Your Best Source For Sanders County News
Your Best Source For Sanders County News
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The Plains High School Drama Club finished its third performance of "A Wing and a Prayer" in the multipurpose room on Sunday to a resounding applause, but this time the accolades weren't just for the cast - they interjected members of the audience by hiding clues in the bleachers, giving unsuspecting guests the chance to help with the mystery. And if the rest of the audience had difficulty keeping up, a "clue" sign was scrambled across the stage. It was a whodunit two-act play that ran Friday...
"No election, new mayor," said Plains Mayor Chris Allen at last week's town council meeting at City Hall. Joel Banham will be the next town mayor as of January 1 and he didn't have to go through the electoral process because he was the only person to file for the position, said Allen, who added that another man had planned to run, but didn't get his proper paperwork to the attorney general's office. With Banham running unopposed, the town had the option of saving a few thousand dollars and not...
It was two minutes before World War I was to officially end, but that didn't stop Pvt. Henry Gunther from storming a German machine gun position. He was shot dead, the last American soldier to die in the four-year conflict. The Allies and Central Powers had already decided that the war was over on Nov. 11 at 11 a.m., which is why VFW Post 3596 conducts the annual ceremony at that time, said Ron Kilbury, commander of Post 3596. "We gather here today at the eleventh hour, on the eleventh day, of...
Five people from Sanders County - four women and one man - applied for the Sanders County Fairgrounds manager position, said Rich Wallace, the county's director for Human Resources. Wallace and the members of the fair commission planned to interview the candidates this week, followed by a special meeting to discuss the candidates and select one. Wallace said the candidates' names could not be released at this time. The board decided to hold off on hiring an administrative assistant or...
Plains High School honored its local military veterans last Thursday with patriotic music, a special meal and a celebration of gratitude. More than a dozen veterans from five of the six military branches - no one from the newly created Space Force was present - took part in the event put on by the school each year. This year, however, the school treated the veterans to a luncheon, something they hadn't done for the past three years. The luncheon was made by 30 students from the Family and Consum...
The Plains Town Council meeting was less than an hour, but its members discussed several issues, passed on a lot of information, tabled three items, and dismissed an item of new business that was found to be unnecessary. Mayor Chris Allen said the town has an opportunity to get an $87,000 grant with 25% matching funds from the state. Allen said he'd like to see the council apply for House Bill 355 Grant, but they would have to do it by the end of the year. The grant could be used for several...
GROSS GROSBEAK – The messy face makes for a gross beak for the female pine grosbeak, which had hit the jackpot of a crabapple tree just west of Plains. A messy face doesn't seem to bother her as she moves from berry to berry, sampling a little from each one. She was soon joined by four other pine grosbeaks, all females. According to the Montana Field Guide, the pine grosbeak, which is part of the finch family, is relatively common across the state. The male has a more reddish color with some y...
The Cancer Network of Sanders County will be launching its lantern launch from a new site this year. The nonprofit organization will have the annual fundraiser on the Saturday after Thanksgiving — Nov. 25 — starting at 6 p.m. on the greenway along Railroad Street across from Colleen’s Country Store. The CNSC has normally held the event at the Sanders County Fairgrounds, but switched to downtown Plains this year to combine the event with the Plains Lions Club Christmas celebration, according to Shelley Bertrand, president of CNSC. The biode...
Beginners have one more day — Friday — to continue alongside the regulars of the Montana Mavericks Square Dance Club that meet each week at the Plains Paradise Senior Center in Plains for lessons. Last Friday was a record attendance for the Plains club with 58 men, women, boys, and girls for the second class of the season. “I don’t think we’ve ever had more than this,” said Terry Watkins, who’s been with the club since it began in 2004. Paradise resident Darlene Jolly, president of the club, said it was great to have such a good turnout for the...
A group of home school students took a short field trip last week to watch a glass blower in action. Gary Olson showed 45 children from the Clark Fork Christian Home School Co-op the art of glass blowing at his workshop in Plains last Thursday. "He did an excellent job getting that many kids through to get that type of education," said Susanna Feiro, who heads the co-op school board and whose daughters, Solveig, 11, and Soren, 8, were part of the first of three groups at the glass blowing...
Plains High School held what might be its first Fall Concert last week in the gymnasium. It was also the first concert for the school's new music teacher, Loren Lauridson, who started the job at the end of August and immediately began rehearsing for the Fall Concert, which included the high school choir, band and the new percussion ensemble. "The students did a great job and truly showed how talented they are," said Dr. Kathleen Walsh, the new school superintendent. "I am looking forward to our...
A cat-faced orbweaver wraps a moth that got caught in its web. The spider had the insect wrapped within a minute and moved it to the bottom side of a large plant leaf. The cat-faced orbweaver is a common spider in Montana and is also known as a jewel spider or a cat-faced spider. Like other spider species, the cat-faced orbweaver injects its caught prey with a venom, which paralyzes it. The spider liquefies the insect before eating it. The cat-faced orbweaver eats other insects and other...
The Plains Trotters defeated the Hot Springs Lady Savage Heat in four games at Plains last Tuesday, taking their overall standing to seven wins and four losses. It was a special win for four seniors of the varsity squad - Teirainy Bellinger, Jaelyn Carr, Blakely Lakko, and Marissa Young - and two seniors on the junior varsity squad - Hallie Corbin and Abigail Wessley - who were recognized at Senior Night. The JV girls picked up a clean sweep against the Savage Heat by winning three straight...
