Sorted by date Results 1972 - 1996 of 3543
Participants will learn about raptors and how to support the park's fall migration study West Glacier, MT – Glacier National Park kicks off the second annual Mount Brown Hawk Watch Program with a volunteer training event on Saturday, October 5, from noon to 4 pm. Anyone interested in helping the park document migrating raptors is invited to the come-and-go event. The meeting point will be across from Lake McDonald Lodge at the golden eagle interpretive sign near Jammer Joe's parking lot. Snacks...
This week we have had two successful FFA activities. At the Annual FFA Fall Barbeque on September 16th, the community was able to come help us kick off our year. We started with a potluck along with pulled-pork sandwiches. Next was a presentation on what FFA is and its opportunities. And to end the night we had a Labor Auction to raise money for the FFA members' travel funds which allows us to experience attend FFA events such as John Deere Ag days, State and National Convention. These...
Beautiful morning at river....
Jim and Marla Drga opened their home to Emily Sparkes, an agriculture guest from England for two and a half weeks. She said, "I thought I should just come over and just see a different scale of farming then we have in England." Emily is a dairy farmer in England. "It's totally different here. She lives in a village called Pretty, with rolling hills and lots of rain. "I wanted to see a different way of doing stuff. It's a lot bigger over here. You need a lot bigger landmass to produces crops and...
Sometimes in life, things seem to fall into place. That would seem to be the case with new Big Sandy High School English teacher Shaela Wallen. Her boyfriend Drew Shanafelt had just been offered a job from local Bob Quinn to take over operations of "The Oil Barn" here in Big Sandy. Shaela had a desire to start pursuing a career in teaching and put to use her degree in English Education from the University of Montana in Missoula. It just so happened Big Sandy needed a new English teacher, so...
Editor Note: I met him walking down the streets of Big Sandy. Bob Quinn introduced him to me. Bryan Smith had 25 years of experience in journalism. I was intrigued. He had attended the University of Maryland to become a journalist. "They have a terrific journalist school there", he said. He's never looked back. He started writing for a newspaper in a small town, and worked his way up to the Chicago Times. Bryan is a long form writer in magazines now doing free-lance work. He mostly writes 5,000...
Pre-seeding fertilizer tips for farmers Clain Jones, MSU Extension Soil Fertility Specialist Presented at the Montana Agricultural Business Association last winter in Great Falls. The majority of the presentation contained a variety of fertilizer tips to help producers prepare for the upcoming seeding season. In addition, information for this article was taken from the Fertilizer Guidelines for Montana Crops (EB161), which is available at the Chouteau County Extension office. • MSU Extension has an on-line tool designed to assist producers i...
Fish, Wildlife and Parks Region 4 has added two additional field day courses in September for adults who are looking to complete the state’s online hunter education course. Both field day courses will be held the same day, Sept. 21. Adult online students can select one of two times either 8 a.m. to noon or 1-5 p.m. The courses will both be at FWP Region 4, 4600 Giant Springs Road, Great Falls. The online course is available only to those 18 and older. After completing the Internet course, students must take a field day to receive their certific...
After a summer of planting, irrigating, weeding, and cultivating, we are now enjoying the fruits of our labor. Yesterday we picked melons for three Farmer's Markets in our area. We spend many hours picking, cutting, taste testing, sorting, and analyzing the tastiest, juiciest, melons for our customers. We have become melon snobs, and only the best will do. We are always amazed at how many other species, besides people, love cantaloupe. We notice the damage as we are picking and we sort them as...
As we age, our life circumstances and bodies change, and it becomes necessary to adapt our food intake accordingly. Many factors such as income, mobility and health issues and accessibility to food can have a profound effect on the level of nutrition. The negative effect of the above-mentioned factors may lead to malnutrition. It is astounding to hear the high rates of malnutrition in seniors. Some symptoms include fatigue, increased illness or infection, irritability or depression, and unplanned weight loss. Additional contributing factors...
It's like living with a dark cloud constantly around you. It's like a storm always heading your direction. World Suicide Prevention Day is September 10. Every 40 seconds, someone loses their life to suicide. "Depression is such a cruel punishment. There are no fevers, no rashes, no blood tests to send people scurrying in concern, just the slow erosion of self, as insidious as cancer. And like cancer, it is essentially a solitary experience; a room in hell with only your name on the door."...
Last Thursday I got the honor of sitting in on the monthly city council meeting. It was enjoyable to watch all the bright minds that lead this town come together on the important issues at hand. They tackled many leading problems in this community with intelligence and a positive attitude. They began by discussing the budget for the upcoming year. The adopted budget for the fiscal 2020 revenues is currently one hundred, ninety-four thousand dollars. Along with that, the town of Big Sandy contact with the Unified Garbage Disposal has raised...
I was born and raised in California about 30 miles from the beach, but I never felt it was home. Since I was sixteen years old, I planned on moving out of this state with the thought of only returning to visit family and friends while on vacation. My husband, on the other hand, was just the opposite, he loved California and the thought of leaving the beauty of the coast, and the perfect weather had never entered his mind. But the reality was we couldn't afford to live in the state and have the...
