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Every summer, I am blessed with the opportunity to drive a swather for a friend of mine in the church. I know many farmers consider swathing to be as interesting as watching paint dry, but I enjoy it because it gives me an opportunity to get away from cell phone reception and my regular work commitments. Swathing days are 8 to 10 hours of time to think and breathe without any pressing concerns or emergencies to deal with. Every time I go out to drive, my friend reminds me of the same rule: Always check the oil before you turn the key. The oil...
Belt High School is looking to expand its high school clay shooting team this academic school year. The unusual High School sport opportunity is entering its second year and coaches are hoping to expand the program by involving 7th and 8th graders in the program. Last year, the team included students from 9th to 12th grade. The team is also looking to expand their opportunities by encouraging other North Central Montana schools to join in the fun. I met Phil Lodge, the coach of the Belt Clay...
In the Bible’s account of Israel’s journey to the promised land from slavery in Egypt, the people reached the bank of the Jordan River and prepared to enter and conquer their new home. Before entering, they sent in a dozen spies to check things out. When they returned, the report they gave was mixed. On one hand, the spies went on and on about how rich and bountiful the promised land was. They affirmed God’s promise that it was a land flowing with milk and honey. On the other hand, the majority of the spies reported that the inhabitants of th...
F.E. Miley Elementary school has a new 2nd grade teacher for the 23-24 school year. Bonnie Bauer came to Big Sandy from Great Falls with 9 years of classroom experience under her belt, including several years in Great Falls schools and 6 years in Sydney, Montana. Bonnie has lived in Montana since 2007, when her family moved to Great Falls. She attended High School there, but went on to explain that the majority of her childhood was spent moving around the country. "I kind of grew up all over....
The Belt Performing Arts Center held its 3rd Annual “Beltstock” concert over the past weekend. The family friendly concert ran from 4 to 10 PM and featured three highly entertaining musical acts. The event is a fundraiser for the Belt Performing Arts Center. I attended with my wife, daughter, and one of my daughter’s friends and would heartily recommend adding the 4th annual Beltstock to your plans for next summer. Casey Dawson, who is the treasurer for the Belt Theater Board, spoke with me about the event and the theater. “This is our main fu...
Early Sunday morning, I went for a 3 mile run. I typically run with my dog, who is nine years old and has learned our running route and routine completely through thousands of repetitions. For a change of pace, I decided to take my daughter’s puppy along for the outing. The puppy is about a year old and very difficult to walk because she is quite strong and still has the characteristic puppy distractibility. This means that you spend a lot of your walking time stopping to wait for her to decide to walk or untangling her from the leash. To r...
The Elevating Grains Bakery will be opening for business Monday, August 28th. Going forward they will be open Monday to Friday at 6:30 AM. Their operating hours will be subject to daily traffic patterns and experimentation to see what works best. The bakery will primarily offer coffee drinks, with a more limited supply of baked goods. Emily LePinnet, who owns and operates that bakery, explained the new approach to the business. “I’ll continue doing some baking throughout the week to fill custom orders for people. We’re gonna see how that goes....
With the start of the 2023-2024 school year, several new faces will be visible at Big Sandy Schools. One new face will be familiar to locals. Linda Finke will be taking on special education at the High School and returning to school herself to earn her Masters in Special Education. Linda filled in as Amy Terry's full time teacher's assistant last year, when the teacher shortage resulted in our school only having one Special Education teacher. This year, Linda will be earning credentials and...
For a couple of weeks in April, an abandoned dog, likely a German Shepherd/Yellow Labrador mix, caught the attention of the Big Sandy community. The puppy spent his days walking up and down the highway, chasing mini vans and pickups looking for its owner. More than a few locals put out food for him and spent time trying to lure the puppy away from the highway. The Big Sandy Needs and Yard Sale Facebook pages were active with discussion of near captures and locals offering to take in the puppy...
Over the past few months, The Mountaineer has heard reports of unusually large numbers of toads turning up on farms in the prairie west of town. Those who have shared information with us have joked that the unusual phenomena resembles one of the plagues in the book of Exodus. I began looking into the matter, thinking it might be an interesting bit of local ecological news, and learned that a similar population spike took place in town a little over a decade ago. Digging into the last century of...
Over the past month, I have been researching and preaching on Jesus’ temptation in the desert in Matthew 4. The story takes place right after Jesus is baptized, and God proclaims that Jesus is His son. From the baptism, the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness where he fasted and prayed for 40 days before he was tempted by Satan in various ways. There are three temptations and each is loaded with significance. However, for this article, I want to zero in on one specific aspect. In each temptation Satan calls into question Jesus’ ide...
Montana Actor’s Theater (MAT) is trying something new with their 2023-2024 productions. On Saturday, August 26th from noon to 5 pm MAT will be holding company auditions for the first half of the coming theater season. This is an opportunity for potential actors to audition for multiple shows at the same time. In addition, it’s a chance for those who have never participated in a MAT production to try out for multiple shows. According to the MAT homepage, holding auditions for multiple shows simultaneously provides directors an opportunity to col...
