Magic Magazine May/June 2016

Middle School Mentors: Joe Medicine Crow & Ben Steele

Vintage Revolution: Upcycling & Restyling

13 Years of Magic: Changes Abound

Enduring Pop Culture: Illustrator Russell Walks

worth repeating

Plus Arts & Culture Series: Museums

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Mon.-Fri. 9:00 - 6:00 • Sat. 9:00-5:00 Sun. CLOSED MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 3

Announcing a hardcover book!

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BILLINGS MEMORIES II: THE 1940s, 1950s AND 1960s

Billings

MEMORIES II The 1940s, 1950s and 1960s • A Pictorial History

PURCHASE ONLINE AT:

Billings2.PictorialBook.com free shipping for online orders of two or more copies BOOK DETAILS: Due to the overwhelming popularity of “Billings Memories: The Early Years,” The Billings Gazette is proud to partner with the Western Heritage Center, Rocky Mountain College, Montana State University Billings, Billings Public Library and our readers on a new hardcover pictorial history book, “Billings Memories II: The 1940s, 1950s and 1960s.”

This heirloom-quality coffee-table book offers a glimpse of Billings from 1940-1969 with a brief reprise of the early years through stunning and historic photos. In addition, we are thrilled to include photographic memories of years gone by from our readers. Reserve your copy today and save $15!

presented by

Pre-order now (discount expires 10/26/16). Select an option:  Ship my order to me  I’ll pick up my order $29.95 plus $5.95 shipping and handling per $29.95 per book. Pick up order at The Billings book. Order will be shipped to the address below Gazette office (401 N Broadway, Billings) after after 12/02/16.

11/21/16.

Quantity: ___ x $35.90 = $______ total Quantity: ___ x $29.95 = $______ total Payment method:  Check/Money Order  Visa  MasterCard  AmEx  Discover

Name Address City

State

Phone

E-mail

Card # Please note: photos that appear in this ad may not appear in final book.

4 I MAY/JUNE 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

Send form and payment to:

Signature

Zip

Billings Gazette Communications c/o Memories Book P.O. Box 36300 Billings, MT 59107

Expiration Verification Code

FEATURES

MAY/JUNE 2016

70

WE LIVE HERE

BY ROB ROGERS

75

BILLINGS PUBLIC SCHOOLS MAKING THE GRADE

BY EVEY LAMONT

91

VINTAGE REVOLUTION

BY JULIE GREEN

83

SPECIAL REPORT

MONTANA HEALTHCARE

BY SHELLEY VAN ATTA

99

ARTS & CULTURE SERIES MUSEUMS

BY ANNA PAIGE

ON THE COVER THE MARTINI ON THE COVER ORIGINATED AS A PHOTO AT DOC HARPER’S BY JAMES WOODCOCK/GAZETTE STAFF

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 5

DEPARTMENTS

MAY/JUNE 2016

RIVER TO RIMS

IN EVERY ISSUE

8

FROM THE EDITOR

BY BRENDA MAAS

9

CONTRIBUTORS

107

SEEN AT THE SCENE

110

DATEBOOK

10

THE LIST

12

PERSON OF INTEREST

14

GIVING BACK

16

ARTIST LOFT

18

ELEMENTS

20

MEDIA ROOM

FUN, FASCINATING FINDS

MAYOR AND FIRST LADY HANEL

FAMILY PROMISE OF YELLOWSTONE VALLEY

RUSSELL WALKS

13 YEARS OF MAGIC

BOOKS, MOVIES, MUSIC & WEB REVIEWS

114

WHY MAGIC CITY?

LAST WORD

SIGNATURE SECTION

FINE LIVING

22 30 35 43

GREAT ESTATES

TRADITIONAL ELEMENTS WITH URBAN FLAIR

GARDENS

IRIS ADDICTION

EPICURE

THE NORTHERN HOTEL

LIBATIONS

WESTERN LIFE

48

MIDDLE SCHOOL MENTORS

JOE MEDICINE CROW & BEN STEELE

55 58

PHOTO JOURNAL SIGNS OF BILLINGS

GENE COLLING

LIVIN’ THE COWBOY WAY

SHAKEN, NOT STIRRED

TRAVELOGUE

62 6 I MAY/JUNE 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

GET YOUR FRONTIER ON CHEYENNE, WYOMING

In the early 1880s, immigrants and adventurers came in droves to seek their livelihood on the verdant land along the Yellowstone River. The hastily constructed tents and log cabins made it appear as if Billings materialized overnight – thus earning the name “The Magic City.” Today, as the largest city in Montana, Billings proudly retains its ‘Magic City’ moniker.

As for Magic City magazine, we promise to continue our mission to uncover all that is unique and wonderful and changing in this great community … and we guarantee a few surprises along the way.

MAY/JUNE 2016 I VOLUME 14 I ISSUE 2 TM

MICHAEL GULLEDGE PUBLISHER 657-1225 EDITORIAL

BRENDA MAAS MANAGING EDITOR 657-1490 TARA CADY ASSISTANT EDITOR 657-1390 EVELYN NOENNIG COMMUNITY LIAISON / ASSISTANT EDITOR 657-1226

Simple self-care tips to fit your busy schedule

PHOTOGRAPHY/VIDEOGRAPHY

LARRY MAYER, CASEY PAGE, HANNAH POTES AND BOB ZELLAR DESIGN

APRIL BURFORD COVER DESIGN

CHRISTINE CLEVELAND, KARA PETERSON ADVERTISING

DAVE WORSTELL GENERAL MANAGER 657-1352 RYAN BROSSEAU ADVERTISING DIRECTOR 657-1340 SHELLI RAE SCOTT ADVERTISING MANAGER 657-1202 SPENCYR SCHMALTZ ADVERTISING COORDINATOR 657-1254 MO LUCAS PRODUCTION/COORDINATOR 657-1204 EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD

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FIND US AT VARIOUS RACK LOCATIONS THROUGHOUT BILLINGS: Billings area Albertsons I Billings Airport I Billings Clinic Billings Gazette Communications I Billings Hardware I Curves for Women Evergreen IGA I Gainan’s I Good Earth Market I Granite Fitness Kmart I Lucky’s Market I McDonald’s I Pita Pit I Reese and Ray’s IGA (Laurel) Shipton’s I Stella’s Kitchen & Bakery I St. Vincent Healthcare I Billings Family YMCA Valley Federal Credit Union (Downtown location) I Western Ranch Supply Western Security Banks (Downtown location) I Yellowstone County Museum Plus many other locations Magic City Magazine is published five times a year by Billings Gazette Communications Copyright© 2016 Magic City Magazine. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without express written consent is prohibited.

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MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 7

EVELYN NOENNIG

REFLECTING ON 13 YEARS OF BILLINGS’ LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE There’s a saying about “what goes around comes around.” I recently experienced the validity of that statement.

During a weekend road trip with several teen-aged lacrosse players, my son begged to play some of “their” songs. Imagine my surprise when song after song (of which they knew all the lyrics) from my generation blasted out of the speakers.

Toto, Journey and Bon Jovi – “their” songs were once mine.

That episode, and many like it during my current reality of life with three teen boys, often puts me in a reflective mode. As we cruise across this great state, fi lled with anticipation of an upcoming adventure or the lingering adrenaline a recent well-fought game, I find generations reaching out, connecting and sharing their joyful optimism of the future.

And so it happens.

This issue marks Magic’s 13th year of publishing the stories of Montana’s Magic City. In 2003 then-editor Allyn Calton started with a vision.

Over the years, the concept grew and changed.

It evolved into more than its roots as a regional lifestyle magazine to become a trusted publication that reflects the tone and personality of Billings.

Along the way, Magic earned “Best Niche Publication” honors from the Montana Newspaper Association for three years running.

But over those 13 years, Billings has experienced some dramatic ups and downs – the national housing market crashed and oil prices broke record highs and then dove back down. Although not immune to national and world-wide economics, Billings weathered the storms reasonably well and is emerging with a strategic eye on the future.

