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Last year, I preached the Good Friday and Easter Morning Services to an empty room with a camera set up to stream everything to Facebook. All of the other churches in town, and across the country, had the same experience. Like everything that happened in 2020, church services for Easter were cancelled due to the lockdowns. Most churches had had the opportunity to adapt by that point and were streaming their services or running worship online via Zoom or other apps. In the weeks before Easter...
In the ancient world, Jews and Samaritans hated each other. The conflict between the two groups went back hundreds of years and frequently reached levels of venom and spite that we rarely see in our culture. It was common for Jews to kick the dust off their feet before leaving Samaria to make sure they didn’t bring any Samaritan soil with them to their own countries. Jews often crossed the street and spit in the road when they passed Samaritans. Jewish rabbis didn’t even consider Samaritans to be a class of neighbor when discussing the “Lo...
The Big Sandy Rotary Club will be hosting its annual Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, April 3rd at 11 AM sharp. The event will take place at the Big Sandy Airport. The event is open to children who are old enough to walk and collect candy, toys, and eggs through 5th grade. The Easter Egg Hunt has been hosted by the Rotary Club for around 60 years. The kids will be divided into five groups by age and assigned to a specific area of the airfield, where candy, small toys, and a few special plastic eggs...
With the arrival of Spring, Big Sandy's gardening and landscaping communities have a local source for buying high quality soil. For the last couple of years, Dan Matthew has been selling Glacier Gold Potting Soil and the Glacier Gold Professional Blend. Both soils are produced by Mountain West Products right here in Montana. Dan explained that the professional blend holds moisture longer. The Mountain West website explains additional benefits, like additional nutrients that are present in the...
A few weeks ago, I made a peanut butter sandwich for my son for lunch. He took his sandwich with him to his room, where he ate and played. Because he’s a typical four year old, it didn’t take long before he forgot about the sandwich and wandered off to do something else. When he remembered his lunch, he returned to it and found that the dog had eaten his lunch, which he had left on the floor in his room. Frustrated, he came to me crying over his lost meal. I made another sandwich, which he took with him to his room. Sure enough, 30 minutes lat...
I deal with a handful of hard deadlines every week. By Sunday morning, I have to have a sermon written. By Monday morning, I need to complete two articles and a column. Monday through Thursday I have to have the kids out of bed, dressed, fed, and out the door by 7:30 AM. There are a few others, but I suspect most people deal with similar hard deadlines and goals. The thing is that these deadlines don’t necessarily coincide with the larger objectives of my work and personal life. They are important, but I have to do lots of other things in o...
"I like to watch kids learn new things and be productive and find themselves and find what they like. I like to foster their curiosity and their wonder of the world. How they see things," explained Melissa Han, the current Junior High math teacher and floating substitute at Big Sandy High School. Melissa and her family moved to Big Sandy just before the start of the 2018 school year from their previous home in Brady, Montana, which is just south of Conrad. For the first two years of the...
Visitors to The Grocery Store last Thursday morning were treated to an unusual service: Captain America was helping customers load groceries to help support veterans. In this case, the man in the mask was Allen Mullins, who has been walking to raise money for veterans for 12 years. "Since 2009, I've made it my job to get out here in this country to find VFWs, American Legions, Vietnam Veterans, families with kids that need assistance. I organize a walk and help them out." When asked about the...
When the British first introduced the game of golf to India, after building their first golf course, they discovered a problem with the natural environment. The indigenous monkeys around the course were fascinated by the little white balls. They began to steal the balls, disrupting the games. The British tried all manner of methods to solve the problem of monkeys interfering with play. They built fences, but the monkeys simply climbed over them. They made loud noises, but they eventually learned to ignore them. Finally, after all else failed, t...
LeaAnn Williams is growing a local business selling homemade organic soap, shampoo, shaving cream, body butter, lip balm, and other self-care products. The soap making project began three years ago when LeaAnn's husband, Gabe, began experiencing reactions to the soap they used in their shop. "So we thought well, it wouldn't be a bad idea to start an alternative for him to wash his hands. So, I started investigating about charcoal. I learned that it was very good because it can't be absorbed by...
The 2020 homecoming, which was postponed to this year due to last year’s Covid lockdowns, has been cancelled entirely. Michelle Danruther, speaking on behalf of the Homecoming Committee explained: “We had planned on it being in the third week in June 2020. But because of Covid, we thought we would send it on a year. Now, we’ve cancelled it.” Michelle explained last year’s decision to postpone the event to this year. “Beginning or middle of March is when you started hearing things were being cancelled. We had been at the school running off...
If you turn on a tv, open a web browser, pick up a magazine, or look at any medium that presents you with an advertisement, you’ll encounter all manner of messages and ideas. One of the unifying themes in all advertising is the idea that you should be comfortable and happy all the time. It makes sense that this would be the case because no one is going to buy a product that promises them hardship or to make their lives harder. It’s good advertising and sorta makes sense in other settings. Being comfortable seems good and desirable on the sur...
While substitute teaching at the Elementary School last week, I was pleasantly surprised to receive a cup of flavored coffee from Kira Witmer. Later, over the weekend, I learned that the coffee was delivered as part of the coffee cart, which gives teachers the opportunity to order coffee and snacks from the Special Education classroom at the High School. The initiative was pioneered by Kira in an effort to teach life skills to her Special Education classes. She hopes to see it grow in coming...
