Remember When?

70 YEARS AGO • JUNE 3, 1953

M.C. Sutherland, chairman of the board of county commissioners reports that the Paradise-St. Regis ferry is closed again because of high water in the Clark Fork River. Large numbers of logs and trees are in the turbulent water which could collide with the ferry and damage it and possibly cause accidents. This is the third time this spring the ferry has been closed due to the danger of high water. Heavy rains over the Memorial Day week have caused the river to remain at high and dangerous levels.

A new 35-foot bridge across Trout Creek is being constructed a short distance downstream from the old bridge which collapsed a week ago. The old bridge, about a mile west of the town of Trout Creek, had been condemned earlier this spring and was scheduled to be repaired. The new bridge is expected to be ready in about two weeks.

40 YEARS AGO • MAY 28, 1983

FALLS LODGE HONORS PIONEER

For 50 years of service and leadership, Stella Helman was honored Saturday by theThompson Falls Rebekah Lodge at a supper in the IOOF Hall.

Friends and family members gathered to honor Stella, former noble grand of the lodge.

The life of Stella Helman has been and continues to be full and active.

Over the years, in addition to caring for her family, working outside her home, and serving in the Rebekahs, Stella has found time for membership in the Woman’sClub, Grange, Business and Professional Women’sClub, Legion Auxiliary, Women’s Benefit Association and Eastern Star.

Stella was born in Clark Fork, Idaho and came to Thompson Falls at the age of 14. She is one of six Flemming children - five daughters and one son.

One of her first jobs, she recalls, was with Macho’s and Mitchell’s Restaurant located where True Value is today.

“The dining room was in the middle of the building,” Stella recalls. “The saloon was at the front, and the meat market and grocery store was at the rear.

In 1919, Stella married Clarence Helman. Clarence was employed by the assessor’s office and later was with Montana Power for 35 years.

The Helman’s three children , Dorothy, Delores and Edward, were all born in Thompson Falls. They enjoyed living up Prospect Creek at Clarence’s father’s ranch, she recalls, and came to town each spring so Clarence could assist with the county tax bills. His father, Dad Helman, came to Thompson Falls by covered wagon in 1900.

Spending most of her employment years in restaurant work, Stella managed dining rooms, worked as a waitress, cooked for and boarded school teachers, baked general goods and wedding cakes and served special organization dinners in her Montana Power home for many years. Later they built their own home in town.

“The first thing about the restaurant business I was taught,” Stella says, “is that if you serve one customer and do it right, they come back and the word gets around.”

In the earlier days of the Black Bear Hotel Stella recalls being asked by Bud Ainsworth to manage the dining room and put her seal of approval on the hotel name.

“He was enthused about the name and design,” she said, “and asked my opinion.”

Though faded, the old black bear is not lost but is faintly visible on the west side of the hotel.

In the midst of a busy life, Stella fondly remembers their family’s two week get-aways every year to the coast for Salmon fishing and clam digging.

One restaurant in Thompson Falls which Stella worked for was the Squeeze inn, a tiny place formerly at the Strout Realty site (which has burned) where she helped Ma Jenkins with the cooking.

“Sometimes when I look back I wonder how I got it all done,” Stella says. “Besides cooking meals we packed lunches for Forest Service crews and other groups.

And what are some of the unforgettable orders from her early days in the restaurant business?

Stella recalls a special friend and says, “how can you forget asparagus on toast or a breakfast order of boiled herring and boiled potatoes?”

“We always had a good grocery supply for the restaurants in town. The six Spokane to Missoula trains stopped here, the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 41 and 42 - which included ‘the dinky,’ or milk run train which stopped everywhere,” she said.

Saturday Stella’s friends cooked for her. She received her past noble grand pin, flowers, a cake and a reception.