The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
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"We just liked rodeo. We didn't have no place to ride, so we built it," Eddie Grantier said while sitting in the shade near the Lincoln Rodeo Grounds snack bar during the rodeo Sunday, July 3. In 1952, the newly chartered Lincoln Rodeo Club hosted its first rodeo on Labor Day on property a couple miles west of Lincoln leased to them by Gilbert Zimbleman. Just 17 years-old at the time, Eddie was a young bareback rider and one of the club's 22 or so first members. Today, he is...
In late May, the community of Ovando unveiled stickers listing the top six commandments for tent camping in bear country. The stickers are the latest effort by the town to ensure the safety of visitors after a young male grizzly bear killed cyclist Leah Lokan of Chico, Calif. last year. Lokan was camping in a tent near the Brand Bar Museum near the center of the town in the early morning hours of July 5 when the bear attacked her. Kathy Schoendoerfer, owner of the Blackfoot...
Just like the 4th of July celebration this past weekend, the start of summer is finally here with a bang, giving us hot weather days. The hot days seem to be consistently moderated with a cycle of thunderstorms, with cooler temperatures and rainfall. This cycle of storms will influence what kind of fire season we have as it did last summer. I'd like to report out a few key updates and speak to what the Lincoln Ranger District has in store over the summer. First, I'd like to...
HELENA-Don't let an encounter with a harmful algal bloom ruin an outing on a beautiful Montana summer day. Blooms can impact human health and the health of freshwater ecosystems. Harmful algal blooms most often occur in Montana's reservoirs and lakes, although water users should also be cautious about water flowing immediately downstream of a HAB. Common characteristics of HABs include green, blue, or gold coloration and the appearance of grass clippings or paint spilled on...
This has turned out to be a banner year for trumpeter swans in the Blackfoot watershed. The first swan sightings were reported in March, when swans began returning from their wintering grounds in Southwest Montana and Idaho. Spring and fall are challenging times of year to positively identify trumpeters because there are also tundra swans migrating through our area in those seasons. But by late April the tundra swans are headed to the arctic where they breed, and our resident...
At a rodeo, the stars of the show tend to be the bull and bronc riders, the ropers, steer wrestlers and barrel racers. The bullfighters, who dodge bucking bulls to help riders, also draw a lot of eyeballs. But it may be easy to overlook pickup men like Pete White and Jesse Johnston, who every year play a vital role in pulling off a safe and entertaining Lincoln Rodeo. "If you don't notice us, we're doin' our job," said White, who has been picking up the Lincoln rodeo for 19 ye...
A passing rainstorm and sunlight cutting in under the clouds at sunset created the perfect condition for an epic double rainbow to develop over the Lincoln Valley. The unusually brilliant rainbow was the subject of dozens of photographs by nearly everyone who saw it and had a camera or phone on hand....
The Lincoln Rodeo club, formed in 1952, hosted it's 70th Annual Lincoln Open Rodeo over the weekend of July 2 and 3. https://www.blackfootvalleydispatch.com/photos Lincoln Rodeo Results Saddle Bronc 1st Kolby Kittson 77 Tie Down Roping 1st Colton Rauch 9.13 2nd Jimmy Racine 12.05 3rd Cody Helm 15.33 4th Neil Tatsey 16.10 5th Lincoln Yarama 20.02 Breakaway 1st Nichell Marmon 3.45 2nd Hunter Brewer 4.12 3rd Reagan Langer 5.50 4th Maddison Harris 13.72 5th Maci Meyers 13.93...
Ovando's Juy 4th parade celebrated the memory of riding bicycles as a kid, as well as the bicyclists who visit the community every summer. https://www.blackfootvalleydispatch.com/photos...
Lincoln celebrated Independence Day with a Thank You to veterans. This years parade featured WWII veterans and grand marshals Steve Stocks and Harry Arvidson, joined by Barb Solvie. (Unfortunately, a glitch during our image download deleted the BVD's images of the trio.) Parade Winners Best Youth Entry : Power House Best Auto: Model T - John Rummel Best antique farm machinery: Ford Tractor - Richard Walp Best Equestrian: Melody Perry & Shayne Pater Best themed Entry: American...
