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Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, because it reminds me to always have a thankful spirit! If I can live life thankful I'll have fewer days of pity, fewer days of regret, fewer days of anger, and fewer days of depression. A few years ago, I learned of the true story of Squanto, also known as Tisquantum. He was a Native American of the Patuxet native American tribe near Plymouth Massachusetts in 1588. Squanto was captured as a young man in 1605 by Captain George Weymouth who brought...
Larry and Chris Brumwell have been teachers in our schools since the fall of 1978. That's 40 years of teaching. Larry was born and raised on a farm in Power, Montana. Chris was born in Iowa and lived there until she was 12. At that time, her father was 56 and had cancer and wasn't supposed to live so, when her mother was offered a job for the Ford Motor Company in Great Falls Montana it was decided to go where her mother's job would be. Her father lived till he was 92! Chris went to school at...
Roberta Edwards wanted to design a button making sure the rope was an integral part of the design knowing the CSI Country Christmas was using rope as a central decorating point in the Cowboy Christmas theme. Roberta has been taking art classes at MSU Northern Montana in Havre and was excited to use what she has been learning to create a button to help celebrate the season. She always has fun experimenting using a different approach to each art work. This button was created on watercolor paper...
I can’t help but comment about our responsibilities as citizens of this state and our great nation following the mid-term elections. It was a great turnout, but it can’t end there. Whether your candidate won or lost it is our responsibility to stay engaged with the issues facing us. I remember a Montana Senator once told me a number of years ago that he had gotten a lot of letters concerning an issue and he decided he needed to research it to see what he could do to help. I was curious and I asked him, “How many letters did you recei...
Representing Big Sandy this summer at the Northern Ambassadors of Music European Tour will be Abriana Blanton who plays the flute, Grace Finke playing the alto or bass clarinet, Everett Works playing the trumpet and Audrey Sipler who also plays the flute. Last spring, they were nominated and chosen to be a part of the Ambassadors. They will be traveling to seven different countries including England, France, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Liechtenstein, and Germany. These four students along with...
Jeff Hull has come to Big Sandy now for a number of years. He loves the area and its people. He wants to especially thank Craig and Vonnie Sterry for their hospitality. Their cabin outside of Hingham was where he wrote the entire book. Ray and Amy Sibra let him stay with them off and on for over a decade and without them the book simply would not exist. Josh Danreuther and Nathan Merrill took him out on the landscape and helped him see it in new and fascinating ways. "I don't know why I write...
The town of Big Sandy celebrated Halloween with activities including trick-or-treating, attending Halloween costume parties, carving pumpkins into jack-o'-lanterns, visiting haunted attractions, telling scary stories, and watching a concert of Halloween music. Big Sandy celebrates the holiday as a secular celebration but Christian religious observances of the holiday is called All Hallows' Eve, which includes attending church services, praying for the souls of friends, relatives and pets. Soul c...
While I was at a conference recently a statement was made that has stayed with me. She said, "Remember in this day and age perception is more powerful than truth." It reminded me how currently to many people only listen to, read articles and books, and watch only the news that already proves what they believe. Our perception drives our vision. It reminded me of a photo I took. It had been a very stressful day. I took my camera and went for a walk down Hopp Road. I had walked this gravel road so...
There was a Christmas Button contest this year. Jessica Jaramillo the art teacher at Big Sandy High school had her students design a button for this year's Christmas Stroll. The theme this year is Cowboy Christmas. The children's stroll buttons will show the art work of the four students from Big Sandy High school who won. Eli Dixon a seventh grader is the son of Clay and Kelly Dixon. Faith Gasvoda, Brooke Schwenke, and Lainey Gregory are all Juniors this year. Brooke is the daughter of Chris Sc...
Now that the agriculture seasons has slowed and lots of the farm equipment put to bed one would think that farm injuries would be slowing down, but in truth farm accidents increase during the winter. Animals are the second largest cause of injuries. Slips and falls are the largest cause of worker related injuries. Les Graham and Ron Larson are the states experts when it comes to farm safety. Sitting down and visiting with them during the Montana Farmers Union Convention. Larson said, “Let’s start with the feeding of the cattle and the rep...
Chase Hill Outfitters was established in 1986. They have been guiding for 32 years. Bill Brown said, "I hope one of the kids will take over." Both Megan and Weston are currently home helping during the 2018 hunting season. They just finished guiding two kids during the youth hunting period which takes place two days before the regular hunting season begins. Chase Hill donates the youth hunts. But they have opportunities for youth throughout the season. "We have incorporated a program to encourag...
Diane Scalese will be inducted into the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame on Thursday November 1, 2018 at the Will Rogers Memorial Center in Fort Worth Texas. " The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame honors and celebrates women, past and present, whose lives exemplify the courage, resilience, and independence that helped shape the American West, and fosters an appreciation of ideals and spirit of self-reliance they inspire." Four or five years ago, a friend told her she was going...
Welcome Sean Janssen new pastor of the Christ Lutheran Church of Big Sandy and Havre's Messiah Lutheran. Sean told me, "The first time Vanessa and I worked in a church setting was in the Dominican Republic. We taught English there for nine months." Part of the reason they returned to the US was because they were pregnant with their first child. "When we came back I started working to become an Associate Pastor for a church in Wisconsin. To make a long story short, it didn't work out." So, he...
