Big Sky Blog

(LWI = “Legislating While Impaired”)

Well, it’s obvious that Max is not totally three sheets to the wind – but he definitely doesn’t seem to be 100% sober. Does he appear normal, tipsy, drunk, or perhaps ill to you?

This was SERIOUSLY cool: five villagers from Tanna in the Pacific Ocean visited the USA, and along with stays in California and New York, they spent time in Montana. Here’s a promo clip from the five men experiencing snow for (I assume?) the first time:

The Tanna natives spent most of their Montana time down near Belfry and Billings, and also journeyed to Yellowstone. They really seemed to enjoy their visit to Montana – and their host family the Pelicans really seemed to enjoy the experience, too. Wearing cowboy hats, playing in the snow, participating in a hunt, helping out with ranch-hand duties, chowing down on pancakes and bacon, dancing at a local bar – good ol’ Montana stuff.

Just a hunch, but I suspect that the Tanna men enjoyed their Montana experience more than the other places they visited during the USA trip.

On a very sad note, however: if you watched the Travel Channel episode, you may have noticed that it was dedicated to Cole Pelican, with the tragic dates 2000-2009. Cole was the 9-year old son of the Pelican family; he loved rodeo, and he died in a horse-riding accident in July 2009, long after the TV episode was filmed. The family established “Cole’s Western Wishes” in his memory.

Montana Jewish community highlighted in the New York Times:

Though there are few Jews in Montana today, there once were many. The city of Butte had kosher markets, a Jewish mayor, a B’nai B’rith lodge and three synagogues. Helena, the capital city, had Temple Emanu-El, built in 1891 with a seating capacity of 500. There is a Jewish cemetery in Helena, too, with tombstones dating to 1866. But more Jews are buried in Helena than currently live here. And yet, in a minor revival, Montana now has three rabbis, two in Bozeman and one (appropriately) in Whitefish.