On page 70, Rob Rogers delved into the chang-

8 I MAY/JUNE 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

es the city has undergone while Shelley Van Atta examines how Billings’ medical environment consistently stands at the top of the healthcare industry game.

Historian and author John Clayton shares a fresh look at the new middle school namesakes, Joe Medicine Crow and Ben Steele. Beyond their amazing heroic efforts, these men embody the controversies and resulting choices that today’s middle schoolers must also navigate during their own journeys.

In Epicure (page 35) we look at what the Northern Hotel has meant to Billings over a century and why the classic Monte Cristo can be considered “sick.” (For translation, ask your teenager.)

Sometimes that “classic” is as simple as a long-standing business sign – an image we drive past day-after-day, year-after-year – that we would recognize if misplaced. The talented Billings Gazette Communications photographers share “Signs of Billings” with us in Photo Journal. Many of these iconic images have remained the same, as true to Billings today as they were the day they were installed.

As the youth of today re-hash the Van Halen of my teen years (and possibly yours) and we watch expansion on every edge of this city we call home, speculation turns outward, toward the future. In this issue I say “cheers” to reflecting on the classics as we move on to tomorrow.

Best,

Brenda Maas Managing Editor editor@magiccitymagazine.com

is the executive assistant to the publisher and will be celebrating her 20th year at The Billings Gazette in July. Wearing many hats with-in the organization and in the community she values the connections and friendships that have been made throughout the years. The Transition Network for women 50 and forward will be her focus as chair. Working with women in the community to connect, discover and impact themselves and their community.

TARA CADY grew up in the northwest suburbs of Chicago but has since fallen in love with the mountainous West. After finishing a degree in psychology in Colorado, her love of travel and meeting unique people inspired her to pursue a more creative path in a city that celebrates art and music.

With Billings as her muse, she hopes to unlock hidden talents.

CORRECTION

This photo was inadvertently not given credit in the March/April 2016 issue.

PHOTO COURTESY OF BRETZ RV & MARINE

CONTRIBUTORS

JOHN CLAYTON

, the 2016 Visiting Writer in Residence at Montana State University-Billings, writes about history and culture. His books include The Cowboy Girl: The Life of Caroline Lockhart and most recently, Stories from Montana’s Enduring Frontier. You can learn more at www.johnclaytonbooks.com.

KAREN KINSER

It’s been said that travel is the only thing you can spend money on that makes you richer, and Karen certainly agrees. She also loves super-thin flatbread pizzas from her wood-fired oven, TED talks, gardening and St. John’s summer concerts. When she’s not gardening or making wine in Joliet, Karen is just as happy tent-camping in the full moon alongside the Madison River as listening for ghosts in historic hotels.

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EVEY LAMONT, M.S. has been the principal at Primetime Transition and Retirement Coaching for more than 10 years.

Her coaching business has become her full time retirement career after having worked 38 years as a Nationally Certified School Psychologist in Billings Public Schools. Evey coaches individuals and couples approaching transition, including one of the most significant of all, retirement.

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ROB ROGERS’

spirit animal is Val Kilmer. He’s been writing news and features since he won a spot on his elementary school’s biweekly newspaper with an opinion piece on why Magnum P.I. needs to exist in the real world. He probably still believes everything he wrote in that piece. He lives in Billings with his wife and three daughters. Before staking his future on freelance writing and at-home parenting, he was the education reporter for The Billings Gazette.

SHELLEY VAN ATTA is a writer and award-winning marketing, media and communications strategist with over 30 years of executive leadership experience. She has degrees in journalism and English from the University of Montana. She and her husband, Larry, both Montana natives, have three children and are extremely active in the Billings community.

JULIE GREEN’S lifelong passion has always been writing, and she considers herself lucky it has also become her profession. She is the owner of Box 117 Creative, which offers content development and marketing services for small and medium-sized businesses. A native of Cowley, Wyoming, Julie loves spending time with her husband Dave and their children.

ANNA PAIGE

is a writer, photographer and poet advocating for arts and culture in Montana through writing. She’s the founder of Pen and Paige, a freelance writing and marketing strategy company. Anna’s writing is as diverse as her subjects, from poetry collaborations with musicians to artist profiles to concert photography.

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 9

THE LIST

THE LIST

PERSON OF INTEREST

GIVING BACK

ARTIST LOFT

MEDIA ROOM

ELEMENTS

FUN, FASCINATING FINDS WE THINK ARE GREAT

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10 I MAY/JUNE 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

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MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 11

PERSON OF INTEREST

BILLINGS IS BLOSSOMING, IGNITING. IT’S NOT DEPENDENT ON ONE INDUSTRY AND THE AGE GROUPS ARE GROWING. YOUNG PEOPLE ARE MAKING THE CITY THEIR OWN.

BY TARA CADY I PHOTOGRAPHY BY LARRY MAYER

CHECKING IN WITH THE MAYOR AND FIRST LADY OF BILLINGS Billings has seen colossal change since Mayor Tom Hanel first took office in 2009. Currently in his second term and seventh year in his position, Hanel is nearing the twilight of his tenure but still utilizing his time to influence the city’s growth and development. This is the same booming Magic City that made Hanel awestruck as a child, having witnessed the “astronomical expansion” of Billings, particularly in the Heights and the West End. Ch-ch-ch-changes “I moved to Billings 43 years ago and have watched it grow and progress. What I’ve seen will continue,” he said of the positive, warm atmosphere he calls home.

When Hanel first moved to Billings, the Heights had no schools and the West End comprised of gravel

12 I MAY/JUNE 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

pits and corn fields where today’s shopping centers now take center stage.

Downtown has seen its fair share of change, too.

“You come downtown now, and it’s almost as busy at night as it is during the day. Before, businesses were boarded up in the evening,” noted Hanel.

Having had a successful career in law enforcement with the Billings Police Department,

Hanel mentioned the “primitive” resources used in the mid-70s as compared to today. Whether talking about the police force or the city in general, Hanel is right: times have changed and Billings is better equipped now.

In 2006, Billings reached a population of over 100,000. According to Hanel, Billings will continue to build upon itself, its steady growth easily managed by city government.

A joint effort With a city to run and many events to attend, Hanel cannot do it alone. His wife Robin is by his side, representing Billings together.

“If I didn’t have my partner, I’d find it very difficult to accomplish everything,” he said.

Robin has pushed Tom to expand his horizons and attend as many events as possible.

“It brings me great pleasure to promote Billings every chance I get. I take it seriously,” he said.

“We waited until we had an empty nest on purpose,” explained Robin of the timing behind Tom running for office.

With more time to devote to the city, Robin, too, is excited for Billings’ future.

“Billings is blossoming, igniting. It’s not dependent on one industry and the age groups are growing. Young people are making the city their own,” said Robin.

With just under two years left in office, Tom and Robin are feeling time slip away from them.

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The final act “We’re starting to see the sunset of his mayorship. You want to soak in every moment you can,” explained Robin.

Moments such as when Tom visits with children are what Robin will miss most.

“I’ve seen Tom kneel down, reading to kids. They will say ‘that’s the mayor’ because they’ve met,” she said. “Children love him; he’s approachable.”

The passion both Tom and Robin bring to the table as Mayor and First Lady of Billings will be hard to beat.

Mayor Tom Hanel will always be concerned about Billings and feels that the top official sets the tone for the city. Not a day goes by that he doesn’t think about the future.

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MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 13

GIVING BACK

BY TARA CADY | PHOTOGRAPHY BY CASEY PAGE

ACTING IN GOOD FAITH FAMILY PROMISE OF YELLOWSTONE VALLEY FACILITATES HELP FOR BILLINGS’ GROWING HOMELESS POPULATION. ‌Shelter, employment and education are privileges many take for granted. Without the necessary skill set, many fall into homelessness.