Lincoln American Legion Post 9 saw six of the flags that they put out during every holiday stolen over the Independence Day weekend. Dawn Charron said one of the flags was taken at 12:28 a.m. July 2. Another five were stolen after midnight on the morning of July 4. Charron said a group of people waving the flags and 'sword fighting' with them were picked up on a security camera at about 12:45 a.m. heading west toward the Wheel Inn. The flags were taken from the corner of...
The Lewis and Clark County 911 Center received 94 calls for service during the weeks of June 26 to July 9 in the Lincoln area. Sixteen of those calls were a traffic stop performed by deputies. We had four cases created over the last two weeks. Deputies responded to a verbal disturbance between a couple in the 100 block of Spring Creek Lane, July 1. The two were separated and deputies left without further incident. Deputies responded to the same house from the incident above...
This year's Lincoln Bike Rally was "busier than ever," according to Tina Bundtrock, the national event coordinator for the Tenacious Dames Riding Club, which has organized the rally since 2019. "We had more turnout for our poker run this year than the last couple years." Bundtrock said. The town's 7th rally last weekend brought riders from around Montana as well as Canada, Washington, Oregon and one rider from as far away as Durango, Colo. "In my opinion, she wins the award...
As of July 1, 2022, the US Forest Service has allowed the Big Mountain Snowmobile trail open for clearing and gathering firewood. The Ponderosa Snow Warriors will be having a major trail clearing party, July 16, meeting at the PSW Club House on Sucker Creek Road at 6 a.m., to try to beat the heat and get some trails cleared. We need all hands on deck as this is a huge undertaking and we have to get one of the most popular trails back open. The USFS is allowing access to Big Mo...
Women and men, you do still have a choice. Say no to unprotected sex unless you are seeking to have and raise a child. You can no longer think that you just can get an abortion. Get on and stay on birth control. See that your daughters are on birth control. Talk to your sons and stress the importance of respecting girls and women and to always seek clear consent for sex. Women, if you do not wish to have a child and are approached for unprotected sex, clearly say no, even if...
As we begin to approach the 2023 legislative session, Montana workers, families, employers, and elected officials are all facing a unique combination of opportunities and challenges that we haven't seen before. In many ways, Montana's economy is better than ever. Governor Greg Gianforte recently announced that our unemployment rate remains at a record low while more Montanans are working than ever before. The Treasure State's economy and personal incomes are growing at the...
There’s been a lot of uncertainty in my life as of late. A lot of things going on with family, other things going on with friends, and even in my business. There are things I can control, and those I can’t, and still those I wish I could. In this uncertainty, I’ve actually been able to gain some clarity, though. I’ve gained clarity about some of the people, some of the “things,” and some about myself. In gaining the clarity about myself, it occurred to me that there are s...
Q: I'm a Christian but I disagree with the teaching about the narrow road -- a rejection of all that is exciting about life. I can still be a follower of Christ but take part in all the world has to offer, right? - W.C. A: When American astronauts astonished the human race with their spectacular first visit to the moon, they took Apollo 11 on a very narrow trajectory through space. Now suppose the NASA control center in Houston had received word from Apollo 11 that the...
Earl James LaRoque, 85, of Lincoln, Mont. passed away Thursday, June 23, 2022, at St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula. He was born Jan. 7, 1937 in Poplar, Mont. to Albert J. and Victoria (Foster) LaRoque. At the young age of 13, he started working and never quit. He worked many different jobs, including the oil rigs in North Dakota and the Fort Peck Dam during construction. Earl met Sandra Nelson, the love of his life, when he was about 15 and never quit chasing her. In 1966, Ear...
Lincoln annual July 4th fireworks show, both the official sho put on by the Lincoln Valley Chmber of Commerce and the show at Hooper Park put on by visitors and members of the public, illuminated the night sky and created an eerie glow over the east end of Main Street as thick fog that rolled in diffused the myriad colors....