Independently owned since 1905
Independently owned since 1905
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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...
Being almost 100 years old didn't seem to slow down Betty Meyer and it certainly wasn't going to prevent her from attending the Third Annual Student Reunion for the Paradise School, held last weekend at what is now the Paradise Center. Meyer, who turned 99 on June 12, said nothing was going to stop her from attending the reunion or getting up to the third floor, where the center set up a typical classroom display with photographs, books, team pictures, desks, chairs and other artifacts from the...
With the hot weather here, it might be too late to effectively get rid of the pesky grasshoppers, but Wendy Carr of the Sanders County Extension Office doesn't believe it is hopeless yet. "After they have grown to the adult stage one can use Lambda-cyhalothrin, which is a synthetic pyrethroid, often times purchased as the brand names Warrior, Round House, or Silencer," said Carr. She said that it's a broad spectrum insecticide, but if the product carries Lambda-cyhalothrin, a private applicator'...
A little 10-year-old Plains boy has big plans for the future and it includes giving the town more than just hardware and grocery stores, he said. John McNamara is planning to build a zoo in Plains. He feels he has a good start with a menagerie of animals he has at home -tarantulas, snakes, exotic pheasants, quails, chickens, sheep, a horse, a dog, and a cat - and he isn't finished. He said he loves animals. On Saturday, he decided to pass on some of that excitement by giving a presentation...
Independence Day is definitely something to cheer about. It was the start of an amazing nation and should be celebrated every year. It was especially joyous to the people of the colonies, which were under the iron thumb of King George III. Five days after the freedom document was approved by the Second Continental Congress, Gen. George Washington read it aloud to his troops in New York and again it was cheered. It was official — the 13 colonies were separated from Mother England. Free at last. But it wasn’t quite that simple or easy. We actuall...
The town’s cleanup day in May was so successful, the Plains Beautification Committee decided last week to hold a second one this fall. The committee unanimously voted for the fall cleanup day to take place on the third Saturday of September, and spring cleanup days will be the third Saturday of May, according to Lana Dicken, one of the committee organizers and one of the coordinators for last spring’s event. In attendance at last Wednesday’s meeting at the E.L. Johnson Memorial Park were Garrett Boon, a Plains council member, and residents Scot...
One couple in Plains decided to take a negative and make it a positive, taking something they believed was appalling and making it attractive. Bruce and Paula Dimond moved into their new home on Railroad Street at the far eastern part of Plains in October. They knew there was work to be done on the 69-year-old house, but they agreed that the carved horse next to the driveway had to go. "Whoever lived here must have liked chainsaws," said Paula of the 3-foot, 11 1/2-inch tall horse, which obvious...
It may be the first time a group of kids were introduced to new types of art at the Paradise Center, where they were given the opportunity to demonstrate hidden art skills. Nearly 20 kids age 6-12 received lessons in pottery, card making, painting, creative writing, drawing, stained glass and theater every morning last week 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., rotating from subject to subject from Monday to Friday. All week long, the kids at the Summer Arts Camp for youth, part of Paradise Center's...
Saturday was a busy day at the Sanders County Fairgrounds, where hundreds of people from in and outside the county gathered in support of a Plains woman battling cancer. Behind the leadership of Juli Thurston, Tammy McAllister, Linda Cook and Shannon Chojnacky, the Ranch Rodeo and Fun Play Day Event was a successful benefit for Wendy Carr, a staff member at the Sanders County Extension Office in Thompson Falls. The event included a rodeo competition, horse riding contests, an Olympics...
The Wild Horse Plains Back Country Horsemen conducted a Stock Packing Clinic for five members of the Plains Thompson Falls Ranger District's Youth Conservation Corps at the Sanders County Fairgrounds on Friday. Volunteers from the horsemen group spent over six hours with a lecture and hands-on training for utilizing stock animals for transporting equipment to remote work sites. The Superior Ranger District, led by Will Cuddy and Kodi Kelly and eight students, also took part in the clinic. The st...
It's fitting that Flag Day would be the time to give unserviceable flags a proper sendoff, according to American Legion Post 52 Commander Ken Matthiesen. Fourteen veterans from five military branches took part in the annual flag retirement at the Clark Fork Valley Elks Lodge 2757 in Thompson Falls last Tuesday. Some of the flags had holes, others were faded, tattered, and ripped, yet the group of veterans all felt the ensigns of their country should be disposed of in a proper method. "I think...
Montana Governor Greg Gianforte met with business and community leaders of Sanders County at the Butcher's Nook in Plains Thursday in an effort to find out what was on their minds. Twenty-one men and women from Thompson Falls, Hot Springs, and Plains gathered for an hour-long informal gathering where several people voiced some of their concerns, including Senator Bob Brown, Sanders County Commissioner Dan Rowan and Plains Mayor Chris Allen. It was the governor's third annual "56 County Tour," wh...
The Plains Town Council passed amendments for two ordinances and a referendum, and tabled the first reading of a new ordinance at last Monday's monthly meeting at City Hall. Council President John Sheridan headed the meeting in the absence of Mayor Chris Allen. Council members Connie Foust, Garrett Boon and John Roesler were present with Chad Cantrell on a cellphone. Nearly a dozen people showed up for the meeting, which ran just over an hour. The first ordinance was created in response to a...
Plains Paradise Rural Fire District firefighters Garrett Boon (above left) and Seth Gibbs sift through burning pine needles to ensure a blaze started by lightning is extinguished. Marc and Ellen Childress, who live across the street, saw the ground fire and knocked down the flames before firefighters arrived last Thursday afternoon. A sudden burst of rain helped the couple douse the fire. High winds also broke the tree in the background, which took out the power lines (right) and left area...
The Plains Pickleball Association's first ATV Run Fundraiser on Saturday was a big success with 70 riders and 221 poker hands. "It went beyond our wildest dreams and expectations," said Shauna Firestone, president of the association, which recently received its nonprofit status and wants to erect pickleball courts at the E.L. Johnson Memorial Park in Plains. The association held its poker ride at the Wild Horse Plains Golf Course, the location of stations one and five. It was a 23-mile trek to...
A local woman has gone from grooming the community's youth for a proper education to grooming animals for a proper coat. Michele McGuigan spent the last 24 years teaching at Thompson Falls High School, retiring at the end of this school year, but instead of taking a well earned break, she dived into a new career - the dog grooming business. McGuigan is the owner of "Scrub Buddies Pet Grooming," located at 23 Burnham Lane in Plains. When Pattie Waltner of Wag'n Tails Pet Grooming of Plains...
Only a handful of people showed up for the Memorial Day ceremony at the Plains Cemetery, but VFW Post 3596 is determined to honor fallen veterans the way it was first intended - on May 30 - the date first selected following the Civil War. "We have assembled here to pay tribute to the men and women of our country who have served in the United States armed forces who fought in defense of this country and for the preservation of our way of life, and who lost their lives at sea," said Post...