FPYV provides a second chance learning opportunity for families to finally become the “breadwinners” they’ve always wanted to be.

Formerly known as Interfaith Hospitality Network, FPYV has served the Billings area for 11 years.

True to its name, FPYV promises families light at the end of the

tions like FPYV are needed now more than ever.

With the help of 57 weekly volunteers, 26 faith-based congregations and a myriad of social service agencies, families reap the benefits of a collective force that believes in giving a hand up, rather than the proverbial hand out.

Each week, a host congregation provides nightly shelter for four families within the emergency shelter program. These are families either referred to FPYV by the congregation itself or through outside agencies. Volunteers assist by providing rides, setting up bedrooms and preparing meals.

The emergency shelter program is meant to be a temporary service. FPYV owns four apartments and utilizes three other spaces for families transitioning out of the emergency shelter program toward independent living.

Though most recognized for its emergency shelter program, FPYV also has a new day-center used for additional programming and services.

Filling the gaps When families are referred to FPYV, they are given a generalized life assessment to figure out where the “holes” in their lives are.

tunnel – achievable and sustainable independence. More than 500

The assessment guides the case management that takes place at the

families have been assisted since the organization started. Due to the

day-center.

increased homelessness population within the community, organiza-

14 I MAY/JUNE 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

Other services include aftercare for families that graduated the

program, tutoring courtesy of School District 2, MSU-B extension courses in nutrition and cooking, lessons in financial literacy provided by congregation volunteers and supervised visitations to renew estranged families via the Department of Public Health and Human Services. These agencies utilize FPYV’s space and work together to combat homelessness as a community.

Lisa Donnot, FPYV’s executive director, emphasizes that they do not want to duplicate resources or “mission creep.” By keeping informed of other local services, Donnot refers families to outside agencies when their needs misalign with FPYV’s mission.

F‌ PYV’s mission is to help people achieve and sustain independence through compassion and accountability. Their many services include: Emergency shelter and transi-

tional housing

Case management Resume writing and job

search assistance

Transportation and conve-

nient location

Assistance with obtaining a

license and vehicle

Diaper duty Sometimes help is as simple as a box of diapers.

Youth pastor and director Brian Hunter of the First United Methodist Church initiated a diaper drive last year in collaboration with the Faith Coalition Advisory Board and FPYV. “Having worked at the church for 18 years right at the center of homelessness, I’ve struggled with what is the appropriate response to the growing need. Different from a collection plate, we can provide something tangible, knowing it goes to the

BREAKING DOWN THE BARRIERS

KRISTIN JEAN P HO TOG R AP HE R

kristinjeanphotographer.com

Laundry, showers and food

storage

Day-center indoor and out-

door play areas

Courses in nutrition, cooking

and budgeting

School District 2 tutoring Family reunification visits

actual source. We love and completely trust Family Promise. Any time Lisa needs anything, we send the call out,” explained Hunter.

In its first year, the diaper drive received 42,000 diapers.

“Last year we had a baby that was odd-sized, who couldn’t fit in a standard car seat. I sent out a request and we ended up with 15 car seats total,” mentioned Donnot.

Everything from couches and cribs to family portraits and birthday celebrations is provided when asked for.

“Needs are met every single time without fail,” Donnot said.

Before FPYV started reaching out, they were spending $600 to $800 a month on diapers alone. Now, with a well-established network of resources, FPYV shares any overabundance to other organizations.

“Though the overall need has increased, the way agencies are dealing with it is better than it has ever been,” noted Hunter.

Interested volunteers can reach FPYV at 294-7432, lisa@familypromiseyv.org, familypromiseyv.org or on Facebook.

Call Now to Schedule Your Private Tour & Consultation 656-7273 MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 15

ARTIST LOFT

BY BRENDA MAAS I PHOTOGRAPHY OF LARRY MAYER

RUSSELL WALKS

ART IN HEROIC PROPORTIONS

WHEN I WORK I THINK IN TERMS OF HEROIC PROPORTIONS ...

R‌ ussell Walks remembers the exact moment when he knew he wanted to become an illustrator.

“I was on the way home from Star Wars with my cousin, talking about the Millennium Falcon” he said. “It occurred to me that someone had designed it, that artists did that for every single movie. It was an epiphany.”

Walks embraced that concept as he developed his artistic skills throughout his youth. Plus, he found in pop culture pieces that connected – that link has remained strong for Walks. Ironically he worked at movie theaters to supplement his art work.

“I’m hugely into pop culture,” Walks noted.

His first paying gig, a pencil drawing for the children’s magazine, Cricket, came from connections he made at Comic-Con. A decades-old gathering of artists, illustrators, authors and other pop culture fans, the annual convention originated around comics but has expanded to include other genres.

The art of teaching

Right: Russell Walks, illustrator and art teacher at Billings Public Schools’ Career Center, in his classroom studio with a poster and skateboard design that he created.

Today Walks works as an illustrator and teaches at Billings Public Schools’ Career Center. The combination, he notes, is the ideal fit.

“Teaching is an art, too,” he said. “I stress the principles and elements of design but I don’t teach them how to draw.”

Not all lessons are from a book.

Walks models the persistence, “outside-the-box thinking” and attention to detail that an illustrator needs to succeed. He also combines basic art skills with

16 I MAY/JUNE 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

modern digital tools that make illustrating different from a decade ago.

Students start their work with a thumbnail then move to the computer, similar to how Walks completes his own work.

“I use a reference photo and start with a comp, maybe make 10-11 comps before I find one I like. Then I make a pencil drawing – it’s very detailed,” Walks said.

“The drawing is my favorite part, and that’s why I spend so much time on it.”

He scans the pencil drawing and then digitally colors or even paints it. He may then go back to colored pen-

cils or maybe apply acrylics on top. His process incorporates both hand techniques and digital techniques.

Walks emphasizes that the computer software is yet another tool to use for enhancing the creative process. But it is the artist who must make those tools do the work, who must conceptualize and work hard to develop the creative presence while thinking visually.

“When I work I think in terms of heroic proportions,” he said. “Think of Michelangelo’s David. He looks like a normal man but his hands and head are huge, twice the size of a normal man’s. But that’s where perspective comes into play. Brightening the smile or twinkle in their eye – that’s the beauty of being an artist. The magic is in the details.”

Russell Walks specializes in pop culture posters and books such as illustrations from Star Wars, Marvel’s Captain America, Harry Potter and travel destinations.

COURTESY IMAGES ON PAGES 16-17 SUBJECT TO COPYRIGHT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.‌

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MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 17

ELEMENTS

BY TARA CADY | PHOTOGRAPHY BY CASEY PAGE‌

GROWING ALONG WITH BILLINGS 13 YEARS OF MAGIC

HOT OFF THE PRESS

FIRST GENERATION

The Magic City Experience’s debut issue featured Wanda and Jerry Anderson, MSU-Billings Foundation supporters, in honor of the MSU-B Wine & Food Festival. With columns on dining, shopping and local summer activities, readers got a taste of the Billings-centric stories to come.

The “Seen at the Scene” section has been a popular part of Magic since the beginning, as have articles about the amazing feats of local individuals and organizations.

SECOND WAVE

THIRD GENERATION

Reinvented as Magic City: The Billings Experience, the magazine evolved to include local homes and dining, along with in-depth and expanded content of regional interest.

Keeping with the times, Magic reshaped its image more than once. The logo gained, and then lost, its window pane, and the tagline evolved from “City Experience” to “Billings’ Most Read Magazine.”

18 I MAY/JUNE 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY May 2013 marked 10 years of Magic. In celebration, the magazine featured Montana exports, high school rodeo and other local treasures that keep Billings unique.

€ �€ ­ ­  ��

AWARD-WINNING FACE Now known simply as Magic, the new masthead reflects simplistic trends in design.

Additionally, Magic was been named “Best Niche Publication� by the Montana Newspaper Association in 2012, 2013 and 2014.