In a surprising upset on Friday, February 12th, Big Sandy's 110 pound Wesley Cox wrestled against and pinned 160 pound Jaxon Coates of Cascade, Montana in the third round of their match, despite giving up nearly 50 pounds and several inches of height. The sight of the two wrestlers stepping out onto the mat was strange to watch as Jaxon towered over Wes, though the pair of athletes are the same age. Wesley later explained that he really didn't expect to win. He attributed his victory to...
Wednesday morning the thermometer dipped below 30 degrees for the first time this winter, and many locals weren’t ready for the chill. My experience of the cold morning started when I walked out into thecold to start my car so it could warm up a bit before I drove the kids to school. When I turned the key, the engine rolled over slowly for a few seconds before giving up entirely. I quickly realized that I hadn’t plugged in the block warmer, so I plugged it in and threw on my battery charger in hopes of getting the kids to school without mak...
By Erik Sietsema The Big Sandy Public Library has changed its hours of operation, is compiling a community cookbook, and has upgraded some services in order to better serve the community. The new hours began Monday, February 8th. Rachel Baumgarn, who works at the library, explained the change: "It's more consistent. We're open at 10 all week, and we close at 5, except today (Friday). We close at three. We got asked a lot about hours because nobody knew when we were closing or opening. So we...
Jim Taylor Motors in Fort Benton employs the "best diesel mechanic in the state", at least according to Nick Brock, internet manager for the dealership. I visited the dealership to speak with the best mechanic in the state, and met Jason Langer. He was modest in response the suggestion that he was the best diesel mechanic in the state. When I pressed Jason to explain what set him apart as the best, he explained "It's not that I'm better than any other tech. It's knowing where to find the informa...
After retiring and moving to Big Sandy, Ron Baumann opened a small engine repair business, bringing along 44 years of experience to serve our community. "The average farm has 10 to 12 pieces of equipment on it that's related to this. A lot of people don't know how, or don't have the patience or the time to work on them. I love what I do. I treat everything that comes in here like it's mine," Ron explained regarding the local market for 2 and 4 cycle engine repair. Ron brings a lifetime of...
Fans attending the Big Sandy-Chinook basketball game 2 weeks ago were treated to a heart warming display of sportsmanship, courtesy of the Chinook Sugar Beeters and the Big Sandy Pioneers. In the closing minutes of the game, 8th grader Sonny Phillips scored his first basket as a varsity player. After a missed 3 point attempt was rebounded by a Sugar Beeter, the opposing player passed the ball back to Sunny who made a second attempt at the 3 point shot, and again missing. The missed shot was...
I woke up at 2:30 this morning. After tossing and turning for 30 minutes, I finally gave up on trying to get back to sleep and got up. I’ve got to admit that I wasn’t all that happy about getting up many hours before the alarm. After finally giving up on getting back to sleep, I got out of bed, started the coffee maker, and settled in for a long morning. I started the morning reading a novel, followed by studying for the morning sermon, cleaning the kitchen, changing bed sheets, and a few other chores. The quiet house and extra time gave me...
Big Sandy High School AG students have been blessed for the last three years by the presence of Layne Taylor. Layne brings his interests, experiences, and passions to the classroom to make the AG education experience a benefit to our community's young people. One example (of many) is the newest addition to the shop: a metal forge. Mr Taylor turned his personal interest in metal working into an opportunity to teach. "I built a forge over Christmas break. For 23 years, I've been been curious...
Last Thursday, FE Miley Elementary celebrated its first National Kazoo Day. National Kazoo Day falls on the fourth Thursday of January every year. The festivities began in the afternoon music classes, where Mr. TJ Bond introduced the kids to their kazoos and practiced songs with the students. Afterwards, he lined the students up at the classroom door and practiced playing and marching with the kids around the basketball courts. Finally, he spent some time playing kazoos through various...
Over the weekend, I spent some time thinking about life changing moments. I suspect that there aren’t a whole lot of them for most people. For me, I can identify a handful of experiences that have changed things radically for me. One of those times was a Sunday morning a little over 15 years ago. Our church brought in a guest speaker one Sunday who talked about the ministry done by Bashor Children’s Home. He spoke about the lost and abused kids that came to live there and how the home helped to bring healing and restoration to their lives. That...
The Big Sandy High School Junior class has completed construction on a shed that is now for sale, with the proceeds going to support FFA. The project originally began as a joint venture with Clay Dixon, who fronted the money for construction costs. At the time, Mr. Dixon was planning on renting out storage sheds to the community as a business venture. After changing his mind about the project, the decision was made to sell the building. Actual construction of the building was started by the...
"Big Sandy as a place of residence becomes better every day. People are pouring into the country... coming right down to the brass tacks, the Big Sandy area offers more opportunities to the man who wants to get ahead... than any other place... The finest agricultural land... Water that's the best and entirely free from soda or alkali; the best shipping facilities... Come to Big Sandy..." This ringing endorsement was printed in the Mountaineer in 1915. After 135 years, our town continues to get...
