The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
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Bob Armstrong played Santa Claus in Lincoln for 30 years, and while he has been retired from that position since 2014, many still think of him as the face of Christmas in Lincoln. Armstrong, who made a guest appearance in Lincoln as Santa in 2018, said this will be the first year since he started that he won't be a Santa at all. "He does miss it," said Armstrong's wife, Trudy. When asked how he got started, Armstrong said, "I think my build, probably more than anything. I was...
With nearly all holiday events canceled in Lincoln this year, Lincoln residents have two new opportunities to come together and celebrate while still observing social distancing. On Christmas Eve, the Valler family plans to lead caroling at the pavilion in Hooper Park starting at 4 p.m. Scott Fry is scheduled to help out, and local churches and other community groups have been invited. "Anyone can come and sing with us," said Tiana Valler. "Everyone is invited to come. We'll h... Full story
The Lewis and Clark City-County Board of Health passed "Emergency Rules and Regulations in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic" on Thursday, Dec. 17. Many of the guidelines in the document mirror requirements currently in place through Governor's Directives issued over the past nine months. However, with Governor-elect Gianforte slated to take office in January, the County rules and regulations will be in place and enforceable even if state regulations loosen. According to Monta... Full story
The snowberry, or Symphoricarpos albus, is a shrub and member of the Honeysuckle family. Snowberry can be found in well over half of the fifty states as well as in many parts of Canada. In Lincoln, snowberry can be found around town and throughout Blackfoot Pathways: Sculpture in the Wild. Snowberry is a native plant and is a forage plant for livestock as well as bighorn sheep, according to the Forest Service Fire Effects Information System. Snowberry shrubs can be easily...
Wrestling in Lincoln usually starts in December, but with school closed, the start date has been postponed. Though wrestling isn’t a school-sponsored sport, wrestling coach Ezra Schwalm said he felt it would be unfair to go forward with practice while the school was closed. Schwalm does hope to start wrestling practices if school opens after the Christmas break. “My plan before school shut down was basically (at the)beginning of December to get it lined out as quick as I could. My goal was to get it rolling last week, to hol...
The Lincoln School holiday program has been canceled this year. With students in online learning and limited technology available to arrange a digital performance, music teacher Darryan Gonzales said it would have been "difficult to arrange any kind of group performance." Gonzales hopes to coordinate music events with the students later in the school year, though. "The community deserves to hear live music from our young people. And I see light at the end of the tunnel to be...
Zach Muse enlisted in the Navy on Sep. 1, 1990 and served in navigation during Desert Storm as a Master Helmsman. He was also a Master of Arms during his time in the Navy. "I knew I was gonna go in the military," said Muse, "just cause everyone in my family goes. I'd flown over the ocean, but I'd never really been in the ocean or anything." Muse grew up in Great Falls and waited for the next round of boot camp to start after high school. "Once I got out of boot camp and my...
The Lincoln Senior Center closed their doors to in-person dining and activities in mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic. It's been nearly nine months, and seniors are feeling the impact. "I just feel like seniors got punished a lot on this whole deal," said Denny Peterson, Senior Citizen Board President. "It started out, we were having our lunches there, and they canceled that, even though there was space," said Peterson, adding that outside of the Community Hall, the... Full story
Since the start of the pandemic, messaging about mask-wearing has changed considerably. Early on, the World Health Organization suggested that wearing a mask wasn't necessary, but changed that stance in June. Many sources originally claimed that masks only benefited non-wearers, while new studies have provided research that wearing a mask may actually help protect the wearer as well as others. The most recent data suggests that wearing masks does help limit the spread of...
With the colder weather and holidays fast approaching, winter offers a great time to try out new recipes, rediscover old favorites, and swap dishes with friends and neighbors. In collaboration with the Helena Branch of the Lewis & Clark Library, the Lincoln Library is hosting a month-long program through Dec 12 to encourage recipe and story sharing. Residents can participate in the Trading Traditions Holiday Recipe Swap by submitting recipes online through the library website...
Dawn Charron served for nearly 30 years in the Montana Air National Guard as a Supply Specialist. She retired as a Senior Master Sgt in 2014 and is now an active member of the Lincoln American Legion Post 9. "I was almost 24 years old when I joined," Charron said, "I joined the Montana Air National Guard because everything I had in my whole life was because of the Montana Air National Guard. My dad joined 25 years and a day before me. I decided I was going to provide for my...
Tammy Jordan, owner of Goldieknots Montana, recently published an article on lace-weight spinning in the international magazine The Wheel, which is published out of New Zealand by Ashford Wheels & Looms. "I met Richard and Elizabeth Ashford last year at the Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair," said Jordan, where she was teaching four classes. She met Richard at a food truck and stopped by later to chat with him and his wife Elizabeth. A long-time fan of Ashford Wheels, Jordan alre...
Harry Arvidson was a Navy submariner during World War II and was part of the crew to which the Japanese "super submarine" I-400 surrendered at the end of the war. "I went in the service in July of 1942. We had gotten into the war on Dec 7 of '41, and I was just turning 17 and so I was going to have to register for the draft, and I didn't want to go into the Army, so I joined the Navy," said Arvidson. "I finished my sophomore year and then I quite high school and went in the...
