Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
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It was a good weekend in Whitefish for the Courier and an even better one for visiting dearly-missed relatives on both sides of the state for me. In the former category, Sean R. Heavey hefted three awards at the 2016 Montana Newspaper Association convention for Best News Photo (first place), Best Feature Photo (first) and Best Lifestyles Photo (third), while I carried away first place for Best Editorial. There were publications with more awards to collect (get over yourselves, Flathead Beacon), but our little broadsheet was warmly received and...
The picture of the automobile featured on “Yesterday’s Memories” in the last issue of the Courier elicited a few comments from a couple of readers, which in return jogged some of my own memories. I definitely do not remember when automobiles featured carbide lights as headlights, but I do remember hearing about them when I was a kid at home. For those of us that have never seen them or used them, you might compare them to a kerosene lamp. Can you imagine the amount of light that was generated as you headed down the trail on a dark night? I real...
The husky homesteader astride his horse realized he would need to pull in for the night. A prairie snowstorm was developing. Snow was coming down fast and furious – stinging the man’s weathered face deep in the sheepskin collar. As anyone familiar with horses realizes, a good horse will keep his bearings and return his rider home in good shape. With the dropping temperatures, the man decided that to continue on was too risky for man or beast. A building was barely visible, but no matter, these were the days when the welcome mat was out 24 hou...
Most people don’t like slow internet. But I, a gamer in NE Montana (the middle of nowhere), have nightmares about slow internet. Now, people with actual work to do must feel some anger when they are inhibited or slowed by their internet speeds. At least, I would imagine so. The point is, the city of Glasgow needs fiber optic cable. I have seen a few posts on Facebook from Glasgow residents, who are not really sure what the problem is or what to do to fix the issue. All they know is that they have slow internet and they hate it. DSL, which I a...
Last week’s holiday made me do a little research, which I don’t ordinarily do. Even with all of our present-day methods of finding answers to questions, I was unable to establish when Memorial Day expanded; becoming a day that we remember all of our deceased loved ones, not just Veterans. Understand, I personally think remembering our loved ones on Memorial Day is great! Some of us remember calling this day “Decoration Day.” I did find that this custom started as far back as the Civil War and expanded to include other battles. The 30th of May...
Some theatregoers will have noticed a review of Fort Peck Summer Theatre’s new show in the Lifestyles section of this edition (Page 8A). Fewer still may have noticed my byline. In any case, it’s official: I’ll be your theatre critic for the season. Gwendolyne Honrud did a great job last year, but is pursuing greener pastures and the task is left to me. I intend to let my writing on the subject speak for itself, but with this first attempt, it deserves mentioning that I’m actually an experienced critic in the wider world outside of Montana...
Last week I was on the road for four days. I covered a pretty fair sized area from Nashua to Roundup to Lewistown to Billings to Zortman and back home. Every mile I was treated to sights that could all be made into postcards. As the miles slipped away so many thoughts went through my mind. Thoughts of homesteaders and cowboys, ranchers, farmers and prospectors. Some of the hills looked as though they were covered in green velvet. And I saw an endless variety of shades of green. The lush bright green of pasture, the deep dark green of pine trees...
I recently had the privilege of visiting with a couple of ranchers from near the Grasslands National Park (NP) in Saskatchewan, Canada. I heard the amazing story that when cattle were removed from the park, the resident wildlife also left. The decline in grassland dependent birds was very noticeable. In particular, one rancher observed the sage grouse left when the cattle were removed. This rancher was subsequently contracted by the park to reintroduce his cattle to these over-rested pastures. Amazingly, the sage grouse returned to the area gra...
American Serengeti. The fauna of the real Serengeti must migrate because of seasonal weather conditions. Those conditions do not exist in our more temperate climate. Also, read the fascinating 2002 Guardian article by George Monbiot (available online), in which he describes the creation of the real Serengeti as an “ethnic cleansing programme” of “possibly the longest-inhabited place on earth.” History. The Original Americans have a long history in this area. The Blackfeet were cattlemen. Small pox decimated the Blackfeet. (Actually, this is...
American Prairie Reserve recently acquired the historic PN Ranch north of Winifred. Over time we look forward to making this nearly 50,000-acre property (combined private and leased public acres) available to the public for camping, fishing, floating the Judith and Missouri Rivers, mountain biking and hunting as well as walking, horseback riding and driving through the beautiful scenery. Please visit the American Prairie Reserve website to learn about the location of the property and its relation to our other properties. As with each...
Since the first battles at Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, American men and women have laid down their lives for something larger than themselves. When the first Memorial Day was celebrated in 1868, our nation remembered the nearly 750,000 Americans who died in a war that shaped our destiny and defined its character. From WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and the fights for freedom and peace from terrorism around the globe, the American troops have been a beacon of hope and a symbol of freedom and liberty from oppression for those who would...
The following is a copy of a speech given by SSG AJ Etherington to the American Legion Post 45 Memorial Day Celebration in Hinsdale. As is the case with so many who have done this before me I am overwhelmed by the daunting task of memorializing and honoring those who have given everything in service to this nation, to our way of life and to the causes of freedom, liberty and justice around the globe. I am humbled and frightened by the challenge. So to ease in let me start with someone else’s words. President Reagan said, in his 1986 Memorial Da...
I guess some of my liberal opposers will be saying “you’re a fine one to talk about attacking someone in print” and I suppose you’d be a little bit right but this kind of politikkin’ is something more better suited to Texas or Colorado. What I’m yakkin’ about is the mailer young Michael Burns sent out asking for support as he attempts to become our HD33 representative in Helena. The very first thing that struck me as odd was the picture on the flyer of Casey Knudsen. The original shows Casey with long hair, baseball cap on backwards and...
