We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
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On trips to Billings I was curious about the blue space-age looking domed structure on the south side of US 87 heading south out of Roundup. About four miles further south on US 87, I stopped a couple of times to explore the UMWA (United Mine Workers of America) cemeteries on both sides of the highway through Klein. I was familiar with the United Mine Workers who organized many miners in many states. I learned that in the early 1900s Klein boomed because of coal mining. Those mines are long clos...
The Chinook Lions Club was notified that work could begin this fall on the new skate park. The skate park will be a totally new facility to be built at the southwest corner of 9th Street West and Pennsylvania Street-directly behind the Chinook City Pool on the old parking lot. Per a representative of Evergreen Skateparks, the pool builders, "The project is a little short on funding so construction cannot begin this summer as hoped." The idea of a skate park in Chinook was first discussed at a re...
There was a sizable gathering on hand last Sunday afternoon, June 2, at Sweet Park to celebrate Laurie Huestis' service with the Blaine I Ambulance and Rescue service and wish her well after 40 years with the crew. The well-wishers were not just former ambulance and rescue colleagues. Dr. Carley Robertson, the Medical Director for the ambulance crew, as well as other local and regional medical professionals stopped by to wish Laurie well. And there were a number of us locals who wanted to tell...
My wife Sherry and I recently spent a week in Grand Forks, North Dakota with our son, celebrating his 50th birthday. He's lived there for some time. Our daughter made a surprise flight from the Seattle area where she lives to celebrate her brother's 50th birthday. The four of us had not been together as a family in five years. For Sherry and me it was a great time visiting with our adult children and interesting to revisit the area where we lived nearly 25 years ago. Sherry's first assignment...
A group of Chinook's Meadowlark and Junior High students recently joined the Chinook Lions to celebrate a second replay of a nearly century old event in the town. Last week classes from kindergarten to junior high picked up litter on selected city streets in Chinook. Students got to experience firsthand what happens when trash is not properly discarded. Chinook's town clean-up efforts date back nearly a century A few weeks before October 21, 1925, the official date of the startup and dedication...
The owners at the Journal asked if I would write about Dr. Brock Aiton's moving his veterinary service to a new clinic at the old Spa Bar on US Hwy 2 at Zurich. I'd heard Aiton Veterinary Service was moving to the building and was interested to see how the conversion of the historic building to a vet clinic was progressing. After a tour of the facility, still in the final throes of finishing the remodel, Dr. Aiton told there would be a grand opening celebration for the new clinic on Friday, May...
Laurie Huestis retired in March, 2024 after 40 years as a member of the Blaine I Ambulance and Rescue Crew. Fellow crew member Lynne wrote, “Laurie has a three-digit EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) number from when she started, now those numbers are five digits!” Laurie began serving with the Blaine I emergency services crew in 1984. Her fellow crew members are hosting an opportunity for the community to express its thanks to Laurie at a community celebration in early June. Laurie was noted for being one the first responders to an eme...
For our recent 80th birthdays my wife and I have been taking mini-vacations to places in Montana we've never visited. Our travel agent, Keri Hanson, helps the one making the travel plans to put together a trip and keeps it secret. The day after my 80th my wife announced, "We're going to Red Lodge." On April 1 I turned 80. I wrote a story about the Yellowstone Kelly exhibit currently at the Blaine County Museum. When my wife mentioned another 'Montana trip" Keri suggested, "Steve's interested in...
On Sunday, May 5, the four congregations that make up the Milk River Churches (Chinook's American Lutheran, United Methodist and Presbyterian and Havre Presbyterian) will hold their monthly joint worship in the Commercial Building at the Blaine County Fairgrounds in Chinook. The service will include a special presentation by the students who attended the Friday morning Sonshine program this past school year. Sonshine was created in 2017 and is supported and directed by the Chinook Alliance...
By Steve Edwards BCJ News With the arrival of more moderate weather I’ve resumed my daily walks and no matter which direction I go I see more and more signs of spring. I see the Chinook city street crew running the sweeper to remove the materials put down to combat icy roads during the winter. Earlier, for several weeks, I heard the overhead honks of Canada Geese moving from one feeding and resting locale to another. And just recently I saw my first prairie crocus of the season. Seeing these l...
Several Journal readers asked the newspaper to share information about candidates for Blaine County school trustee positions to be filled at the election on May 7, 2024. By email all eighteen candidates for trustee were contacted, whether running opposed or unopposed. Each candidate was asked for their responses to four questions. Candidates are listed alphabetically with the responses they submitted. Kathleen Adams, District #12 Harlem (two three-year terms open), incumbent. 1. What motivated you to run for a school trustee position? The #1...
A group of Chinook High students in the Ag Design class recently were able to apply what they learned to a real-life situation. While some of their classmates were on the annual "DC Trip" sponsored by the school, six students spent a part of three days completing a project that will help the folks managing the local Wildlife Museum. Wildlife Museum Board Member Vicki Hofeldt heard the museum needed some different equipment in the museum's office to accommodate a new scanner. Vicki approached...
