Independently owned since 1905
Independently owned since 1905
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It might smell the same, but it now has a better look and is dust and mud free. The Plains Refuse District - the "town dump" - received a major facelift in October with a new shack delivered to the site on Saturday. Von Construction of Plains did the bulk of the project over the course of about three weeks, finishing the paving portion two weeks ago. Doran VonHeeder, owner of the construction company, said the project was done in three phases, starting with placing several truckloads of gravel a...
Another summer has gone by and the Forest Service’s Big Hole Lookout rental cabin is closed up for the winter, thanks to volunteers from the Wild Plains Back Country Horsemen. John Errecart and Cheryl Burt took their horses and mules up the two-and three-quarter mile Trail #368 to the lookout at the 6,922-foot level last Tuesday to secure the lookout for the winter. It will reopen next June, also by members of the horsemen club, which adopted the lookout when it became a rental cabin in 2021. T...
There was a place last weekend where parents could go and let their kids roam and play and not worry because it was a family friendly place. It was called the Fall Festival" and it was at the 76-acre Waterway Ranch 15 miles west of Plains along Highway 200 and for the third consecutive year it was put on by owners Mark and Elizabeth Riffle. And this year it might have the biggest crowd yet with more than 800 people over the two days from babies to seniors in their 80s, said Elizabeth. The event...
The Plains Town Council unanimously voted to seat John Dossett on the council as a replacement for Councilwoman Connie Foust, who recently resigned and moved to Nevada. The town held a special council meeting on Friday morning to choose between the two candidates who applied for the Ward 1, Seat 1 position - Dossett and Charles W. Bickenheuser - to fulfill the two years remaining on Foust's term. The 64-year-old Dossett was born in New Zealand, but has been a Plains resident for 38 years and...
Members of the Plains Farmers Market had a good year and to thank the community they decided to make a donation to the Plains Paradise Senior Citizens Center. Market coordinator Linda Wilson presented a $1,000 check to Linda Bursell, the senior center's secretary and treasurer, at Fred Young Park on Friday, the last day of the season for the market. "I think this year was a huge success. I think next year will be even better," said Wilson. "We had a nice sum at the end of the year, so we were...
A group of Plains High School science students aimed high for a good grade in their physics class last week. Thirteen seniors and one sophomore built model rockets and fired them into the sky throughout the week to learn how to calculate the average velocity, drag and thrust, said Brooks Sanford, the science teacher, who uses fun activities to illustrate classroom lessons. "The kids enjoyed the project and it certainly helps reinforce learning in the classroom," said Sanford. "This is the third...
More than 200 soccer players gathered at the Amundson Sports Complex Saturday for a day of competition for the Annual Randy Baker Memorial Soccer Tournament and when it was finished, Thompson Falls and Plains teams were the victors. Four teams from Thompson Falls, Plains, and Trout Creek competed with each other in the U14 Division, playing two games apiece, said Alan Hafner, the tournament director. Adam Franklin's Thompson Falls team had one win and one loss. The Trout Creek kids, coached by...
The Sanders County Fairgrounds had its first train wreck when it ran into a truck last week, leading to bystander injuries and two women running into each other on bikes. Response time by several emergency services vehicles was quick and all 10 injuries were treated. However, since there are no railroad tracks at the fairgrounds, it must have been a drill. The county's Emergency Management Department, headed by Bill Naegeli, put on the "Fair Hazmat Exercise," which involved more than 30 men and...
For actors that tend to be on the shy side, the play put on by the Paradise Players last weekend was perfect for them. All were behind partial or full masks for "The Works: A Grass Menagerie," a comedy about life on the farm from the animals' perspective. The play, written by Robb Willoughby of Ohio, was one story, but divided into eight segments, all related to the central theme. Chickens, cows, pigs, sheep, crows, horses, dogs, cats, and even wolves are the stars of the two-hour long play,...
The Plains Horsemen finished homecoming week with a big win against the Troy Trojans. The Horsemen stampeded their way to a 47-24 victory Friday at Plains to keep the Trojans from getting their first win of the season. "A homecoming victory is always sweet. It has been awhile," said Mike Tatum, head coach for the Horsemen, who thinks that this homecoming win might be the first one for this senior class. The Horsemen now have two wins and three losses. Troy has five losses. The first quarter...
The Thompson Falls soccer teams both had their first triumph at Plains and both games were shutouts. "It really is historic. This is the first time the high school soccer team has ever won a game in Sanders County or at Thompson Falls High School. I think it really speaks to the quality of the girls program that they got the win first," said Lady Hawks head coach Nick Lawyer. The boys and girls soccer teams faced the Browning Indians and Lady Indians at Amundson Sports Complex at Plains last...
The veteran suicide rate continues to grow but that doesn’t stop one veteran in Plains from his objective of getting the word out about the troublesome issue, just as he did last month for Suicide Awareness Month. Starting on Aug. 31, each night Ed Foste and a volunteer added 22 American flags to the display — representing the 22 veterans who die by suicide each day. Foste and Bill Beck of Plains added the final batch to the display last Monday evening. This is the seventh year for the Vet...