BIG SKY BRIDE A relatively new spin-off of Magic, Big Sky Bride publishes biannually for future brides, grooms and wedding lovers to enjoy. Focusing on apparel, etiquette and The Big Day, readers get an insider’s view of Montana weddings.

Â? Â? Â?Â

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 19

MEDIA ROOM

BY TARA CADY

BOOK

FIFTY-SIX COUNTIES

MUSIC

ADELE We’ve all grown up a bit since Adele’s last album, 21. Reflect on the last four years with 25, conveniently titled after the musician’s age. This album serves as a reflection piece on self-transformation, nostalgia for the past and a comparison of then and now. Say hello to the future of pop, soul and R&B. Available on Google Play, iTunes and Amazon

DVD

THE PEANUTS MOVIE Charles Schulz’ beloved characters hit the big screen for the first time since 1980. Based on Schulz’ famous comic book strip, the animated film keeps it in the family, produced and written by Craig and Bryan Schulz, Charles Schulz’ son and grandson, respectively.

Follow Charlie Brown and the gang as they attempt book reports, pursue crushes and save lives.

Available on iTunes, Amazon Video and Google Play

WEB ED

CDLI Native Montanan Russell Rowland captures Big Sky Country in this comprehensive narrative, highlighting the state’s diverse landscape and independent lifestyle of its people. For anyone connected to Montana, this is a Must Read. A historical account as much as it is think-piece, uncover Montana’s past and envision its future.

Available at Barjon’s and russellrowland.com

20 I MAY/JUNE 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

Replace that dusty history book with your iPad and rediscover the Mesopotamian culture that has shaped today’s trade, mathematics and astronomy.

With text and images spanning 3,500 years of history, you can appreciate advances in technology in two ways: the means by which we learn about history and the history itself.

Available on iTunes

Nailed it.

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MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 21

FINE LIVING

GREAT ESTATES

uber

cool TRADITIONAL ELEMENTS WITH URBAN FLAIR

BY BRENDA MAAS PHOTOGRAPHY BY LARRY MAYER

A bit of sheen.

A dash of wood.

A touch of soft.

A sliver of iron.

The homeowners wanted the atmosphere of a formal dining room without feeling “stuffy.”

The dual doorways and clear transom windows keep the room from being too closed-in while the walls give definition to the space.

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 23

T

his newly-built custom West End home defines the word juxtaposition – almost perfectly.

The homeowners, newlyweds and professionals, recently moved from Portland, Ore., bringing pieces of cosmopolitan life with them to the Big Sky. Although they are Montana natives, they didn’t necessarily want the typical “rustically elegant” or western-looking home.

They desired sleek and urban, yet warm. The home tends to encompass cool tones, like

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blue, grey, black and white, yet it is far from cold.

“Our style is bright and contemporary,” said the homeowner, “not rustic.”

By mixing traditional elements like the coffered ceiling and hardwood floors with more modern features, such as simple black iron rails and bold metal mantle, the home’s

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24 I MAY/JUNE 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

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interior keeps one a bit off-balance – in a good way.

An open floorplan highlights the sophisticated kitchen, set at angles with double wall ovens anchoring one corner and a massive, six-burner professional grade gas range holding down the other.

“I really wanted simple Shaker cabinets, and I love to cook,” the homeowner said. “It’s not a huge kitchen, but it has everything I want, and it’s cozy and comfortable.”

Plus, everyone always ends up in the kitchen, she added, so it works.

Expect the unexpected The semi-formal dining space, which is set off by two extra-wide doorways, demonstrates the homeowners’ sense of style.

“I was addicted to Houzz while we were building,” noted the homeowner. “When I saw that wallpaper, I fell in love with it.”

The wallpaper’s touch of sheen reflects her eclectic tastes, while the transoms over the doors keep the traditional style strong.

Open to the main living room, that tone continues with a classical Chesterfield leather sofa, which is paired with simple, midcentury-like modern side chairs.

The feel of funky fills the space and keeps it from being too expected.

Top and center: Traditional elements like the coffered ceiling and hardwood floors pair with contemporary features such as the custom iron railing and steel mantle to give the home a chic vibe. “I didn’t want a wood mantle because it didn’t fit,” said the homeowner. Above: The home office converts to another guestroom or just a cozy place to read with the contemporary daybed and southfacing window seat. Metal-framed shelves echo the industrial pieces throughout the home.

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 25

The subway tile backsplash and Shaker-style cabinets keep the kitchen timeless and simple while the stainless steel appliances, brushed silver cabinet pulls and clear glass light pendants lend an urbane atmosphere to the kitchen.

Not forgotten The lower level could easily be bland – but it fails miserably.

“This is the hang-out zone,” said the homeowner of the large room. With space for TV-viewing, dining or playing board games and a corner wet bar for preparing drinks or serving snacks, it makes an ideal entertaining space.

During warm months, the couple moves outdoors to the covered patio. With room for a large lounging set, a gas fireplace and built-in grill, the party or quiet dinner for two is easily set just steps from the kitchen.

Taking advantage of Montana’s balmy evenings is a universal delight.

26 I MAY/JUNE 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

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Top: The in-home gym with cushioned flooring gives the busy professionals a place to work out according to their own schedules. Middle: The wet-bar tucks neatly into a corner of the lower level and includes a wine cooler and mini-fridge. Open shelving adds depth and space to display spirits, glassware and fun accessories. Above: The exterior warms up with a custom, built-in gas fireplace and relaxing seating. “The wall helps break the wind,” said the West End homeowner. Directly across the covered patio, a dining area and built-in grill create the perfect platform for entertaining al fresco. Left: An open-concept space dominates the lowerlevel with sectional seating, TV-viewing area plus a wet-bar and eating space. The iron details from the main level echo in the frame of the coffee table and bookshelves. The homeowner’s mother’s travel photography adds personality to the space.

406.860.1284

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 27

“We basically live out there in the summer,” the homeowner noted.

The master suite, while not overly large, is filled with natural light from a trio of high windows – similar to styles seen in century-old homes. With a walk-in shower and spacious closet, the room is functional plus private.

Subtle industrial touches and a cool palette make the entire home grown-up enough to be serious while still emanating an uber-cool vibe.

28 I MAY/JUNE 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

Top: Home builder Dustin Davison worked with the homeowners to ensure their headboard would fit directly under the trio of windows, which give loads of a natural light without invading privacy. The tray ceiling in the master suite mimics the living room’s ceiling, drawing that traditional element throughout the home. Above: In the guest room features like the upholstered, tufted bedframe keep elements like the mirrored dresser and starburst from being too cool. Left: A streamlined guest bath separates the two bedrooms on the main floor from the master suite.

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406.254.1550 | 1550 Poly Drive, Billings | 444 N 9th St. Suite 5, Columbus | 111 S Broadway Suite C, Red Lodge © 2016 BHH Affiliates, LLC. An independently owned and operated franchise of BHH Affiliates, LLC. Berkshire Hathway HomeServices and Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices symbol are registered service marks of HomeServices of America Inc.® Equal Housing Opportunity.

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 29

FINE LIVING

GARDENS

F

Iris

ADdiction

BY BRENDA MAAS | Photos by Larry Mayer & Casey Page 30 I MAY/JUNE 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

I‌ t starts small, with just a glance or a quick sniff.

A closer look brings layers of intricate curves and intense colors into focus. Sweet fragrance clings to petals that appear fragile yet seemingly stand on steel rods.

What looks ordinary subtly reveals itself to be extraordinary.

The hardy perennial, masked as an ultra-delicate flower, beguiles its admirers with ease. Admiration of the iris quickly morphs into infatuation.

Iris, the Greek goddess of rainbows, guilelessly brings yet another to her seductive bosom of blooms.

T

he cliché showers of April bring the proverbial flowers, and in Montana, irises lead the way. Once considered a staple of grandma’s garden, iris varieties have expanded exponentially. Today’s “flag flower” comes in just about every color except fire-engine red and kelly green.

