Big Sky Blog

The Big Sky blogging community has suffered a loss. Allan has passed away. Please send warm thoughts and condolences to Karen, our very own Karbon Kounty Moos.

From a comment left earlier today that probably deserves to be posted up here:

My husband and I own a fresh, all natural salsa company in Missoula and we are looking for people to do salsa sampling in the Super 1 grocery stores in Kalispell, Columbia Falls, Polson and Whitefish. We are looking for one or more person(s) to do this on a regular basis. Super 1 is having a Store-Wide sale on April 6th, which is a Thursday. If you know someone who would be interested, we would love to hear from them… maybe that person is you? For more information, check out the website: Natural Foods Salsa.

Did some Googling and learned that Brent and Tari have had their business profiled in Western Montana InBusiness and the Missoulian. Very cool!

I saw Sunday’s edition of the Great Falls Tribune and most of the front page was on the military.

State’s Youth Open to the Military

The problem isn’t corruption in recruitment, said Wayne Lewis, who is starting a state chapter of Veterans for Peace. It’s the ease with which the military accesses kids. It grooms them, he said. When they turn 18, signing them up is easy. “This state is ripe for picking,” Lewis said.

Well that’s an interesting way to put it … oh wait … Montana doesn’t have a lot of job options for kids, does it?

How to deal with pesky recruiter calls

I personally have used the old, “I’m sorry but I already have a recruiter. His name is Sgt. Crippen and he’s with the Army National Guard.” Ooh conversation killer.

Sgt. First Class Jeffery Moncrief calls the U.S. Army’s phone calls to high school seniors “Happy hellos.” Most of the time folks are courteous and sometimes less so, he said. “The most powerful word in the world that you can teach your kid is ‘No,’” Moncrief said. “And that’s all it takes. No. Thank you.”

I’ve talked to him while he was here in Kalispell and I even pointed him out at NFLs to David. He’s an alright guy.

Recruiting is a challenge for the Guard (Air Guard, that is)

This article leads you to think that it’s about the Guard as a whole–I’ve seen Guard recruiters out here in Kalispell … twice in my life. One time at the airshow, last summer and last fall at the HS.

Activists work to put ‘truth in recruiting’

OT: If you believe your recruiter when he says, “you won’t get deployed” or “this MOS runs a risk of 0% deployment,” go get another recruiter that won’t lie to you. You’d be doing a service to all of us and if the military is the only option other than gangs… go all the way, recruits.

I crossed over the Continental Divide this weekend for a booksigning in Great Falls. I always love to make that trip into what I think of as true Big Sky Country. Here in the Missoula Valley our sky is average. Don’t get me wrong, I love Missoula but there is something about the feel of the open country on the other side that frees my imagination.

It was an interesting drive. Heading east out of Missoula it wasn’t long before we hit snow pack. There hasn’t been snow on the ground here in weeks, but there were deep patches not long after we passed Bonner and the ground was covered before we got to Lincoln. It seems that the sun is always shining in Great Falls, but Saturday was overcast most of the day. There was even some ice on the Missouri, so I’m guessing it’s been cold there. And then there was the famous wind, of course. But it was warm enough that things were melting everywhere. A beautiful spring day on the plains.

Coming home I think we met every deer in Western Montana. I’ve never seen so many of them out along the road. Fortunately they mostly stayed off the road, so we didn’t have any near encounters. It poured rain for the last 60 miles or so making visibility tough, but we made it home. Back to our little valley with the river running through it.

Here’s some information that could help anyone, looking to move to the Flathead Area.

Flathead County: Property Tax Department
(406) 758-5680

They could probably give you basic information but anything helps doesn’t it?

Hello!!!! My family and I are seriously considering moving to your beautiful area! Flathead county is very beautiful! In researching our potential new home, I’m having a hard time getting info on property taxes. What is the approximate percentage of tax relative to the price of a home? Also, how and when are taxes reassessed? We heard that if your neighbor improves their home/property and their property tax goes up, that will affect YOUR property tax as well…please tell me this is not true! :)

Thank you so much in advance for this info. We greatly appreciate it!
=> Mando

I’ll be at Hastings Books and Music in Great Falls on Saturday, March 25th signing my new book–My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys. You can find me at 726 10th Avenue South between 1 and 4 Saturday afternoon. Hope to see you there!

Teresa Bodwell
www.tbodwell.com

“I am in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection, but with Montana it is love, and it’s difficult to analyze love when you’re in it.” – John Steinbeck

Just a reminder: when winter weather hits, as it did this weekend, be sure to check the Montana road conditions before you head out. And not only can you read about road conditions — you can check ‘em out yourself via some handy web-cams!

Strolling through the Big Sky Pool photos over at Flickr, I stumbled across another very cool pool: BISON! Plenty of awesome pictures of bison: sleeping, standing in traffic, and a baby eating. And it’s not just limited to real bison: souvenir-type creations, drawings, and art displays! If you can’t get enough Bison Bison, start with Wikipedia and keep reading. Just remember: it’s cool to see them, but keep your distance…do NOT do what Greg does.