Reconstruction of the walls of the historic Matt King House began last month, but is winding down for the year due to weather. The Upper Blackfoot Valley Historical Society project began in 2015 and UBVHS President Erin Dey says she hopes it will be fully restored and open to the public next year. Exterior walls on the first floor and part of the second are almost completed at the front of the house. UBHVS Board member Bill Quay spent much of the summer preparing the logs to...
Ken Gellatly joined the Army in 1961. "I got drafted, but they beat me to it. I was just getting ready to go enlist, but I wasn't sure I was going to go to the Army. I was maybe going to go into the Air Force. I wanted to be a pilot," Gellatly said. Gellatly served his basic training in Fort Ord, Calif., then got shipped to Fort Campbell, Ky. as a mechanic in the 101st Airborne. "I was in the rec room playing pool the day Kennedy got shot," he said. After that, he got orders...
The Montana Business Assistance Connection has been working in Lewis and Clark, Broadwater, and Meagher counties for more than two decades to support local economies and livability. MBAC mentors businesses through collaborative work with partners like the Service Corps of Retired Executives, the Small Business Development Center, and Chambers of Commerce to help local business owners identify ways to support the unique needs of their community. MBAC has supported a number of...
The Lincoln Thrift Store that operates behind the Methodist Church recently celebrated its 10th anniversary. "It's my baby," said Diane Ironi who started the thrift shop. She monitors inventory and coordinates volunteers. "It's helped so many people. We've helped families from one end of town to the other." "I set it up so we had a place in town where people could bring good, usable items. I want it to make money for the community, to bring in money for nonprofits," said Ironi...
Shooting Stars "I'll toss my coins in the fountain, Look for clovers in grassy lawns Search for shooting stars in the night Cross my fingers and dream on." ~ Tracy Chapman Lincoln, Montana is lucky enough to see two varieties of shooting stars over the course of the year. Dodecatheon pulchellum, also called the darkthroat, pretty, or prairie shooting star, is native to Montana and shows up in early spring. The meteoric variety of shooting star is visible locally in the night...
Editor's Note: As many of our readers are aware, the Lincoln-area has a significant population of veterans of the Armed Services. In honor of Veteran's Day this year we are kicking off a what we hope will be a regular series of features highlighting individual veterans and their service. Don LaRoque served in the Navy submarine service for 14 years as a sonar technician. LaRoque grew up in Great Falls and joined the military a few months out of high school, in 1978. "I always...
Lincoln resident Theresa Proff raises a variety of animals on her property, most notably bobcats and African cats. Proff bought her first bobcat after she got married and moved to Montana from Alaska in 2011. "I've been a cat lover all my life. We had an opportunity to buy a bobcat kitten from a breeder in Arkansas, so that was the start," she said. The bobcat, Lakota, is now eight years old. "I got another bobcat kitten from a breeder in Montana," said Proff. His name is Tund...
The Lincoln School's annual Halloween Walk is set to proceed this year on Thursday, Oct. 29. Pre-K through 6th grade students will dress in costumes and walk through the town, trick-or-treating at local businesses. As with previous years, preschool-aged children are invited to attend the walk as long as they are accompanied by an adult, Lincoln School secretary Danielle Barnett said in an email interview. Despite some changes necessary due to COVID-19, the school hopes the...
"The planted larch trees are burnished gold. What a wondrous forest they have become." -Tomonari The western larch, or Larix occidentalis, is also known as the western tamarack or hackmatack. Montana is home to a second species of larch, the Larix lyallii, also known as the subalpine larch, the alpine larch, and the woolly larch, but these usually grow at a higher altitude than the western larch. Larch trees are known as deciduous conifers, meaning that although they may look...
A new book by Dr. Amy Dempsey, entitled Destination Art is set to showcase Blackfoot Pathways: Sculpture in the Wild as one of only about 200 worldwide art destinations. This is the second edition of the book Destination Art published by Thames & Hudson and is due out April 2021. It will be the first time BPSW has been featured in a book. Kevin O'Dwyer, artistic director and curator of BPSW, had a previous project called Sculpture in the Parklands included in the first...
"Of all the flowers, me thinks a rose is best." -Emilia, Act 2 of The Two Noble Kinsmen, William Shakespeare The Woods' rose (Rosa woodsii) was named for Joseph Woods, a botanist who specialized in roses in the late 1700s to mid-1800s. Also known as the common wild rose or the mountain rose, this shrub can be found throughout the Blackfoot Valley, particularly in dry forest areas, the ponderosa belt, and in rocky areas with well-drained soil. The roses prefer south-facing...
ge-ne-al-o-gy : the study of family ancestral lines (Mirriam-Webster dictionary) October is National Family History Month, and there are dozens of free resources to support the research of family lines and personal histories. Genealogy can be an exciting way to learn more about relatives (including ones you might not know you have), the history of places, and more. Resources for genealogical research include tools to help categorize, store, and map information; repositories of records, such as Census data, vital records, and...