Graduation, a time of joy, laughter, tears. An exciting time yet a bittersweet one. Graduates are seeing the culmination of 13 years of their lives. They’ve sat in classrooms, done homework, participated in activities such as band and sports. And throughout those 13 years have made friends -- perhaps lost a few -- and increased their knowledge. They’ve been congratulated, hugged, told how proud their families and friends are of them. Now it’s time for them to move forward. To follow their own path. They’ve most likely all decided where they ar... Full story
At this point most people have heard of the so-called “bathroom bill” passed in North Carolina. This is a law decreeing all people must use restrooms in accordance to the gender they were born into. What the public doesn’t seem to realize is that the North Carolina General Assembly spent $42,000 to hold an emergency, closed meeting to rush through this bill that not only rules that trans people have to use the restroom assigned to their original anatomy, it also prohibited any laws passed that would illegalize discrimination of any sort again... Full story
I had been trying to come up with a “Remember” for several days now, but had drawn a blank. Then I remembered reading Parker’s article, "Grumbling About Millennials." I would like all of the millennials out there, who just might read this section, to know that grumbling about the young generation is nothing new. You all have instant communication and the Baby Boomers had only a “party” line to do their venting on. Remember when all the young girls wore their pants so tight that you thought they were a second skin? Or the fact that women wor...
Two days before the conference, a friend asked, “Do you have any expectations?” With certainty, I immediately responded, “No! I’m just looking forward to a day where I’m removed from my responsibilities. I won’t have to worry about kids; I don’t want to think about my store; I don’t have to prepare meals; it’s bound to be a great day.” The Northeast Montana Women’s Conference “Confidence in Love” came at the perfect time for me. It truly was the best Mother’s Day gift I could receive. From the moment I heard the gravel of the church parkin...
Several days ago, as I was planting some sweet peppers, I thought about how good it felt to have my hands in the dirt. I thought how comforting it was to physically connect with the earth. While I was planting the peppers, I was also thinking about other vegetables I want to plant in my garden and the strawberry plants that were waiting for me in my kitchen sink. It reminded me of other gardens I’d planted over the years. Gardens that produced food for my family. Food that I also shared with other people. There’s just something about put...
My first draft of this week’s column went off into cyber space never to return. While reaching for my coffee, I accidentally hit ctrl and something else and off it went, hurtling at 1.6 million miles per hour through the universe. I tried hitting that little circular blue arrow, but ... no go ... then I tried the search thingie, but my search came up as empty as OJ’s search for the “real killers.” I had already saved it, but that window that says something like “you have made changes to the text, do you want to save the changes before cl...
I was thrilled to read the Doctors’ cure for yellow jaundice in the late 1920s was dandelions. I am mortified when I see deadly chemicals being poured onto these delicious leaves. I know they can be a nuisance. Where I grew up in Pennsylvania Dutch Country, the sprouting of those leaves out of the ground indicated spring was near and the tradition of dandelion greens, hot bacon dressing, boiled potatoes and hard boiled eggs (from Easter) made my mouth water. Most of the time the bacon dressing was from a jar, Wos-Wit (brand) you can find it o...
A conservative is a fellow standing athwart history yelling, ’Stop!’ At least that is how patron saint of the modern conservative movement, William F. Buckley defined it. As I travel across our great district talking to voters, I often try to define the terms liberal and conservative in today’s political climate. Amongst a farrago of definitions for what a conservative is, I think Buckley’s assessment is accurate. This election, cycle conservatives are yelling “stop” to excessive political correctness, federal overreach and unnecessary...
When I began my campaign for the Montana House of Representatives District 33, I planned on running a clean campaign, because if I have learned one thing growing up on the Hi-Line, it is that a man’s handshake is his word. My opponent and I agreed the very first time we met to be civil, to focus on the issues important to this district and not to found our campaigns on baseless attacks. My opponent, however, has recently sent out a mailer full of lies and deceit aimed at defaming me in the eye of the public. I am writing today to tell every r...
School will soon be out and kids will soon need to be entertained. Remember when we spent the summers playing hopscotch, kick the can, some version or the other of baseball, Anti-I-Over, or tag? What about Hide and Seek. Do the young ones still do that? Maybe you could get Mom to pack a picnic lunch and you and a friend could wander off for the day. Of course, that was back in the days you didn’t even think of child abductors (or if you did, you might have one of those thoughts that Moms have. Thinking if someone took them they would return t...
Last week, when I went to pay for some purchases in a Glasgow business, I chatted for a few moments afterwards with the clerk. And in the course of our talk, I heard something that surprised me. The lady told me she was 80 years old. I’m sure I had an incredulous look on my face because I would have never guessed that that was her age. She’s a vibrant, cheerful, pretty lady - one I’ve known for a long time. At home that evening, one of my sons stopped by to visit for a bit before we went to a meeting. The subject of age came up. I told him a...
There are a lot of scams going on every day in this country and I believe I was the almost victim of one of them just the other day. I’ll tell you about this one so’s you can keep a look out for it should it come your way. It involves a company I’ve never heard of before and one everyone in the world has heard of. I can’t afford to pay 80 or 90 bucks a month for Dish Network or DirectTV, so I rely on the 22 channels I can get off the antenna for $20 bucks a year. You heard that one right ... twenty smackers a YEAR folks. And I get all the loc...
