Week of October 9, 2024

  • Big Sandy Medical Center Clinic Grand Opening

    Jessica Ophus

    October 5, 1963 the ground was broke to begin the construction of the Big Sandy Medical Center. At that time, the desire was to provide a facility for the town doctor to see his patients and possibly tend to them overnight if they were too ill to be at home. By 1965, the building was complete, including the inscription: built by the community, for the community. BSMC has remained an independently owned, community ran organization since it originated in 1965. Changes have been made over the...

  • National 4-H WEEK

    Mary Ophus

    4-H is the largest out of school youth development program in the state of Montana. Currently there are over 19,000 youth 4-H members stretching across Montana's 56 counties. 4-H wouldn't be possible without the dedicated MSU Extension personnel and the 4,000 certified volunteers throughout Montana. Chouteau County currently is home to five, 4-H clubs. Within these 5 clubs there are 118 youth members and 32 volunteers. Big Sandy's local Sunshine Snippers 4-H Club for the 2023-2024 4-H year had...

  • Another Successful Chili Feed in Big Sandy

    Zoe Merrill

    Big Sandy's Chili Feed is a treasured community event. People come home, and even college kids ride the fire trucks. Although it remains a valuable community get-together, it doesn't really change, and maybe that's why it's so important to us. The day starts months before, with our firefighters working tirelessly to secure prizes for the community. Our grade school kids, with their boundless creativity, draw and color their artwork, adding a personal touch to the event. The firefighters' visits to the school to educate the kids about fire...

  • Big Sandy's Gun Club: Great local facilities for local recreational shooters

    Erik Sietsema

    Situated on the edge of town, the local shooting range and gun club are one of the best kept secrets of our little community. Though many people know about the range itself, far fewer are familiar with or take advantage of the Bear Paw Sportsman Club's full offerings and facilities. With an archery range, skeet, and clay shooting facilities, safety courses, and other opportunities, the organization is a potential source of fun and education for any local who wants to engage in recreational...

  • Fentanyl: A must Conversation

    Zoe Merrill

    On June 17, 2024, Montana Attorney General Knudsen issued a news release entitled “Montana On Pace For Another Record-Breaking Year Of Fentanyl Seizures: “HELENA—Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen announced today that anti-drug task forces in Montana seized 150 percent more fentanyl in the first quarter of 2024 than during the first quarter of 2023.” “Through the first quarter of 2024, Rocky Mountain High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task forces seized a total of 163,184 dosage units of Fentanyl in Montana compared to 65,142...

  • Our Community Comes Together for Another Successful Blood Drive

    Rachel Baumgarn

    As the proud sponsor of our local Red Cross blood drive, I’m thrilled to report on the tremendous success of our recent event held at Christ Lutheran Church. Once again, our community has shown its generosity and commitment to saving lives. It’s always inspiring to see both familiar faces and newcomers at our drives. This time, we celebrated several milestone achievements: • My heartfelt congratulations go out to Crystal Geyer and Wendy Taylor, who each reached the impressive 2-gallon mark in their donation journey. • A round of...

  • Green Acres

    Tyler Lane

    Conifers Shed Most Inefficient Needles in the Fall The article below is a portion of an article written by Peter Kolb (MSU Extension Forester). The article is available in full at the Chouteau County Extension office. The article explains the natural phenomenon of fall needle drop, insect management, and proper watering techniques for pine and spruce trees. Every fall a lot of concern arises when conifers such as pines, spruces and firs start to drop their older needle cohorts in preparation for winter. This is essentially an energy...

  • Pioneers celebrate their Seniors, and the lights go out at halftime

    What a crazy ending to a great game by the Pioneer football team. The second half of the Chili Feed game will be played Monday night (October 7th), so we will have that written up for you in next week's paper. But in the meantime, the Pioneers had a very dominating game against Valier and were up 38-6 when the game got rescheduled due to the wind knocking the power out. Wes Cox started the Pioneers off with a few runs, getting 10 yards, 25 yards, and 12 yards. Aidan Morsette also ran for a 1st...

  • Lady Pioneers take first at the NorthStar Showcase

    The Lady Pioneers had a busy past week of volleyball. And these girls did amazing! They first played Centerville at home and won 3-0, with the scores of those sets being 25-22, 25-12, and 25-17. The Lady Pioneers traveled to North Star, where they competed in a tournament against 6 different teams and came away from the tournament as CHAMPIONS! They played Sunburst and won 30-17, then played North Star JV and won 30-14, then they played CJI JV and won 30-19, then they played Box Elder Varsity...

  • Patching Cracks

    Erik Sietsema

    Theodore Roosevelt was once praised by another man for his prowess as a marksman. The man had heard stories of several spectacular shots the president had pulled off while hunting and gushed over the level of skill required, including hitting a pair of pronghorn at long range from the back of a moving horse. Laughing, Teddy responded that he was actually a poor shot. He explained that he had poor eyesight, a fact that was exasperated by a detached retina he suffered in a boxing match at the Whitehouse that rendered him partially blind....

  • Thoughts with Zoe

    Zoe Merrill

    There's something truly magical about Fall. The world transforms into a canvas of vibrant colors, each leaf a masterpiece in its own right. It's a season that fills me with joy and awe at the beauty of nature. God gave us so many colors if you stop to think about it. The trees, when green, have so many different shades of green. Why did God do that? Then there's dirt. Where I live, the dirt is that brownish gray. In Oklahoma, the dirt is red, and the dirt smells different in both places. It may...

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