The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
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Summer in Ovando is shaping up to be a quiet one this year. Business has been picking up for the small community in the last two weeks, after the state lifted the 14-day quarantine requirement for out-of-state visitors, but some mainstays of the community's summer will continue to feel the impact of restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Last week, after about a month-and-a-half of discussion that involved more than 20 members of the community, the town opted to call...
A few random photos that didn't make into print....
Lincoln Grade Schoolers learned about wintertime in Montana and the adaptation of animals during a snowshoe trek at Blackfoot Pathways: Sculpture in the Wild with the Montana Discovery Foundation Thursday, Jan. 14....
Eight years ago, the idea of an international sculpture park in Lincoln seemed like a pretty crazy idea, but as 2020 – a notably crazy year itself – drew to a close, Blackfoot Pathways: Sculpture in the Wild added another feather to its cap as one of five honorees recognized with the Montana Governor's Arts Award. In a Dec. 29 press release from the Mon-tana Art's Council, Gov. Steve Bullock announced the awards, which are bestowed on individuals and organizations that "de...
Blackfoot Pathways Sculpture in the Wild looks forward to a full event season in 2021, after the cancellation and postponement of last year’s events and artists due to the COVID-19 pandemic. BSPW will welcome three artists in residence and one composer in residence to Lincoln this year. Three of the creators are based in Montana. Michael Brolly and Bently Spang had previously been selected for 2020, but their residencies were postponed due to the pandemic. Spang is a Montana artist and has shown work throughout North America,...
Susan Good Geise ended her tenure on the Lewis and Clark County Commission Tuesday morning when Montana Attorney General Tom Fox swore in Tom Rolfe as the newest commissioner filling the District 2 seat she's vacating. Last week, Geise was looking ahead to the end of her time in office, and reflecting on her time with the commission. "Mostly what I am is profoundly grateful," she said. "Really, really grateful because I thought my time in politics was over. I had one last...
Lincoln, Mont. – Beginning in mid-January, Tory Kendrick will take on the role as the Acting District Ranger for the Lincoln Ranger District for 20 days. It's a new challenge," said Kendrick, who has been the Base Manager for the Missoula Smokejumper Base for the last five years. "I've been with the forest service for 25 years. It's something I've always wanted to do." Kendrick visited Lincoln last week to spend time with departing Ranger Michael Stansberry to get a feel f...
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...
"If we can come to a broad consensus, that has the potential to give us power. A new kind of power that will let us figure out that maybe we can affect some change. It may take decades, it may happen a long time after I'm gone, but it begins with the first step and that's what this is about." Paul Roos made that comment in the spring of 2014 while talking about community movement he had been spearheading since the year before. Paul passed away Nov. 10 after a short battle...
Paul Steven Roos left this world in the early hours of November 10, 2020, seven weeks after the discovery of advanced and aggressive cancer. Paul passed away with family at his side in his Lincoln home. Paul was born on June 30, 1942, to Maxine and Donald Roos. He spent his early days in Lincoln where he felt the strong pull of the woods and streams of the Blackfoot Valley. Paul married his high school sweetheart, Kay Vandeberg, in August of 1961, a year after their graduation... Full story
So, an Irishman and a logger walk into a Seattle bar. Imbibing spirits, they bond over their interest in knives, solve the world's problems, and by the end of the night the two new BFFs think that with no source of funding, building a massive 26-acre outdoor art gallery in the middle of woods in Montana and getting renowned international artists to participate is a swell idea. And, just like that... Blackfoot Pathways: Sculpture in the Wild was born. Well, that's my short...
Tiana Valler and I had been talking of doing a Christmas Stroll beginning last June. We were hopeful we could host an event that would bring businesses, artists, crafters, independent sales associates, eateries and bar establishments together, while promoting Lincoln and bringing people to town to shop, dine, stay, visit and get into the holiday spirit. We had planned to work in conjunction with the Annual Craft Bazaar and Santa’s Workshop for the kids, both of which have b...
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...
Following their Oct. 20 meeting, the Upper Blackfoot Valley Community Council drafted a letter to the Montana Department of Transportation objecting to the findings in their proposal to lower the speed on a one-mile stretch of Highway 200 just east of Lincoln. Early last month, in response to an August request from Lewis and Clark County for a a speed study in the area, MDT proposed lowering the speed limit from the east end of Lincoln to Airport Road from 70 mph to 60 mph....
