| September 17, 2009
Editorial
Remembrance of Sept. 11 remains largely personal
By Jim Blow
Editor
Valley Journal
Friday was almost like any other fall day in Montana. Beautiful, clear and crisp as I drove down Highway 93, it was a day you realize how lucky you are to be alive and living in our own little piece of paradise.
It was also Sept. 11, which made every moment of that day seem akin to a special gift.
The morning was just another day of opportunity for me. It was an opportunity to drive down to Anaconda to take in some high school volleyball. But it's not all about the destination. Along the way, I got to stop by the Windmill Village in Ravalli for a couple fresh, still hot, homemade glazed donuts that beckoned me all the way from Ronan.
If you haven't had the pleasure of tasting Nancy Martin's wonderful donuts, I recommend you stop by Windmill Village any morning Monday through Saturday from about 7:30 or so and drop a dollar on the counter in exchange for one of these mouthwatering pastries. Nancy makes them from a recipe her mom passed on and every time I stop in I can't help but say a little thanks for her mom's culinary kindness.
I try to savor each bite but those glazed treats literally melt in my mouth and are usually gone by the time I cross into Missoula County. It's a sweet pleasure treat that rewards me for my last run, even it was five days ago. I admit I fantasize about those glazed delights during marathon runs and wish that there were a dozen waiting at the finish line.
After devouring my two huge donuts, I settled in for a comfortable drive to Missoula, then to Drummond before heading south. The back way to Anaconda, down the Pintler route through Philipsburg, is one of my favorite scenic drives. It's not as spectacular as others perhaps, but truly a beautiful valley that winds along Highway 1.
The road rises quickly into the Deerlodge National Forest and passes by Georgetown Lake before dropping into Anaconda. After seven hours of volleyball, I returned that way to take the Skalkaho Pass road to Hamilton, another beautiful drive on a late summer day with little traffic to contend with.
In Hamilton I took in an early fall football game on an absolutely beautiful evening. It was one of those nights you try to sock away in your memory bank, to be recalled later when you're trying to photograph a game in the dark and against a 20-mile-an-hour driving rain. Topping off the evening, Polson beat Hamilton 35-6.
Driving home, I counted my blessings for an enjoyable day. I'd not only successfully avoided the work that awaited me in the office, but I'd enjoyed so many of the simple pleasures that we have available to us here in western Montana.
Truthfully, it reminded me so much of that late summer morning eight years ago. Though it was a much more hectic start, I recall Sept. 11, 2001 was also a beautiful morning. It was a Tuesday, our newspaper production day, which is a multi-tasking challenge if there ever was one. As I drove up Highway 93 to my office in Polson, thinking about all the details and problems to work through on the busiest day of the week for a newspaper, I still recalled what a beautiful morning it was.
But, halfway through Pablo, that serenity ended.
The radio was full of news special report pieces that had scant details. Clearly, something horrible had taken place in New York, but nobody had all the pieces put together yet.
The details continued to pour in piecemeal and it was hours before we all realized the magnitude of the horror that played out that fateful morning. We watched that devastating piece of history unfold on a television with rabbit ears for an antenna and aluminum foil to bolster reception. I remember wondering if this was our new Pearl Harbor, a moment in time that would galvanize us once again in a war against a heartless opponent.
Eight years later, the war against terrorism carries on, though it's clearly not the traditional battle most Americans contemplated. The galvanic response by Americans was wrapped around an immediate and swift response that most hoped would quickly end the war.
Now, eight years later, that galvanic support has eroded into annual memorial remembrance of the thousands of lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001, and a hopeful wish for a quick end to a war that may never come to a clear end.
As Americans, we struggle to figure out how to commemorate the date, much the way we have with Pearl Harbor Day. Rather than celebrate our independence as we do on July 4, we memorialize those we've lost and collectively try to appreciate the collective sadness, the tragic horror of a fateful day in our lives. It's not only difficult to mourn. It's also difficult to fully appreciate, especially when we are so far removed from the sites of the events.
