Trust supports arts in Sanders County

The arts have long been a significant part of education and entertainment in Sanders County. In large part that is due to the Rittenour Foundation and its successor, the Clark Fork Enrichment Corporation.

The Rittenour trust was inaugurated in the early 1960s by an endowment by early Plains resident and entrepreneur, Clifford Rittenour. Rittenour came to Plains from Oregon (via Missoula) in 1902 to take a position with McGowan mercantile. When Sanders County was split off from Missoula County in 1906 Rittenour was appointed Chairman of the new Sanders County Board of Commissioners. At that time the new county had no tax base and therefore no money to conduct county business. Employees, including Rittenour, were paid by County Warrants which were heavily discounted by merchants and financial institutions.

The first County Assessor was C. A. “Duke” Brown from Larchwood where he ran a general store. Brown was responsible for assessing the value of property and livestock in order to build up a tax base with which to conduct county affairs. It was apparently not a popular position. Rittenour was instrumental in founding the first bank in Sanders County, the First National Bank of Plains.

He was a community minded individual and endowed a trust which was to benefit the citizens of Sanders County. Local attorney Alex Morrison served as trustee from the trust’s inception until his death in 2004. He was succeeded as trustee by his widow, Jean Morrison who until her recent retirement worked unceasingly to promote the arts in Sanders County. In 2014 the Rittenour trust was folded into the Clark Fork Enrichment Corporation which continues to provide grants to the community.

The trust has provided funding for improvements to the Clark Fork Valley Hospital, such as a helicopter landing pad and equipment for the hospital’s senior citizen area as well as money for the repair of musical instruments at local high schools. The trust’s importance to the community is best exemplified by its funding for Shakespeare in the Parks, the Missoula Children’s Theater, the Montana Repertory Theater, the Vigilante Players and the Piatagorski Foundation which presents musical concerts in an informal setting where members of the audience can meet and ask questions of the performers.

Perhaps the most recognizable achievement of the Rittenour Foundation was the creation and support of the Sanders County Baroque festival, and therein lies a tale. Violinist Monica Hugget was bicycling across America and her travels took her through Sanders County where, in a chance encounter, she met Jean Morrison. Between them they developed a plan which would bring world renowned musicians to play in concert at Quinn’s Hot Springs resort near Paradise.

Now in its 17th year the festival is now a self-supporting venture and draws concert goers from Montana and other states, who return for the festival every year.