Sorted by date Results 206 - 230 of 957
I won another Kitchen Aid, according to my emails. I think I win a Kitchen Aid every week. According to National Consumers League, this type of fraud tops the list at 35%. Demra Brown, representing First Bank, did a presentation on the fraud awareness program at the Senior Citizen Center. The seniors requested the program, and Demra came to the center. She got most of the information from the AARP. If you want to pick one up, more handouts are at the center. Seniors are targeted more than any other age group. Above 65 years, it’s 15 % to 1...
The Town of Big Sandy held its regular City council meeting on February 16th. The Public Comments section noted that the Fish and Game would be coming to Big Sandy to kill up to 50 deer and donate the meat to local food banks. It will be a controlled hunt; no one else can shoot off a gun within the city limits. It is believed to be better than car accidents that have happened. Also, during the Public Comment section, there were discussions about the Community Decay Ordinance. Progress has been...
The Big Sandy Senior Center is doing well under the leadership of Brenda Darlington and the Board of Directors. Questions are always asked about how the center is now doing. Without trying to name every volunteer, it also requires so many volunteers. If it weren't for volunteers to donate hours of support from bookwork to cooking, maintenance issues, handling the pay table, and delivering meals, it could not function. So, it could be said the community of Big Sandy is keeping it open. They have...
According to usafacts.org from an article called “Teachers in the US face low pay relative to their level of education, which was published on November 11, 2022, “the average teacher makes less than the average full-time earner in every state except Hawaii. In Montana, teachers make 80% of the average wage; Wyoming 92%, Washington 88%, North Dakota 85%, and Idaho is also 80%.” According to the same article, teachers work an average of 50 hours a week teaching and $300 of their personal money on classroom supplies. Also, finding teachers to te...
When I had energy and more time I loved to plant flowers and vegetable. Only to be frustrated to wake up in the morning and have them eaten to the ground. Deer loved my flowers. They would come and much off the bloom! For the longest time I had a love/hate relationship with the deer of our farm. Then one night I woke up to see the deer eating the weeds outside my window. She couldn't see me but I was inches away from her. The moonlight on her nose and eyes was incredible. So the hate just flew a...
Dr. Derik Powell will be Big Sandy's new dentist. Derik and his wife both graduated from CMR in Great Falls. He completed undergraduate degrees from Montana State before attending Dental School at the University of Utah. He completed a 1-year General Practice Residency at the VA hospital in Denver. Derik said, "My wife and I could not have been more excited to move back to Montana. After Dr. Buer approached me about his practice, I knew it would be a good fit. So, we packed our bags with our...
Up front, I know nothing about horses, so when I heard one of our own had a horse competing in the Superbowl of Rodeos, the National Finals Rodeos, I just had to get a story. Laci Keller Christenson said, "it's like your kid playing football on Lambeau Field in Green Bay. The NFR is the world's biggest stage for the rodeo." Tenley Epperson daughter of Harvey and Demrece Keller, graduated from Big Sandy High School in 2012. She was on the rodeo team for the Montana State Bobcats for four years...
Every year I am in awe of the contributions made by the Lippard/Clawiter Foundation. They have supported Chouteau county since its formation in the early 1980s. The Foundation awards grants to non-profit organizations all across Chouteau County “for any of the following purposes: religious, educational, charitable, scientific, literary, testing for public safety, fostering national or international amateur sports competition (as long as it doesn’t provide athletic facilities or equipment), or the prevention of cruelty to children or ani...
Tordik Wildlife Foundation, Inc. was formed in 1991 and they have quietly continued to fund projects in Chouteau County. This year the Big Sandy area received $98,000. The following received: Chouteau County Free Library in Big Sandy $3,000; Big Sandy Volunteer Fire Department $10,000; Town of Big Sandy Pool Fund $20,000; Big Sandy Rotary Club $20,000, Big Sandy Medical Center $10,000, and Big Sandy Education Foundation $35,000. Mayor Shaud Schwarzbach wanted to acknowledge how extremely...
My favorite concert lived up to my excitement. Big Sandy's Elementary School concert is always my favorite. It started with the 4th graders playing Cool Christmas tree on their recorders. Music Teacher TJ Bonds introduced them by saying parents might not appreciate their children's practicing, but the recorders teach valuable music basics. Next was the 5th-grade band for their first-ever concert. They played three songs: March Steps, A Mozart Melody (Twinkle Twinkle Little Star—I didn't know that was a Mozart song), and Jingle Bells. Fifth g...
It is that time of year when music rules supreme. The time of year when we usually know every song being played. It brings up memories and smiles. It lifts us, and despite ourselves, we find ourselves smiling. Ok, there is occasionally a song that is played so much we start crumbling about "that" same song. There is music about the Savior being born. Music about family. Music about Santa. My favorite concerts are this time of year. I love listening to grade school children sing. I love watching...
It was great to have Jessie Jaramillo, Big Sandy's Art teacher, display some of the work of the Big Sandy students in the Mountaineer during the Big Sandy Stroll. I was also happy with the number of people who stopped to talk to her and see the students' work because I believe art is essential. She had written up explanations of the work the students had done. Jessie Jaramillo said, "In simple terms, the elements of art are parts that make up the whole. These are often described as methods or...
