Independently owned since 1905
Independently owned since 1905
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The Plains football team had a bitter loss to the Mission Bulldogs at St. Ignatius Saturday afternoon, when the Bulldogs defeated the Horsemen 60-24. Both teams had one win and one loss under their belts before Saturday's game. "I felt that we could compete with Mission and even come out with a win based on our progress this season so far. Mission is always a tough opponent," said Horseman head coach Mike Tatum. The game started well for Plains when quarterback Darren Standeford darted in from...
The Thompson Falls Blue Hawks soccer teams put up a good battle, but in the end the visitors dominated at Thompson Falls last Tuesday evening. The Bigfork Valkyries first defeated the Lady Hawks 8-1 and the Vikings claimed a 4-1 victory over the Blue Hawks following the girls game. "Bigfork has a good team, but I thought we matched up with them very well and I think they are a team that we can beat," said the Blue Hawks head coach Michael Scharfe. His boys will get the chance when they face the...
The owners of the Wild Horse Lavender Farm don't get too many visitors, especially from Helena, but when the governor shows up, he gets a special tour of the place. Montana Governor Greg Gianforte visited the farm of Bruce Beckstead and Carissa McNamara some 10 miles west of Plains last Tuesday afternoon as part of his "56 County Tour." This was his 49th place to stop this year, said Kaitlin Price, the governor's press secretary. He made a stop at Superior School earlier in the day to discuss...
Numbers don't lie. The 2024 Sanders County Fair was a big financial success, fetching $454,278 and netting $145,368 after expenses. Kristy Sheehan, the fair manager, provided the five fair commissioners and the dozen other community members at the monthly board meeting at the fairgrounds pavilion last Wednesday the annual "Fair Recap." The three-page financial summary showed that the fair showed a profit in nearly every category, though there were activities, such as the carnival, the downtown...
The Plains Trotters took their second consecutive win Saturday when they showed Superior who was superior, claiming victory in four games at home. The Superior Lady Bobcats defeated the Trotters the first game 25-23, but head coach Kim Lakko said she wasn't concerned. "The girls are competitors, one set is not the end of a match. The girls played to win and to climb back on top through a fourth set," said Lakko, who was the team's assistant coach last year, but she and Jesse Butcher switched roles this year and Butcher took over the junior...
The Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary recognized an art student from Plains for her work in the 3 Dimensional Patriotic Art Contest. The 16-year-old Ireland Corbin took third place in the VFW Young American Creative Patriotic Art Contest in the 3-Dimensional category with her clay and ceramic art entitled "In Honor," earning her a $1,000 scholarship award. Corbin said she was excited when she received the news that she placed so high in the contest, which was sponsored by VFW Horse Plains...
The Plains Town Council approved the annual budget and added two new committee members, but much of the time at last week's meeting seemed to be discussing a non-agenda item. John Sheridan, the council chairman, filled in for Mayor Joel Banham. Last Monday evening's meeting was coming to a close and the council had just appointed Bambi Wright to the Plains Planning Board, which prompted Commissioner Dan Rowan to suggest that the town update its subdivision regulations, particularly when a...
She has put in four years of serving the Town of Plains, but now she's heading south. Councilwoman Connie Foust announced at last week's council meeting that it would be her last. She's moving to Mesquite, Nevada, where she used to live and where she still has friends. She's enjoyed her time in Plains and her time on council. She said she's a fighter and liked the challenge of working on council. However, she said her balance is not what it used to be and getting firewood into the house is...
The Plains High School cross country team had a good showing at the Flathead Invitational, talking first place of the four Class B schools. Several Plains runners had personal bests, including Trotter Marina Tulloch, a sophomore, who finished first in Class B with a time of 19:41.93 and fourth overall out of 127 girls from 18 schools from across Montana. The first Horseman across the finish line was freshman Owen Jermyn, who finished fifth in his class at 17:17.63, also a personal best. The...
It looked as though the Plains Horsemen football team was going to have their second consecutive victory of the season, but the second half of the game said otherwise. The Horsemen had a 20-point lead going into the third quarter, but with three key players injured - two out for the game - and a pumped up and revitalized Darby team, the Tigers clawed themselves to a 36-34 conquest. Both teams were undefeated at the beginning of Friday's game. The Horsemen had claimed a 51-8 triumph over the...
Plains hosted youth soccer Saturday at the Amundson Sports Complex. Above left, Plains player Branson Fryxell gets the ball away from Thompson Falls Thunder player Daniel Berger during an U11 game. Plains won game 5-0. At right, Noxon's Bryson Purdy goes against Berger in a U11 game in which Thompson Falls won 5-0....
People attend the Sanders County Fair for a number of reasons - carnival, rodeo, demolition derby, and greasy food - but seeing the 4-H kids show their animals is always a big draw. "I think most people come to see the exhibits and the animals," said Karrie Baldwin of Thompson Falls. Her grandson, John McNamara of the South Side Sparks club in Plains, had the most animals at the fair, including six sheep, a rooster named "Reggie," and the only pocket pet at the fair, a scorpion named "Forest."...
