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For a second consecutive year, the Big Sandy holiday tradition, The Christmas Stroll, has been cancelled due to concerns over recent spikes in Covid cases in Montana. Throughout the month, I have found myself watching Big Sandy adapt and celebrate the holiday without the beloved community gathering, and I would argue that in our own little way we have managed to do a low key version of the event. To make my point, I would like to share my own low key Christmas Stroll that has taken place...
This year I was challenged by a friend to go through an entire Christmas season preaching series without talking about shepherds. To clarify: the challenge wasn’t to not mention them at all, but rather to avoid expounding on how lowly, dirty, and socially rejected these guys were. While researching the topic a few years ago, I discovered a treasure trove of material about the profession in Jewish law and writings. Every time the topic comes up at Christmas, I find myself digging up this material and presenting it. Apparently, it has become e...
The Big Sandy School music program did their part to make the season a little more festive last week. F.E. Miley Elementary held their annual Christmas Concert at Big Sandy High School last Thursday evening. Students took to the stage to play their instruments and sing for parents and community members. TJ Bond, the school's music teacher, was very positive as to how the program went: "The concert went extremely well, the students performed excellently and showed great spirit throughout the...
F.E. Miley Elementary School is doing its annual food drive to provide Christmas dinner for families in the Big Sandy community that are in need. Kindergarten teacher, Samantha Weaver, explained the blessing the food drive has been for the teaching staff: "As a staff, we look forward to giving back to our community. So, we were excited about the Christmas dinner boxes." The idea for the boxes came from Samantha's early teaching years, where she watched other communities do similar projects....
The account of the Shepherds seeing the angels on Christmas is my favorite text associated with the birth of Jesus. It tells the announcement of Jesus’ birth to these guys who were out in a field, working in the middle of the night. The shepherds see the angels, hear the announcement, and are amazed. I guess that is not so surprising considering the experience they had. They immediately went to the nearby city of Bethlehem to see what the excitement was all about. There they saw the newborn Jesus and shared what they had heard. Afterward, t...
Covid concerns have dented the holiday season yet again this year. Amongst other postponed or cancelled events, Breakfast with Santa has take the year off. However, Tim Tucker and Gena Montgomery are saving a little corner of Christmas for the town of Big Sandy. Starting the weekend of the 10th, after 3 pm, parents can bring their kids by to take their pictures with Santa in his sleigh at Tim and Gena's house, which is well decorated for the season. The whole idea began while the pair was huntin...
After months of evening practices and line memorizing, the Big Sandy Community Theater presented two showings of Oz, with a surprise double feature of The Tortoise and the Hare 2: This Time It's Personal. The shows were staged at the Big Sandy Auditorium on Friday (the 3rd) at 7 and Saturday (the 4th) at 3. Both were well attended and garnered significant laughs and encouragement from the attendees. Speaking to the directors and actors, the show was a smashing success. Despite some nervousness...
During my college years (25+ years ago), I did a semester of study in Chicago along with my internship at Voice of America Radio. For the class, we did all sorts of tours and visits to different communities and organizations. We spoke with people from many different segments of society with different backgrounds. One of the panel discussions that had the biggest impact on my view of the world happened in a housing project. The projects in Chicago are very poor and crime-ridden. At the time, there was one exception. One of the housing projects,...
This Christmas 16 families in Big Sandy will be blessed with a merrier Christmas through the work of the Angel Basket Program. Angel Baskets provide families in our area with groceries, a gift certificate, ham and beef roasts, and sometimes (in years past) turkeys. The program is also associated with the Angel Trees, which provide gifts for kids in the families of basket recipients. For children who are not taken care of by gifts through Angel Tree, the basket program purchases gifts. The...
"It's a real country Christmas at a real country store," replied Don Sorensen when I asked what makes their Christmas sale at Virgelle Mercantile special. The event will take place this Saturday and Sunday (December 4th and 5th). It has been held at Virgelle Mercantile since 1976 and typically draws a large crowd from as far north as Canada and as far south as Wyoming. In fact, in the weeks preceding the sale, Don described the shop seeing "trainloads" of dedicated antique hunters scouting for...
This weekend, the Disney+ streaming service released a new 3 part documentary on the Beatles. “Get Back” features all sorts of new footage and offers a unique behind the scenes video and information. My wife and I are big Beatles fans, even going so far as to naming our daughter after the last Beatles album. We are both looking forward to watching the series, so when reviews started appearing online during the first few days after the release, I jumped on the opportunity to read peoples reactions. What I found most interesting about the res...
The American Farm Bureau Federation released its analysis of Thanksgiving meal costs for this year with the total cost of the meal rising around 15%. In particular, the cost of turkey has increased by 24%. Various news sources are running headlines about the increased pressure to the average family's pocketbook. Serious sounding headlines dealing with supply chain bottlenecks, inflation, and even whether or not folks should eat together given Covid concerns. Stack that on top of worries folks...
Frank Lenning is a passionate math teacher and is dedicated to teaching kids to the best of his ability. Anyone looking for proof of this claim needn't look any farther than the teacher's parking area in the school lot, where you will see Frank's van parked at nearly any hour of the day or night. Frank's long hours are a product of his class prep work and availability for tutoring math help. My conversations with our new math teacher quickly turned to teaching and often returned to the subject,...
