandy Nursing home are those that live there. I went to visit with them one afternoon after lunch. I found them all in their own rooms sitting comfortable in their easy chairs watching TV. Muriel Silvan asked me to turn the TV down so she could visit and hear me better. She told me. "It's the best place for me to be. The reason I am here is because I can't see good enough to take my pills and I have trouble walking." She said she feels safe and knows she is...
According to the grade school students Earth Day is the "best day" of the year. They get to go outside and walk around town for an afternoon and clean up Big Sandy. It was such a wonderful afternoon. According to one kid, it was more fun last year, because they got to go all over town and this year they had to stay on one street. I drove around town to find different groups of classes picking up all over the town. They allowed me to take their picture, actually they hammed it up! Earth Day was...