The Blaine County Museum in Chinook is currently hosting an exhibit about the life of Yellowstone Kelly. Luther Sage Kelly was a Union soldier during the latter stages of the Civil War. He spent much of the remainder of his life in the American West as a hunter, scout, adventurer and eventually as a government official in the Philippines and Indian Agent in Arizona. Kelly was a member of President Teddy Roosevelt's "tennis court," a group of close friends and confidents of the president known...
A recent press release from a group calling itself the Montana Study Group for Toll Road Implementation (MSGTI) is advocating for the construction of toll roads in Montana. Toll roads are built by investors who recoup their construction and maintenance costs, and hopefully earn a profit, through fees paid by road users. A fee is required of all vehicles that travel a toll road. Montana is one of only 15 U.S. states that have no toll roads, bridges or tunnels. The MSGTI group is exploring novel...
St. Urho Day was celebrated in Blaine County, as best I can tell, for the first time in 2022. The made-up Finnish saint and accompanying legend has been enjoyed by Finns, and others, in Butte for several years. Two years ago folks at the Chinook Senior Center joined together to learn about and enjoy the story of the saint and sample some of the traditional St. Urho Day menu items. It was fun. This year, with St. Urho's March 16 holiday falling on a Saturday, we opted to celebrate at the senior...
The Milk River Churches (MRC) installed Rev. Ritch Grimes as a new Co-pastor at the four congregations' joint monthly service. The MRC include two Presbyterian congregations in Havre and Chinook and the United Methodist and American Lutheran churches in Chinook. The monthly joint service is held the first Sunday of each month and is hosted by a different church each month. The joint service includes communion and a potluck following the regular worship service. The four congregations joined toge...
Looking back over the stories I've written leading up to and about the annual Harlem Seed Show I found I tried to write about everything offered at each show. I decided this year to approach my wrap up story in a different way. For the 74th edition, I'm writing about my observations and the things that caught my attention. If you attended this year's show you might have seen things differently but here's my take on the show that ended last Saturday. A little history: Paul Rasmussen, the Chairman...
Alert "Journal" readers may recognize the name "St. Urho." Actually, really alert readers will remember when the Finnish saint was first introduced in the "Journal" I spelled his name wrong-oops. That's all in the past, way back in 2022 when St. Urho made his first visit to Chinook. He appeared first at the Chinook Senior Center for lunch on March 16, the official St. Urho Day. Here's a bit of background to this year's runup to St. Urho's Day, 2024. St. Urho created in Minnesota as a reaction...
The Northeast Montana Feral Swine Tour was in Blaine County last week. While there appear to be no feral pigs in Montana, MSU Extension Wildlife Specialist Dr. Jared Beaver, Officer Shawn Hondo with the Montana Department of Livestock and Doug Ekberg with USDA's APHIS Wildlife Services shared updates about the continuing need to be vigilant to keep feral pigs out of northern Montana. The meeting in Chinook was attended by about 40 folks who gathered to hear regional experts talk about the challe...
A chance reading of a "Facebook" post launched a project back in October that was finally completed in early February. Bonnie Hellman, with the Community Quilters at the American Lutheran Church in Chinook, saw the random post by a quilter who was making "cot quilts." Bonnie learned a cot quilt is a special covering for a corpse being removed on a funeral cot from the site of a death. The cot is a gurney-like piece of equipment that evolved over the years for removing a body from where a death...
A Blaine County Museum Director Sam French's goal to begin an oral history collection involving local seniors has started. French said at a meeting last month that conducting an oral history collection has been one of her goals since she came to the museum five years ago. The first interview was conducted last week and more interviews are soon to follow. Last month, at a monthly meeting of the Chinook Lions Club, Sam French laid out her plan to attract volunteer interviewers and interviewees. Sh...
Five 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 also receive the flags. First grade teachers at Meadowlark this year are Brigette Brennan and Tammy Edwards. Mrs. Edwards is teaching a...
Ritch Grimes, former solo pastor of the Chinook Alliance Church, is the new co-pastor of the Milk River Churches (MRC). Rev. Grimes joins Theresa Danley, Certified Lay Pastor, who has been pastor to the four congregations since March of 2023. Grimes will be officially installed at a joint worship of the MRC congregations on March 3 at the United Methodist Church in Chinook. The four congregations of the MRC include the Chinook and Havre Presbyterian Churches and the American Lutheran and United...
This past week Valentine's Day and Ash Wednesday occurred on the same day. I'd never thought about how often these two holidays, both with religious underpinnings, fall on the same calendar date. Turns out, not very often. While the two days infrequently fall together, the last time was in 2018, just a mere six years ago. Although I have written stories about both these holidays, reviewing my work notes and I didn't write about either day in 2018. Weird. Some more research revealed just how...
The oral history project initiated by Blaine County Museum Director Samantha (Sam) French has officially begun. In a kickoff presentation to the Chinook Lions Club about a month ago Sam said, "It's been my goal to do an oral history collection since I arrived at the Museum. My hope is the folks who volunteer to do interviews will have contacts throughout the county." After a brief campaign to recruit volunteers to do the interviews eight locals signed up representing several regions of the...
