We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
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Plans for Chinook's annual Community Thanksgiving dinner are well underway. The yearly event, dating back to the 1980s, has become a part of the holiday tradition for both locals and visitors. The original purpose for the annual feast was to provide a way for families to be able to gather and celebrate a traditional Thanksgiving dinner together. Concerns about having space to prepare a huge meal, hosting a large family gathering or funding such a get-together prohibited some families from...
The announcement that after 127 years of service the Jesuits would be leaving St. Paul Mission was a shocking surprise to the congregation of the church in Hays. Church officials said the reason was the retirements of many older priests and a shortage of new priests entering the ministry. Father Retzel, who has headed the Mission staff for many years and was retiring said though saddened the members of the church seemed to be accepting the changes. Two Sundays ago the St. Paul Mission...
Alert Journal readers will recall that after each significant venture away from home I write about some of the points of interest once we arrive back in Chinook. Recently Sherry and I visited Woodinville, Washington, dog sitting for Fiona, our favorite standard poodle. Here are a few of the memorable experiences that helped make the two weeks a lot of fun. We walked to Bassetti's Crooked Arbor Garden to see the flowers, plants and outdoor art Bassetti's garden is about a ten-minute walk from whe...
The Kuper Cemetery Board asked that the Journal publicly recognize and thank the Chinook Lions Club for both its historic and recent work toward improving the cemetery. The club recently completed the last planting of twelve mature trees in the military section, in Area 4, of the cemetery. Kuper Cemetery is on Stephens Road, northwest of Chinook. Historically the Lions Club's first major project at the cemetery was buying and planting 180 Green Ash trees around the perimeter of the cemetery nort...
Local drivers heading west from Chinook on US 2 may have noticed a tower recently erected in the south right away near the west edge of town. The new tower is an RWIS (Road Weather Information Service) device installed by Montana's Department of Transportation (MDOT), the group that among other things, maintains state highways. The new unit, atop the tower, has a camera and data gathering equipment that will provide road maintenance planners, as well as travelers, information about road and...
Alert Journal readers may recall a couple of stories that appeared over the last three years about the efforts to restore the Mandan keelboat sitting alongside the Missouri River in downtown Fort Benton. Finally, after four plus years of work and funding, the Mandan was officially declared restored at a recent celebration. The Mandan keelboat in Fort Benton was one of three originally built in 1952 for the movie Big Sky. Only one of the three "props" survived and was on display behind the...
Community members and colleagues shared stories and thoughts about Dr. Joe's retirement after 24-years of practicing medicine at the OneHealth medical clinics in Chinook and Harlem. At the event on the lawn of the former Sweet Medical Center, a setting appropriate for Dr. Joe's passion for outdoor activities, the Harlem native noted, "After medical school I signed a six-month contract to work at the Sweet Clinic until they could find a replacement doctor. I never left." He worked for a time...
The new 2025-26 YAVs (Young Adult Volunteers) arrived in Chinook the end of August. Mercer Phlegar, from Findlay, Ohio, recently graduated from Carroll University in Waukesha, Wisconsin with a major in educational studies. Griffin Monsen-Hudson, from Hillsborough, North Carolina, graduated in the spring from Carleton College, located in Northfield, Minnesota, with a major in religion and a minor in medieval studies. The new YAVs first group meeting in Chinook was their introduction at the fifth...
Rod Sodergren had many interests during a long retirement from Texaco. He was known around the region and beyond for his elegant HO Guage model railroad layout that took up much of his basement. From the time he got the set up completed, in 1991, to the time he began to dismantle it, November, 2009, he recorded the names of nearly 800 people who came to view his train set up. Rod died in 2016 at the age of 92. Rod Sodergren, of Chinook, never had an electric train when he was growing up. He said...
The 105th edition of the USBC Women's Championships concluded last week. The century-old event is said to be the largest women's sporting event in the world. This year's event began in April and finished the end of July. Over that stretch of time 16,300 women participated. Competitions included team (four bowlers), doubles and single bowling events. The 2025 competition was held at the South Point Hotel, Casino and Spa in Las Vegas, Nevada. The South Point Bowling Center, part of the...
When I first moved to Chinook I was quite puzzled by a sign, for a café, right in the middle of a bunch of cattle-related farm supplies along Highway 2. It was only after a lot of questions of fellow coffee drinkers and others that I began to get a vague idea of the significance of the sign and the role that the Tastee Bite Café played in the lives of locals, and people passing through, over a 50+ year period. I decided I would see what I could learn of the history of the café. Like a lot of the...
Ken Schubert, of Chinook, has completed about 20 miniature model horse drawn carriages and buggies. A fellow coffee drinker at the Chinook Senior Center, he showed me a few photos of some of the models of motorless conveyances he's made. I asked if he would show me his shop and explain how he makes the models. Here's some of what Ken shared with me about his passion for building miniature horse drawn replicas. Ken's well-appointed workshop is adjacent to the garage behind the house where he and...
I got interested in this story when I met Jim and Martha at the Coal Banks Landing, on the Missouri River, where they were campground hosts. We visited and I learned they were doing a project about one room schools in Blaine County. It was a story that appealed to me and they agreed to share information for the story that follows. Blaine County’s historic one room schools part of Big Sky Schoolhouse Survey 8-27-2015 This summer the Montana Preservation Alliance (MPA) launched an ambitious program to “digitally document and map our sta...