In the coming days, parents will engaging in the annual tradition known as school shopping. The school typically puts out lists to guide them in their efforts. This year, my daughter is leaving the elementary school and starting her educational career at the high school. On several occasions, she has expressed a degree of worry about the increased academic difficulty that will come with her new school setting. In response to her concern, I have started preparing myself to help her through...
When I moved to Big Sandy a little over a decade ago, I understood little to nothing about farming. When friends and neighbors discussed harvest, I didn’t properly grasp all of the implications of that part of the work year. On a few occasions, I’ve helped out with different jobs and experienced the grinding hourly demands. Year after year, I’ve talked to locals about the stress of cutting, equipment repair on the fly, eating while working, watching the weather, and hundreds of other challenges. Add to that the pressure of getting the work done...
The July 29th fundraiser to support Cooper Jenkins was a huge success, raising $67,000 to help defray medical costs for the Jenkins family. That total includes only the money raised through the auctions, dinner, raffles, and other fundraising activities that took place Saturday evening. Money has also been donated through a "Go Fund Me" page and via direct deposits to the bank. At the time of writing this article, the Go Fund Me page had raised $10,500. The event was organized to aid the...
By Erik Sietsema With discussion of the impending upgrades to the north side of the High School, I found myself wondering where the Big Sandy Pioneers wagon came from and when it was initially installed in the courtyard. An inspection of the wagon itself makes it obvious that it was a working covered wagon at one time. My research into the wagon's origin began with a series of phone calls to Big Sandy alumni and long time staffers. The universal response was uncertainty. Most off the alumni...
I moved to Chicago when I was 19 to attend college. I spent the next several years living in the suburbs, going to school, and working various jobs. One of the necessities for my college survival was the purchase of a car. I didn’t know anything about cars and had little money to speak of, which is why I bought a $250 1977 Lincoln Continental. I didn’t know it was a bad deal until it broke down the first time, about 20 minutes after I paid for it. After finally getting it back to the dorm where I was living, I caught a ride to the parts sto...
Big Sandy Church of God held its annual family camp in Beaver Creek over the weekend. This was the fifth consecutive year the church has held family camp, after a hiatus of several decades. The weekend primarily included families from the church camping at the Lions Campground, sharing meals, going fishing together, enjoying games, and each other's company. The weekend ended with the weekly worship service held in the park. I spoke with Rebecca Wiehe, who took the initiative to restart the camp...
Big Sandy High School's Covered Wagon got a facelift recently as the first foray into a larger renovation and beautification of the courtyard just north of the school. The upgrades will include direct facility upgrades like replacing damaged sidewalks, leveling a drop between the sidewalk and the north side of the building, as well as a some other landscaping efforts. I visited with Dan Schrock, the school superintendent, while he painted a fresh layer of linseed oil to the exposed wood...
The Big Sandy Farmers Market kicked off its year last Thursday afternoon, attracting a substantial crowd despite threat of thunderstorms at the start. The weather scared several venders away that afternoon, but several stayed the course for the afternoon. The market is entering its second year with some improvements over last summer that should be a treat to locals. Donita Darlington and Paula Amsbaugh worked together to organize the market since its inception. I spoke with Donita at her booth,...
Anyone who knows me, knows I love books. I collect them like a little kid collects baseball cards. Whenever my family travels, I find myself plotting our path based on the bookstores we will be able to visit. A few weeks ago, my wife and I took our daughter to Missoula for a doctor's appointment. While we were there, we visited an independent bookstore, and I found something exciting: the Montana Bookstore Trail. The trail was put together by independent bookstore owners in an effort to promote...
Anyone who knows me, knows I love books. I collect them like a little kid collects baseball cards. Whenever my family travels, I find myself plotting our path based on the bookstores we will be able to visit. A few weeks ago, my wife and I took our daughter to Missoula for a doctor’s appointment. While we were there, we visited an independent bookstore, and I found something exciting: the Montana Bookstore Trail. The trail was put together by independent bookstore owners in an effort to promote independently owned bookstores in Montana. The t...
Gabe Williams recently completed a frame up rebuild of a Big Bud tractor, completing a multiple-year effort in the ultimate rebuild-it-yourself project. Gabe explained that the tractor had well over 10,000 hours of operating time in the field. He also said that, in total, some of the components had far more working time clocked. "I'd say that the axles underneath have 25,000 plus hours on them. We've changed the hour meter in it three times. So, who knows? I don't even know how many owners had i...
Elevated Grains Bakery will be altering its business model next month as a result of challenges in finding employees to help run the business. They will be closing the dining room portion of the business and switching to taking orders for baked goods until a solution to the employment problem presents itself. Emily LePinnet, who opened the bakery in May, explained that "July 1 will be our last day open to the public. Then I'm going to take a week off. When I come back, I'll probably post a small...
For the last several days, I have been studying the ancient Greek idea of citizenship. Like so many foundational ideas in our culture, the Greeks were the first to conjure up the idea of citizenship in our culture. It was a revolutionary idea and was worn as a badge of honor by everyone who achieved it. Citizens were willing to die to maintain that status and considered everything else slavery. The dynamic I was looking for in my study of the topic was elusive. I was hoping to find an ancient writer who explored the willing service aspect of...
