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The Sanders County Fair is less than two weeks away, but it looks like it’s going to be packed with fun activities, food and sights, according to Kristy Sheehan, the fair manager. The fair this year will perhaps for the first time open with a concert for the first night entertainment event. Country singer and songwriter Levi Blom will kick off the fair on Wednesday, Aug. 28, at 7 p.m. in the fair’s main arena. Tickets for the Butte resident are $20 for bleachers and $25 on the arena floor in front of the stage. With this year’s theme as “Hors...
Members of the Plains Town Council unanimously approved the hiring of a contractor to decommission and demolish the old sewage lagoon last Monday at City Hall. Olympus Technical Services of Helena won the bid to dismantle the old wastewater treatment plant at the end of Helterline Drive with its bid of $71,670. Olympus Technical Services was one of five companies, including one from Sanders County, to bid on the project, said Mayor Joel Banham. The liners from the old ponds will be removed and...
A group of children helped local bees last weekend by making them artificial shelters, compliments of the Eastern County Conservation District and the Green Mountain Conservation District. This was the first time the two county entities teamed up with Studs Building and Home in Plains to construct the six-foot tall and four-foot wide bee houses. Six girls and three boys from 5-13 years old and one adult, all from Plains, took part in the bee house project, which was headed by Emily Baker of the...
Judges might be a little hesitant about getting too close to one 4-H member's entry at the Sanders County Fair competition on Aug. 29. "It's kinda fun when their eyes get real big, but it's kinda nice when they edge a little closer," said 11-year-old John McNamara of the South Side Sparks club, who has shown a tarantula and a snake for his pocket pet project in past years and judges were reluctant to get close to his projects, let alone hold them. This year, McNamara has several projects - photo...
A bison cow and her calf stop for a drink in Mission Creek at the Bison Range....
Plains School Board members held a special board meeting last Thursday in order to get coaches hired before school sports start in August. Board member Lana Dicken made the motion to rehire Kati Mitchell as the head softball coach. The motion was seconded by member Ellen Childress, but before a vote could be taken Mitchell spoke up to give her resignation. "The lack of trust and support from the school board has made it increasingly challenging for me to fulfill my duties effectively as a...
A Plains man is traveling to Helena next week to defend his title at the firing range for the annual Montana Governor's 20 LE Shooting Competition. Chad Cantrell of Plains was the champion in the County Division last year and hopes to repeat his feat again on Aug. 9. "It's fun. I get to hang out with gunfighters," said Cantrell, who retired from the Sanders County Sheriff's Office as a detective in 2020 and is a member of the Plains Town Council. Cantrell is no stranger to the annual...
Rocky Mountain Bank in Plains closed its doors at noon on Friday - an end of an era for the financial institution - but the beginning of Stockman banking in Plains. Stockman Bank added three western Montana banks to its collection of branches throughout the state, including Plains, Bigfork and Kalispell. Over the past weeks, Stockman Bank staffers have been dispatched to the Plains bank to help employees and customers with the transition. They will continue to have additional help over the next...
The Plains School board last Monday voted in a new principal for the high school with unanimous approval. Heidii Fettinger of Great Falls was selected to replace Ryon Noland, who resigned in May after serving as high school principal for the last three years. Fettinger was one of four women and one man to apply for the principal position, which serves grades seven through 12. Plains High School teacher Katie Mitchell was the only candidate from Sanders County, said Beau French, the school board...
The Plains police, firefighters and ambulance service made a special call to Plains School this summer, but it wasn't an emergency, it was part of the Plains School Summer Program. "I absolutely enjoy getting out in the community and starting a positive rapport with the kids of the community," said Plains Police Officer Rob Geenen, who met with the kids with fellow officer, Rick Nickolaus, as part of the fourth year of the school program. Geenen and Nickolaus talked about their jobs, showed the...
Firefighters quickly doused a blaze along the Clark Fork River on a small stretch of wooded area some 10 miles northwest of Plains on Friday. The River Road West Fire was contained by Saturday evening, but firefighters from the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation remained on scene for days mopping up hot spots and making sure the fire was extinguished. DNRC's Jase Sorenson, the incident commander and the department's fire adapted community coordinator, said the fire was the...
Two Plains women were the only local competitors at the "Sparks Fly Showdown Show" at the Sanders County Fairgrounds last weekend. Michele McGuigan of Plains and Lisa Wood of Thompson Falls took part in the two-day horsemanship event Friday and Saturday. A dozen men and women took part in Friday's activity, which was a clinic to help competitors prepare for the next day's competition. Twenty-seven riders took part in the show on Saturday. A dozen more were signed up, but dropped out due to the...