The old A & W Root Beer stand on the west edge of Chinook was a favorite stopping place for farm families, town dwellers and travelers passing through on Highway 2. From 1962 to 1990 it served up root beer, ice cream and grilled delights. For the majority of the time the stand was open it was owned and operated by the Wanless family. The few years prior to its closing it was leased by Howard Gruszie. The property was then leased by Rainbow Irrigation. Short history of root beer and A & W Root...
My wife, Sherry, and I planned a 3000-mile trip on Amtrak to attend a grandson's high school graduation in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, see some of Pennsylvania Dutch country while out there, then backtrack, via train, to a reunion of Sherry's siblings near Peoria, Illinois. All the while celebrating our sixtieth wedding anniversary, which occurred during the trip. It was a lot to cram in to a two-week period but we were determined to do it. We made it and here are a few highlights of the trip. Met...
The Chinook Lions Club held its monthly meeting recently at the Blaine County Museum. The club, formed 100 years ago this year, is the fourth oldest Lions Club in Montana. The special meeting in the museum gave members an opportunity to experience the exhibit prepared by Museum staff and thank them for their efforts to record the club's history. Museum Director Sam French explained the process used to gather the materials on display. She gave a lot of credit to longtime club secretary Jack...
Last year members of the scholarship committee at the Chinook Presbyterian last did a study of the ten-year history of their scholarship program. That program, during the last decade, awarded financial grants to 38 graduating seniors from Chinook High who planned to pursue post-secondary educational programs. Turns out that only thirty percent of those receiving aid are still living in the area. With new ways to access post-secondary programs (online classes, branch campuses, correspondence...
Former Chinook resident Connie Malone recently donated a restored mud wagon to the local Wildlife Museum. Museum board member Mike Evans and his brother, Bo, made the 2600-mile trip to Quartzite, Arizona where they picked up the 1866 wagon and trailered it back to the local Museum's new Munson Wing. Ken Schubert, another board member helping with the unloading, said exact plans how the newly gifted wagon will be incorporated in to the museum's theme have not been decided. Mud wagons, a...
Dawn Newland describes herself as "a researcher, author, artist, and weaver of the threads of history." She lives and ranches on a spread situated where the corners of South Dakota, Montana and Wyoming meet. For the last two decades, among other projects, she's written historical pieces about frontier days in the Little Rockies and is currently writing an historical novel about Kid Curry (born Harvey Logan) and his exploits. Tuesday after Memorial Day, 2025, (May 27), Dawn will be in Landusky...
A friend of mine, working as a volunteer at a recent Red Cross Drive in Chinook, called during the recent drive to tell me about a man who drove from Kremlin to donate blood. I went out to the Commercial Building to meet Rodney Johnson. Johnson had just completed is 27th gallon of donated whole blood. I caught up with the 72-year-old farmer as he was enjoying a follow up sandwich, a couple of cookies and something to drink-part of the ritual of donating blood. Rodney told me he first gave blood...
Long time Chinook resident Bob Sharples was recognized recently for his 50 years of membership in and service to the Chinook American Legion Post #48. In a recent interview Sharples shared how he came to be a member of the post and his role, for several years, as the post's commander. A large part of the story is about a family tradition providing support to veterans of the armed services. The American Legion was chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1919 The American Legion was started by...
Several Chinook Lions Club members visited Meadowlark Elementary in Chinook and handed out 20 American flags to first graders on Presidents Day last Monday. For some local families it's a third generation receiving the desktop stick flags. Lions Club members say handing out the flags is a 40-plus year tradition. Some surrounding first graders in country schools will also receive the flags. First grade teachers at Meadowlark this year are Bridgette Brennan and Tammy Edwards. Mrs. Edwards is...
The Presbyterian Church of Chinook began awarding post-secondary scholarships to Chinook High (CHS) graduates in the spring of 2015. Thirty-eight scholarships have been awarded since the program began. A study suggests that of the recipients of scholarships during that period, only thirty percent still remain in the area along the Hi-Line. The scholarship committee at the church will award two scholarships this coming spring, one $500 scholarship to a 2025 CHS grad and one $500 scholarship to a non-traditional student from the local area. Part...
A couple of weeks ago about a dozen photographs by frontier photographer Charles E. Morris were hung on the wall across the hall from the County Superintendents Office on the main floor of the Blaine County courthouse. Jude Sheppard, the former Director of the Blaine County Museum, explained, "We had a gift from Chuck and Miriam Palm plus another private grant to purchase some of Morris' post cards that became available. With part of the gift we had some images Morris took enlarged for hanging...
Recently at the North Harlem Hutterite Colony three second graders shared the story of Christ's birth. It's a tradition that's gone on since the time the colony was founded. Two old stars, played by Pierce Hofer (with the beard) and Taya Hofer told the Christmas story as they answered questions by new star, Neal Hofer. Per Colony minister Eli Hofer, the annual tradition of a Christmas program put on by the colony's children has been presented annually since 1965, just a few years after the...