Managing horticultural landscapes in September is essential to healthy production during the growing season. Below are a few recommendations for Chouteau county gardeners. • The average first frost is September 15 (Carter), September 18 (Kenilworth and Highwood), September 20 (Big Sandy), September 25 (Fort Benton) and September 28 in Geraldine. All fruit and vegetables should be harvested before temperatures drop below 40° to 50°F. • Ripen tomatoes in a paper bag along with an apple, or hang the entire plant upside down in the garage. • Pla...
This coming school year has brought in a handful of new teachers. One teacher includes Timothy Bond who is the new teacher for the music program. After the wonderful advisement of Mrs. Robertson, the band and choir have been given great reviews in the past. Mr. Bond hopes to follow in her footsteps and help the band and choir go beyond their potential. Timothy Bond was born in Elkhart, Indiana and was raised in a small town called Edwardsburg, Michigan. Living in a small town most of his life definitely makes the readjustment of moving to Big...
Do you knit, crochet, spin, weave, sew or quilt? Have you ever thought about entering the Make It With Wool (MIWW) contest? The MIWW promote the beauty and versatility of wool fabrics and yarns, encourages personal creativity, recognition of creative skills and development of life skills. The 2019 Make It With Wool (MIWW) contest is quickly approaching so here are the details. The District 3 (Blaine, Broadwater, Cascade, Chouteau, Glacier, Hill, Judith Basin, Lewis & Clark, Liberty, Meagher, Pondera, Teton and Toole counties) contest is schedul...
The second annual Powder Puff football game was a big hit. The mom's and teachers won, making it back to back wins! The new English teacher's speed earned her the nickname "Wheels." I went to a barbeque last night, no one there was at the Powder Puff, and they said they heard I had an excellent game. Our team was very competitive." Another teacher laughed and said, "Welcome to a small town." Senior, Amanda Cline said, "It was the most fun I've ever had!" One girl said, "Let's just say we found o...
I was driving past Dan and Pat Matthews yard when my granddaughter said, "Look at that very very pretty park." I told her it wasn't a park, but someone's personal yard and she said, "well some people make their own parks." Pat Matthews told me, "it is labor-intensive, but we do enjoy it. We did sod the boulevard, and we added the raised flower beds this year." It's been a struggle this year because both and Dan and Pat had surgery. The secret, besides the intensive labor, is Dan set up the...
Old-timers (and, let's face it, at age 63 I now qualify as such) will always tell you that things were "different" back in the old days – different meaning bigger, better, simpler, etc. Along those lines, I have to say that Main Street of Big Sandy, during the days of my youth (the late 1950s to mid-1970s) was a pretty interesting place, in ways that the modern version cannot quite live up to. But before I go about making my point, let me quickly acknowledge a few ways in which "modern Main Stre...
The 2019 Chouteau County 4-H and FFA livestock carcass contest took place at Pioneer Meats in Big Timber. A total of 63 Chouteau County 4-H animals were evaluated for carcass quality by Mark King (MSU Extension Sweet Grass County). The purpose of the carcass contest is to teach 4-H youth how to correctly select, feed and finish livestock based on carcass data. If carcass criteria are met, youth can be confident they are producing a high quality product that is safe, nutritious and good tasting to the consumer. Out of 36 market swine entered at...
Fall is right around the corner and as we all gear up for hunting season we want to remind everyone of important dates coming up. Also, don’t forget to check out theHunt Planner online. You can begin planning your hunt using either a regional map by species or go right to the hunting district information you are interested in. Sept. 7 - Archery Antelope, Archery Bighorn Sheep, Deer & Elk Archery, Mountain Lion Archery without Hounds Opening, Archery Black Bear, Wolf Archery Opening Sept. 15 - Fall Black Bear, General Big Horn Sheep, B...
Big Sandy Medical Center was built in 1965 by the great community we all live in today. It was a fully functioning clinic and hospital at that time and babies were even born in the facility until 1985. Also, in 1985, the Long-Term Care center was added to help meet the needs of the aging community. As medicine has evolved, the facility has evolved. For the last 34 years it has operated as a full medical center. Today BSMC offers care to patients of all ages; in the Clinic, Emergency Department,...
Harvest is in full swing with some farmers finishing up....
At the end of the regular Big Sandy School Board meeting, the budget for the year 2020 was approved by the council. The school districts were combined a few years ago. The total budget for all funds is $3,259,046. You can contact the school for a complete budget, and without going into detail in every category I will mention a number of categories the citizens might be most interested in: General fund budgets is $1,870,192; Transportation budget is $240,000; Bus Depreciation is $617,132; Technology is $58,218; Building Reserve is $64,333; and...
There will always be two EMT personnel at the football games. They have the best seats in the house. They have 10 active EMT members Krystyl Kulbeck, Medical Director; Dusty Allderdice, Service Manager; Melanie Schwarzbach; Heather Pleninger; Paula Amsbaugh; Nathan Merrill; Maggie Cline; Tim Bahnmiller; Ken Denning, and Larry Ophus. Dusty Allderdice said, "we also get support from the Big Sandy Firemen. They help us when we need lifting assistance, vehicle accidents, or drivers." She also said...