Red Ribbon week is celebrated nationally normally between October 23-31. This year both the high school and the grade school will be focusing on the purpose of Red Ribbon Week which is to encourage student to make a commitment to live safe and drug-free lives. Red Ribbon week was first created in 1988 after an DEA Agent Enrique Camarerena was kidnapped, tortured and murdered in Guadalajara Mexico as an undercover agent. His home town placed red ribbons around to try and increase awareness to...
Gwen has been a part of Big Sandy's down town business for 35 years. She married Shane Ophus in 1984 and started her business down town in the Odd Fellows Hall. It cost $50-$75 a month to rent the front part of that building, and that was for everything! She opened her current shop in 1986. Gwen had a lot of people try to discourage her from opening her own shop, but those who had shops in town already weren't interested in hiring anyone. She always knew that eventually she wanted to have her...
This Saturday October 27th the Pioneers Football Team will host White Sulfur spring at 1:00 in the first round playoff game for the Pioneers. At 9 am the football moms will be serving breakfast for the community and families at the football concessions area. It’s just a little pregame get together to show support for the boys. If the weather turns bad they’ll move it inside. They’ll be serving biscuits & gravy, eggs, fruit, and sausage. “A little of everything.” The Lady Pioneers will begin the District Tournament this week on Thursday,...
Recently in Malta the FFA attended their first FFA fall district contest. They participated in range science and livestock judging. Out of 10 teams and with 45 students in range science Big Sandy's FFA chapter won first place. Katherine Bold won first place, Grace Finke placed 4th, Kassidy Pursley placed 5th, Stacey Allderdice placed 6th and Brady Pleninger placed 7th. The junior livestock team placed eighth. Mattie Gasvoda was the highest individual from Big Sandy placing 23rd. Senior...
Also named Spirit Week, it is when the entire town celebrates our heroes the local fire fighters and the kids spend the entire week celebrating the pride of being a Pioneer. The week's celebration started with five days of spirit! Both schools dressed up each day in spirit gear on Monday it was beach day, Tuesday duo day (sometimes triple day), Wednesday cowboy day, Thursday character day, and Friday was purple and gold day. The grade school had a contest for a Pioneer motto to be put on a...
Soccer played their last games of the year this last weekend in Geraldine. Soccer brings out each child's personalities especially when they are five years old. If they are prone to be a little reserved they'll most likely just stand in place, or notice a rock and sit down to look at it rather than paying any attention to the ball being dribbled past them. Some children are more aggressive and there they are, at the youngest of ages running up and down the field, where their position was to go...
Friday October 12th. The annual Fireman's Chili Feed will take place again at city hall starting at 4:00. Children can ride the firetrucks starting at 4:00. The annual fund raisers helps off-set the cost of a volunteer fire department. They still need to finish paying for some new equipment. Also within the year they'll be looking at buying a much-needed new ambulance. The grade school Punt Pass and Kick takes place the same day starting around 1:00 that afternoon. It's a full afternoon with...
This year's Medical Guild Rummage Sale was a huge success. Rough count says they made more money than before. More people attended this year and they came from Havre, The Hutterite Colony, Box Elder, Rocky Boy, and Seattle Washington. The weather was really nice. Mail, flyers, and advertising more on the internet this year could have contributed to the huge turn out. Also, this year the high school let the students out during PE classes to shop for spirit week costumes. Monday's are usually...
Paul Tuss met me at the Bear Paw Deli on his way to Fort Benton. He grabs a cup of coffee and a scone. He's tired, but feels encouraged and empowered, not by his efforts, but by the people in this district. He tells me he has knocked on 6,700 doors. "People are genuinely nice! Regardless of their political persuasion. The number one over-arching issue that comes up again and again. Regardless of any specific issues related to taxation, education, or health care is the end of the partisan...
Partial Life or Complete Life Even in a small community, and maybe because I live in a small community, I often live in a bubble of my own world. My life is busy, doing and going, and I quickly don't seem to have time to continue my own development. I've left behind the dreams of my youth, I don't even stay connected friends I've had for a long time, and I seldom make time to venture out of my own comfort zone. This last week, I became more intensely aware of the longings of a friend. I...
Tucker Taylor is the new social studies teacher at Big Sandy High School. He graduated from the University of Montana Western in Dillion with a Bachelor's Degrees in Modern History and Social Studies. Tucker has spent the last two years being a substitute teacher in Sheridan and Belgrade, Montana. While he was going to school at Western he was the Assistant Wrestling Coach at Dillion for four years. Last year he was the Assistant coach at Belgrade. "I chose history when I was younger because my...
Russ Tempel grabbed a hamburger and sat down to visit with me at The Mint Saturday morning. I wanted to talk about the race and get to know him a little bit better. I introduced him to my grandsons and their friend, "This is Russ Tempel he makes the laws we have to obey." They were so impressed! Their faces looked up at him wide-eyed and they had wow looks! He shook their hand, said he was glad to meet them. He handed them a political postcard. One took it and looked at it and ran to his mother...