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In the interests of full disclosure, Mayor Stiles told “the Mountaineer” that if the new pool bond passes, there will need to be a special district created that would create roughly twenty-five thousand dollars annually for pool costs. The new assessment would be .00412 per square foot of taxed property. In Big Sandy the average lot is 140 by 50 feet which would figure out to $2.40 per month or $28.84 annually on each average lot. This is a city operational levy and should not be confused with The Swimming Pool Bond Issue which will be vot...
This is the ninth year former Big Sandy High School graduate Ellaraine Lockie has provided the English students at BSHS the opportunity to participate in the Walter Gerson Poetry Contest. Each year Ellaraine Lockie judges students’ poetry, makes comments about the poems and awards students for their excellent poetry and participation. This year is no exception. There are several cash prizes and several honorable mentions. Two teachers at Big Sandy high school have been involved in the poetry contest. Lauren Clampitt handled the Gerson poems f...
The regular Big Sandy City Council Meeting for May was held on May 11. There were no visitors present, no sheriff’s report and after the Pledge was recited and the previous minutes approved, there were no public comments. The new water project was discussed. The City is still waiting for Rural Development to get a package put together. Mayor Stiles thinks it will be most of the summer getting things put together and the earliest there could be bids on this project would be next winter with the project to start in the spring of 2018. There was n...
A fellow came in “The Mountaineer” office a couple of weeks ago and said how much he likes the stories about fishing on Clear Creek. He said that he has done a lot of fishing on Sandy Creek and Beaver Creek as well. It is still May and what used to be the most important month of the year for stream fishing in our area as the first day of stream fishing used to be the third weekend in May. I remember old timers saying that if there were still snow drifts in the high country of the Bear Paw Mountains on the first day of fishing season, it was...
By Robert Lucke For a small town, there are quite a few organizations in Big Sandy that go around doing a world of good for a lot of people. One that is not recognized nearly as much as it should be is the American Legion Auxiliary unit here in Big Sandy. This unit of 29 members helps veterans and others on an almost daily basis. And they do most of their activities in a very non assuming and quiet way. Last week Lianne Heimbigner and Amy Sibra along with Barb Dixon came in to talk about their...
For most of you who read my rants and raves often, you know that I am a Brother Van Methodist. In my family that all got started when my uncle Robert Charles Stuart died at age 6 from eating a poisoned apple by mistake. Up until that time Grandma and Grandpa Stuart did not go to church at all. But after Bobby died they decided to start going to church and of course they had to be Methodists. Grandpa Stuart’s father was a Methodist tent preacher in Virginia. Grandpa Stuart’s brother John in addition to being an engineer on the Great Nor...
When I am driving to Big Sandy and back these days, I see that the fields are full of folks sowing their crops and hoping for a good harvest and good prices. I think of that famous favorite hymn of the famous Methodist Missionary Brother Van, “Harvest Time” by W. A. Spencer. The hymn is about planting and reaping and tears and singing and mostly about life which is not always pleasant. In addition the hymn is not really about planting and reaping at all but about grace, our souls, good times and bad and how to live life. You don’t have to be...
This week Vicki picked a book called “HALF THE SKY” by the husband and wife team of Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. “HALF THE SKY “is a call to arms. A call for help. A call for contributions but also it is a call for volunteers. It asks us to open our eyes to this enormous humanitarian issue. It does so with exquisitely crafted prose and sensationally interesting material. One reviewer says that it is one of the most important books ever reviewed. From the first married couple to win a Pulitzer Prize for journalism, here is a passion...
Last weekend I went to Lake McDonald and Glacier National Park for the first time this season. It was wonderful. I participated in the first log ceremony at Lake McDonald Lodge where on the day the Lodge opens, a crowd gathers and the first fire in the huge fireplace is lit for the season. In addition I answered lots of questions in a question and answer session with new Red Bus Drivers. But best of all I just looked and looked and looked. Oh how I had missed those wonderful mountains that form the top part of Lake McDonald. Just naming them...
It has been a tradition for several years at "The Mountaineer" to feature a graduating senior girl and boy with a parent in an interview for the graduation edition. This year is no exception. We have Alex Richter whose story is told by her father Jeff and Matthew Louvar whose mother Debbie tells his story. First here is the interview about graduating senior Alex Richter, "Alex attended a graduation in Big Sandy and decided that she wanted to graduate from a small school and Big Sandy was her...
This is the ninth year former Big Sandy High School graduate Ellaraine Lockie has provided the English students at BSHS the opportunity to participate in the Walter Gerson Poetry Contest. Each year Ellaraine Lockie judges students’ poetry, makes comments about the poems and awards students for their excellent poetry and participation. This year is no exception. There are several cash prizes and several honorable mentions. Two teachers at Big Sandy high school have been involved in the poetry contest. Lauren Clampitt handled the Gerson poems f...
You will see more and more signs of agritourism in this part of Montana once a bill sponsored by the Farmer’s Union and signed by Governor Bullock a few weeks ago, gets up and going in the next two years. It is very apparent to many people in the agriculture community that they need to diversify their products even more. It is not enough just to plant wheat. It is not enough to plant other crops. Still more is needed to keep the family farm viable and able to support extended families so that those farms are not lost to giant organizations t...
