Big Sky Blog

Montana author Laura Munson is holding a fun barn-themed contest! Check it out:

I’m holding a contest here on my blog from now until September 12.
To enter the contest, simply send in your best shot at naming the above barn in the comment section here on this post. Is it a celebrity? A concept? A country? A kind of sandwich? Let your common sense go and dream a little. It’s good for you.
The winner WINS A SIGNED FIRST EDITION copy of my book THIS IS NOT THE STORY YOU THINK IT IS. This contest will be judged by a team of highly skilled professional out-of-the-box thinkers: my two kids.
Additional opportunity for the extra outside-of-the-boxers: A signed book will also be sent to the person who sends in the best original barn photo and name…

There’s lots of pictures of other barns from across Montana, too!

Montana unveiled “Gold Star Family” license plates this week, and at the ceremony, the Helena High School Ambiance Choir performed – simply beautiful.

Since arriving in Montana, I have been fascinated with Butte – literally rich in history and character, from the days of being the “richest hill on earth,” the battle of the Copper Kings, to the home of legendary daredevil Evel Knievel, and so much more.

So it was amazing to learn that one of Montana’s most famous figures, and one of the figures critical to the history of Butte, William Clark – one of our first U.S. senators, one of the original “Copper Kings,” and perhaps the most famous/notorious personality in our state’s history – has one surviving descendant: Huguette Clark, his daughter. She is now 103 years old. The saga of the Clark family, notably throughout the 20th century, is told in this photo essay on MSNBC.com. Quite an amazing story, and lots of pictures of the Clarks and their real estate.

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.

You may remember Shannen Rossmiller, the Montana woman who has helped capture terrorists, was the youngest municipal judge in the nation, profiled on Fox News, and various other amazing feats. She was first brought to the Montana blogosphere’s attention via MT Politics, when Craig did an interview with her (more here). She’s still fighting the good fight, and turned up on CNN last night to discuss what went wrong leading up the Fort Hood massacre. Check it out:

Learn more about Shannen at her website.

Walter Breuning, who lives in Great Falls, Montana, inherited the title of “World’s Oldest Living Man” in June 2009.

Walter celebrated his 113th birthday in September 2009.

Author Elizabeth Eslami, who now lives in Oregon, has written a very nice essay/blog post about her four years in Montana…here’s two little snippets:

I have a theory that the state of Montana is enormous for a reason. That its vastness is a test, each highway a reticulated part of a puzzle. You have to work hard to get there. Whether it’s 15 North, winding from the lunar hills of Monida Pass across to wind-scraped Great Falls, Interstate 90 from hip Bozeman to rimrocked Billings, or the hi-line from Cut Bank to Wolf Point, where blizzards seem to blow up out of the road itself, travelling through Montana is a test of your patience and of your character. After all, what else can you expect from a place famous for the size of its sky?
—
I’ve always found beauty in the places we’ve lived. But then, if I’m honest, really truly honest, I have to admit that, for me, there is no better place than Montana.

Read the whole thing.

Way back when, in the earlier days of the blogosphere, the much-smaller and tighter-knit community of Big Sky Bloggers semi-adopted a fellow blogger from Savannah, Georgia: Sam Johnson. As far as I know, he remains the only person that has been unofficially named as an Honorary Big Sky Blogger. He even sponsored a contest for people to vote on the first-ever “Miss RSJS Show” (The Miss ‘Real Sam Johnson Show’). Two of our fellow Big Sky Bloggers – Pandora and Karbon Kounty Moos – made the final five!

There was just something special about him: his perpetual upbeat nature, his passion for retro-TV and comics, his love and knowledge of awesome music, and his just overall good-guy-ness. Unfortunately, he was also battling some health problems – he received dialysis regularly and was waiting for organ transplant surgery – but it just never really occurred to me that Sam would ever not be here.

But sadly, I received word today from Randy that Sam has indeed left us, at the far-too early age of only 42. I wish that we had the opportunity to meet in real life – when I spoke with him a couple of years ago on Christmas Day, when he was doing his on-air deejay stuff down in Savannah, we even talked about him coming up to visit his Montana blogger fan club.

The blogosphere and the world just lost a super guy.

What were the most popular baby names in Montana in 2008? Take a look!

(via)

MONTANA’S (thx bob! how did i turn that into alaska?!) most famous part-time resident, David Letterman, finally tied the knot! He got married to his long-time girlfriend (and mother of their 5-year old boy) Regina Lasko, and they did it right in Choteau (near his ranch). The official who married them was Teton County Justice Of The Peace JL “Pete” Howard. I guess after 23 years of dating and one child, Dave was finally ready for a commitment :-)

Congratulations to David & Regina Letterman! ALSO: check out this nifty look at Choteau!

Previous Letterman/Montana tidbits: Cold Hard Cash on Letterman show; Tim Montana on Letterman show; and other Letterman news.