I never fully appreciated the genocide of Adolf Hitler until I stood before the furnaces of Auschwitz. I never fully personalized the cumulative losses of Pearl Harbor until I stood above the sunken USS Arizona. And I doubt I will fully appreciate the terror faced by the thousands who died on Sept. 11 until I visit the foot of the World Trade Center towers.
Too few remember the thousands of innocent lives lost that day in New York, in Arlington, and in Pennsylvania. Too few remember the bravery of firefighters climbing up countless steps in New York that day, only to lose their lives in the line of duty. Too few remember the courage, resourcefulness and determination of the passengers on United Airlines Flight 93.
Too few of us appreciate what our nation's military and security forces are doing every day to protect us from future attacks, nor do we fully appreciate the sacrifices they make every day for us to enjoy just another day in paradise.
For most of us, Sept. 11 was just another beautiful, perhaps mundane day in Montana. I hope everyone can appreciate in at least some small way that they were able to enjoy another day of life and prosperity in part through the selfless acts of others.
And for those others we should offer our deepest gratitude, profound respect, and conspicuous support as our own personal remembrance of a day that has forever shaped our American history.
If I could, I'd offer all of them one of Nancy Martin's homemade, hot off the rack donuts, one of the sweet, simple joys of life we can all appreciate.
Letters to the editor
Ronan's upgrades benefit whole community
By Jerry Bennett
On a recent visit, Ronan High School graduate Loren Clary, Class of 1958, gave me a fun tour of Ronan's progressive developments. Irrespective of budgeting and tax considerations, the upgrades will provide positive benefits to the community as a whole. It was obvious that the education cycle is alive at the foot of the Rocky Mountains where the snow-framed sheep's head oversees everything.
Being a former Chief with modest track, football, and basketball accomplishments, the high tech track and football fields were impressive. Hopefully the acquired costs will produce big turnouts for enthusiastic athletes and spectators, whereby and increase in wins will occur, along with more student body and community pride.
At the same site was a modern middle school that will give students and athletes alike opportunities to develop skills sufficient to address 21st century demands. Top-notch technology equipment, arts, and physical education facilities were aplenty.
And there were added values knowing that the high school and community were also utilizing many of the facilities (gym, weight room, jogging track, auditorium, labs, etc.). The same applies to those outdoor rubberized surfaces — walkers and joggers will love them.
Realizing there were concerns about blocking a dilapidated Main Street with a beautifully developed hospital, one must ponder the benefits of attractive book ends at both ends of the street, with the remodeled Ronan Bank presently holding up the east end. Perhaps the city council and chamber should promote something spectacular with the rest of the Main Street, i.e. send the city manager to Sisters, Ore. to study the magic of an obscure main street springing to life to enhance tourism.
Just past Ninepipes, a tri-town effort by energized volunteers spearheaded the construction of a beautiful, multi-purpose community church. Their older church buildings were sold to developers. Such entrepreneurial action speaks well of Ronan, Charlo, and St. Ignatius church-goers. Small towns need to collaborate whenever possible to maintain services for their respective populations — young and old alike.
Referring back to the education cycle, visualize sets of shareholders in your community, i.e. a senior citizen, rancher, contractor, mother-with-child, first grader, high school senior, handicapped middle school student, some pre-school grandchildren, etc. Now pencil out their respected futures. Do you see positive outcomes for all of them? Can you identify who in your community will make a positive difference for each category?
I grew up in the Flathead Valley when only Polson had a golf course, so, like my tour guide, I'm proud of the enhancements. Course, it would have been nice if some of them were in place in 1955-1958, but they weren't in our time cycle. Regardless, we won a few championships in our era. And, as an Oregon coach and administrator since 1962, similar improvements were the rule, not the exception, even at little Gilchrist, a company town with 130 timber-based high school students. Ronan is on the right track.
