Independently owned since 1905
Independently owned since 1905
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The Sanders County commissioners are looking for people to fill vacancies in the Sanders County Fair Commission, a board of volunteers that work on the fair and fairground operations. In December, three members of the fair board resigned for various reasons and another quit in September; the county needs to replace them as soon as possible, said Commissioner Carol Brooker. Wade Rehbein and Heidi Kirkwood, both of Plains, and Jenny Garrison of Thompson Falls, all resigned in December within days of each other. Rachel Berge of Hot Springs...
One hundred and seventy-five youth from kindergartners to seniors participated in this year's Sanders County Arts Council Art on the Walls Student Show in the Main Street Hallway at the Clark Fork Valley Hospital. The Arts Council and hospital, which co-sponsors the show, hosted a reception in the hospital lobby Thursday to kick off the student exhibit, which will be up until March 27. "It never ceases to amaze me how much talent we have in our communities from kindergarten to high school,"...
The Committee For Safe Swimming (CSS) is once again stepping up to help the Town of Plains repair the E.L. Johnson Memorial Pool. Janice Hanson, president of the nonprofit organization, said they placed a symbolic thermometer at McGowan’s Grocery Store to show the fundraiser progress to the community. The thermometer was placed at the store last Monday and they’ve already received a $250 donation, in addition to the $20,000 the group had in its kitty. Hanson said the group picked McGowan’s to show the thermometer because of the heavy traff...
The Sanders County Arts Council's Visual Arts Committee met at the Paradise Center Saturday to go over this season's special events and new classes, beginning with a new adult pottery class beginning Feb. 5. The Arts Council has had pottery classes in the past, but this is the first time the nonprofit organization will offer an extended lesson, said Karen Thorson, president of the Arts Council. Thorson and Ellen Childress, both Plains residents, will be giving the four-week long class, which wil...
Swimming pools aren't exactly a hot topic during the cold winter months, but a group of people got together last week at Clark Fork Valley Hospital to discuss the break downs of the E.L. Johnson Memorial Pool in Plains, the cost of keeping it open, and the prospect of constructing a new indoor pool. The Plains swimming pool is nearly 50 years old and has shown constant problems over the last 15 years. Members of the Committee For Safe Swimming (CSS) organized a meeting last Tuesday in an effort...
Pitching a no hitter in baseball is a feat, but driving a big rig more than 1.7 million miles without an accident is epic. And that's what Larry Spiekermeier of Plains did during his career with Whitewood Transport of Billings. The 71-year-old Spiekermeier retired from Whitewood Transport in October, but he had just one more task to accomplish to make his career complete – to drive truck in all 50 states. "I told them that Hawaii was the only state I hadn't driven in, so they organized it with a...
Dave and JoAnne Colyer have a name for their new service station mascot – Claire – named in honor of their Sinclair Gas Station in Plains. Scott Dicken of Plains was one of 75 people to enter the name-the-dinosaur contest, but wasn't the only one to suggest Claire, said JoAnne. The Colyers selected the name Claire on New Year's Day, even though JoAnne liked the suggested name Herman, which was her father's name, but she didn't think it was a good name for a dinosaur. Seven people entered the...
A small aircraft had a mishap while in the process of making a landing at Penn Stohr Field, the Plains airport, on Saturday, Dec. 22. There were no injuries, but the airport had to be shut down for a couple of hours, according to Randy Garrison, the airport manager. The aircraft was traveling from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, to Plains. The pilot was the only occupant. The Beechcraft single engine airplane was making a landing when the landing gear collapsed. The plane slid on the runway 300 to 500 feet, but did not go off the runway, Garrison said....
After the snowfall, Old Man Winter rests. He is warm now, with his long white hair flowing down his shoulders. After conjuring up infinite patterns of snowflakes, each one unique, and gently laying down the soft blanket of albescence, he tucks his chin into his full beard and begins to dream. In the mountains, the creatures of the earth begin to stir after the quietness of the last flake falling has been fully appreciated. The extreme northwest corner of Montana and the panhandle of Idaho present the rugged mountain ranges that include...
At Dog Hill Bistro, you can make your house and eat it, too... and a few people were seen munching on their gingerbread houses Saturday at the 2nd Annual Adult Gingerbread House Class. Kathy Logan, owner of Dog Hill Bistro in Plains, held a gingerbread session for kids last week, but Saturday, it was time for the adults to demonstrate their building expertise. Twenty men and women took part in the class, doubling participation from 2017. "It's a lot harder than I thought and it's sloppy," said...
Santa Claus seemed to be everywhere Saturday. Kids and adults alike sat on his lap at McGowan's Grocery in the morning and at Ripples Ice Cream Parlor in the afternoon. People lined Railroad Street shortly after noon to see Kris Kringle waving from an old fire engine in the annual parade through town. Around 100 kids and adults, which included Plains Police Officer Ethan Harvey, Sanders County Deputy Rob Largent, and 94-year-old Betty Meyer, meet with Santa Claus, aka Montana Highway Patrolman...
A dinosaur has a new home at the Sinclair Gas Station in Plains last week, but now the parents, Dave and JoAnne Colyer need to come up with a name for their new addition. To take off the pressure of giving it a name, they've decided to let the public do it. The Colyers received the 12-foot long, 6-foot tall Sinclair mascot last Thursday as part of a regional promotion for the Sinclair company and its Missoula distributor, High Noon. JoAnne said the Plains station was one of two out of 10...