It was a very long day but full of excitement, except if you asked the kids sitting with their moms at the craft bazaar. They said they were bored. But let's start with Breakfast with Santa; what a wonderful place to start. Seeing so many seniors volunteering at the center and making it all come together was exciting. Two full tables of goodies for sale, and I loved the decorations! Santa praised the 6th-grade girls that helped him; Markell Houle, Abbey Sietsema, Laurie Silvan, and London...
Charlotte Danreuther knows clay. She's hand-thrown clay with perfection for years. When you see her work (art), you'll think they're made from a form. Each one is perfectly made. She is opening her shop in the Lift (odd fellows) building on the left side. She will be open during the Christmas stroll from 8-4. If she decides to open before then, it will be on Facebook for a soft opening. I can tell you I have waited for years for someone to do pottery in our town. I went over before anything was...
I asked Travis Baumann what he wants for the Pioneer Girls Basketball team. Travis said, “To be competitive. We want to be competitive in every game we play. That’s everybody’s goal. That’s the girls’ goal too.” He believes we will see that at Stanford in our first game on December 3rd Montana is going to have a 35-second shot clock this year. “Yes. A shot clock. Yep. Yes, it’s exciting.” Travis said they would be up-and-down teams, so he doesn’t think a 35-second shot clock will affect our girls. “I don’t think so at all.” Travis Baumann is...
This year the Big Sandy Pioneers will have Co-Head coaches; Rhett Simanton and Ryan Labuda. They have 14 basketball players but will bring up some 8th graders. Rhett said his coaching philosophy "is more or less, not basketball first, but character and playing together as a team. Before we even talk strategy, I feel this is important. They have made a big jump towards that in football. I feel like and hope to continue that in a positive way. I think it was a big, big reason they got where they...
You don’t know him. You don’t need to know him. His name is Dean Moen, my cousin. Dean was born with an intellectual disability, and when he was 15 years old, he was also in a car accident, which caused a brain stem bruise resulting in a coma for weeks. He was in the hospital for a month. He spent the rest of his life with both an intellectual and a physical disability. This summer I was at his graveside service in Glasgow. I couldn’t help thinking of my brother Jim, who we lost to cancer, and Dean. He left three sisters, and Jim left three sib...
Champions are made! And when they win, it is huge! There was just something about this year. From the beginning of the season....no, it started last summer; I knew extra work was being done to prepare to win state. The boys had a positive attitude. There was no doubt in their minds. From the very first game against White Sulpher Springs (46-6) to the last against Broadview/Livina (67-27), they proved there were the best. Of course, there was a great variety of offense plays made by athletic...
Principal Heather Wolery’s report was the most important and exciting at the meeting. The student enrollment is elementary 104, Jr. High 29, and High School 63. There are 52 girls and 52 boys in the elementary school. Jr. High has 12 girls and 17 boys. High school breaks down to 34 girls and 29 boys. The Student-Teacher Ration is Elementary 7:1, Jr. High 2:1, and High School 5:1. The Average class size is 15. The average daily attendance is 95.03% in the Elementary, Jr High has 95.89%, and High School is running at 93.53%. The percentage of s...
I was at the high school getting a couple of photos. Piper Phillips was there practicing for the play. She came up to me and said, "Are you from the newspaper?" I knew right away what she wanted to talk to me about. I said I was, and she said she had the picture in her backpack. I asked to see it, and she smiled really big and went to get it. I wondered if I could take her picture, so we went into the hallway. Don Schrock, the Superintendent, was walking the halls, stopped and looked at her...
Recently inducted into the Big Sandy Chapter of the National Honor Society were Eva Wagoner, Cody Boone, and Mattie Gasvoda. Jessie Jaramillo, Big Sandy High School's art teacher, is the sponsor of the Big Sandy National Honor Society. Membership in the Honor Society is an honor and should be recognized. She told me that she also has the student write a letter of interest and get a letter of recommendation, and once they are inducted into the program, they must complete 50 hours of community...
During a team awards ceremony, coach Britney McKenny presents her volleyball awards at the end of the season. One of her athletes was selected for the first time as an All-State Selection. Congratulations to Angie Sant was also selected for 1st Team All-Conference; Coach Britney said, "I am really excited for her!" Eva Yeadon was chosen for the 2nd Team All-Conference. "I have been keeping stats records for each player for four years. It is so awesome seeing the progress that happens from year t...
I grew up respecting Veterans Day; my father was a vet. But it wasn't until my daughter, Serena, and her husband, Kody, were home did I fully understand the depth of the day. I remember my father tearing up every time the national anthem was played, and he insisted on flying the flag daily. I thought I would visit with a few because I knew whether the vets could tell me or not was important. I wanted to allow them to express themselves. Most of them probably would have liked a little more time...
According to the North Central Montana Regional Water site website, "The Chippewa Cree Tribe of the Rocky Boy's Reservation and the State of Montana, through the Reserved Water Rights Commission, negotiated a settlement of the Tribe's Water Rights Claims. The Compact, ratified by the 1997 Montana Legislature and signed by President Clinton in December of 1999, provided a water allocation of 10,000 acre-feet to the Tribe from Lake Elwell (Tiber Reservoir), south of Chester, Montana. In addition...
This year's Christmas Stroll theme is a Miracle on Main Street. Marless reminded me, "As you know, it's sort of a twist of the Miracle of 34th Street. Santa has to go to court and prove he is Santa, how the kids put up "I Believe" signs in the window. So they will make some signs to say "I believe ."Then we can have them and put them in all the downtown buildings. Yes. And I hope all the kids at home put some up in their windows at home too. You know.....all right, a miracle might be having...
