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I recently attended a four-hour training session for Big Sandy Leadership. I’ll be presenting the information in several articles. I will be quoting information given to the Big Sandy School board as presented by Dr. Daniel Farr MSU Professor, retired Superintendent, and educational leadership consultant. On the front page of his presentation, it said, “The impossible can always be broken down to possibilities.” It was a very informative workshop. Over the years the role of the School Board has changed. Pre-1900 Boards served as admin...
For four years, the First Bank has served our small community. This year to celebrate their appreciation, First Bank asked Marie Jappe, owner of the Mint, to serve lunch on the bank's grass. Numerous tents were set up so customers could eat in the shade. Marie served barbeque shredded pork, coleslaw, macaroni and cheese, cold drinks, and dessert. When First Bank first came to Big Sandy, I asked them to give us information about who they were. First Bank became a division of Glacier Bank in...
Montana Actor’s Theater (MAT) is trying something new with their 2023-2024 productions. On Saturday, August 26th from noon to 5 pm MAT will be holding company auditions for the first half of the coming theater season. This is an opportunity for potential actors to audition for multiple shows at the same time. In addition, it’s a chance for those who have never participated in a MAT production to try out for multiple shows. According to the MAT homepage, holding auditions for multiple shows simultaneously provides directors an opportunity to col...
In the coming days, parents will engaging in the annual tradition known as school shopping. The school typically puts out lists to guide them in their efforts. This year, my daughter is leaving the elementary school and starting her educational career at the high school. On several occasions, she has expressed a degree of worry about the increased academic difficulty that will come with her new school setting. In response to her concern, I have started preparing myself to help her through...
Top Yielding Winter Wheat Varieties for Chouteau County MSU Agricultural Research Centers have one test plot for winter wheat in Chouteau County which is managed by MSU Northern Agricultural Research Center (NARC) north of Loma. A special thanks to Peggy Lamb (NARC agronomist) for establishing and maintaining the Chouteau County test plot. The Extension office would also like to thank the McKeever family for donating the use of their land for MSU research. NARC (Loma area) top three yielding winter wheat varieties (10-year average yield) from...
Hope Gasvoda is entering her Senior Year at University of Providence this fall, set to earn her degree in Forensic science Biology. She plans to continue on to grad school in pursuit of becoming a Forensic Pathologist. While an intern, she has been very interested in learning the different types of PCR (Polymerase chain reaction is a lab technique for rapidly producing millions to billions of copies of a specific segment of DNA, which can then be studied in greater detail)...
The July 29th fundraiser to support Cooper Jenkins was a huge success, raising $67,000 to help defray medical costs for the Jenkins family. That total includes only the money raised through the auctions, dinner, raffles, and other fundraising activities that took place Saturday evening. Money has also been donated through a "Go Fund Me" page and via direct deposits to the bank. At the time of writing this article, the Go Fund Me page had raised $10,500. The event was organized to aid the...
Darlene Cline has been a librarian for six years, and in those six years, she has continued to create an atmosphere at the library that makes children want to come. When I asked her why she wanted to be a librarian, she said, "Oh Lorrie, my head is so fried!" Okay, so let's start easy, do you like to read books? "I love to read." I asked her, "What's one of your favorite books you've ever read?" "I think I have too many of those! I wanted to become a librarian for the kids and the community and...
By Erik Sietsema With discussion of the impending upgrades to the north side of the High School, I found myself wondering where the Big Sandy Pioneers wagon came from and when it was initially installed in the courtyard. An inspection of the wagon itself makes it obvious that it was a working covered wagon at one time. My research into the wagon's origin began with a series of phone calls to Big Sandy alumni and long time staffers. The universal response was uncertainty. Most off the alumni...
The Importance of Water to Cattle Water is the most important nutrient. An adequate supply of clean, fresh water is a critical component of maintaining healthy, productive cattle. At this time of year, managing your cattle’s water supply is more important than ever. Water accounts for at least 50 percent of your cattle’s live weight. Water is required to transport nutrients through the blood, maintain cellular structure, regulate temperature, and much more. In order for livestock to maximize feed intake and production, they need daily access to...
Since 1992, World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) has been hosted August 1-August 7, by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action. Themes range from women and work to community support to the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes, to economy, science, education and human rights. This year’s theme is Making a Difference for Working Parents; fitting after the PUMP Act was passed in late 2022. In short, the PUMP Act requires employers to allow break time for an employee to express breast milk for their nursing child, and a place a...
Big Sandy Church of God held its annual family camp in Beaver Creek over the weekend. This was the fifth consecutive year the church has held family camp, after a hiatus of several decades. The weekend primarily included families from the church camping at the Lions Campground, sharing meals, going fishing together, enjoying games, and each other's company. The weekend ended with the weekly worship service held in the park. I spoke with Rebecca Wiehe, who took the initiative to restart the camp...
Demra Brown, Big Sandy First Bank branch manager reported that the bank partnered with Rotary to give away school supplies. They will be handing out backpacks full of needed school supplies for FE Miley K-6th grade students on July 26 & 27 between 2:00-4:00. They got the number of students from last year's enrollment. The decision to hand them out in July was so that whatever else they may need may be purchased by their parent before school starts. For example, on the list of school supplies is...