This morning I found out that our adult Sunday school teacher wasn’t going to make it in for his class. Our regular backup was out of town, so I was the fallback teacher. I wouldn’t be truthful if I said I was excited. I enjoy taking the time before church to review the sermon material and get my mind focused on the service. Still, I got up, went to church, and taught the class without any preparation. I am not a fan of not studying in depth in advance of teaching anything, but I was blessed by the folks in the room and found a ton of thi...
Veterans Day was last week. The holiday always lands on the eleventh day of the eleventh month in recognition of Armistice Day, which was the day World War I ended in 1918. Woodrow Wilson announced the end of the war to the nation, and the holiday, Armistice Day was established. The day was later changed to Veterans Day, when we honor the men and women who serve in our military. Researching our community's history this week, I discovered that The Mountaineer ran a front page story on the...
I am nearly finished reading Tolkien’s novel “The Hobbit.” It is one of my all time favorite novels, and I have read it enough times that I have actually lost count. One of my favorite things about the novel is that the main character, Bilbo the hobbit, loves comfort and ease in life. He lives in a protected world where he never faces any difficulty or challenge apart from annoyance over inconvenience. For those unfamiliar with the story, Bilbo is recruited as a burglar to help a group of dwarves in their adventure. During the story, our hero...
Veteran's Day is nearly upon us, and it is important to take the time to remember the men and women who served our country, ensuring our freedom and safety. "Freedom isn't free. That has been my mainstay ever since I was a young lad. My dad was in the military. He was a Corpsman in the Navy. Since he did that, the Navy was my ultimate goal," explains Dale Morey in response to my question about his thoughts on the day. Dale served our country for forty years between his active duty and reserve...
In ancient Israel, every Jewish boy would learn the Torah in school. Specifically, they would memorize the Jewish religious writings starting at an early age until the rabbi teaching them decided they had reached their potential as students. At that time, they were sent off to work in whatever field their family had always worked in. Some students would be sent away early to work, while others would progress to the point that they were accepted as a disciple to a rabbi. This was sort of like earning your doctorate. Anyone who studied under a...
With the arrival of fall the air begins to fill with the signs of the season: crisp frost, the smell of fireplaces in the morning, and the odor of skunks wandering through town. This year is no different, as locals begin smelling and seeing the unwanted neighbors more prominently than normal. Lianna Heimbigner spotted one a few weeks ago outside her home: "(He) came by just after dark when I was letting the dog back in the house from the back door. One of the cats was still sitting outside, when...
The Big Sandy Theater will be putting on a production of “OZ” (a comedy drama) the first week of December this year. The community theater production returns after taking last year off. Tickets will be $2 and are available at the door on the day of the shows. Dianna Upham Keane, one of the directors, explains: “We have a fantastic cast and crew of all ages who are working hard to put on an entertaining and lively show… We hope the audience of all ages will laugh, be entertained, and be challenged.” The show, written by Don Zolidis, is a diff...
The last two years have seemed like the longest years I’ve experienced in my life. More than a few jokes were told about 2020 being the worst year ever between the murder hornets, Covid, lockdowns, toilet paper shortages, a crazy election, etc. By this time last year, it seemed as though 2020 was never going to end. There’s an interesting principle behind that idea that relates to our perception of the passing of time. It is a well known maxim that years go by faster and faster as you get older. Human brain research has uncovered the rea...
"I had someone say to me that Mom paid it forward to everybody in the community for 30 years. Now everybody is paying her back to her for paying it forward," explained Billy Pierce in describing the outpouring of love, support and generosity for his mother, Kandi Marino. Kandi, a well-loved member of our community, needs a new kidney. The weekend of October 8th-10th, the community gathered together to raise money for medical expenses. It all started with a bale of hay. Friday evening, a...
Big Sandy’s Trunk or Treat Halloween Party will be happening again this Sunday, October 31st beginning at 6:30 PM on Main Street. Trunk-Or-Treat is a community Halloween party where folks bring their cars to Main Street and hand out candy from their trunks. Heather Dilworth, who is organizing the event this year, explained: “I think for families with younger kids, it’s easier to go around to 10 or 20 cars and then visit with everybody for a while and call it a night.” She also pointed out that it provides a space for country residents to come...
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and the Ladies of the Pioneer Volleyball Team have raised $1900 with their Pink Night fundraiser. 6th grade teacher, Calista Worrall, explained: “October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. I think because it hit closer to home with Maryetta going through her battle with breast cancer we really wanted to do it right… The girls did all the work. They went to businesses and got donations, hung up flyers, decorated the gym. This was a big deal to them, and they were proud of their hard work. I know the tot...
I have been a Christian for around 30 years. The first pastor who influenced my life was Pastor Mike. He was a young guy who spent the time to explain the Bible to me and answer my questions. I believe that he is the reason I am working in the ministry today. Along the way, many other men have influenced me through their ministries. Pastor Jim was my first boss as a youth pastor. I believe I am better at what I do because of how he explained people, church culture, and all sorts of other things to me. Denver, Barney, Rich, and many other men...