Mayor Stiles described actions taken at the April 6 regular City Council meeting. After the pledge was recited and the March minutes were approved it was determined that there were no public comments although there were some five visitors at the meeting. The biggest news in the meeting was that Fred Watstein resigned from the Council due to leaving the area and Darrin Ray was appointed in his place. In the Sheriff’s Report it was reported that there is a violent offender living in Big Sandy. Regarding KLJ Engineering, the pipe line project was...
When Connie Green started Big Sandy Activities in an old house on the south side some 40 years ago little did she know that she was aiding the town financially and giving them something that many towns the size of Big Sandy do not have. That is how present Big Sandy Activities director Lorrie Merrill thinks of her organization and she should know. “It started as a day care program,” continued Merrill. “The State of Montana had closed down institutions and people who had lived in those institutions were sent to nursing homes. When setti...
When Congressman Ryan Zinke was appointed by President Trump to be the Secretary of Interior, that left Montana's only seat in the House of Representatives vacant. Three men are running for that seat in a special election to be held toward the end of May. They are Mark Wicks, Libertarian; Greg Gianforte, Republican and Rob Quist, Democrat. "The Mountaineer sent each candidate a set of questions to answer for readers of this newspaper. Here are the questions and the answers by the candidates. Do...
Maybe it was T. S. Elliott or some other poet who said that April is the cruelest month of all. I agree! When I look at the three months of spring, not counting June, but starting with March, April and May, March usually is as much winter as summer and we all have grown to expect that. But when we finally get through March, and are basking in the early April sunshine, that sunshine can turn cloudy in a heartbeat and the next time you go out the back door, there is three inches of snow on the sidewalk. That is what I find so cruel about April....
Mayor Stiles attended the School Board meeting on April11, 2017. The meeting was important for him as the School Board voted on whether or not to put a new pool to a vote this spring. The City of Big Sandy and the School Board have invested lots of time and Rotary has funded a study regarding a new pool. “The Tuesday meeting went well,” said Mayor Stiles. “There were lots of people, and lots of questions were asked. The Board voted to put the pool to a vote of the people.” That election is going to be a mail in ballot. Ballots will go out on...
Dave Louvar, owner of The Grocery Store has seen many changes in buying habits since he has owned the store in Big Sandy. Whether those changes are good or bad depends on your point of view according to Louvar. "You used to need a great meat department and that has changed drastically. Now you need only a small meat department but with choice cuts of meat in it," Louvar said. Louvar continued, "Roast beef was on the table three days a week. Now days a lot of people don't even know how to cook...
Contact the Senior Citizen cooks at 378-2405. All lunches include an entrée, vegetable, potato, salad, dessert and drink and all cost $5.00 unless otherwise noted. Menus for the coming week are as follows: Wednesday, April 19 crispy chicken sandwich, tator tots, salad and dessert. Thursday, April 20 cheesy taco sticks, lettuce, tomato, chips and dessert. Friday, April 21 ham and bean soup, corn bread and dessert Monday, April 24 baked spaghetti, vegetables, garlic bread and dessert for the Lunch of the Week! Tuesday, April 25 chicken and rice c...
Erik Sietsema was in "The Mountaineer" last week sharing a wonderful Easter story. Sietsema is the sky pilot of the Big Sandy Church of God and for the past few years he and his great team have taken over the Food Bank. They are serving more than ever and are in need of help as well as groceries to help people around here who need help. The Big Sandy Food Bank is serving a huge number of people. They are helping 77 people and that is 18 families. "We are doing more than we ever have," said...
"The Mountaineer" has featured stories before about Tina Rodewald and her Prairie Blossoms Floral. Those stories come out around Easter and are about the only time we think about Tina, her daughter-in-law Traci and their flowers. It is easy to forget about Prairie Blossoms because they don't have a store front. However, they are a full service flower shop and are just another business in our town that makes Big Sandy great! Tina's fresh flowers can always be found in a flower case in The...
“There is a balm in Gilead To heal the sin sick soul.” That old American spiritual was most important to early day ranchers and homesteaders alike coming into this new place now called North Central Montana. With Easter just around the corner, it is a fitting time to see why those old timers named the lowly cottonwood trees “Balm of Gilead Trees”. It is their perfume and perfect for Easter although it is too early to really get a good whiff of them Easter Week. Those old timers travelled up Beaver Creek,. Clear Creek and Big Sandy Creek on picn...
When we ran the story about the Gist ranch being included in the National Register of Historic Places. A couple of readers told us that we should not feature that place as no one can get to it by road anyway. There are two roads into the Gist part of the Missouri River. One is a road down from the Bullwhacker Coulee road. That road is in very bad shape and the owners of the ranch at the top of the hill will not let people go on the road in the first place. The other road takes off from the Ferry road and most of the time it is closed as well...
By Robert Lucke Whoa partners and sashay yourselves down to the new Big Sandy Library on April 11 to celebrate with an open house from 2 to 5 on that day. If you have not had a chance to view this beautiful addition to our main street, now is a good time to do it and be served refreshments at the same time. Head librarian Stephanie Overbay said that the open house is a great time to visit the new library but it is open and perfect for all sorts of activities during the week as well. There are...
Included in this week's "Mountaineer" is a story about bears coming out of hibernation. We front paged this story for two reasons. First, it has a dandy picture of some grizzly bears coming out of hibernation that we wanted to share with you. But even more important there are many grizzlies especially, who are denning up along the Front Range and some even out on the prairie so those of us who live along rivers that have their sources in those areas should be on the lookout for grizzly bears in...