The boys U19 soccer team finished its last home game in a tie against the Mission Valley Christian Academy Eagles last Tuesday at the Amundson Sports Complex in Plains. Clark Fork Soccer Alliance coach Josh Allday didn't put in his top players out of fairness to the Polson team because they were smaller, younger and were a coed team and the result was a 5-4 loss to the Eagles. "I think that was an outstanding job of coaching, holding his top players to make it a more competitive game," said...
The community of Paradise is going to have a train roundhouse once again. This one is going to be positioned at the Paradise Center, but won't have real trains inside. Construction on the new roundhouse is about halfway done and expected to be completed by the end of the month, said Clint Weedeman of Correct Construction of Plains and the main coordinator on the job. Weedeman is doing the job with his brother, Josh, who runs Top Notch Construction, and Adam Cowan of Hometown Builders...
The Sanders County Fair might be without a carnival next year, announced Fair Commission Chairman Randy Woods at last week's board meeting. According to Woods, Sherry McKay, owner of Paradise Amusements of Post Falls, Idaho, said she's tired of the complaints and will not be returning to the Sanders County Fair. For the last two years, there have been numerous complaints about the carnival. Fair board member Jim Newman walked the carnival this year and gave out free tickets and Paradise...
Several people got lost between Plains and Thompson Falls last weekend, though they eventually found their way. It was a corn maze and part of the 2nd Annual Harvest Festival held at the Waterway CSA Farm owned by Mark and Elizabeth Riffle just over 15 miles west of Plains along Highway 200. It took the Riffles about 20 hours to construct the 60x100-square foot maze, which had field corn which ranged from four to seven feet high. "It's tiny, but you can get lost easily," said 10-year-old John...
It was music to the ears for one of Plains School's newest teachers, who got his first teaching job less than two hours from home. Loren Lauridson jumped right into his new job and within three days had the students rehearsing for their first concert of the year, a fall concert scheduled for Oct. 24. "I always say the sooner we get instruments in the students' hands, the better we will sound," said the 23-year-old Lauridson. Their first concert of the year will include the high school choir,...
Two Plains businesses are now merged under one owner and they continue to flourish as one. The 406 Outlet closed its doors at the old Town Pump building site several weeks ago and is now taking up space at Colleen's Country Store on the other side of town. Jessica (Holland) Gergen purchased Colleen's Country Store from Colleen Mesing at the end of September and moved her inventory alongside the country store's merchandise. Both businesses will be represented under one roof and the Colleen's...
Clark Fork Valley Hospital has a new doctor, but she's not new to Plains. "Barbie" Steward is a 2006 graduate of Plains High School. At 7 years old she was already operating heavy machinery at her father's rock business and as a teenager, she was benching over 200 pounds. Now she's Dr. Barbara Steward helping her former neighbors stay healthy. The 35-year-old Steward started at Clark Fork Valley Hospital last Monday and already has patients lined up. As the hospital's newest osteopathic physicia...
The Plains Town Council passed five motions at its monthly meeting at City Hall last week, but the mayor and four council members present spent some 20 minutes on something that was suggested by a resident at last month's council meeting and tabled it until next month. Mayor Chris Allen put on the agenda the idea of the town having some type of written declaration or statement, possibly an ordinance, that allows for people in Plains to decide for themselves whether or not to mask up if the...
The second year of Ag Day in Sanders County had a first time special attraction for the kids - "Barney the Bison" - and it wasn't a fake purple dinosaur, but a real life American buffalo. The 4-year-old bison from the Harlow Bison Ranch of Thompson Falls was one of a dozen stations - one more than last year - in the Second Annual Ag Day at the Sanders County Fairgrounds last Wednesday. "I'm so proud of our agriculture community in Sanders County and their willingness to volunteer to put on this...
Amundson Sports Complex at Plains was all about soccer on Saturday when over 300 children from both Sanders and Mineral counties participated in the Randy Baker Memorial Tournament. Kids from 4-13 years old from Plains, Trout Creek, Thompson Falls, Hot Springs, and Superior competed on several fields at the complex for more than six hours. U6 and U8 kids had their normally scheduled games, but the tournament was designed for the U10 and U13 teams and was done in a round robin format, according t...
by Ed Moreth The Sanders County Fairgrounds manager has called it quits after more than four years at the helm. Melissa Cady put in her resignation last Thursday, citing health as her primary reason for moving on. "After this year because of my health and the stress of all that took place my doctor has advised me to seek a different path," said Cady in her resignation letter to Commissioner Tony Cox and Fair Commission Chairman Randy Woods. "It'll be extremely tough shoes to fill," said Woods,...
Another veteran suicide awareness month has come and gone, but the message is spreading, said Ed Foste, who has been putting up the flag display every year for the last six years. The retired Navy veteran added 22 American flags to the display each day, usually at dusk, to illustrate the 22 veterans that pass away each day from suicide. Saturday was the last day to add to this year's awareness exhibit, but it was the first time he had a World War II veteran assist with the flags. It took less...