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...
This past weekend was the annual Alpine Artisans Tour of the Arts. Artists were featured at galleries through the Seeley Swan Valley, Ovando and Lincoln. With advertising in Helena, Missoula, Great Falls, Seeley and Lincoln newspapers, people came from as far as Idaho and Billings to see artists and their artwork in the Blackfoot Valley. While some galleries saw more traffic than others, Lincoln artists Lisa Gibson, Sally Bogart, Gwendolyn Hendricks, and Tammy Jordan, all disp...
In a surprisingly swift response to the request for a speed study on Highway 200 east of Lincoln, the Montana Department of Transportation is proposing to reduce speeds east of Lincoln, past Sculpture in the Wild and the Lincoln Ranger Station complex. Based on the traffic operation, they are recommending a modification of the speed zones on the east end of Lincoln to include a new nearly mile-long 60 mph speed zone that will extend east to the intersection with Airport Road....
The Montana Department of Transportation has extended a speed study on Highway 200 east of Lincoln to include the intersection with Airport Road east of the Lincoln Ranger District. Lewis and Clark County Public Works director Eric Griffin requested the study extension after members of the Lincoln Airport Foundation voiced support for including the intersection east of the Lincoln Ranger District. In an e-mail to MDT's Aeronautics Division Administrator Tim Conway, LAF Vice Pr...
Heading east out of Lincoln, the speed limit on Highway 200 jumps up to 70 mph, with a passing zone that stretches from the Blackfoot Valley Bible Church to the Lincoln Ranger Station, but with increased traffic and more people discovering Blackfoot Pathways: Sculpture in the Wild, concerns about safety have grown amid recent accidents and near misses. The issue had been a concern for the BPSW board since the sculpture park's inception, and a recent analysis of visitation to...
This is the beginning of a sometimes-series about plants in Upper Blackfoot Valley. Are you interested in a particular local plant? Contact the BVD to let us know! All plant information is provided in consultation with local botanist Klara Varga. The Mahonia repens, better known locally as Oregon grape, grows across the Upper Blackfoot Valley. A plant with coarse leathery leaves, this local shrub can easily be found on a walk through Blackfoot Pathways: Sculpture in the Wild...
A $38,000 Rural Development Block Grant awarded to Envision Lincoln by the USDA is helping to fund additional planning for an in-town trails plan, as well as two contractor positions to support Envision Lincoln’s goals. Karyn Good, Envision Lincoln’s lead community coordinator, learned of the award July 8. She and Erin Farris-Olsen, the rural development director for the Heart of the Rockies Initiative, worked to prepares and submit the grant application through HOR on behalf of Envision Lincoln to help the organization dev...
Like much of Montana, the real estate market in Lincoln has been busy this summer. In other parts of the state, increased realty sales have been linked to out-of-town purchasers buying houses sight-unseen, and looking for places to get away from COVID. In Lincoln, local real estate agent Becky Garland thinks there are additional causes. "I think, just according to my business and my opinion, we're beginning to now see it increasing because of COVID," said Garland. However, she...
Blackfoot Pathways: Sculpture in the Wild has gained broad national attention this spring and summer as a place to enjoy art and the outdoors through a recent article by CNN Travel, titled "9 of the US's wildest, weirdest and most spectacular outdoor art experiences." The article, which was shared on news sites from Philadelphia to Nebraska and from Virginia to Wisconsin, has brought new attention to BPSW as a tourist destination that "provides visitors a window into the... Full story
Blackfoot Pathways: Sculpture in the Wild Artistic Director Kevin O'Dwyer, with the Blackfoot Pathways Sculpture in the Wild board, announced last week they will be postponing all 2020 summer and fall events in the park. The decision stemmed from concerns for the safety of the artists, board member and the public due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and from the resulting inability to deliver a full and comprehensive program. The postponement of their events includes the...
During the late summer of 1959 a peculiarly-shaped building rose on the east end of Lincoln's main street. Sporting a design that looked like a square sheet pinned down on opposing corners, yet ready to take flight, Lincoln's Community Methodist Church soon became a landmark for travelers between Missoula and Great Falls. Technically called a hyperbolic paraboloid , the uniquely mid-20th century building soon became affectionately known as the Flying Diaper. This week marks...