It's not unusual to see a person knocked off a bull at the Sanders County Fairgrounds, but it was a bit unique that it wasn't fair time - it was last Thursday. The fairgrounds were filled with visitors for the first Freedom Festival as part of the Independence Day celebration and a mechanical bull was one of the main attractions with dozens of people demonstrating their cowboy courage. The special Fourth of July event also had 25 vendors, a bouncy house, corn hole contests, clowns, and for the...
The traditional reading of the Declaration of Independence continued this Fourth of July, but with a Marine Corps veteran of World War II leading the charge in the reading of the hallowed American document. The 98-year-old Tom Carlton started the recital by reading the first line - 70 words - of the Declaration, followed by Ken Matthiesen, Jim Gillibrand, Roy Brown, Paul Nowatka, Denis Munson, and Connie Foust, who introduced the reading of the document to the event four years ago. It was part...
Sanders County Fairgrounds fireworks meld with fireworks from people on the beach to brighten up the crisp night....
A whitetail fawn takes a cool puddle break while mom stays near....
The American Legion of Montana recognized the fire chief of the Plains-Paradise Rural Fire District for his firefighting efforts in Paradise. Steve Rogue, commander of American Legion Post 152 in Thompson Falls, presented James Russell with the American Legion Montana Firefighter of the Year Award at Fred Young Park during the Independence Day celebration. Legion District Commander Bob Lehman of Post 137 at Kalispell read the citation that accompanied the award. Lehman said that Russell was one...
Nearly 80 people gathered at the old brick schoolhouse for the Fourth Annual Paradise Alumni Reunion Friday and Saturday to talk of old times and look at themselves through lenses of the past. "I've asked many and there is no doubt that the Paradise alumni have a special bond to the former school building," said Dave Colyer, the primary coordinator for school reunion. Between 15-20 former students and their families attended the reunion on Friday, fewer than last year, but more showed up on...
There's a new voice in Sanders County and it can be heard on the airwaves circulating from Plains. Raf Viniard of Plains created Clark Fork River Radio Station as Internet station CFRR on FM 91.9 located in a separate studio building at his Plains residence. "It has no call letter assigned for FM yet, as we are still brand new and operating under construction license," said Viniard, who added that the station was actually "born" at the end of February, but they just completed the Beta test on Ju...
A Plains man is putting the final touches on a monument of artistry with bugs, birds and copper flower power. Several people have worked on the nine-foot tall copper willow tree, including David Williams, who is adding the several pieces to the tree before it is moved to its permanent home at Clark Fork Valley Hospital. The tree has 16 branches from 41-52 inches long with brass, copper and aluminum leaves, cut by JOM member Heather Allen. Williams heads Joint Operation Mariposa, the nonprofit...
If you think Congress members have trouble cooperating with each other today, you really should read up on how one of our most beloved sacred documents was created 248 years ago. It’s a miracle that it ever got done and it’s hard to imagine there wasn’t some kind of divine intervention. Our two primary political parties today are constantly at odds with one another. The only thing they agree on is that the other one is wrong. Try to envision 13 separate entities, some with divisions within themselves, attempting to make a decision that would...
A group of 4-H kids are getting a jump on this year's showmanship competition by getting tips on how to properly present their sheep and goats at the Sanders County Fair. Juli Thurston and Raelyn Cox taught eight 4-H'ers the proper way of showing their animals at the fairgrounds last Tuesday evening. This was the first time they've held a goat showmanship clinic and though they've had clinics for sheep, it's normally held at a private residence, according to Thurston, who heads the 4-H program i...
Fifteen-year-old Parker Lind of Plains was cleaning up weeds near River Road West when he came across a baby praying mantis. Once he posed for a photo with his find, he released it in nearby bushes. The praying mantis is often used to control insect populations in gardens, but might also prey on beneficial pollinators, according to the Montana Field Guide. The eggs of a praying mantis usually start hatching in mid June and has a lifespan of 10-12 months....
More than 300 adults and kids gathered on the tarmac of the old Plains airport on Saturday for the 8th Annual Wildhorse ShootOut 3-on-3 basketball tournament. It was near nonstop action as the crowd cheered for players of the 73 teams that registered for the tournament at the Amundson Sports Complex, including a dozen teams from Sanders County, said Erika Lawyer, who coordinated the tournament put on by the Wildhorse Sports Association. WSA is the nonprofit organization that runs the sports...
The Plains Town Council held a special meeting Friday to discuss the contract for the town's new well, which will be located at the corner of Kruger Road and Upper Lynch Creek Road. Cold Water Drilling and Pumps out of Arlee was awarded the contract for $79,030. The town approved the 180-page contract, which was looked over by Loren Fitzpatrick, the town attorney, and Shari Johnson, the town's contract engineer. Mayor Joel Banham said the contract doesn't state the exact starting date, but he...
