Independently owned since 1905
Independently owned since 1905
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For one Thompson Falls man, dirt bike racing is in his blood. This year, Brandon Wakefield competed in the U.S. Hard Enduro series, a form of extreme racing with courses that Wakefield says are designed for people not to finish. "You get six hours and 90% of people don't finish it," the 32-year-old said of the series, of which he completed eight races across the country from February through August. Wakefield was up for the challenge, and ended up first in the nation in his age group. Wakefield...
The Noxon community showed up Tuesday to hear what's being done about the bridge leading into their town and find out what they can do to help the effort. Tuesday's meeting brought more than 60 people to the Noxon fire hall to hear from local officials, as well as engineers working with the county to find solutions for the deteriorating 102-year-old bridge. In July, the bridge was closed for a week after a routine inspection by the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) found two cracks in t...
The year 2025 is just around the corner, but the Sanders County Fair Board is deep into planning next year's events. At the fair board meeting last Wednesday, fair manager Kristy Sheehan and board member Brian Crain recapped the PRCA convention they attended, saying they made good connections. Sheehan is working on procuring additional rodeo sponsors, and Crain, in conversations with bull riders, said that many rodeos are struggling to get bull riders, just as the Sanders County Fair and Rodeo...
Here we are, less than a week away from Christmas, and it feels like the feelings are changing. The energy was stressful in our office on Monday, and many people were feeling that way. Employees were out sick. People were rushing to get packages mailed. One friend stopped in my office and said he wished he could just take a long nap and wake up in January. I felt that as well. I joked with my staff that we were going to reward ourselves every time someone with a UPS package to ship came in and wasn't stressed out or frustrated. The holidays...
Natural resource stakeholders gathered last week for a local working group meeting at the Sanders County Fairgrounds pavilion. The group discussed the natural resource needs of the county and reviewed the long-range plan for natural resources. The meeting was led by Dillon Martini with the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) and included representatives from local agencies such as the county, Green Mountain Conservation District, Eastern Sanders County Conservation District, DNRC and...
The Plains-Hot Springs wrestling team had their first championship of the season at the Bob Kinney Classic in Superior last Saturday. Senior David Chapman of Hot Springs took the top spot in the 190-pound bracket. After a bye the first round, Chapman pinned Ian Thom of Libby in just under two minutes to make it to the championship match, where he pinned Bridger Smith of Arlee in 53 seconds. Thompson Falls freshman Weston Block again made it to the championship round last weekend. Bock pinned his first opponent in under a minute before winning...
The Savage Heat boys split games last week, losing a close game in Superior 51-43 on Thursday and then getting a 62-52 win in Philipsburg on Saturday. In Superior, Hot Springs led for much of the first half, but the Bobcats came out with intensity in the second half to take the win. Chase DePoe led the scoring for the Savage Heat with 16 points, while Weston Slonaker and Nick McAllister added seven apiece, Ben Aldridge six, Wesley Adams four and Calvin Timmer three. “We had a really good first half against Superior. We ran a really good t...
The community of Thompson Falls embraced the holiday spirit of the weekend with a variety of events for families to enjoy. On Friday, the Thompson Falls Main Street committee sponsored the holiday stroll, which featured carolers and treats at several Main Street businesses. That culminated with the Sanders County Chamber's annual tree lighting ceremony across the street from the courthouse. Rob Viens led community members in carols before Chamber President Dennis Spurlock addressed the crowd...
The Noxon community showed up Tuesday to hear what's being done about the bridge leading into their town and find out what they can do to help the effort. Tuesday's meeting brought more than 60 people to the Noxon fire hall to hear from local officials, as well as engineers working with the county to find solutions for the deteriorating 102-year-old bridge. In July, the bridge was closed for a week after a routine inspection by the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) found two cracks in t...
The Thompson Falls City Council moved closer to the finish line on phases 1 and 2 of the city sewer project at Monday's meeting as they voted to close out two of the project's funding sources. After approving final reimbursements, the council voted to close out the TSEP grant of $750,000 and the DNRC Renewable Resource Grant of $188,685. The city is progressing with phases 3 and 4 of the project, which will include installation and hookups from Grove Street east in Thompson Falls. At Monday's...
I'm probably getting a lump of coal in my stocking or a glitter bomb on my car for saying this, but I haven't put up one Christmas decoration this year. I'm doing some holiday-ish things here and there by putting together an Advent devotional book for church and a couple of garlands up at The Ledger. However, the holidays seem to be sneaking up on me and there's still so much to get done. My next-door neighbors have a fantastic larger than life reindeer in their front yard with a light shining on it at night. Going to work in the early morning...
Amora (above left, age 5) and Mikey (age 6) Lucier tell Santa their Christmas wishes at the TCCIA community tree lighting Friday in Trout Creek. TCCIA chairperson Liz Stender said this is the 13th year the community has held a tree lighting ceremony. About 25 people attended the ceremony....
The run reflects through a heavy blanket of fog over the Clark Fork River on Monday morning east of Thompson Falls....