Dwarf, intermediate and tall, bearded options give this traditional flower varying heights and bloom periods, plus newer hybrids rebloom, extending the season across the summer.

Perhaps it is time for a new look at this enduring spring flower?

Beware: it could easily become your new addiction.

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 31

A 20-year love affair

N Tina Muller & Daughters

Tina Muller has been obsessed with irises for more than 20 years. Prior to starting her business, Tina & Daughters Iris Garden in 1996, Muller had 300 varieties; she now has 1,700 varieties, including about 75 that “re-bloom.”

Muller recalls her late neighbors, Rudy and Pat Erhart’s iris business as her “They really impetus.

“I started the don’t need a ton gardens when of special care – they closed their business and they just grow.” moved away,” she explained. “I wanted something that I could do from home with my four kids. I bought Erhart’s stock, and I’m still here.”

Irises are just about the perfect plant, Muller emphasized.

“They are pretty drought-resistant, the deer don’t like them and they come back every year,” she said. “They really don’t need a ton of special care – they just grow.”

32 I MAY/JUNE 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

ancy Wagner doesn’t know how many varieties or how many iris plants exist in her gardens.

“The names don’t really make a difference to me, I just like all the colors,” she said of her mature, South Side flower gardens. “The delicate blossoms remind me of orchids.”

Wagner also grows roses, lilies and peonies – but it’s her irises that sweeten the early summer air.

She started growing irises more than 20 years ago – it has been a long-running love affair.

“If you ignore them, they do well,” she said, “and if you baby them, they do well. Plus, irises are not picky about their dirt.”

As perennials, irises reappear and bloom every year, sometimes in the strangest conditions – along alleyways, between rocks, even on the Rims along 27th Ave. N. This hardy bloomer clones itself from its rhizome base, appearing phoenixlike each spring to once again wonder and amaze.

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Providing healthcare for you and your family every step of the way.

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34 I MAY/JUNE 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

THE

Northern

FILE PHOTO

HOTEL A Gastronomic Legacy

S

BY BRENDA MAAS | PHOTOS BY HANNAH POTES

ay the phrase “eating at the Northern” and throngs of folks across Montana will launch into stories of celebrating life’s milestones at the prestigious establishment.

For more than a century the Northern Hotel has been part of the Billings landscape. Opened in 1904, on the corner of 1st Ave. N. and N. Broadway, the establishment quickly became the social center of the burgeoning city. And, like any meet and greet place, the gathering centered on a lavish meal.

Throughout its storied history the Northern Hotel has stood as a Billings landmark, giving “Billings-ites” a place to celebrate – large or small – weddings, anniversaries, political events and business ventures. Food frequently dominated those memorable celebrations.

The renowned Golden Belle Saloon’s opulent décor of the 60s and 70s gave way to a new generation of Northern Hotel atmosphere when brothers Mike and Chris Nelson re-opened the stately facility in 2013.

Today, Bernie’s Diner and TEN (named after the Nelson brothers’ parents, Bernie and Thomas Edison Nelson), continue the Montana tradition of gastronomical delights within a unique ambiance, making it a social center once again.

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 35

FILE PHOTO

Baked Salmon WITH BASIL AIOLI AND HUCKLEBERRY GASTRIQUE Combine a Pacific Northwest staple with a Montana berry to delight your palate. Bonus points for those who can pronounce “gastrique.”

INGREDIENTS: 2 6-oz. salmon fillets DIRECTIONS:

Season salmon with salt and place in nonstick oven dish. Bake, uncovered, at 450-degrees for 12-15 minutes, or until flakey.

Option: Grill salmon on wet cedar plank.

BASIL AIOLI INGREDIENTS: 3 egg yolks 1 whole egg 2 bunch basil, leaves picked off 1 oz. lemon juice 1 c. olive oil 3 c. salad oil salt

HUCKLEBERRY GASTRIQUE

ROAST CARROTS

INGREDIENTS: 1 ½ c. sugar 2/3 c. water 1/2 c. champagne vinegar 2 c. huckleberries 2 c. venison stock

INGREDIENTS: Small, young carrots Olive oil Salt

DIRECTIONS:

Lightly caramelize water with sugar. Then add vinegar, huckleberries and venison stock.

Simmer and then strain the gastrique for serving.

DIRECTIONS:

In a food processor, place the whole egg, egg yolk, basil leaves and lemon juice. Mix until basil is chopped. Add olive oil – very slowly – then add salad oil, also very slowly.

Salt to taste.

36 I MAY/JUNE 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

Chef’s Note: A gastrique consists of caramelized sugar, deglazed with vinegar, used to flavor sauces. Using fond (the little browned bits of meat or vegetable left at the bottom of a pan) will give a deeper taste.

DIRECTIONS:

Toss with olive oil and salt.

Roast in 350-degree oven until able to pierce with a fork (but not mushy), approximately 25 minutes.

To assemble entire entrée, spread basil aioli as base on the plate, then arrange roasted carrots at angles. Next, place fillet on top of carrots, then drizzle with huckleberry gastrique and serve.

Ads appeared in The Billings Gazette in 1959 (above) and 1960 (below).

TEN

Gnocchi

Caution: You may wish to lick the plate (just be subtle). Not part of the regular menu, this handcrafted pasta dish appears as a chef’s special with seasonal accompaniments. If it is on the special menu, be sure to order it.

INGREDIENTS: 8 large Yukon gold potatoes salt 6 egg yolks flour to bind 1/2 c. mascarpone cheese 1/2 c. Parmesan-Reggiano cheese DIRECTIONS:

Wash then poke potatoes with a fork several times on all sides and place on a cookie sheet covered in salt. Bake at 350-degrees for 45 minutes or until soft.

Put potatoes through a food mill and mix with other ingredients to form dough. Start with 1 cup of flour and add until all dough pulls from the bowl.

Using hands, roll into small log shapes on a floured surface. Cut into one inch pieces and drop into boiling water. When the dough floats, gnocchi is done. Remove and chill for future use.

GAZETTE STAFF

TOMATO SAUCE INGREDIENTS: 2 cans San Marzano tomatoes 1 can tomato sauce 1 small yellow onion, diced 1/4 c. red wine vinegar 2 T. fresh thyme 1/4 c. fresh parsley 1/4 c. fresh basil 1/4 c. butter salt to taste DIRECTIONS:

Sweat onions then add tomatoes and vinegar. Cook on low for 1 hour then add fresh herbs and butter. Combine in blender and chill. Season with salt to taste.

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 37

FILE PHOTO

The

TOMAHAWK Bring your appetite – or a friend – because this steak could put you under the table.

INGREDIENTS: 48 oz. bone-in CAB ribeye steak (Certified Angus Beef) Sea salt cracked black pepper 8 oz. broccolini olive oil lemon—half

CASEY PAGE/GAZETTE STAFF

DIRECTIONS:

Season ribeye with sea salt and cracked black pepper. Grill on each side approximately 10 minutes and place in a 450-degree oven for another 10 minutes to reach medium rare.

On the same grill place broccolini and char all sides. Remove from grill and toss in 3 T. of olive oil, salt to taste. Spritz with juice of one-half of a lemon.

Chef’s Note: Not to be confused with broccoli, broccolini is a similar green vegetable but has smaller florets and longer, thin stalks with a sweeter taste. It is a hybrid of broccoli and kai-ian, often known as Chinese broccoli.

FILE PHOTO

FILE PHOTO

CASEY PAGE/GAZETTE STAFF

FILE PHOTO

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 39

GAZETTE STAFF‌

40 I MAY/JUNE 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

GAZETTE STAFF‌

Monte CRISTO This Northern Hotel classic tastes as great today as it did decades ago. You will need a napkin – or two.