The Sanders County 4-H horse project leaders added a new activity to the fair this year and nearly a dozen kids from four clubs participated in the event. The "Working Ranch Horse" competition is not purely new to 4-H members. It's usually held elsewhere and not during the fair, said Sanders County extension agent Wendy Carr, but for the first time it was conducted on the fairgrounds during the fair. Four girls competed in level one, the beginner class, and five girls and one boy competed in...
"There's more to 4-H than just animals," said Karen Dwyer, a volunteer who has helped with the home economics and non animal projects of the 4-H at the fair for more than 30 years. Even now, as a volunteer, she is surprised at the ingenuity and imagination from the 4-H members from across the county. There were more than 900 entries last Thursday afternoon in the fairgrounds home economics building, where nearly a dozen judges looked over the kids' work - woodworking, paintings, photographs,...
For the first time in nearly 10 years Plains High School hosted a cross country meet and the results were positive for the local athletes. Eight Horsemen and six Trotters took part in the Plains Sanders County Fair Cross Country Meet, the school's first home cross country meet Friday against the Arlee Warriors and Scarlets. The 3.1-mile race course was held on the property of Joel and Wendy Collett about one mile into the woods off Combest Creek Road. "I'm happy that we are able to put on a...
The Plains Schools administration is preparing to open this school year with additional security precautions in an effort to provide a safer environment for its staff and students. The teachers and staff held an evacuation exercise on Thursday, utilizing its new "Emergent 3" software. The E3 system connects the teachers and staff to a custom alert notification that lets the school staff know if the emergency is a fire, an earthquake or an intruder alert. "It's a great system. We have a few bugs...
The Town of Plains held a public budget hearing at City Hall last Monday in the event anyone from the community would like to comment on the upcoming annual budget. For 30 minutes, Mayor Joel Banham, clerk Cathy Emmett, and council members Lana Dicken and John Sheridan waited to hear from the public. No one showed. “Nobody ever goes to these things, but yet they complain and whine and holler,” said Emmett. “They don’t come to voice their opinion or even inquire about the budget. They just don’t care,” she added. “I can say it is frustrating t...
Putting kids to work isn't always easy, unless they're excited about the next week, when they'll be showing their year long endeavors at the annual fair. More than 100 4-H members and around 60 parents and club leaders gathered at the Sanders County Fairgrounds Saturday morning for Fair Readiness Day in preparation for this week's 4-H competitions. The group spent three hours cleaning the six barns and the pavilion. "The parents and kids did a great job. The fairgrounds look amazing," said Juli...
Yard work can be difficult, especially with the recent heat and for senior citizens, but there's help in the near future. The Plains Beautification Committee had its first planning meeting last week for its autumn cleanup day, scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 21, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. For the fall Plains cleanup day, they will be doing only yard work, said Lana Dicken, one of six members on the committee, including its newest member, Mary Helliwell, who was a cleanup volunteer at last spring's...
A group of ducks pass a whitetail deer family along Mission Creek on the Bison Range....
The Sanders County Fair Commission gathered last Wednesday evening to discuss some final details for this year's fair Aug. 28-Sept.1. Chairman Randy Woods noted that the fairgrounds looked better than recent years, kudos to the recently hired part time staff worker, Derek VonHeeder, one of a handful of people at the hour-long meeting at the pavilion, along with board members Ted Forkum, Brian Crain, Jim Newman, and Jolene Burke. The board received two nominations for the Sanders County...
The Thompson Falls-Plains soccer team started its inaugural season with practices Friday and Saturday on Previs Field. "I'm very excited for this year," said Michael Scharfe, head coach for the Thompson Falls-Plains Blue Hawks boys team. Nick Lawyer, head coach for the new girls team, also held practice on the Thompson Falls football field Friday and Saturday. The Thompson Falls School Board voted in favor of the co-op fall soccer team last March. The teams are composed of students from eighth g...
It was a happy celebration for the musicians of the Montana Baroque Music Festival, but halfway through their Wednesday performance, security entered and went to the stage to check the identification of bass player Andrew Harmon. Most of the group kept playing as Aaron Cain shined his flashlight in Harmon's eyes for identification verification. Though he was dressed for the part, when a security man arrives on a scene singing in German, it might be a clue that it's part of the performance. "I...
The members of the Plains School took less than 30 minutes to approve two new policies and this year's school sports handbook. Some residents have questioned why the school had no dual sports policy, such as the one Thompson Falls has on hand. The Dual Activities Policy and the Activities Fundraising Policy were both unanimously approved by board members Ellen Childress, Monica Weedeman, Lana Dicken, and chairman Beau French. The two policies were written by the school's new athletic director,...
Artists in Sanders County last week had the opportunity to show people their work at the Paradise Center, where visitors could see and buy paintings, wood carvings, photographs, ceramic pieces, jewelry, leatherwork, or glasswork. Ten artists from Plains, Paradise, Thompson Falls, Superior, and St. Regis spent Thursday, Friday and Saturday selling their goods at the Paradise Center. Two new participants this year - the Clark Fork Valley Artists and the Iron Horse Trading Company - participated,...
