The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
Sorted by date Results 301 - 325 of 511
Lincoln’s wrestling club, the Lincoln Loggers, had their first tournament two weekends ago in Shelby and will have one or two tournaments every weekend from now until Mar. 7. The club, composed of two girls and nine boys, ranges in age from six to 13. Several students are new wrestlers this year, including three of the four oldest students. It can be tough as a new wrestler in an older age bracket. “There’s a high likelihood of facing kids who have been doing it the whole time,” Coach Ezra Schwalm noted. He tells the kids th...
It takes a community to sponsor Dolly Parton's Imagination Library project, and Lincoln organizations are pulling together again to ensure kids throughout Lincoln have access to their own books. The program mails a free book to kids every month from birth to age five. However, for kids in a community to have access to this resource, one or more organizations must sponsor the program, which costs about $2 per child per month. When Annette Gardner heard about Imagination...
Valler Coffee, located at 129 Sucker Creek Road and owned by Jason and Tiana Valler, will be opening to the public two days a week beginning in February and through the winter. The new hours, Fridays and Saturdays, beginning Feb. 1, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. will showcase their award-winning coffee as they focus on bringing the experience of old world brewing techniques to the community and visitors of Lincoln and the surrounding areas. In addition to coffee, they will also have...
Beginning in February, the Lincoln Council for the Arts will host a poetry workshop at the Lincoln Branch of the Lewis & Clark Library on Monday evenings from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The workshop, The Art and Craft of Writing Poetry, will be presented by published and award-winning poet, Liz Cain. Cain's specialty is teaching the writing of non-rhyming, literary poetry. She has won awards in writing contests for her poetry and is a retired English teacher of 31 years. The program is...
The recent story about Hi Sign Brewing raised the question: what’s the origin of Hi Sign Road and its distinctive sign? Francis Beehler offered his recollection. In 1970, when the dump was moved, Beehler was covering over the old dump when a stack of barrel tops all stuck together rolled by him in the wind. He threw them in his truck and took them home. As folks had a hard time seeing the turn to what is now Hi Sign Road, Beehler painted the barrel tops, with the word “Hi” painted on the west side of the sign facing Lincoln a...
Passion and staying true to your story are big parts of Hi Sign Brewing. Started by Mark Phillippe in 2017, Hi Sign Brewing is located in Austin, Texas, but has roots in Montana. Phillippe came up to Lincoln for the first time in 1996, and recalls his memories of time spent at his family's cabin on Hi Sign Road, "starting off years ago, before the craft beer boom, just coming up there and filling growlers in Helena and Missoula, hanging out on the Blackfoot, drinking beer in...
Editor's Note: In 1949, Robert Fisk of Lincoln produced a small pamphlet with a deep green cover, a greeting from the Blackfoot Valley for the holidays. Seventy years later, to bid farewell to 2019 and welcome 2020, we've reproduced it here in coordination with the Upper Blackfoot Valley Historical Society. To recount the story of the Big Blackfoot, the chronicler would have to dig into many ponderous tomes in order to cull out the data both before and after the taking over...
The Stemple Stage Station, located near Stemple Pass in the early 1900s, was the start of the Lincoln Stage. The stagecoach stop provided meals, a post office, and support for the stage horses. Soon, "stage" began to refer to the vehicle and service that brought mail over the pass to Lincoln. In 1927, Julius Stoner took on the mail contract from Stemple to Lincoln and began carrying passengers and supplies along the route, in addition to the mail. Stoner's son, George, took...
It's January. We've had snow off and on since September but weather predictions are calling for colder temperatures and more snow in the coming months. Are you ready? As Montanans, we're no stranger to winter. It's something we live with year after year. Some years are tougher than others, bringing heavy snow, bitter cold temperatures, and dangerous driving conditions. It's always good to be prepared for winter conditions, whether traveling, staying home, or participating in...
If you are more of a traditionalist when it comes to Christmas, then you will certainly enjoy "Once Upon a Nativity," a collection of Nativity scenes currently on display and open to the public at the Columbus Center in Great Falls. The collection is result of 30 years of collecting on the part of Carol Olthoff. Well, technically, it goes back to 1964. She has on display the first Nativity scene she and he husband have had, and they have had that piece since '64. Carol first...
Lincoln is a very generous community, and when two entities go head-to-head in a fun and friendly competition, everyone wins. The Lincoln School and Citizens Alliance Bank have teamed up and challenged one another to see who could raise more to benefit local residents in need this holiday season. During the bank’s third annual food drive, bank employees, working together for the cause, received items and donations from patrons and community members. Donations were then m...
Local and customizable field guides are available online through the Natural Heritage Program, allowing hikers, hunters, students and outdoor aficionados of all types the opportunity to learn more about Montana. The Montana Natural Heritage Program (mtnhp.org ) collects objective data about Montana's species and habitats, providing access to a broad array of information about the state's wildlife. The Montana Field Guides are a partnership project between the Natural Heritage...