INGREDIENTS: 3 slices Wheat Montana sourdough bread 3 oz. Black Forest ham 3 oz. smoked turkey breast 4 slices Gruyere cheese egg wash Corn flakes cereal crumbs powdered sugar 2 oz. raspberry jam

CASEY PAGE/GAZETTE STAFF

DIRECTIONS:

Assemble 1.5 ounces of meat and 2 slices of cheese on bottom and middle piece of bread. Place top piece on to make a three-layer sandwich. Cut off crust to make a rectangle. Drop in egg wash and then in crumbs.

Fry for 2 minutes at 350-degrees and top with powdered sugar and favorite raspberry jam.

CASEY PAGE/GAZETTE STAFF

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 41

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LIBATIONS

Not

STIRRED

KTAILS C O C IC S S A L C T A K O A CLOSER LO

BY BRENDA MAAS

as easily as popping a go d an e m co n ca ks in dr While trendy time. It is these of st te e th er th ea w at th e cork, there are som confident today as they as e, on al d an st at th ils ta classic cock s traditions, done es el tim e es th To . by ne were in decades go ers!”

Billings-style, we say, “Che

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 43

w e r c S Sloe

PHOTO BY BOB ZELLAR

THE REX

Despite its dawdling name this drink, which is often considered a “starter” cocktail or a brunch drink, is made – and likely consumed – quickly.  1.25 oz. Sloe gin  Orange juice  Orange slice and cherry garnish

Fill a highball glass with ice. Add sloe gin then fill glass with orange juice. Garnish with fruit.

e r r a C x e u i V

PHOTO BY BOB ZELLAR

WALKERS AMERICAN GRILL & TAPAS BAR

Pronounced voh care-eh, this signature cocktail from The Big Easy stands as a complex sipper.       

.75 oz. Rittenhouse Rye whiskey .75 oz. Carpano Antica sweet vermouth .75 oz. Courvoisier cognac .25 oz. Bénédictine liqueur 2 dashes Angostura bitters 2 dashes Peychard’s bitters Lemon twist

Combine ingredients into mixing glass. Fill with ice and stir about 20 seconds. Strain into rocks glass (do not add ice). Garnish with expressed lemon peel.

44 I MAY/JUNE 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

LAR

5 7 h c Fren

PHOTO BY CASEY PAGE

JAKE’S

Tickle your nose – and possibly your toes – with this gin and champagne extravaganza.     

.5 oz. Beefeater gin .25 oz. St-Germain liqueur ½ of fresh-squeezed lemon Champagne Lemon twist

In cocktail shaker, combine gin, liqueur and freshsqueezed lemon. Add ice and shake for about 20 seconds. Strain into fluted champagne glass. Top with champagne and garnish with lemon twist.

e l p a M urbon Bo ur So

PHOTO BY BOB ZELLAR

WALKERS AMERICAN GRILL & TAPAS BAR

Liven up the traditional-but-plain whiskey sour with a simple and nottoo-sweet spin.  1 oz. Lemon juice .75 oz. maple syrup .25 oz. simple syrup  1.25 oz. Bullet Bourbon  Lemon slice  Cherry

Fill shaker with ice and add all ingredients.

Add ice to pony glass. Shake cocktail and then strain into glass. Garnish with a lemon and cherry.

BARE ESSENTIALS FOR BARTENDERS If you wish to be your own mixologist – or simply want to experiment – be sure to have the right accessories in your “lab.”

Start with a jigger to measure ingredients and a cocktail shaker. Or, you may prefer to mix and strain. Either way, you are sure to find your inner Tom Cruise (think: Cocktail in 1988).

y r a M y d o o l B

PHOTO BY LARRY MAYER

BLACK BUNKER AT THE BRIARWOOD Have your salad and eat it, too, with this “hair of the dog.”        

1.5 oz. Absolut Vodka 4 dashes of Tabasco sauce 4 dashes of A-1 sauce 15 dashes of Worcestershire sauce 3 shakes of celery salt 3 shakes of ground black pepper Tomato juice Garnishes

Fill shaker with ice. Add all ingredients, filling with tomato juice (until shaker is about 1.5 inches from top). Shake ingredients for 15-20 seconds. Salt the rim of a pint glass and fill with ice. Pour cocktail over the ice and garnish with favorites, such as blue-cheese stuffed olives, cube of ham, pickle, marinated sweet or hot pepper, rolled pepperoni or pickled asparagus.

46 I MAY/JUNE 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

d l O s g n i l l i B d e n o i Fash

PHOTO BY BOB ZELLAR

DIVIDE BAR & GRILL

A quintessential favorite, this long-timer screams Mad Men to one and all.      

1.5 oz. Trailhead Highwood whiskey 1 oz. sweet vermouth 1 sugar cube 2 dashes Angostura bitters Orange slice Cherry

In a short rocks glass, muddle the sugar, bitters and spoon of warm water or splash of soda until dissolved. Add whiskey and sweet vermouth then stir. Add ice and garnish with orange slice and cherry to serve.

n a t t a h Man

PHOTO BY BOB ZELLAR

WALKERS AMERICAN GRILL & TAPAS BAR

Brace yourself – but we aren’t talking New York in this version.    

2 oz. Maker’s Mark bourbon 1 oz. Carpano Antica sweet vermouth 2 dashes Angostura bitters Cherry

Combine all ingredients into mixing glass. Fill with ice and stir for about 20 seconds. Strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a cherry.

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 47

Ben Steele

Joe Medicine Crow

COURTESY PHOTOS

JOE MEDICINE CROW & BEN STEELE:

ne Crow Indian, the other white.

One famous for his art, the other for his scholarship.

One with an alcohol-soaked childhood that involved repeatedly skipping school to ride horses, the other with fond memories of growing up surrounded by good Baptist people.

One with talk about his youthful attachment to the land; the other with talk about his fraternity days at USC. One subjected to brutal, degrading captivity and a forced march far from his home, the other attempting unsuccessfully to persuade award-givers that his WWII experience was unremarkable.

But not the one you think.

Perhaps the most rewarding aspect of Billings Public Schools opening two new middle schools within the next few years is the way the stories of their two namesakes combine to crush easy expectations. Joseph Medicine Crow, Indian scholar, will give his name to a school in Billings Heights.

Ben Steele, white artist and survivor of the Bataan Death March, will grace one on the West End. Both men are remarkable. But put them together and you get an unusual snapshot of Montana history: hardship and struggle, beauty and forgiveness woven into a tapestry far richer than simple racial dichotomies.

Middle School

BY JOHN CLAYTON

MENTO

Joe died as the last war chief of any Plains Indian tribe.

JAMES WOODCOCK/GAZETTE STAFF

CABEL NOTEBOOM

Joe Medicine Crow (second from right) at 12-years-old in 1926 with (left to right) Edward Not Afraid, James Passes, Martin Spotted Horse and Edward Red Wolf. This photo hangs in the Big Horn County Library.

J

oe Medicine Crow—who also went by his traditional Apsaalooke name, High Bird—passed away as this issue was going to press, at age 102.

He was the scholar from the Baptist family, the fraternity brother who spent most of his Army days as a paper-pusher.

His paternal grandfather, Chief Medicine Crow, was a revered warrior and medicine man; his maternal grandparents, the Yellowtails, were a prominent Lodge Grass family.

As a child, Joe attended school on the reservation, surrounded by that family. There he

could learn the newly ascendant intellectual disciplines while nevertheless being soaked in tribal history and traditions. He went on to Baptist-associated Bacone College and Linfield College. He earned a master’s degree in anthropology from the University of Southern California—and then progress toward his Ph.D. was interrupted by World War II. Declining a direct commission as an officer, Joe enrolled as a private and spent two years far from the front. He did finally see action in Germany, where he wore war paint beneath his uniform and a sacred feather beneath his helmet. On one occasion he

COURTESY PHOTO

ORS

Joe Medicine Crow as a toddler.

turned a corner and collided with a German soldier; as their rifles fell away, Medicine Crow grabbed the soldier by the throat, but spared his life in a moment of empathy. At another point he led six colleagues up a COURTESY PHOTO hill, under fire, to Joe Medicine Crow wrote the autobiography, Counting retrieve explosives Coup: Becoming a Crow for his unit. Anoth- Chief on the Reservation and er time he raided a Beyond. farmhouse corral and made away with some horses that the Germans had hoped to use for escape.