A group of kids and military veterans braved the cold temperatures last week to give a batch of U.S. flags a proper sendoff. With the weather dipping into the low 20s, VFW Post 3596 held a flag retirement ceremony in the rear parking lot of the post Friday evening. The ceremony included members of the 4-H South Side Sparks and Plains Boy Scout Troop 1957. "The American flag, otherwise known as Old Glory, the Stars and Stripes or the Star-Spangled Banner, represents the land, the people, the...
One Plains teacher took her students out of the classroom for their lesson last week to learn art and to help spread the holiday spirit. Forty-three students from Plains High School scattered throughout Plains Friday to paint Christmas designs on business windows. “They’ve done a fabulous job and they love doing this, especially the new ones, and they love being out of the classroom,” said Kristen Cole, the school’s art teacher, who spent the day going from one end of town checking on her stu...
"It gave me such great memories when I went to school here," said 94-year-old Betty Meyer after the 2nd Annual Christmas Tree Lighting Celebration at the Paradise Center, formerly Paradise Elementary School Sunday evening. Meyer was one of more than 60 people who gathered in the multi-purpose room, which used to be the school gymnasium, to attend the Christmas program, sponsored by the Paradise Elementary School Preservation Committee. Meyer was a student at the school from first to eighth...
Plains is known for horses. It's the school mascot. The former elementary school was called Wild Horse Plains. An entire herd of horses recently lined the fence along the greenway. The town police patches had been Wild Horse Plains. Chief of Police Shawn Emmett said the town was called Horse Plains until it was incorporated in 1907. And now there's a new horse in town standing by itself on the grass along Railroad Street near Central Avenue. It's a 600-pound, 8-foot long, 9 ½-foot tall...
The Polar Express is making a stop at Plains School for the month of December, compliments of train enthusiast Bill Beck. The Plains resident set up the train and a winter village last week and left it in charge of train "conductor" Thom Chisholm, the school superintendent, who will turn the train on periodically throughout the school day. "I think the teachers like it more than the kids," said the 77-year-old Beck, who worked on the train village for about six hours. He finished Monday by...
One Trout Creek woman has traveled the world as an ambassador of the United States, first as a member of the Air Force, then for the U.S. State Department. Now that she's retired, it's time for her to devote her energies full time to promote her own Native American heritage and she's doing it with music. "I want to help people be more at peace with themselves and with each other," said Chilaili Wachiwi, who moved to Trout Creek in June and has already performed with her flute in Plains, Noxon...
The night sky over the county fairgrounds was dotted with colored lights last weekend as people's messages drifted to the heavens. Nearly a dozen people participated in the Cancer Network of Sanders County's (CNSC) eighth annual Chinese Lantern Launch Saturday evening. The lanterns carried a variety of messages to mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, and others as a flame inside the lanterns raised them into the night. Most of the handwritten notes went to people who had lost their battle with...
Lyla Sears (left) and Ellen Childress fill boxes that are destined for families in the Plains and Paradise area to help out with their Thanksgiving dinner. The project is part of a program from the First Lutheran Church and United Methodist Church in Plains. Eleven families ranging from two people to seven were provided boxes of food with 25 items, including a turkey, a pie, potatoes, stuffing and other food items, along with aluminum foil. It took the ladies less than an hour to fill the boxes...
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, thanks to the Plains Lions Club, which put up holiday decorations in Plains Sunday morning. It took just over an hour for Lions Duane Highcrane, Dave Helterline, Harry Legg and Dan Rowan, along with volunteers Justin Holmes and Lloyd Rice with his NorthWestern Energy bucket truck, to put up the lighted decorations along a mile stretch of Railroad Street from Highway 28 to Central Avenue. Highcrane, the club president, said they decided to do it a...
The Plains Woman's Club is once again helping to make Christmas more enjoyable for children from homes of domestic violence. Seven women – Judy Stephens, Margaret Storoy, Shirley King, Deb Cleveland, Connie Foust, Deana Allison, and Dayna Dickerson – gathered in the fellowship hall of the Plains United Methodist Church to make Christmas stockings for Sanders County Coalition For Families clients Friday afternoon. "These ladies are making these stockings with a labor of love," said Crystal Buchan...
A new group of people were in charge of the Veteran's Appreciation Luncheon at Plains School this year, but the enthusiasm and heartfelt dedication to give thanks to the military veterans hadn't waivered. "It was really, really outstanding," said Joe Eisenbrandt, a Navy Vietnam War veteran who has attended the school's appreciation luncheon all five years. The program was started by teachers Keith Baker and Linda Knight, who retired last year. This year, Nichole Cockrell and George Sherwood...
As the holidays approach, the Plains Community Food Bank is striving to help people in need, but to help others the food bank needs help. The shelves at the food bank are normally stocked well, but they are finding themselves with empty shelves and without several basic food items, said Jack Dowell, one of a handful of volunteers at the food bank, located on Central Avenue across from the Assembly of God Church on the Move. Dowell said they are presently missing several items that the food bank...
He started in the mountains of Colorado, lived in the deserts of the Middle East, moved to the swamps of Florida and soon he'll be in the Rockies of Montana as a member of Clark Fork Valley Hospital. Dr. Robert E. Blease will be the hospital's first fulltime orthopedic surgeon since the late 1990s and is scheduled to begin work sometime in mid January. "In looking for a new practice opportunity, I was seeking a smaller facility in the West, were I could provide more personalized care to my...
