Independently owned since 1905
Independently owned since 1905
Sorted by date Results 726 - 750 of 1023
Vehicles filled the Sanders County Fairgrounds parking lot and lined the road from the corner of Fifth Avenue and Third Street across the bridge and down River Road Saturday night as brilliant colorful lights filled the sky. It was a celebration of the country's 244th year of independence from Great Britain. Though the Second Continental Congress really voted for independence on July 2, they printed the final wording two days later - July 4 - the day Americans have come to know as Independence...
Members of VFW Post 3596 in Plains took time out of their Independence Day holiday to give thanks to the community with their annual Fourth of July Picnic in the Park. "We put on the barbecue every year to give back to the community and celebrate our freedom," said Heather Allen, the post quartermaster and coordinator of the event. Eleven post veterans served free hot dogs, hamburgers, potato and macaroni salads, and water and pop to nearly 240 people at Fred Young Park for three hours...
Nearly 1,300 people - mostly residents of Sanders County - attended the first No Limits Monster Truck Firecracker Nationals at the Sanders County Fairgrounds Saturday. Checkered Flag Promotions of Bridgeport, Texas, sponsored two shows at the fairgrounds on Independence Day, which included six monster trucks and a Tuff Truck obstacle course contest. Attendees could get a ride on monster truck "Monster Moose" for $10 and people had the chance to go into the arena to see the trucks up close before...
It's an empty lot now, but by next year at this time there will be a new school building standing there at the corner of Johnson and Rittenour Streets. Four contractors gathered at Plains School for a preliminary meeting to get briefed on the construction of the school's new multi-function facility, find out about any special needs for the project, and look over the site in order to put in their bids for the project. They were also given the architectural plans created by architect Jules Landis...
It's like a lighthouse in the woods, but instead of guiding mariners to safe passage, the keepers of the Forest Service's lookouts - Patrick's Knob and Eddy Mountain - are the first line of defense against fires in Sanders County. Both lookouts are manned for the season as of this week. Veteran lookout Craig Phillips of Thompson Falls opened Eddy Mountain Lookout on Saturday - Independence Day - to deter people from shooting fireworks near the lookout, as they did last year. Newcomer Ken...
The Sanders County Board of Health voted to cancel this year’s county fair at a special meeting Thursday evening at the fair pavilion. Commissioners Tony Cox and Carol Brooker, along with retired Dr. Jack Lulack and retired veterinarian Bob Gregg, voted in favor of canceling the fair while Commissioner Glen Magera voted against shutting it down. The board was concerned about the fair resulting in an outbreak of the coronavirus in Sanders County, where there has been no confirmed cases of the virus. Several members of the Board of Health and t...
The community of Paradise became one step closer to getting a first time sewer system after the Sanders County Sewer District at Paradise passed the resolution for a special assessment at a town meeting at the Paradise Center late Monday evening. It took less than 20 minutes for the four board members to vote on the assessment, but the meeting beforehand was heated and took more than three hours. The purpose of the meeting was to go over the written protest letters from those who were against...
The Sanders County Commissioners called a special meeting between the Sanders County Board of Health and the Sanders County Fair Commission at the fairgrounds pavilion last week to discuss plans for preventing the fair from causing a coronavirus outbreak. Members of the fair board are presently working on a draft that contains such plans, but some feel the plan is too vague and does not address enforcement practices with regard to COVID-19 guidelines. Board member Randy Woods, chairman, Jim...
Despite the precautions and limitations placed on the Sanders County Fair Commission, the board last Wednesday said they will be trying some new things this year. Besides the Plexiglas installations, sanitation stations and signage throughout the fairgrounds with reminders of the pandemic, the board is also going to be selling space for 8-foot long sponsorship banners for the demolition derby, which the fair has never done, according to Randy Woods, the board chairman. He hopes to have at least...
A worldwide disease has caused the cancellation of nearly every event in Sanders County, but not the biggest one of the year, according to Randy Woods, chairman of the Sanders County Fair Commission. "No way we're not going to have a fair. And if they give us any trouble, we'll just call it a four-day protest with food and entertainment," said Woods, who's been on the fair board for almost two years. Members of the fair board - Woods, Kim Bergstrom, Jim Newman, Milanna Shear, and Roberta Smith...
With cities and towns across the country taking a hard stance against police, a group of Plains residents decided it was time to show support for local and national law enforcement with signs, flags and prayers on Railroad Street in Plains Friday. "We just wanted to support law enforcement people because we feel they're under attack. We want to let them know that we support them and we're praying for them," said Sally Lilja, who organized the gathering with Becky Powley and Shelly Rummel, all...
Sanders County residents won’t have to wait until the fair to attend an event there. The fairgrounds will be hosting a “No Limits Monster Truck Firecracker Nationals” show in the main arena on July 4 for two shows at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets are limited to 2,000 for each event and are $20 for adults and $15 for those 12 years old and younger. Ticket prices will be higher at the door, according to Checkered Flag Promotions. The truck lineup will include names like “Zilla,” “Trouble-Maker,” “D’sTurbed,” “Double Trouble,” “Obsessed,” and “Wrong...