Upon returning to Lodge Grass, elders asked him for stories. And they pointed out— in a way that neither he nor the U.S. Army bureaucracy had appreciated—that he had completed the four feats required to become a war chief: touching an enemy without killing him; taking an enemy’s weapon; leading a suc-

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 49

Joe Medicine Crow was appointed tribal historian and anthropologist.

JAMES WOODCOCK/GAZETTE STAFF

cessful war party; and stealing an enemy’s horse.

Joe died as the last war chief of any Plains Indian JAMES WOODCOCK/GAZETTE STAFF Medicine Crow received some of the world’s tribe.

COURTESY OF A&E ARCHITECTS AND INTEGRUS ARCHITECTURE highest honors for gallantry and service After the war Designed by A&E Architects and Integrus Architecture, Medicine Crow including the Bronze Star Medal and the French Middle School is expected to open August 2016.

Légion d’honneur.

USC suspended its anthropology department, so Joe became a Montana rancher and land surveyor. ing a gifted in-person storyteller, he authored College and USC. Recently he also received He was also appointed tribal historian and an- books including Heart of the Crow Country: some of the world’s highest honors for gallantry thropologist. He spent a large amount of time The Crow Indians’ Own Stories and the autobi- and service including the Bronze Star Medal, the with the old people, listening to and recording ographical Counting Coup: Becoming a Crow French Légion d’honneur and the Presidential their stories, coming to a full appreciation of Chief on the Reservation and Beyond.

Medal of Freedom. During that last award certheir ways. Medicine Crow became the carrier His scholarship earned him honorary docemony, in 2009, he wore a traditional headdress of his people’s oral history. In addition to betorates from Rocky Mountain College, Bacone and sang a praise song for President Obama.

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en Steele is now 98 years old. He was the indifferent student, surrounded by Bull Mountain bootleggers, who didn’t graduate from high school until age 21. The next year he was a U.S. Army Air Corps private in the Philippines when the Japanese attacked and captured his unit. At least 7,000 soldiers died during a 66-mile march under a hot tropical sun—a march so horrific that the Japanese commander was later executed for war crimes.

Steele was bayoneted, starved and beaten.

He suffered dysentery, malaria, pneumonia, beriberi and septicemia. He gained the emotional strength to stay alive in part by sketching pictures. His heroic journey is magnificently told in the 2009 New York Times bestseller Tears in the Darkness by Michael and Elizabeth Norman.

After the war, Steele pursued college and graduate degrees in art and returned to Billings to teach at Eastern Montana College (now Montana State University–Billings). He’s won numerous awards for his artwork and

teaching, as well as military service. The new school being built at Grand Ave. and 56th Ave. W. is just a few miles east of his grandfather’s homestead.

When people credit Ben’s ranch-kid upbringing for making him tough enough to survive four years in a prisoner-of-war camp, they mean his childhood was difficult.

That was true for most Montanans of that era, when the drought-wracked state was too poor and too sparsely populated to receive widespread amenities such as central heat or indoor plumbing.

Steele found value in horses and nature and

COURTESY PHOTO

Today, most middle schoolers have comforts and advantages that Medicine Crow and Steele could have only dreamed about.

the community of people around him. He found sources of strength. And although it’s both impossible and silly to rate their levels of suffering— don’t forget that Medicine Crow grew up with the restrictive struggle of institutional racism on a reservation—seeing their biographies adjacent to each other is a reminder that life in Montana in the early 20th century had myriad ways of imposing suffering.

Above: Siblings (left to right), Gertrude, Warren and Ben Steele in 1927. Left: Ben Steele (right) with his younger brother, Warren Steele.COURTESY PHOTOS

T Ben Steele is now 98 years old.

HANNAH POTES/GAZETTE STAFF

hat phrase, “myriad ways of imposing suffering,” is sadly also a common description of the middle-school experience. Today, most middle schoolers have comforts and advantages that Medicine Crow and Steele could have only dreamed about. But they are still being asked to master topics that may not seem relevant to their lives while subject to fantastical social dynamics and raging hormones that transform their bodies in ways beyond their understanding.

As young teens struggle to figure out who they are and who they can become, they can now do so in schools that honor individuals who also faced hardships, who grew up nearby and who went on to live amazing lives.

After all, what’s particularly remarkable about both of these men isn’t just that they made it through, or that they did so without complaining, but that they arrived at a place of such abundant forgiveness and generosity.

Partway through his long career collecting and telling Crow stories, Joe Medicine Crow started doing the same for the Northern Cheyenne, his tribe’s traditional enemies. He also made detailed study of the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Today, the great message one gets out of a visit to the museum and park commemorating the battle is, “No one wins (in war). Both sides lose. The Indians, so called hostiles, won the battle of the day, but lost their way of life.” Those words were penned by Joe Medicine Crow.

Teaching at Eastern in 1960, Ben Steele walked into a classroom, saw a Japanese-American student, and his “heart hardened and filled with hate.” The face reminded him of his torturers. But that reaction troubled him. So he invited the student into his office, made an effort to get to know him, and found the hatred evaporating.

After the war, Steele pursued college and graduate degrees in art and returned to Billings to teach at Eastern Montana College (now Montana State University–Billings).

Middle: Ben Steele’s heroic journey is magnificently told in the 2009 New York Times bestseller Tears in the Darkness by Michael and Elizabeth Norman. Left: Steele has won numerous awards for his artwork and teaching, as well as military service.

COURTESY PHOTO

COURTESY PHOTO

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COURTESY OF A&E ARCHITECTS AND INTEGRUS ARCHITECTURE

Designed by A&E Architects and Integrus Architecture, Ben Steele Middle School is expected to open August 2017.

The student, Harry Koyama, became a noted Billings artist himself.

Since then, Steele has continually used the cruel treatment he endured during the war as a springboard to teach, not about revenge or violence, but forgiveness and reconciliation.

By naming schools after these remarkable men, the community of Billings highlights the traits it seeks to instill in its young people: honor and toughness, scholarship and teaching, forgiveness and love.

JAMES WOODCOCK/GAZETTE STAFF

Ben Steele and Joe Medicine Crow salute each other before President Barack Obama’s speech in 2008.

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Visitors driving into downtown Billings from the Rims are welcomed to the Magic City with this sign below the airport along North 27th Street.

BILLINGS ‌T ake a drive through Billings and rediscover the iconic images that have captivated locals and visitors for years. Whether its Montana Avenue’s notorious nightlife scene or area businesses that have come and gone, Billings Gazette Communications photographers have captured signage across Billings to keep the memories alive.

BOB ZELLAR PHOTOS/GAZETTE STAFF‌

ABOVE: No longer a hotel, The Rex Restaurant Bar & Grill still illuminates the night with its neon sign, highlighting its rich history as a hotel, Buffalo Bill Cody’s meeting place and a survivor of the prohibition era.

LEFT: Named after the iconic Oxford Hotel, Oxford Antiques took over the namesake and historical building in the early 1980s and continues to display and sell nostalgic local items today.

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 55

“LARRY MAYER/ GAZETTE STAFF‌

Paul Bunyan towers over Montana Avenue at the L.P. Anderson Tire Factory.

BOB ZELLAR/GAZETTE STAFF‌

Dubbed “the Billings Bar with the Strongest Mixed Drinks,” The Rainbow Bar neighbors The Rex Restaurant Bar & Grill and contributes to the nightlife of Montana Avenue with its own neon insignia.

Drive down the 900 block of Broadwater Avenue and you can still see the Tap Inn’s neon crest and remember when Billings Hardware was once Kuchera Furniture.