If you've learned anything about me from my nearly 8 years as a newspaper publisher, I hope it's how much I care about our communities. On Monday, I had breakfast with a friend in Plains and was telling him how I definitely feel obligated to do a good job in my role of keeping Sanders County informed. I grew up here. My family is still here. Though I say I want to retire to Maine, I'll probably be here in Sanders County forever. When I interviewed TFHS alum Tracy Ward about taking over the Sanders County Christmas Bazaar, she expressed some of...
The Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) would like to announce and invite the public to comment on a proposal to preserve the bridge that crosses the Clark Fork River on Montana Highway 200 (MT 200), just west of Thompson Falls in Sanders County. Proposed work entails a variety of bridge deck repairs and preservation treatments, including removal of the existing asphalt overlay, milling the existing deck surface, repairing the concrete deck, overlaying with new concrete surfacing, re-anchoring the existing steel expansion joints, and...
Nealry 60 vendors will welcome community members at the Sanders County Christmas Bazaar this Saturday at Thompson Falls High School. The bazaar will feature lots of new vendors, said organizer Tracy Ward, as well as some people who have been vendors since the 1970s. Ward, a 1982 graduate of Thompson Falls High School, was a vendor with her mother Ginger in years past, offering a variety of quilted items including wall hangings, stockings, table runners and handcrafted ornaments. Ward said she reached out on social media to get informaiton...
A Montana district court has sided with a Thompson Falls woman in a case that alleged neglect. A district court judge recently ruled that Michele Manning of Thompson Falls was not neglectful in the death of a teenager under her care. According to court records, on August 20, 2021, the Department of Public Health and Human Services issued a neglect substantiation against Michele Manning relating to the June 25, 2021 death by suicide of a 17-year-old girl at Reflections Academy, a private alternative adolescent residential program which Manning o...
Nick Lawyer was born at Clark Fork Valley Hospital, and 43 years later, he is stepping into a leadership role for the community medical facility. Lawyer will take over as chief of staff for the medical staff at CFVH in 2025. Lawyer recently completed the Healthcare Excellence in Leadership Program (HELP) through the Montana Medical Association, gaining valuable leadership skills that he is excited to use in his new position. "It's billed as a leadership development course for medical leaders,...
The 2024 Christmas on Main Street parade grand marshal has been busy since moving to Thompson Falls in 2022. You may have met Rob Viens through his choral group, the Clark Fork Valley Singers, but he's involved in many projects throughout the community. The Sanders County Chamber of Commerce chose Viens as the grand marshal to lead the community parade next weekend. Chelle Mitchell, secretary for the chamber, nominated Viens for the honor. "He directs music for the Thompson Falls Main Street...
Ronda Wakefield of Thompson Falls was recently honored as the Montana HR Leader of the Year by the Montana State Council of the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM). "It honestly was a complete surprise, right up until the time they said my name," Wakefield said of the honor. "It was an incredible honor to be recognized with such an amazing group of HR professionals. I consider myself so blessed, not a day goes by that I dread going to work." Wakefield was one of nine nominees for the...
This month I was asked to participate in the post election audit process for the county. I’ve been on the other side of the table for every part of local elections, observing everything from voting machine testing to ballot counting by machine and hand counts, to recounts and audits. But I’ve never been anything more than an observer. With the post election audit, the Secretary of State’s office literally rolls a dice to determine which races and which precincts will be hand counted. Then the local elections office has election workers sit i...
A cast of 28 local actors and a crew of nine are preparing for the best Christmas pageant ever. It says so in the name of the production, “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever: The Musical.” The musical will be presented at three events throughout the county in December and is being coordinated by Rob Viens of Thompson Falls, the Stage and Musical Director. “My first experience with the play was in 1992 and everybody fell in love with it,” Viens said. The play is based on the book by Barbara Robinson, from which she created a stage version. “The st...
The Sanders County bookmobile will be featured on an upcoming episode of “Backroads of Montana” on PBS. The episode will premiere Monday, Dec. 2, at 7 p.m. The show has aired on Montana PBS since 1991, and the crew travels across Montana visiting unique people and places. According to a press release, “every month in Sanders County, the Bookmobile makes the rounds to every community in its northwest region. We roll along with this library on wheels as it reaches bookworms of all ages.” Bookmobile director Jessica Gayton said she had a great t...
An extreme makeover is planned for Wild Goose Landing Park in Thompson Falls. As part of its ongoing relicensing process with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), last week NorthWestern Energy presented plans for renovating the park on the east end of Thompson Falls. The current license for the Thompson Falls dam expires December 31, 2025, Andy Welch, manager of NorthWestern Energy's Hydro License Compliance, told the crowd of about 30 people at the Rex Theater last Thursday. The...
Thompson Falls Main Street and the Sanders County Chamber of Commerce are gearing up for the annual community Christmas celebration. The theme of this year’s Christmas on Main Street is Old World Christmas. Several fun and festive events are planned for December 6-7, 2024. “We are truly thankful for all our community volunteers working to create such a wonderful event,” said Kayla Mosher, chairperson of the Thompson Falls Main Street board. For information on any of the activities, contact Thompson Falls Main Street at (406) 827-0487 or email...