In essence, although the economy is struggling, special interest groups should keep up the good work. And, residents should insist on economies of scale that guarantee cost efficient and performance effective services and additions within the community's ability to pay for, and maintain, such services. Thanks for a great mini-tour.
(Jerry Bennett is a Ronan High School graduate who now lives in Salem, Ore.)
Thanks for joining our celebration
Editor,
We would like to thank everyone who attended our celebration. We celebrated 85 years for the Valley View Women's Club and 70 years for the Clubhouse.
Thank you Aimee from the Leader for coming out and talking to us that meant a lot to us. Thank you for all the generous donations for our Paint The Clubhouse Fund.
There was lots of good food, fun reminiscing with old friends, and looking at old albums. Nancy Peace played her accordion for entertainment.
Please come to our monthly potlucks, every second Sunday at 5 p.m., unless it is a holiday then it is the next Sunday. Call Kelly for a schedule 883-2910. We are also having our annual rummage sale Oct. 17. Call Kelly for drop off or pickup if you would like to donate items.
Thank you again for celebrating with us.
Kelly Bailey
Valley View Women's Club
Polson
Big Arm Barn Dance huge success
Editor,
The Big Arm Association would like to thank everyone involved with last Friday night's successful Third Annual Barn Dance that benefitted the restoration of the Historic Big Arm School.
The weather was perfect, the Southern Comfort Band was great, the food was delicious and the company was delightful.
A very special thank you to Lee and Sonya Engbretson who spent an incredible amount of hours organizing the entire event and to Arnie and Luella Gomke for the loan of their fabulous barn.
Thank you so much to the dozens of Big Arm residents who generously volunteered many hours to help make this event so special.
We also thank the local merchants and businesses that donated door prizes, silent auction items or gave donations to the restoration fund. Your generosity is especially appreciated in these slow economic times.
Thank you to everyone who supported the school restoration fund by buying tickets and attending the event.
A very happy door prize winner rightly described this area as "the last best place." We not only have the most incredible scenery, we have so many wonderful people living here. Thank you to all involved.
Alison Meslin
Big Arm Association
Big Arm
Thanks for a great run
Editor,
Thank you very much for putting on the Valley Journal Marathon and half-marathon. Although it was a struggle, I am very glad to have run it. I think it gave a number of people a goal to shoot for that helped us to push our boundaries—mental and physical.
Thanks to you, your staff and the volunteers for making it a great day.
Dave DeGrandpre
Charlo
Those who lost much, gave much
Editor,
Several months ago, the Lake County Boys & Girls Club was approached by a former employee of Plum Creek Timber, Inc. for an offer to consider. The employees had gotten together a little over a year ago and all chipped in to buy a snack vending machine worth several thousand dollars for their convenience at work at Plum Creek.
As we all know, Plum Creek jobs were terminated and those former employees are now entering an unexpected chapter of their lives. Needless to say, they found that their need for the new vending machine didn’t exist any more.
As they explained to us, they tried to sell the machine but weren’t finding any satisfactory offers. They got together and decided to donate the machine to our club to see if we could either use it or turn it into cash for operational funds.
We’re happy to let everyone know that a buyer was found for the machine and the funds we received will help us tremendously with our fall programming for our kids. Thanks to those people who hung up their hardhats for the last time, you’ve come to our assistance during very hard times and gave during a time when you struggled as well.
Now it is our turn to take our hats off to you and give you humble thanks for your considerate, generous act of kindness. On behalf of our kids, staff and board of directors, thank you again former Plum Creek employees.
John Schnase,
Executive Director
Boys & Girls Club
Ronan
Search and rescue operates efficiently
Editor,
This letter is to express our sincere gratitude for the Lake County Search and Rescue Unit for their extreme efficiency and successful efforts in locating and helping us out of the tribal wilderness.
The two of us had hiked into the Mission Mountains last Monday and were late coming back out. Friends were worried and called the Search and Rescue Unit to find us. The unit worked to find and help the two of us out of the mountains.
