Your Best Source For Sanders County News
Your Best Source For Sanders County News
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The annual veteran suicide awareness display is up, growing and changing, a testament to it being a "living display," said Ed Foste, who started the program six years ago to bring awareness to the suicide problem of military veterans. Foste, a Navy veteran who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) set up the display of a kneeling military man and woman silhouettes, a cross and a tattered Green Star flag, which specifically using the shabby looking American flag to illustrate a...
The fairgrounds was a busy place the Saturday before the fair with nearly 200 kids and adults sprucing up the place in preparation for the big annual event. It was Fair Readiness Day as the 4-H clubs of Sanders County got their barns and the pavilion ready for show time. More than 75 4-H kids, along with over 50 parents, 4-H leaders and barn superintendents, spent Saturday cleaning the facilities, inside and out. They filled the animals' stalls with wood shavings and did minor repairs on stalls...
by Ed Moreth The Plains Horsemen hadn't won a football game in two years. It looked like that might change at Friday night's game with a tie score for most of the first half and the Horsemen holding their own, but in the end, the Mission Bulldogs pulled off a 34-6 victory in the first contest of the season. The Plains boys would have had two touchdowns in the second quarter and taken the lead, but a flag for an illegal block nullified one touchdown. A touchdown pass in the second quarter was...
One Plains girl might be a bit sheepish when talking with adults, but when it comes to showing sheep, she can be quite talkative. Ayla Rehbein of the 4-H club South Side Sparks showed her Suffolk Hampshire last year and took grand champion accolades in showmanship and reserve championship in the breeding class. Though she's showing "June" again in showmanship, she's showing her newest sheep in a new class this year. The 10-year-old Rehbein of Plains will have her two Olde English Babydoll...
One Plains woman is planning far ahead by forming a new softball club in Sanders County. Although the season doesn't begin until late next spring, Whitney Tanner-Spurr wanted to get a jump on forming the Sanders County Smoke 12U girls fastpitch softball team. She held tryouts in Plains and Thompson Falls last week and is planning a third one this week for those who couldn't make the first two. So far, Tanner-Spurr has 25 girls from Plains, Thompson Falls, Trout Creek, Noxon, Heron, and one from...
The Sanders County Fair Commission agreed at its monthly meeting last week that they are confident of a successful 2023 fair, which takes place Aug. 31 to Sept. 3. "It's going to be a great fair this year," said board member Kim McMahon at last Wednesday's meeting at the fairgrounds pavilion, which included Sanders County Commissioners John Holland and Dan Rowan. The fair board, along with Manager Melissa Cady, and 4-H representatives Juli Thurston and Wendy Carr, ironed out a few minor details...
The Town of Plains might become a "Tree City" and get an Arbor Day Grant to financially help with the removal of the aging trees around town. It was Jonalie Comeau, the deputy town clerk, who brought the arbor program to the attention of the mayor and town council in an effort to save the town money when dealing with trees. Mayor Chris Allen said the town has spent more than $8,000 on tree removal this year alone. "Unfortunately, we've got a lot of old problem trees," he said, adding that...
The annual Artists in Paradise show saw four new participants this year with people from Plains, Thompson Falls and St. Regis. Eleven people showed their artwork at the Paradise Center Thursday, Friday and Saturday. People from in and outside of Sanders County stopped in for the three-day showing, including several from out of state who were in the area for the Baroque Music Festival at Quinn's Hot Springs Resort. Many people stopped in all three days, said Ilene Paulsen, the show's primary...
A Frenchtown man volunteered his time last week to provide a free clinic to 4-H members with horse projects. Tyrell Burklund gave a special three and a half hour lesson to a dozen 4-H kids from the Hot Springs Wranglers, the South Side Sparks, the Whitepine Happy Workers, and the Trout Creek Mavericks at the 4-H horse arena at the Sanders County Fairgrounds last Thursday. Burklund spent three hours with the kids, juniors and seniors, of five different levels of expertise, giving them...
Plains Mayor Chris Allen swore in the newest member of the Plains Police Department at City Hall on Friday morning. Rick Nickolaus joined Chief of Police Brian Josephson and Officer Rob Geenen to bring the police department back to full force. Nickolaus replaced Chris Reyna, who was dismissed in May. The town couldn't fill his vacancy until the Plains Police Commission held a hearing to confirm Reyna's termination, which it did two weeks ago. Nickolaus was one of three candidates, all men from...
The 12-spotted skimmer dragonfly checks out movement to its right while taking a break on an old plant shaft. This species of dragonfly is common to the 48 contiguous state and are most active in July and August and are territorial, often aggressive toward other male dragonflies, according to the Montana Field Guide. They are two to two and a half inches long with a wing span of just over two inches. The eat smaller flying insects....
A Clark Fork Valley Hospital doctor was recently presented a prestigious honor from the Family Medicine Residency of Western Montana Program. Dr. Jessica Valentine received the 2023 Outstanding Rural Attending Award for her work as a preceptor with family medicine residents at Clark Fork Valley Hospital, which hosts several residents each year. "During their time here they work each day with a preceptor who supervises their work and offers learning opportunities. This is a model similar to...
by Ed Moreth The Plains Police Commission last week upheld a decision by Mayor Chris Allen to terminate a police officer for insubordination, not following the chain of command on a continued basis and falsifying official documents, to name only a portion of the reasons for his dismissal. Allen fired Chris Reyna from the Plains Police Department on May 31, listing several reasons for the termination. The 37-year-old Reyna, who had been with the department since January 2016, hired an attorney...