The people of Plains and Paradise came together to help raise funds for a local family that recently lost their home to fire and is now battling the insurance company. Horse Plains VFW Post 3596 hosted a Campbell Family Fundraiser on Saturday for Plains residents Prentiss and Nawatha Campbell, whose home was destroyed in late July. The post had a special dinner and a silent auction of nearly 30 items, raising $6,487. "I thought it was pretty great. I find it hard to ask for help. I was just...
Wearing a coat of pollen, a bumble bee moves from one pollen filled flower to another at the Wild Horse Lavender Farm west of Plains. According to Montana State University's Bee Identification Guide, bumble bees can buzz-pollinate, which MSU said is important for plants that require vibration to release pollen. Bumble bees continue to be active throughout October. MSU notes that there are 45 bumble bee species in North America and 28 in Montana. Eleven-year-old John McNamara plants numerous...
The Plains football team had a bitter loss to the Mission Bulldogs at St. Ignatius Saturday afternoon, when the Bulldogs defeated the Horsemen 60-24. Both teams had one win and one loss under their belts before Saturday's game. "I felt that we could compete with Mission and even come out with a win based on our progress this season so far. Mission is always a tough opponent," said Horseman head coach Mike Tatum. The game started well for Plains when quarterback Darren Standeford darted in from...
The Thompson Falls Blue Hawks soccer teams put up a good battle, but in the end the visitors dominated at Thompson Falls last Tuesday evening. The Bigfork Valkyries first defeated the Lady Hawks 8-1 and the Vikings claimed a 4-1 victory over the Blue Hawks following the girls game. "Bigfork has a good team, but I thought we matched up with them very well and I think they are a team that we can beat," said the Blue Hawks head coach Michael Scharfe. His boys will get the chance when they face the...
The owners of the Wild Horse Lavender Farm don't get too many visitors, especially from Helena, but when the governor shows up, he gets a special tour of the place. Montana Governor Greg Gianforte visited the farm of Bruce Beckstead and Carissa McNamara some 10 miles west of Plains last Tuesday afternoon as part of his "56 County Tour." This was his 49th place to stop this year, said Kaitlin Price, the governor's press secretary. He made a stop at Superior School earlier in the day to discuss...
Numbers don't lie. The 2024 Sanders County Fair was a big financial success, fetching $454,278 and netting $145,368 after expenses. Kristy Sheehan, the fair manager, provided the five fair commissioners and the dozen other community members at the monthly board meeting at the fairgrounds pavilion last Wednesday the annual "Fair Recap." The three-page financial summary showed that the fair showed a profit in nearly every category, though there were activities, such as the carnival, the downtown...
The Plains Trotters took their second consecutive win Saturday when they showed Superior who was superior, claiming victory in four games at home. The Superior Lady Bobcats defeated the Trotters the first game 25-23, but head coach Kim Lakko said she wasn't concerned. "The girls are competitors, one set is not the end of a match. The girls played to win and to climb back on top through a fourth set," said Lakko, who was the team's assistant coach last year, but she and Jesse Butcher switched roles this year and Butcher took over the junior...
The Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary recognized an art student from Plains for her work in the 3 Dimensional Patriotic Art Contest. The 16-year-old Ireland Corbin took third place in the VFW Young American Creative Patriotic Art Contest in the 3-Dimensional category with her clay and ceramic art entitled "In Honor," earning her a $1,000 scholarship award. Corbin said she was excited when she received the news that she placed so high in the contest, which was sponsored by VFW Horse Plains...
The Plains Town Council approved the annual budget and added two new committee members, but much of the time at last week's meeting seemed to be discussing a non-agenda item. John Sheridan, the council chairman, filled in for Mayor Joel Banham. Last Monday evening's meeting was coming to a close and the council had just appointed Bambi Wright to the Plains Planning Board, which prompted Commissioner Dan Rowan to suggest that the town update its subdivision regulations, particularly when a...
She has put in four years of serving the Town of Plains, but now she's heading south. Councilwoman Connie Foust announced at last week's council meeting that it would be her last. She's moving to Mesquite, Nevada, where she used to live and where she still has friends. She's enjoyed her time in Plains and her time on council. She said she's a fighter and liked the challenge of working on council. However, she said her balance is not what it used to be and getting firewood into the house is...
The Plains High School cross country team had a good showing at the Flathead Invitational, talking first place of the four Class B schools. Several Plains runners had personal bests, including Trotter Marina Tulloch, a sophomore, who finished first in Class B with a time of 19:41.93 and fourth overall out of 127 girls from 18 schools from across Montana. The first Horseman across the finish line was freshman Owen Jermyn, who finished fifth in his class at 17:17.63, also a personal best. The...
It looked as though the Plains Horsemen football team was going to have their second consecutive victory of the season, but the second half of the game said otherwise. The Horsemen had a 20-point lead going into the third quarter, but with three key players injured - two out for the game - and a pumped up and revitalized Darby team, the Tigers clawed themselves to a 36-34 conquest. Both teams were undefeated at the beginning of Friday's game. The Horsemen had claimed a 51-8 triumph over the...
Plains hosted youth soccer Saturday at the Amundson Sports Complex. Above left, Plains player Branson Fryxell gets the ball away from Thompson Falls Thunder player Daniel Berger during an U11 game. Plains won game 5-0. At right, Noxon's Bryson Purdy goes against Berger in a U11 game in which Thompson Falls won 5-0....