Big Sandy High School's Covered Wagon got a facelift recently as the first foray into a larger renovation and beautification of the courtyard just north of the school. The upgrades will include direct facility upgrades like replacing damaged sidewalks, leveling a drop between the sidewalk and the north side of the building, as well as a some other landscaping efforts. I visited with Dan Schrock, the school superintendent, while he painted a fresh layer of linseed oil to the exposed wood...
Juliet MacDonald, an artist from Box Elder schools, has created a banner and entered the Paint the State/Meth contest. You will find her artwork online at Paint the State (paintthestate.org), or it's on the fence at the Box Elder School. It's worth the drive to see it in person. It's a huge banner. It is well worth voting for and well worth it for this Box Elder Senior. If she gets the most votes in the county, she can win $3,000; if she wins the statewide competition, she can win $10,000....
Horticultural Tips for August Below are some rules of thumb when tending vegetables, lawns, flowers and trees during the month of August. • Renovate strawberries by mowing a minimum of every three years. Some people mow their strawberries every year following fruit production. Be sure to set the mower high enough to mow the leaves. Mowing too low may damage the crowns and kill the plant. • Top-dress strawberries after harvest with a complete fertilizer like 16-16-16. • Pinch the tops of indeterminate tomatoes and reduce watering to promote ripe...
The Chouteau County Library system recently recognized one of our own, Dee Pribyl. Dee recently visited with me about the imagination library, and we hadn't got together yet. However, seeing her being honored by the First Lady of Montana was a wonderful surprise. First Lady Susan Gianforte has made it possible for every child ages 0-5 in Montana to register for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. Visit: https://imaginationlibrary.com and click on "check availability," and fill in your zip...
Katheryn Bold, who is a Junior at Carroll College in Helena, double majoring in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, with a minor in Chemistry, has been selected as the recipient of the $4000 ($3800 this year)scholarship from the NGC for 2023. She is from Big Sandy, where she was raised on the family farm, 27 miles from town, where she learned lots about responsibility, hard work and dedication to get whatever done that needed doing. She has done a wide variety of school and community...
The Big Sandy High School Ad Education received a grant from Montana Farmers Union for a $33,000 subterranean geothermal greenhouse. The greenhouse’s placement site is undecided, but Layne Taylor, ag teacher, will work with Dan Schrock to find a place to place it. They are considering putting it somewhere by the football field. The upgrades to the wagon project are scheduled to start in two weeks. Superintendent Schrock reported he is advertising the Mountaineer. No one has stepped up to drive buses. They will continue to have the bus i...
So what’s going on with the Mountaineer? The Havre Daily’s “motherboard,” which they use to make the pages in the paper, is down. Havre is sending their paper to Cheyenne, Wyoming. We learned about it on Monday, July 10th, right before the Mountaineer was due at the printers. The problem was Cheyenne won’t print a six-page paper, and we couldn’t make an eight-page paper that quickly, let alone we didn’t have enough ads to cover the cost. So many newspapers have closed their doors in Montana, and there aren’t a lot of places to get the paper p...
The Big Sandy Farmers Market kicked off its year last Thursday afternoon, attracting a substantial crowd despite threat of thunderstorms at the start. The weather scared several venders away that afternoon, but several stayed the course for the afternoon. The market is entering its second year with some improvements over last summer that should be a treat to locals. Donita Darlington and Paula Amsbaugh worked together to organize the market since its inception. I spoke with Donita at her booth,...
It was July 11th of last year that I first walked through the doors of Big Sandy Medical Center to start work as the interim CEO. After only a few hours on the job, I realized what a challenge it would be to keep this organization from going down the same path as so many other rural hospitals succumb to, that is, to be purchased and assimilated into a much larger hospital system. Yet I soon learned that I was working with some of the best hospital staff in the state. Their dedication, amazing problem-solving skills, and compassionate love and...
Mowing to Manage Invasive and Noxious Weeds Mowing is often overlooked as a weed management tool, but it can be effective if done properly. For best results, timing and frequency of mowing should be based upon the weed’s biology and growth stage. More specifically, when and how often to mow depends upon the weed’s method of reproduction —seed only or seed plus creeping roots. Weeds that reproduce only by seed are best controlled when mown just prior to or during flowering. If done at this time, these species usually only need to be mowed once...
All city council members meet on Thursday, July 13, for a regular meeting. Krystle Miller was a little late due to an accident on the highway. Law enforcement was held up entirely because of the accident, so there was no Sheriff’s present to report. Rich Jesperson reported five new grant opportunities for the new Big Sandy Pool. Further information will be coming forth. KLJ reported that some extra paperwork was necessary to be redone for NCMRWA. It won’t affect the city; just sifting the dollar amounts into the different categories. There is...
Anyone who knows me, knows I love books. I collect them like a little kid collects baseball cards. Whenever my family travels, I find myself plotting our path based on the bookstores we will be able to visit. A few weeks ago, my wife and I took our daughter to Missoula for a doctor's appointment. While we were there, we visited an independent bookstore, and I found something exciting: the Montana Bookstore Trail. The trail was put together by independent bookstore owners in an effort to promote...