Coronavirus hasn’t hit Sanders County, but it has impacted the art world here, including the cancellation of the Sanders County Arts Council’s Artists in Paradise and the Montana Baroque Music Festival, both which were slated to take place at the end of July. Management at Quinn’s Hot Springs Resort informed the baroque festival’s artistic director, Adam LaMotte, that they would have to cancel this year’s performance because of the pandemic. “With our mostly senior festival audience we have received several cancellations, as they are genuine...
The Town of Plains now officially has a jail, though it's unlikely criminals will be housed there. The Plains site has actually been the jail home since it was built in 1904 - Plains was incorporated in 1907 - but until last week it was actually owned by Sanders County. In 2018, Plains Mayor Dan Rowan was looking up something on Montana Cadastral Mapping Project, a state operated Internet mapping system where a person can retrieve land information, when he came across the Horse Plains Jail on...
For most Americans, Memorial Day was celebrated last Monday, but Plains VFW Post 3596 is dedicated to following the tradition by holding its ceremony to honor lost military veterans on May 30, the original Memorial Day with roots that date nearly back to the Civil War. The ceremony at Plains Cemetery was short but solemn as Post Commander Ron Kilbury led the observance at the flagpole, the centerpiece of a section of the cemetery surrounded by numerous veterans' gravesites and small American fla...
Sports in Sanders County have been on hold for months due to COVID-19, but the pandemic didn't stop a group of girls from gathering at the Amundson Sports Complex in Plains last weekend for a day of softball competition. Just over 70 girls on seven teams from Missoula, Kalispell and Ronan - including three girls from Sanders County - played throughout the day as a "warm-up scrimmage," according to Dan Hirning, coach of the Montana Wildfire, one of two U12 teams there. On Hirning's Missoula team...
Allowing the coronavirus pandemic to dampen the spirits of graduation of Plains High School was not a factor, according to Principal Kevin Meredith, part of the official graduation party Sunday. "We did not consider not having graduation," said Meredith, the principal since 2015 and a 1999 Plains High School graduate. He said they talked about holding the graduation on a different date, but after surveying the parents and students, they overwhelmingly decided they wanted to stick with the May 24...
It was a gray drizzly day, but the Plains Cemetery is a little more colorful now, thanks to a group of military veterans that took time out Saturday morning to honor those who served in the armed forces and have passed. Thirteen veterans and an employee from the Plains VFW placed 436 American flags on the gravesites of veterans in preparation of Memorial Day. Days prior, the post's auxiliary members put their flags on the spouses of vets there. On Saturday morning, it took the volunteers two...
The Plains pool repairs are done and this week members of the town's public works staff cleaned the pool's inside walls and floor in preparation of filling it for the summer season. Greg Welty, the director for the Public Works Department, said they'll have the entire 82-foot long by 45-foot wide pool ready this week. He and Greg "Mak" Makinster worked on cleaning the pool and did some minor repairs earlier this week and last week. He said it takes about two days to fill the pool with 200,000 ga...
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, six years ago there were almost 73,000 centenarians in the United States and while the numbers are increasing, it is still a milestone, and one Plains woman just joined that elite club. Martha Vannice turned 100 years old last Tuesday. Her stepson, Wayne Vannice, and six friends gathered to sing "Happy Birthday" at her home, where she has lived for the last 49 years. "I've always said I wanted to make it to 100 years old and now I...
Getting proper medical attention is a top priority at Clark Fork Valley Hospital, but spiritual well-being is also important to the recovery process, which is why the medical facility's chaplain volunteer program is such a significant component of the hospital, according to Barry Fowler, the hospital's director of Human and System Resources. "I believe that research has shown that spirituality or faith is a factor that contributes to health in many persons," said Fowler, who added that many...
by Ed Moreth Picking up the tab for lunch is considerate, but paying $850 for nearly 60 lunches is outright generosity, yet that’s what one Plains man did. “A man from Plains paid all of the outstanding lunch bills for every family in the school district,” said Jim Holland, the Plains Elementary School principal. The man, who doesn’t want to be identified, called the school two weeks ago specifically asking if there were any outstanding lunch bills and if so, what was the total. Once he got his answer, he said he would be in the next day to...
Construction was one of the exemptions of the governor's stay-at-home directive, which is why three men are building homes, and for the most part they're building them in their own homes. "It's a good way to get your mind off the Coronavirus," said Dave Colyer, who's constructing five miniature houses for the tie plant portion of the railroad display at the Paradise Center. Colyer, Marc Childress and Mac Hall, are working on several buildings for the 26-foot long display, located on the second...
Dealing with the Coronavirus isn't just so-so, but for a group of amateur seamstresses it's more sew-sew. Nearly 45 people from the "Victory Sewers of Sanders County" are making gowns for the staff of Clark Fork Valley Hospital in an effort to protect them from the disease that has spread throughout the world, but has yet to impact Sanders County, said Janie Hom, the hospital's community health improvement specialist and the primary coordinator for the gown project. The Victory Sewers of...
A second steel horse was added to the Plains greenway along Railroad Street last week when the artist and two helpers used a crane to hoist the 600-pound sculpture onto a concrete block, which had been installed by the Plains Public Works Department the previous week. Kenton Pies has had his second horse done since March 3, when he did a little tweaking on the tail and was waiting for the hole to be dug and a concrete block placed in the ground 40 feet in front of the first horse, which was posi...
