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All city councilmen, including Big Sandy Mayor Shaud Schwarzbach, were present except Colby Baumgarn, who was sick. Three city employees and Officer Dennis Hale were also present. There were five guests present. "A crowd," according to Mayor Schwarzbach. The pool repair is halfway done. The weather hasn't cooperated, but the pool deck is cut, and they need to run the pipe. Dennis Hale had nothing to report. It was noted the pivot area needs to have soil samples done. The City Council is working...
Peace It was like most days. I am driving to work never really at the same time. It de3pends on when I wake up and how do I want to move that day. Living 25 miles from town, or how we say it in Montana, "half an hour out." I live between the Missouri River and the Bears Paw Mountains. So there are a few hills. The shadows in the morning are beautiful, with the sun getting up. Usually, the sun is brilliant, with a wide variety of gold, pink, and orange. But some mornings, the sun is still...
Thanks to the Big Sandy CSI organization for another Christmas celebration. It started early. Santa waited patiently for his first visit at the Mint. When I got there, the place was packed. After I took a picture and I went down to the Bear Paw Coffee Shop and ordered a coffee. A small child came in, and I asked if they wanted to see Santa, they asked where and I told them at the Mint. They said, "The bar?" Yes, it has Big Sandy flair! Vendors started carrying their wares shortly after 8:00, at...
For some, the FE Miley School program has been six years in the making. For others, it was their first one. For me, it is always my favorite concert. It could be that I love Christmas, or it could be I love children playing instruments they are still learning on. I also love how the little girls dress up and feel so pretty. I love watching the littlest coming out on to the stage, scared and shy, looking for their mom or dad, or anybody they know. See their faces light up when they find them, and...
For new residents of Big Sandy, you might want to know why it's called the Jim Rettig Christmas Stroll. Jim was the owner of the Big Sandy Mountaineer and was an active community leader. He invested a lot of time and effort into Big Sandy. He established the Big Sandy Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture and served as president and as a board member for many years. Jim had an incredible giving spirit, which was enriched every year at Christmas. He was known to many in Big Sandy as the King of the...
Senior Volleyball players Seanna Demontiney and Lainey Gregory were asked to join the Valier Volleyball team this summer for a week of playing volleyball in Honolulu, Hawaii! Both girls felt honored to be asked. They will be in Honolulu July 7th through the 14th. Oliva King, a player from North Star, message Lainey about the opportunity, and the Valier Coach asked both of the girls if they wanted to play with the Valier team. NoKaOi's Annual Volleyball Camp has been an annual event in Honolulu...
Ron traveled to Louisville, Kentucky, and the Kentucky Exhibition Center and attended the GIE Garden International Event. It is the biggest lawn/garden show in the United States. He tries to go every year to learn about what is coming out, learn about the different aspects of the new engines, and everything new. When I asked him what he learned, he smiled as said, "Everything got expensive. People are not spending their money like they were. The distributors wanted to talk to the big dealers....
We all have our traditional Thanksgiving meal, and usually our regular thanksgiving prayer. We thank God for our family, for the food on our table, and pray for our family, which isn't with us. An attitude of gratitude is minimized to one meal. I interviewed more members of our community about what was their favorite things. We often take for granted what we are indeed thankful for without thinking about what blesses we have in our lives or give it a second thought. Usually, everyone had to...
It’s Thanksgiving, and we’re celebrating with food. The Christmas Stroll Saturday morning is nothing without it food vendors. Paula Amsbaugh will have a table to sell her Mimi’s Mustard and Dip. Paula said, “I got the recipe from a friend years ago,” but she has “tweaked” it. She’s been making the mustard for about 20 years, but it was only a couple of years ago she started to try and sell it. It took her over a year to get all the paperwork completed. It was difficult to get started because she didn’t know where to start. Although the reci...
Editor's note: Shari Jenkins Schmit will be at the Craig Edwards Art Gallery in person Saturday December 7th between 9-6. A number of her prints will be on sale. Shari Jenkins Schmit lives and creates in Great Falls now, but her love for art has always been there. She remembers when she was in the 1st grade in Fort Benton and as a Brownie participated in the town of Fort Benton's Valentine contest. Shari remembers she took her mom's red velvet and made her valentine heart with it. She glued the...
Lily Winderl likes to paint. Horses are her forte. She loves drawing horses. "I start most of my pieces with a basic coat, a then I add a vibrant color. I do a lot of bright colors. I've been working with pastels for some time." But she will also tell you she paints with vibrant colors when she's happy. It's joy she is trying to express. She'll paint with dark colors or create more bland paintings if her day isn't going well. "Art is important because it's a release from everyday life. It's an...
TJ Bond music teacher at the Big Sandy schools presented to our community an excellent program to honor the vets in our community. The grade school children were supposed to wear red, white, and blue. It was too cold to wear summer's red and white and blue, but they did anyway. As the Veterans came into the high school auditorium, they were encouraged to go down to the front to be honored, but no one wanted too. I guess they deserved the right to sit where they wanted. Every student of both...
Let’s start with what’s new this year. The small children can write their letters to Santa, take them to the Library, and send them via special mailbox that Santa set up. They will place the letter inside the mailbox, close the lid and raise the flag, and just like that, their letters will magically be sent to Santa. Also new this year is the Christmas Costume Contest. Costumes must be relatable to Christmas or be recognized as a character from a Christmas movie to be considered for the Prize. The adult’s Grand Prize is sponsored by Agri-Prairi...
