Remember When?

40 YEARS AGO • AUGUST 5, 1982

LONG-TIME OFFICIAL ORIN KENDALL PASSES

Orin P. Kendall, 78, who had served Sanders County 50 years as an educator and elected official, died Sunday.

He was born April 30, 1904, in Williams, Iowa, the son of Oliver and Nellie Kendall. In 1923 he attended the Cheney Normal School in Washington prior to moving in Montana in 1926. He taught school at Belknap where he met his wife, Ivy, the primary teacher in the two-room school.

December 28, 1927, he married Ivy Reeder at Missoula. He continued to teach at Belknap until 1928 when he moved to Kalispell and taught for one year. He taught school in Pablo from 1928 to 1937 and then moved to Whitepine where he taught until 1942.

He was then elected Sanders County treasurer and served for four years. In 1946 he was elected Sanders County superintendent of schools and served for 22 years until his retirement in 1968.

Following his retirement, he was elected to the Montana Legislature. He was on the Thompson Falls City Council for two years and served as Thompson Falls mayor for 12 years from 1961 until 1972.

During his administration as mayor the new city hall and library were constructed, a new sewer system built and a new fire truck purchased.

Mr. Kendall was secretary of the Montana State Grange for 26 years. He was past president of the Montana County Superintendents Assn., and past master of Thompson Falls Masonic Lodge for which he served as lodge secretary for many years.

He was past worthy patron of Mount Silcox Chapter 111, Order of Eastern Star, and was an agent for the Grange Insurance Association for 19 years. In his free time, he enjoyed woodworking.

He was one of the first directors of the Lions Lodge and along with the other four directors contributed funds from his own pocket, never repaid, to get the senior citizen housing project started.

For several months he wrote a popular column, “Looking Back” for the Ledger. In it, Kendall recalled incidents and events of the past.

When Kendall announced his retirement from active public life in January 1976, he issued the following statement:

“Montana and Sanders County have been good to me and I am proud of the fact that I have never lost an election in the county. I believe that it is better to retire when people ask, ‘Why are you retiring?’ rather than, ‘Why don’t you retire?’”

“My wife, Ivy, and I expect to remain in the community of Thompson Falls as long as it is God’s will.”

Kendall was noted for his wit and readiness to tell a joke or interesting story. He was frequently asked to speak publicly and to serve as master of ceremonies at banquets.

Orin Kendall is survived by his daughter, Glenda Farlan of Thompson Falls and Orin G. Kendall of Plains.

30 YEARS AGO • AUGUST 13, 1992

PLANNING PAYS OFF FOR ANNUAL FESTIVAL

It took a lot of planning, but it showed. The members of the Trout Creek Community Improvement Association and all the volunteer organizations who have put so much effort into coordinating this burgeoning festival are to be congratulated. It was a class act, from beginning to end.

The most significant additions to the festival were the professional way in which parking at the field was handled by Peggy Lakey and Jackie Abbey. They kept the vehicles moving in an orderly fashion eliminating bottlenecks.

The giant tarps down the midway corridor were donated and installed by the new Lakeside Motel owner, Hans Parson, and his two grandsons. Kudos to the Whitepine Grange for allowing patrons to rest beneath the shadow of the tarp on their long wooden benches. Add to that picnic tables, and you had the recipe for success.

Two more bleachers were constructed by Naughty Pine’s owner, Sandy Green’s son and another couple.

Roland Surey volunteered a great deal of time with the sound system not only for his own act, Crazy Dog and the Porch Monkeys, but helping all the others who performed on stage.

Fundraising events such as the popular huckleberry pancake breakfast which drew over 1,000 will benefit many groups. The sponsors, Trout Creek Firemen, will give donations from their proceeds to the Trout Creek Community Improvement Association, a scholarship, the Cub Scouts, Young Astronauts, baseball and 4-H. The Catholic Church’s Chicken BBQ dinner was another fundraiser this year with Sharon Larkin and Sandy Davis of Noxon running the stoves.

There were many positive comments about the fine quality of the crafts available from vendors who are coming not only from local townspeople but those from many other states. There were activities designed to interest and entertain people of all ages, and many stayed throughout the day.

There were a wide variety of huckleberry offerings from slush and ice cream to pies, cakes and pizza and raw huckleberries. Huckleberries are scarce this year, a fact that is driving the price up to $22 a gallon. But no matter what the price, people were buying what they came for – anything huckleberry.

This year huckleberries are going for $60 to $70 per gallon. This weekend marks the 42nd year of the festival.