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I was going to attend the Big Sandy School Board meeting on the internet but could not connect. I visited with Kelly Haaland in his office about the last school board meeting. Maddie Jenkins was hired as an English teacher for the Big Sandy High School. She has three years to get her English endorsement with a Class Five license, or she will be in an internship for three years. Maddie has a history endorsement currently but can teach English according to Montana law while working towards her English endorsement. She has taught English before...
I met Renee Hansen and Karen Reinertson at the Montana Room at the Big Sandy Library. This is where you will find all the old Mountaineers bound and available to the public to read. They use them to do their research for the Old-Timers column. So many people were asking who we got to recompile the column, I thought it would be interesting to visit with them about it. Why did they decide to write the column? Karen said, "I hated to see the column disappear." It was too important to her. Renee...
This week’s article is provided by Marsha Goetting, Montana State University Extension Montana State University Extension has updated its MontGuide “Montana Medical Care Savings Accounts (MSAs) for the 2021 Tax Year.” The revised guide is available at https://store.msuextension.org, and paper copies are available from county or reservation Extension offices. A medical care savings account is an account used to reduce the cost of saving for medical expenses and long-term health care. According to Marsha Goetting, MSU Extension family econo...
This first article about school funding is my attempt to try in a small part to explain to all of us how Big Sandy School is funded. I might need to rewrite this article to explain further if I get a small portion wrong. I was given 38 pages title Understand Montana School Finance and School Districts Budgets. The years’ complete financial budget is not fully completed. They are waiting for the state to complete the paperwork, so I’ll be referring to last years’ funds in general terms as well as the unofficial Budget Report of 2021. The state...
Throughout the month of August, I will be riding in the Great Cycle Challenge to help raise money to fight children’s cancer. The Great Cycle Challenge (GCC) is a national fundraising effort on behalf of the Children’s Cancer Research Fund (CCRF). It began in 2015 and rapidly grew to one of the biggest cycling events in the United States, raising over $39,000,000 in the process. The goal is to fight kids’ cancer and give each child the bright future they deserve. They believe that each individua...
Big Sandy Barracudas had six senior swimmers, which means they have five senior swimmers and one that will not swim in the future. Four of them will be going to state next week to swim for the Barracudas one last weekend. Cam Schwarzbach, son of Shaud and Melanie Schwarzbach and has swam for Big Sandy for 10 years. He plans to swim for the college of Idaho and major in Business Administration. His most memorable moment: "Celebrating his birthday at the Choteau Swim Meet by eating three trays of...
Big Sandy Library's summer schedule of "Tales and Tails" events continued last week with an educational presentation from local speaker, Bob Nelson. Bob spoke on water, the freshwater habitat, safety, and outdoor recreation. He has a long history of teaching young people about fishing and Montana's lakes and waterways, having done this sort of presentation many times in the past as a representative of Walleye's Unlimited. "I've been fishing my whole life, but about 2000 is when Jim Rettig asked...
Foraging worker ants sometimes enter homes in search of food, and if they find an indoor food source, the workers will leave chemical trails for other workers to follow. Food found either indoors or outdoors is carried to the nest to feed the colony. This behavior makes the use of ant baits an effective control measure. To keep ants from entering the home, make sure the kitchen is clean and no attractive food, like a honey container, is left out for the ants to find. Use a mild vinegar solution to wipe down kitchen surfaces to remove ant...
It is no new concept to say each one of us reacts differently in stressful times. When faced with tough situations, many factors control the physical and emotional responses we have as individuals. It may not always make sense to view how others are responding or feeling. We may even question our own reactions or feelings from our body. Have you noticed yourself or perhaps someone else who may be maxed out with stress levels? Are you looking for additional information, unsure if you should do anything or do not know what to do? Reaching out to...
Over 300 life jackets donated to FWP Kids Don’t Float program HELENA – Lt. Governor Kristen Juras, Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) Deputy Director Laura Smith, and Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) Director Hank Worsech were joined today, July 12 with children from Rocky Mountain Preschool at Spring Meadow Lake to promote the FWP Kids Don’t Float program. Recognizing the risk drowning poses to Montana’s kids, DPHHS has launched a collaboration with FWP to support Kids Don’t Float by donating over 300 life jackets. Lt. Gover...
This follows Stage 1 restrictions already in place in Sheridan, Valley, Phillips, Richland, Choteau, McCone and Garfield Counties in Region 6 GLASGOW- In response to dry, warm weather that could increase the danger of human-caused wildfires, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks fishing access sites and wildlife management areas will be under Stage 1 Fire Restrictions in Hill and Roosevelt Counties starting at 12:01 a.m. Friday, July 23. This follows Stage 1 restrictions already in place in Sheridan, Valley, Phillips, Richland, Choteau, McCone and...
Great Falls, MT- This past weekend at Arrowpeak Camp in the Highwood Mountains, Montana Farmers Union recognized Alan Merrill and his family for their years of service to the organization by dedicating a new hiking trail in the family's honor. The new path expands the recreational opportunities at camp and gives campers another way to learn hands-on about nature. Alan Merrill served as Montana Farmers Union President for 14 years. During those years he was a strong supporter of Arrowpeak Camp...