I liked the idea of discussing Thanksgiving by acknowledging what simple pleasures we cherish. Like, “Having a job.” I visited five residents to find what their favorite things were. “Spending time with grandkids, my kids, and having family close. When my sister moved away, you realize how important it is to spend quality time with them. We need to treasure the people we love.” “Grandkids. They can get away with anything at my house.” “I’m really thankful for my friends since I have had my health issues.” “Glass of wine.” “Having a slow cup of...
Grandson of Don and Rita Robertson and son and Dan and Penny Smoot, SN Hunter G. Smoot, received the Commandant's Letter of Commendation Ribbon Bar. The operational Distinguishing Device is authorized. Don Robertson shared with me a copy of the letter sent to SN Hunter Smoot by his Commander Captain, T. J. Barelli U. S. Coast Guard. It was a lengthy letter commending him for his advancement. Noted was his outstanding initiative and professionalism. He was instrumental in the competition of 53...
This years’ play, what a delightful phrase to say, will be presented on November 22 and 23 at 7:00 pm both nights. Big Sandy has the wonderful opportunity to enjoy a Christmas tradition in the watching of a Christmas Carol initially written by Charles Dickens in 1843. A Christmas Carol is a story about Ebenezer Scrooge, an older grabby man who is visited by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley and three spirits of Christmas. The ghost of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas yet to come. Scrooge becomes a different ...
The Grinch's sleigh was a simple wooden snow sleigh. The only thing that made it unique was the size of the load it carried. Sleighs have always been a part of the Christmas décor. This year the sled was chosen as the one item crafters in the area could decorate and auction off to help raise funds for next year's Christmas Stroll. There are ten sleighs, some made from wood, from metal, and woven material. Every sled has been picked up and is being decorated waiting for the big Christmas Bazaar...
Rotary originally bought the Pioneer banners for Homecoming but decided to put them up for the football and volleyball playoffs. They will stay up until the playoffs are over-two more weeks. They started to put up the Christmas decorations at the same time as the Pioneer pride banners, but the Christmas decorations didn't fit on the same pole with the Pioneer Pride. So, this year, they are going to put the Christmas decorations up after the football playoffs are over. That means there will be...
I needed to prepare for Thanksgiving for a holiday, which allows us to express our gratitude. Although when asked what we are most thankful for, we always say something like, my family, my health, my home, my job. Ok, those are, of course, what we are all most thankful for, but gratitude should be more profound than that. It should penetrate our lives by the hour. One of the greatest truths I have discovered is you find what you are looking for. I started keeping a gratitude journal; I called...
I wanted to visit with someone from First Bank about the bank coming to Big Sandy and had the opportunity to talk to Dean Comes, President, Dona Harrison, Manager of Deposit Operations, and Megan Bartel Loan Operations. I first asked, who are you? First Bank became a division of Glacier Bank in 2006. Glacier Bank operates in over 100 communities across Montana, Nevada, Wyoming, Idaho, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona. It has a Community Bank philosophy. Glacier Bank acquires small community banks...
What's coming? "And what happened then? Well...in Whoville they say that the Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day!" The Big Sandy Annual Christmas Stroll's theme this year is Merry Grinchmas. It takes place December 7th. It will have all your favorite activities including the craft bazar, the Christmas parade of lights, and button drawing that evening. Starting last year, the CSI (Community Service and Improvement) Big Sandy committee asked the students of the Big Sandy High School to...
It won’t be the first time I didn’t know what to do. A paper requires a lot of advertisements to publish. I knew when I bought the Big Sandy paper that this would be a challenge for me. That’s not saying writing isn’t it, but I had been writing, learning, as I went for over almost two years when I bought the paper. I knew nothing about how to sell ads. I also knew that Big Sandy didn’t even have enough businesses to place ads to pay for the process of printing, so I had to find and sell the paper to prospective businesses. It takes about 43% to...
Hawks are numerous during the summer; in fact, large numbers will follow a tractor as it works the fields ready to dive to pick up a meal in a small rodent. However, this fall, after our first winter storm, I saw more hawks sitting together, then I have ever seen. I was traveling to the Mountaineer one morning to find a hawk sitting on every fence post for one and a half miles, plus there were many flying or sitting on the ground. I called Fish Wildlife and Park in Great Falls, to find out what...
There is a new Parent Support Group starting in Big Sandy. It is for parents of kids with medical and special needs. Rachel Baumgarn is starting the group. According to her she has discovered once again, that Colby and her, raise their children with the support of the community. It is difficult to raise children with medical needs and often parents of children with learning disabilities face peers that do not understand why their child acts a certain way. A poster that Rachel built for the Facebook says, “Parenting is hard, and it is made even...
For the first time, the Big Sandy Medical Guild Rummage Sale was three days long, getting over Saturday at noon. There were too many people to thank, and the fear of forgetting one meant neither Lisa Sipler nor Reggie Jappe would attempt a list of helpers. However, this large event takes many community members to pull off. This year the high school students once again helped. The football team arrived with their pickups and helped set up. Monday Morning, the first two periods of ag classes came...