We believe that there is no way that they could have been more coordinated or operated any better in their successful efforts to locate us out of this gorgeous but extremely rough wilderness area.
Our thanks go out to all personnel involved. We would especially like to thank Pablo Espinoza and Bob McCrea for their professionalism and kindness to us.
John Giltner, Jr.
Polson
Jon Fitzgerald
St. Ignatius
Museum offers heartfelt thanks
Editor,
The Polson Flathead Historical Museum wants to thank our community members for their support. So many of you visited the museum this summer, often bringing your summer guests. Your feedback about the changes we’ve made in the museum was appreciated.
The adult and children programs were well attended and your interest was so high you kept the presenters talking. Thanks to those of you who became museum members and contributed to the 2010 Commemoration Fund.
Big things are coming in 2010. At the 50 community organizations we visited, to talk about the big plans, your excitement for the upcoming year was heartening. We’ll continue to give you updates this fall and winter.
The Mission Mountain Railroad Club is disbanding. We gave them the option of deeding the exhibit to the museum and they declined. Their membership has declined so they are not able to financially support the exhibit. We thank them for the joy they brought to the school children and adults alike.
Lois Hart
President, Polson Flathead Historical Museum
Polson
Obama's speech sends positive message
Editor,
I have been a resident of the Mission Valley since 1992. I must admit that all during this time, Montana and the Mission Valley has provided me with a strong sense of place, a rare and treasured gift indeed.
Until this week, when all this changed for me. It was the week that President Obama was scheduled to address the school children of this nation. And last Tuesday, I was heartbroken to say, I felt embarrassed and ashamed when I found out that most of the children that make up this valley were not exposed to the President's speech.
The schoolchildren in St. Ignatius, Ronan, Charlo (with the exception of one history class), and Pablo did not hear the positive and healthy voice of President Obama. This very fact left me with a heavy heart.
I agree wholeheartedly with the feelings that Jim Blow expressed in his editorial dated Sept. 10 in the Valley Journal: "I am afraid that we're slipping backwards into a bog steeped in an over-reactive sense of political correctness to the point of exclusion, and topped with a righteous, even rebellious American attitude that everything and everybody should be questioned."
As you know, this was a well-intentioned speech to boost the efforts of our schoolchildren in order to make not only their parents proud, but their nation as well.
As you so aptly wrote, "Until he does overstep his boundaries, we should be giving our President the benefit of the doubt, regardless of whether you voted for him or not."
Everyone was privy to his speech on the Internet the day before it was delivered. It was very clear that this speech was not tainted with any political agenda.
The only hope for lifting me up once again, will be to hear from other residents of this valley who, like you and me, were disappointed and saddened for our children.
I give many thanks for your authentic and intelligent editorial.
Dorothy Irvine
St. Ignatius
(Editor's note — It is worth noting again that the schools were not provided sufficient advance notice of President Obama's intention to speak with school children. Most of the schools were scurrying around Tuesday morning after a long holiday weekend trying to determine if they could even receive and distribute the television or streaming video signal to classrooms. It is therefore fair to say the President's Administration bears a significant degree of responsibility for the lack of promulgation of his talk to our valley students.)
Thank you seems so small
Editor,
In my last letter, which ran in the Valley Journal on Aug. 27, there were some people I forgot to mention. Noel and Lyn Demon and Derek Buddie took care of my dog, Peanut.
But the person I really want to thank is anonymous. This person doesn't know what they have done for me. You have come to my rescue. I was down to my last 52 cents in my checkbook with about five more bills coming in. I didn't know where the money was coming to pay them. But God and His wisdom put it in your heart to help me. May God always bless you in all you do.
Thank you seems so small but it comes from the bottom of my heart. I don't know how to thank you, but if there is a way, I would like to know how. You saved me.
Again I say may God bless you and yours.
Bernadine Lovell
St. Ignatius |
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Sept. 10, 2009