Remember When?

50 YEARS AGO • FEBRUARY 7, 1974

GRADER OPERATOR UNHURT AFTER FIVE ROLLS DOWNHILL

Harold (Dutch) Lentz rode a road grader down a mountainside as it rolled over five times Monday morning before daylight and he walked away with only a few scratches and bruises. His black dog survived the trip with him.

Ben G. Cox, for whom Lentz works, said Lentz was backing his grader near a curve where a truck was parked when it went off the road and took the wild, tumbling ride down the mountain. The site was in Everson Gulch, near where James (Bronc) Matthews had been killed by a falling snag a few days earlier.

Cox said the cab on the grader was smashed to the level of the seat. He said Lentz told him that the grader rolled slowly and that at each turn, it appeared as if was going to stop rolling, and then it would start another roll Dutch shoved his dog underneath him to protect it. When the grader finally came to a stop, Dutch had to kick his way out of the cab and then got his dog out. By that time, others in the area had been alerted to the accident.

Cox said he helped Lentz into his pickup and started toward Thompson Falls with the intention of taking Dutch directly to the Clark Fork Valley Hospital at Plains. Lentz insisted that they get Dr. C.E. Rosdahl out of bed instead. Later Dr. Rosdahl took Lentz home to rest up for the day with additional x-rays scheduled later as a precaution.

Cox said he planned to retrieve the grader Tuesday to see if it could be repaired. He said that the road machine just missed two large trees below the road by a matter of inches and either or both would have halted the grader’s roll down the mountainside.

40 YEARS AGO • FEBRUARY 3, 1984

EMTs BREAK GROUND FOR AMBULANCE HOUSE

“We already have two nice donations,” said EMT Tom Squire, “from the Spring Creek School and from the Grange for an ambulance crew training building.” Community support from all areas will make it a reality.

Today (Thursday) and tomorrow approximately 160 businesses and organizations in the Thompson Falls area will receive a letter from Thompson Falls EMTs asking for their assistance in the form of money and materials for a building they plan to begin construction on by April 1.

“The type of building that goes up,” says Squire, “will be determined by the amount of money and donated materials and labor we can come up with.” Squire added, “The building will be highly visible, located on the highway across from the Irv Puphal residence and we would like to have it be a nice addition to the community, one folks could point to with pride.”

The EMTs pointed out that the building would belong to the community and be erected for the purpose of training new EMTs, housing the ambulance, providing meeting room space and for storage of a multitude of equipment.

The Thompson Falls Ambulance organization has some money of its own and will sponsor an Easter bingo Saturday, April 14. The county will be supplying $8,000 this year. The projected cost of a 1700 to 1800 square foot frame building is $38,000 to $40,000, according to Squire. A metal structure is being considered as an alternative. The land has been leased from Burlington Northern, which can be extended every year.

WAYNE HILL OBITUARY

A long time Trout Creek resident, Wayne Hill, 68, died early Friday morning after a lengthy bout with cancer.

Wayne was born May 18, 1915 in Winnebago, Minnesota. He received his early schooling in North Dakota before moving to Trout Creek in 1942.

He worked as a logger and rancher for many years and was a pioneer in the exploration drilling in the Bull River area. He also was an accomplished horse trainer and raised several on the family ranch.

Wayne was also a bareback rider on the rodeo circuit for many years competing in Montana, North Dakota and Oregon, and he organized several rodeos in the Trout Creek area.

He was married to Edna McCann of Trout Creek in 1948.

He is survived by his wife of the family home; five sons, Wayne Hill Jr. of Noxon, Frank, Billy, David and Dennis Duane (Hank) all of Trout Creek and a daughter Sandra L. Koch of Trout Creek.

No services are planned.