Independently owned since 1905
Independently owned since 1905
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After the weekend barbecues, after the boats are launched for the season, after the sunburn and Beer…. it’s time to observe the “real” Memorial Day on its originally intended date: May 30. For decades, the “community” of Whitepine has held a traditional Memorial Day observance ceremony at Whitepine Cemetery every May 30. This was the date established at the start of it all, back in 1868, when Civil War General John Logan issued a “Memorial Day Order” proclaiming May 30 as Decoration Day. It was a day to honor the soldiers who had died in com...
Building a survival fire takes more than combustion, fuel and oxygen. It also takes a heavy dose of patience and preparation before the fire is even ready to be lit. That was the primary message of the "How to Survive a Cold Night in the Mountains" class taught at Whitepine Grange recently by Dusty Rosenthal, a master outdoorsman from Yakima, Wash. Rosenthal had been asked to present a three-hour class that would cover the basics of how to avoid hypothermia when hikers, shed hunters and...
Melissa Evans wasn't sure what kind of response she'd get when she offered a "beginning tumbling" class to youngsters in the west end of Sanders County. That was about six weeks ago. Soon after she announced the class on Facebook, she had 14 kids between the ages of 6 and 12 signed up for a four-week session of tumbling classes at Whitepine Grange. Overwhelmed with the positive response, she added an additional hour to her Monday class schedule, split her students into two groups, and added two...
A windstorm back in March blew down a lot of lodgepoles on Frank LaMotte's Trout Creek property. This fall he wanted to clear the downed whips off his land, so he hired a commercial logger with a skid steer to pull them out. It didn't work. The ground was so saturated and soft that the logger's machinery bogged down and created huge ruts in LaMotte's property. The logger suggested LaMotte hire a horse-drawn outfit to come in and do the job instead. Enter James Yoder from Plains, along with his...
Okay, so this pup may not be a Picasso yet, but he's probably the only dog in Sanders County who can paint almost inside the lines. His name is Dakota, and he's an Australian Cattle Dog who belongs to 17-year-old Shilah Crew of Trout Creek. Shilah, a talented young artist herself, noticed that her dog liked to watch her while she worked on sketches and watercolors. So she decided to offer him the chance to develop his own talent. "I started by just having him touch the paintbrush," Shilah said,...
To most of us, "The Grange" conjures up movie images of a modest rural building with wholesome country dances, moonshine in the parking lot and neighborhood meetings where farmers and ranchers battle out issues concerning their livelihoods. The Grange was the place for potlucks, sewing bees, 4-H meetings, holiday parties and even weddings. It's a crucial part of our rural heritage, and yet very few of today's generations even know what the Grange is. The Whitepine Grange is just such a place....
Myrtle is a snowbird who flees the frigid Montana air each fall and spends her winter in Sue Hechtman's laundry room. Each spring, when the sun warms up the back yard of Hechtman's Thompson Falls home, Myrtle eagerly returns to the back yard where she dines on grass, lettuce and fruit, and resides in an Igloo doghouse. Myrtle is an African Spur-thighed tortoise, also known as a sulcata tortoise. She's 40 years old and weighs about 100 pounds. Sue Hechtman, her human caretaker, has owned her sinc...
"You just got back from WHERE?" The Missoula airport parking lot attendant was incredulous. "Antarctica," I replied, handing him payment for my long-term parking ticket. "Isn't it cold enough for you here in Montana?" he asked, shaking his head. It was 10 degrees that February day, with a stiff wind. "Actually, it was warmer there. It's summer in Antarctica, so it was a balmy 28 degrees with sunshine." Since returning to the sub-zero temps in Sanders County last month, people have peppered me...
The saying, "Good fences make good neighbors" has new meaning for Frank Owens and Leta Behmerwohld, Trout Creek residents whose properties border the northwest side of Trout Creek Park. Thanks to the efforts of a few local volunteers and donations from Thompson River Lumber, the park now boasts a brand new 432-foot-long wooden fence. It defines the border of the busy park and offers attractive privacy to the residents on the other side. "In the past, people would park in our yards during...
Anna Pallister is getting an early start on a career in community service. As a seventh-grader, she's the youngest to ever be chosen to serve on Montana Governor Bullock's Youth Leadership Council, where she's spearheading a "Fight Childhood Hunger" campaign right here in Sanders County. The big day for Anna and her project, which is a 4-H sponsored event, will be Sat., April 21. Anna will host a "Fight Childhood Hunger" Fun Day at Thompson Falls Dog Park from noon to 2 p.m. As a dog owner who...