Even during the summer months, Plains School was hopping with kids and at one point it was hopping with bugs. But there was no need for an exterminator, they were just visiting. Brenna Shea from the Butterfly House and Insectarium in Missoula was one of the guest speakers for the Plains Schools Summer Program, which ended last week with a trip to Wild Horse Lavender, a farm and ranch about 12 miles west of Plains. This was the third year the school held this summer program, which Principal...
Near 100-degree temperatures didn't seem to deter boys and girls and men and women from stepping out onto the hot pavement of the old Plains airport runway Saturday for a day of basketball. Eighty teams signed up for the 7th Annual Wildhorse ShootOut Tournament at the Amundson Sports Complex, which ran from 9 a.m. to almost 4 p.m. Saturday. The final competition finished at 3:40 p.m. when the Polson Wolf Pirates defeated the Hamilton Shake and Bake 9-4 in the seventh and eighth grade boys...
A gathering at Fred Young Park Saturday was all about community, camaraderie and history. Saturday was "Pioneer Day" for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints across the country to commemorate the arrival of Brigham Young and the first group of Mormon pioneers at Salt Lake Valley in Utah in 1847. The Plains LDS Church has once again celebrated the day with food, music, lawn games, dancing, and fellowship, but the annual event was for anyone, not just members of the church....
She's going from the boroughs of New York to the big sky of Montana to head the Plains School District. "I am very much looking forward to my new position. While I hope to bring new ideas and opportunities to the position, I am also looking forward to learning new things as well," said Dr. Kathleen Walsh, who was selected for the position of Plains School superintendent, a job held by Thom Chisholm for the last 13 years. She arrived at Plains last Monday and made visits to the school, including...
One Paradise resident enlisted as a soldier during World War II, but the only action she saw was transporting Nazi prisoners of war to and from work details in California. On Friday, however, she hitched a ride in an aircraft that was built in 1944, the same year she went into the military. John Haines, a former Plains resident, knew that 99-year-old Betty Meyer was a veteran of the second World War and he wanted to do something special for her. He was one of the volunteers involved in the...
A group of Sanders County men and women volunteered their time last week to help preserve a part of Montana history for future generations. More than 50 men and women from around the country gathered at the Savenac Historic Tree Nursery as part of the Passport in Time (PIT) program of the U.S. Forest Service as they have done for the last 27 years, said Heather Berman, who serves on the recreational staff of the Plains-Thompson Falls and Superior ranger districts and was one of the staffers...
by Ed Moreth The Sanders County Fair is just over 40 days away, but everything seems to be coming together with only minor issues and minor repairs to be done. The fair commission passed several agenda issues, including the selection of this year's Sanders County Community Service Award, at its monthly meeting last week. The board unanimously voted on the nomination of Kim and Margaret McNeil for this year's honor. Kim McNeil has been the fairgrounds caretaker for 30 years and he and his wife...
There will be two more sets of eyes for the Forest Service to keep watch for fires now that its two lookouts in Sanders County are manned and ready for action, and in the near future, the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation will have its lookout staff on station. Being nearly 7,000 feet atop a mountain peak gives a person quite the view, but Ken Richardson and Craig Phillips aren't there for the 360-degree scenic panorama, they're the eyes and ears of the Forest Service....
The Plains-Paradise Rural Fire District launched their watercraft to rescue two stranded swimmers along the Clark Fork River across from Quinn’s Hot Springs Resort last Saturday. Around 11 p.m., a guest from Quinn’s Hot Springs Resort swam across the Clark Fork River to the site of a train derailment that happened in April, when a train car full of beer dumped alongside and into the river. Railroad crews cleaned up the site of wrecked train cars and materials, including beer, but apparently left some along the river. The man was there a sho...
Plains Councilman Chad Cantrell thanked Mayor Chris Allen last week for the shortest council meeting since he joined the council five-and-a-half years ago. The Plains Town Council spent only 41 minutes at last Monday's meeting but approved three ordinances and went through reports from the mayor, the police chief and committees. Members present included Cantrell, Connie Foust, Joel Banham, John Sheridan and John Roesler, with Garrett Boon present via Webex. Only a handful of community members...
Fred Young Park was donned with Americana motif and people with plenty of red, white and blue as VFW Post 3596 Commander Ron Kilbury manned the burger grill for Independence Day 2023. It's unsure how long the VFW in Plains has been putting on a Fourth of July celebration, but it's been at least since Army veteran Don Kunzer joined the VFW in 1979. Jim Gillibrand of Plains, also a veteran soldier, has been a participant in the event since he joined the club almost 30 years ago. Gillibrand was...
The Town of Plains will not be opening the community swimming pool this year, but the Plains Lions Club's Glenn Rummel Wading Pool opened last Monday and will remain open for the summer. Mayor Chris Allen said they had about a dozen applicants to serve as lifeguards, but could not get them certified. There are three lifeguards for the kiddie pool, which is free and open Monday through Saturday 1-5 p.m. "I feel horrible about it. I wanted it open. It's a good opportunity for young kids to work...
