Independently owned since 1905
Independently owned since 1905
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Kids and senior citizens got the chance to help military veterans after one veteran came up with a brainstorm to help aging veterans honor passed veterans. Each year for Memorial Day, members of VFW Post 3596 place American flags at the gravesites of veterans at Plains Cemetery, a task that isn't always easy for the members – average age 72 – to create a hole at each grave for the wooden flag staff. Instead of having to make a hole in the sometimes hard ground, this year they will only have to...
Explore the world of fly fishing, from Honduras to Alaska, Dubai to Africa, without leaving Sanders County, during the 12th annual Fly Fishing Film Tour, coming to the Rex Theatre in Thompson Falls on April 28. This is the first year the international film festival has landed in Thompson Falls, and it promises to be an entertaining and informative evening for folks who enjoy fly fishing or even just watching a good film. “The stories are compelling, and the locations are stunning,” said Reg Crawford, a project leader with Panhandle Trout Unl...
The Paradise Center got off to a big start with its railroad display after three avid model train hobbyists gave an all-day workshop at the center Saturday, teaching local volunteers how to get train track down on a custom-made table. By 4 p.m., John Thorson, serving as the engineer of the inaugural run of the "Paradise Northern Pacific," the group was watching the HO train go around the track. Bill Taylor, Larry Brumback and Kirk Thompson, all from the Bitterroot Valley, volunteered to teach a...
"It's a soccer palooza," said Erika Lawyer, who had two boys and one girl in an all-day soccer competition at Amundson Sports Complex in Plains Saturday. Twenty-three teams from Helena, Kalispell, Missoula, Polson, Frenchtown, Whitefish, Libby, Stevensville, Hamilton, and Sanders County gathered at the complex for the competition, which ran from 8:45 a.m. to about 6:45 p.m. The competition included four teams from Sanders County, a coed U14 team, a girls U11, a boys U11 and a coed U18 team....
Snow may still be on the ground, but last year’s wildfire season isn’t too far from memory. We have good news for Montanans, though. After years of negotiation, we have finally secured a deal that moves forward on much-needed forest management reforms. Montanans get it: a managed forest is a healthy forest. But decades of mismanagement, environmental lawsuits and excessive red tape have kept responsible forest management projects from moving forward on thousands of acres. There are many consequences to this delay, including increased risk of...
Dave Colyer’s Sinclair Gas Station might lose property value because it won’t be considered “waterfront property” after Farmer Street is fixed, said Plains Mayor Dan Rowan. Farmer Street has long been jokingly referred to as Lake Sinclair because the street constantly floods after heavy rainfalls and after snow and ice thaws. Rowan announced at last week’s town council meeting that a bid package for the first step in the Farmer Street repair is being worked on and will soon go out for bids. Farmer Street will be the first street to be worked...
Members of the Sanders County Fair Board met with the Plains Lions Club last Tuesday evening to discuss options to the demolition derby insurance issue. “Both parties are diligent to finding a solution to the situation,” said Plains Lions Club President Duane Highcrane, who had initially been opposed to signing a waiver to be in the arena, but has reconsidered that option. Some of the club members have attended recent fair board meetings over the last few months after finding out that the county’s insurance company, MACO, is mandating that...
It doesn't matter if it's a fire, a drought, beetles, or some type of disease, it's the role of the Plains Ranger Station's Genetic Restoration Program to keep the woods from disappearing. That's where Val Walker comes in and her 2018 season is just getting started. Walker, the senior Genetic Resources Forester in Plains, and her staff are responsible for making sure there are trees for the future by caring for the 123-acre Plains Tree Improvement Area (TIA), nicknamed the "tree farm," along...
Members of the Plains Business Association have big plans for Plains Day this year, including making the annual festival a three-day event and including nearly 20 events scattered over the weekend of June 1, 2, and 3. "I am excited. I think that there's a lot of community partners involved and when that happens good things are bound to happen," said Erika Lawyer, treasurer for the Plains Business Association, the overall sponsor of Plains Days. This is the first time it's been a three-day...
For the second consecutive year Charlie Woolley nabbed top honors in the pinewood derby competition at the LDS Church in Plains. With his "Lyman #2," Woolley was undefeated in his five heats with his fastest time at 3.678 seconds at the 2nd Annual LDS Pinewood Derby Friday evening. Woolley's slowest time was 3.696, faster than all the other cars. Woolley was one of four adults and four kids in this year's pinewood competition, which was open to anyone in the community. The rules for the...
Despite his post-traumatic stress disorder and a fear of public speaking, Plains resident Ed Foste knew his message to help veterans was important enough to get up and talk along the greenway in Plains Monday afternoon. Foste is part of Joint Operation Mariposa, a nonprofit organization created to bring awareness to veteran suicides and the families that are impacted. Foste spent 20 years in the U.S. Navy before retiring in 2002 – much of that time on the flight deck of aircraft carriers – and...
The Sanders County Fair demolition derby will continue, but the board is still unsure whether or not the Plains Lions Club will be in the arena to help, according to Sanders County Commissioner Carol Brooker. Fair Manager Chris McGuigan notified the Lions members in attendance at last week’s March fair board meeting that the club would have to purchase spectator insurance and sign waivers to be in the arena during the derby. “We would not be able to do that simply because we would not come out with very much,” said Lions President Duane Highc...