Saturday marked the first major event for Heritage House, a Traditional School of Arts the Vallers have been developing over the past few months. "Its really good," Valler said. "Lots of people are excited for the classes and the gallery." Dates and details of the classes over the winter haven't been finalized yet, but Valler said they have a bowyer who makes traditional bows and wooden arrows coming and a lady who makes silver clay jewelry lined up. She said classes will...
Artists Annie Clark, Sally Bogaert, Lisa Gibson and Tammy Jordan pose for a photo while waiting for visitors to the third annual Christmas Art show at Clark's studio west of Lincoln. In addition to fine art, the show also offered visitors the chance to enjoy home-made soup and cookies around a bonfire....
The annual Lincoln Christmas bazaar did a brisk business Saturday, Dec. 7, with a constant flow of customers in and out throughout the day. "I've been busy," said Pryor, who had a hit with one of her products. "I've got two fruitcakes left and that's all." Pryor, who has been organizing and coordinating the Christmas Bazaar for the past 30 years, said this is her last year doing so. "I don't know how many times I was going to retire," she said, adding that at 80 years old,...
Don Hoffman, a local model railroad hobbyist, has built a four-foot by eight-foot train garden that is on display at the Lincoln Branch Library through the month of December. The garden includes three electric trains, a variety of town scenes, and a five-foot tall light-up Christmas tree. Hoffman built the garden using both commercial and handmade pieces. A camping scene includes handmade tents and a small campfire complete with smoke. Visitors can find a general store, train...
(StatePoint) 'Tis the season for holiday shopping. When making purchases online, be sure to protect yourself from becoming a victim of identity theft -- it's more common than you may think. With just a few pieces of personal information, thieves can open new credit lines, drain bank accounts and file fraudulent tax returns. The Federal Trade Commission says credit card fraud was the number one type of identity theft reported in 2018, with 167,000 people saying their informatio...
The 21st annual Santa's Workshop hosted more than 60 children and their families in the Lincoln School gym Saturday, Dec. 7. Volunteer organizations including the Community Bible Church, American Legion Lincoln Post 9, the Blackfoot Valley Bible Church, and the Optimists Club, as well as numerous individual volunteers, took part in this year's kid-centered event. Jill Frisbee with Lincoln Council for the Arts organized the event, and Laura Butler greeted the volunteers as...
This year the Ovando Old West Christmas Fest had a meatball cook-off, organized by Eloise McNally and Norma Bower and sponsored by Fred & Leigh Ann Valiton. “They asked us to host the event this year. The cook off has been going on for five years and to change it up we decided to do a meatball cook off.” McNally said. The winner this year: Terry Sheppard’s Pineapple Sweet and Sour Meat balls. “It comes from The Montana Cookbook by Steven D & H Duane Harvey,” Sheppard said. “This book has all kinds of recipes for Pioneer, Wi...
2 years ago Debbie Sayler and her husband, Billy, fell in love with Montana. After many vacations and trips searching for property, they found their perfect home in Lincoln. It's now their fifth year here, after relocating from Maryland. Deb has been doing hair for 36 years and she owned her own salon in Maryland for 19 years. "I had a job lined up with Tammy Pipinich before we moved to Lincoln. I reopened the Hair Cottage as Hairitage House Salon. I credit Tammy Pipinich...
At one time in American history, signs declared "No Irish Needed." To that, Polson's Irish music quintet, the Montana ShamRockers, say "Oh, really?" The Montana ShamRockers highlighted the irony of those old sentiments with their free performance at the Lincoln Community Hall Thursday evening, Nov. 14, as part of a tour of small Montana towns. Designed as a tribute to America's veterans, their show "No Irish Needed" provided a heavy dose of patriotism bound in Irish pride as...
Cowboy Claus remains the highlight of Ovando's Old West Christmas Fest, an family friendly activity for the whole family held every year after Thanksgiving....
Jessi Lehl brought her mule team, Violet and Rose, to Ovando Friday for their first Old West Christmas Fest. Lehl is the daughter of Rob Henreken, who brought his team of Belgians back to Christmas Fest for the first time in several years. The Henrekens had provided the stage service for the event for severa years, but scheduling conflicts had kept them away for the last three years, when Lincoln's Billy Cr stepped in. "It's nice to be able to do this again," said Lehl, who...
Doug "Hoot" Richards, 85, a professional art designer from Seeley Lake, drew the pictures for kids to color during the Old West Christmas Fest bazaar at the Ovando School. "This is fun; I love it," Richards said. Leigh Ann Valiton, who organized this year's Christmas Fest, said the coloring corner was a new addition to the event this year, and that it worked out well. She said the kids were kept busy coloring the pictures while their parents did some chopping at the bazaar....
I met Tel Menard on a cold, snowy day in October while he was shoeing horses for his sister Katie. Tel is a modern-day rancher and a part of Montana's ranching history that dates to the 1860s, when ranchers and cattle first moved into Montana. His ranching lineage in Lincoln goes back to 1965 when his grandparents, Betty and Gerald Fleming, began working at the Jacobsen ranch. The Jacobsen's bought the land west of Lincoln from Mike Kieley in 1918 when the place was called...