Heather Dilworth said, "The news is the is Big Sandy Organics is growing like crazy." They got a new contract with an international company to produce Einkorn, another ancient grain, into a snack. I got to taste it and loved it. It is lighter than Kracklin Kamut. It was initially grown just in France but now will be produced in the United States. The contract has the snack appearing for sale after Thanksgiving, but they have already hired two full-time staff starting in August to help them meet...
Fred Terry is the son of Floyd and Marlene Terry. He never saw himself as a writer before, but he got the idea to write a book to help him stay in touch each month, reading the next chapter to his daughters while he was deployed. Major Fredrick F. Terry has spent over "33 years in full-time service with the Army National Guard with three deployments. He and his wife Trish have five children. Kyara-27, Jobe-25, Elisha-12, and twins Amariah and Anaiah-11. They live in Helena on a small farm as...
Big Sandy Church of God held its annual Family Camp from July 14th through the 18th in Beaver Creek State Park. Members gathered at the Lions Campground to camp together and hang out in the outdoors together. Though many chose to stay in tents or RVs for several days, plenty of families and individuals came for an afternoon or just to participate in the outdoor worship service in the park on Sunday Morning. Rebecca Wiehe, who grew up in the Church of God, began organizing the annual camping...
Top Yielding Winter Wheat Varieties for Chouteau County MSU Agriculture Research Centers have three test plots for winter wheat in Chouteau County. Research plots are managed by MSU Western Triangle Agricultural Research Center (WTARC) south of the Knees, MSU Northern Agricultural Research Center (NARC) north of Loma and MSU Central Agricultural Research Center (CARC) west of Geraldine. A special thanks to Justin Vetch (WTARC agronomist), Peggy Lamb (NARC agronomist) and Jed Eberly (CARC agronomist) for establishing and maintaining the...
Governor Greg Gianforte signed SB 157 into law, which provides the opportunity for homeschool students to participate in public school extracurricular activities. “The new law will allow non-public and home school students to participate under the same standards as a public school student, though not requiring physical attendance in the public school. SB157 includes language related to academic eligibility for both nonpublic and home schools.” (mtche.org) BSHS Athletic Director Melanie Schwarzbach will be hosting an informational meeting for...
At press time Monday, it was hard to verify rumors. However, the storm that hit Big Sandy Sunday evening was devastating. You don't need to confirm when your eyes clearly show the damage. No one was killed, but there were two ambulance runs due to the storm. One at least was very serious. Shane Chauvet wrote on his Facebook account, " A severe storm blew a 5-foot steel culvert into the 'Roxor' ( 4-wheel side by side) we were driving on our way home through the field. It was the amazing and...
Brad Moore, Big Sandy resident and the former Superintendent of our local school system, is taking a position as Assistant Superintendent for Havre Public Schools in the coming academic year. This takes place after he was recognized as superintendent of the year for Central District of the Montana Superintendents' Association. Brad has been recognized as Superintendent of the Year for different districts in the state several times during his career. "There are 9 regions in the state of Montana...
Virgelle's Annual Flea Market took place on Sunday, with area antique shoppers visiting the outdoor event to shop for treasures old and new. My children and I braved the 90 degree heat to make our traditional after-church trek to the Virgelle Mercantile to shop and enjoy lunch on the lawn. As in years past, Chandee Bomgardner's food truck served Indian tacos and sandwiches to visitors. Waiting in line, I listened as visitors to the area received impromptu lessons on fry bread cuisine and the...
A Special Thanks in Advance to our Chouteau County 4-H Fair Superintendents 4-H, the nation’s largest youth development organization, grows confident young people who are empowered for life today and prepared for a career tomorrow. 4-H programs help develop nearly six million young people across the U.S. through experiences that develop critical life skills. 4-H is the youth development program of our nation’s Cooperative Extension System and USDA. Cooperative Extension serves every county and parish in the U.S. through a network of 110 pub...
The biggest news coming from the City Council is that it is that the stormwater project for downtown will become a reality without any loans or rate increases or special districts. The city would like to thank Chouteau County for sharing some of their ARPA money with the town. The cost of the project is over one million dollars. The new stormwater project will go from the Catholic Church to the highway. Although new streets are seldom paid for as a part of the project, it was argued that Big...
One thing is for sure the laws have changed since I was in school. I attended a training session by Andrew Vegland, a lawyer from the Helena Montana School Board Association. He handed out a 57-page document discussing current laws governing the Big Sandy School Board. I will not attempt to cover the entirety of the meeting here. However, we need to understand how the local school works and cover various issues further in-depth. There were a variety of issues briefly discussed. Title XX sets out the legal code if you want to look that up. Open...
Although it appears that everyone is tired of talking about COVID-19, I felt it very interesting to discover the long-term effects it was having on so many people. Gwen Ophus came into the Mountaineer and quickly visited me about some long-term effects she is still experiencing. She wondered if anyone in town is still struggling with the same issues she is or if they are struggling with different effects. She has joined an online support group and hopes that she’ll be healing quicker than later. She got COVID in the second week of November 2...
Last week, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) completed their treatment of around 40,000 acres of rangeland southeast of Big Sandy. Their objective was to control grasshopper populations which are projected to reach critical levels in the coming weeks. The weather over the past few years has presented the perfect storm of conditions to produce massive rangeland grasshopper populations. This is particularly the case for the Big Sandy area, which has a high density grasshopper...