It was called a turkey shoot, but the targets were pigeons and the prizes were chickens, hams, and bacon. Between 35-40 people participated in the Plains Trap Club Spring Turkey Shoot Saturday, competing in 48 squads of seven different classes of competition – ladies, junior, doubles, mixed, buddy shoot, Annie Oakley, and the final event of the day, the "5X40." "This is the toughest one here," said Plains resident James Jermyn of the 5X40 contest. Each person put $5 into the kitty and took f...
Frank Tyro became visibly tearful when talking about his longtime friend and colleague after showing a documentary film about the man who dedicated his life to research on polar bears. The nearly hour-long film about the late wildlife biologist Chuck Jonkel was shown at the United Methodist Church Sunday afternoon to a small crowd of people from Plains, Paradise, Trout Creek, and Missoula. The event was free, donations went to the Great Bear Foundation, a nonprofit organization that was...
One new business owner has the world at her fingertips – that is, in Plains. Nail technician Jesse Cardenas opened "Polished in Montana" on March 1 inside the Leather 'n' Lace Hair Salon, owned by Chelsea Timmer, in the heart of downtown Plains along Railroad Street. Although she's only been open for three weeks, her customer clientele is growing by the week, she said. "A woman could be living in the trashiest place in the world, but when she has her nails done, she feels like a princess and I...
The president of the Great Bear Foundation will be making a presentation in Plains at the United Methodist Church on Sunday, March 25, at 2 p.m. Frank H. Tyro will be showing the documentary film "Walking Bear Comes Home: The Life and Work of Chuck Jonkel a Pioneer of Bear Biology." Tyro, a Pablo resident, served as director and editor of the 56-minute film of his former partner and friend, who passed away two years ago. Tyro is also an Arctic guide and a bear and habitat conservationist. "This...
Students at Plains High School became more ready for the outside world of employment last week after completing an evening of practice interviews with more than a dozen business men and women. Nine seniors took part in the annual Jobs for Montana's Graduates (JMG) Mock Interview at the school with 14 people from Plains and Amy Laws, a teacher at Thompson Falls Elementary School. "They did very well. It was highly successful and good for them," said Nicole Cockrell, who took over as the JMG...
For those photography enthusiasts who want to share their images, but might be a bit shy of being criticized, you might want to consider joining the Sanders County Photography Enthusiasts, headed by Brittany Riddle of Plains. Riddle started the Facebook photo organization more than a year ago, but in January, she decided to add the "52-Week Challenge Group," where hobby photographers can display their work and discuss it without any fears of disparagement. She presently has 116 members in the Sa...
Research by the Washington Post noted that public speaking was a person's top phobia, but that didn't stop a group of kids from showing their oratory skills at the annual Sanders County 4-H Communication Finals Day. Sixteen kids from five 4-H clubs competed in the finals, which ran from 1 p.m. until about 4:30 p.m. at Plains School Sunday. The top presenter in the senior division was Rachel Wrobleski of the South Side Sparks in Plains for her demonstration titled "20,000 Stinging Insects and...
Reading is a primary path to knowledge, but it's also a way to get a new bike. That's how five kids at Plains Elementary School did it, courtesy of Masonic Ponemah Lodge 63 in Plains Friday afternoon. And as a bonus, the kids were treated by seeing chocolate pudding smudged on the faces of school staff members. Chief coordinator of February's "I Love To Read Program" Gena Ferlan wasn't sure if Principal Jim Holland got more pudding in his mouth or up his nose during the "Minute To Win It"...
Plans call for 3,000 railroad ties to be on display in a classroom of the Paradise Center, formerly Paradise Elementary School, as part of a historical railroad exhibit. The classroom is only 640 square feet, but Benita Jo Hanson, chief coordinator of the exhibit, said all of the railroad ties will fit. That's because the ties are only 1.172 inches long and the railroad exhibit will be of an HO scale. The exhibit will cover different aspects of the railroad in Paradise from around 1907 to 1970,...
The Sanders County Fair might have wrecked its last car demolition derby car, the result of an insurance problem, according to Sanders County Commissioner Carol Brooker, who continues to work with the county’s insurance company to rectify the situation. The Plains Lions Club and the fair have co-sponsored the derby for the last 45 years. It was discovered after Plains Lions Club member Ron Warren was injured during the derby last year that neither the club nor the fair had insurance to cover a mishap in the arena. Chuck Wassinger, the c...
William James, a famous American philosopher and psychologist, said, "I don't sing because I'm happy, I'm happy because I sing." Several high school students from Sanders County were singing and happy in February, individually and collectively, as they participated in the University of Montana's All-Star Honor Choir in Mixed Choir and Women's Choir categories. To be selected for the All-Star Honor Choir, students are nominated by their directors, then chosen by the University of Montana....
In Plains, one dog groomer has moved and another has opened a new shop. Pattie Waltner, owner and operator of Wag'n Tails Pet Grooming, held an open house Saturday at her shop on the west end of Railroad Avenue, where nearly 60 people popped in to see her grooming business. "It's a meet and greet and so people can see my shop," said Waltner, who had treats for her human and canine guests alike. She also had treat bags of dog toys, snacks and shampoo for dogs and held two drawings for free...
CHINESE NEW YEAR in Hot Springs was filled with canine masks, streamers on poles, Rube Wrightsman with a cannon and the traditional Hot Springs dragon reserved for the holiday....