BOB ZELLAR/GAZETTE STAFF‌

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BOB ZELLAR/GAZETTE STAFF‌

LARRY MAYER/GAZETTE STAFF‌

The Greyhound Bus Depot stood at the corner of 1st Avenue North and North 25th Street. Reopened in late 2014 as a music venue, the Pub Station keeps the oncebusy corner quiet during the day and “popping” at night.

BOB ZELLAR/GAZETTE STAFF‌

Formerly a Heights hot spot, the Circle Inn closed its doors in 2010. The bright lights outside will forever be remembered as invitation for a good time.

CASEY PAGE/GAZETTE STAFF

BOB ZELLAR/GAZETTE STAFF‌

CASEY PAGE/GAZETTE STAFF‌

Yellowstone Garage on Montana Avenue has been transformed to occupy restaurant, Ciao Mambo, within Billings’ historic downtown district.

Stroll down Montana Avenue and happen upon McCormick Cafe, where Wi-Fi, coffee and culture blend into one relaxing outing.

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 57

LIVIN’ THE COWBOY WAY

BY GENE COLLING I ILLUSTRATION BY ROB JOHNSON

I apologized for making him do all this work for a couple of hours of shooting, he waved me off and said, “Heck, I’d rather do this than anything else. I get along I met Clay while I was producing a program on the use of horses with these mules a lot better than I do people.” and mules in the vast backcountry and wilderness of Montana.

He began carrying out the Mule strings first came into wide notice during the 1910 forest fires that ravaged hundreds of thousands of acres of forests across Idaho pack saddles, panniers, ropes and myriad equipment it took to load and Montana. They were, and still are, the only logical way of carrying supplies into these areas that are inaccessible to vehicle traffic. a mule string. I offered to help but he told me I would only get in the I needed some footage that showed the mule string up-close way. I took the hint and followed and in-detail. I was told that Clay was the man, but to be careful. him around with the camera.

He was a tough character who didn’t suffer dudes or pilgrims, and Without a wasted motion he bealong with his father and brothers, had a reputation for fighting in gan to pack the mules. He talked the toughest saloons of northern Idaho and western Montana. to each one like it was a friend.

When I arrived at the Forest Service facility where the mules were kept, I saw Clay galloping on horseback, rounding up the Always a tale mules from the pasture. My first impression was of someone who I soon discovered that Clay had grown up in a saddle. While he was not in his prime, he still was also a natural storyteller. With a little prompting, he began had the strong, willowy and ropey build of a cowboy.

He herded the mules into a corral and began putting on halters telling me tales of his life. He grew up in the backwoods of Idaho in and tying them to long hitching posts outside the tack barn. He had a mule-packing family. His dad and two brothers were in the trade, collected eight mules and a lead horse. I stepped forward and intro- and they also followed the rodeo circuit. Clay was a bronc rider and left school early to lead the rodeo life. A natural penchant for duced myself. Clay wore an old denim shirt and faded jeans with hell-raising got him in trouble, and he was given the choice of jail a chew tobacco can outlined in the back pocket. His hat was worn or the military. He chose the Marines and there met another wild and bent and looked like it could tell some stories on its own. cowboy named Billy who also needed military gentling.

Clay shook my hand and gave me a crooked smile. His squareBilly had been a horse wrangler for the movies and after jawed face was weathered and lined with wrinkles. I counted three scars that I knew had some kind of adventures behind them. When discharge he got Clay a job. They wrangled horses and worked as

A‌ fter 30 years of producing documentaries, my memory bank is full of faces and places. One face that stands out from the rest belongs to a craggy cowboy and mule wrangler named Clay Hackett. Clay was a hard-working, hard-living, hard-scrabble cowboy that seemed more suited to a bygone era.

58 I MAY/JUNE 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

extras in several movies. But during a stunt, Clay’s horse fell on him and crushed his pelvis, ending his movie career.

He headed home to Idaho, bought a small ranch and returned to mule packing. He got married and had a passel of kids. One day he returned from work to find that a hired hand

Clay shook my hand and gave me a crooked smile. His square-jawed face was weathered and lined with wrinkles. I counted three scars that I knew had some kind of adventures behind them.

had stolen all his horse and mule tack.

Clay grabbed a rifle and gave chase until his car engine blew up.

“At least that saved me from a manslaughter charge,” he said.

Then out of the blue he got a call from Billy, who was still involved in the movie business. Billy had a contract to build sets for a movie Heaven’s Gate, being filmed in Montana. He wanted Clay to be his partner. The movie was being directed by Michael Cimino who had just received an

Academy Award for The Deer Hunter.

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 59

Clay and Billy built log cabins on a set located at the edge of Glacier National Park. Heaven’s Gate was a movie notorious for its excess and cost overruns. It would eventually cause the bankruptcy of the movie company that produced it and be known as the biggest flop in motion picture history.

Cimino had a serious case of hubris with fits of temper that were vented on his crew. He was also a stickler for detail, insisting that each nail hole in the cabins be painted with a rust line. When he finally got around to inspecting the set, he found a couple nails without rust lines.

He confronted Billy and Clay and launched into a tirade.

Billy listened for a moment, then grabbed the diminutive Cimino and pinned him against a cabin wall. He told him (and I’m paraphrasing here) that he didn’t care what a “little urinating ant” like him thought and then dropped him to the ground. The surrounding crew was stunned. No one had dared to speak to the director in such a way. Billy and Clay headed for their car and began packing up to leave.

Soon an assistant director came up to them carrying a box containing bottles of wine. “Mr. Cimino says he respects that you stood up to him and wants you to have this as a token of his respect.

He also wants you to stay on the movie.”

“If more people would have done what Billy did, they might have had a decent picture,” Clay concluded.

That incident jaded Clay’s opinion of the movie business, and he went back to his mules and the backcountry.

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Meanwhile, back at the ranch It took Clay almost two hours to pack all the mules. I had set up some sites in a nearby location to get the footage I wanted.

Clay led the string back and forth until I was satisfied I had gotten what I needed. As I was loading up my gear, I looked over to see the mule string tied up along the hitching rails and Clay unloading them in reverse order. I could hear him talking to them as he worked.

Occasionally, Clay would lead the mule string in parades.

Sometimes he got too caught up in the celebrations, resulting in reprimands by management. It seemed that being around people got him in trouble. He finally realized the place he belonged was in wild landscapes where he could ride his horse and lead a string of mules. There, he could sing to them and talk to them to his heart’s content.

Several years after my encounter with Clay, I got the news that he had passed away. Although suffering from cancer, he kept it to himself until the end. To me, that epitomized how Clay lived his life. Good or bad, he did things pretty much his way— the cowboy way. ‌ ene Colling claims dual residency in both Billings and Missoula.

G He retired after a career with the U.S. Forest Service. For 25 of those years, he produced video programs, including one on such Billings area topics as the Beartooth Highway, Pryor Mountain wild horses, Lewis and Clark expedition, Hebgen Lake earthquake and Nez Perce Trail.

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MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 61

FRONTIER

ON

CHEYENNE, WYOMING

by karen kinser

PHOTOS COURTESY OF VISIT CHEYENNE/MATTHEW IDLER

G

iddy up to Cheyenne, Wyoming this summer, where you’ll find lots more than just skinny jeans and cowboy boots.

Cheyenne stirs up visions of iconic western images. But this friendly town of 67,000 is more than its history. It’s the state’s capital, the nation’s railroad and rodeo capital and it’s a “Magic City,” too – the Magic City of the Plains. Part of its mystique is wrapped in all the things to do, see and experience here. So, make this your summer to wrangle a get-away, lasso some fun and “Live the Legend” in Wyoming.

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Cheyenne Frontier Days celebrates the best of the West.

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 63

2

3

1 1. Hunt waterfalls in the Curt Gowdy State Park.

2. Learn more about Cheyenne’s history at the Nelson Museum of the West.

3. Tee up for a round of golf or take a stroll in Cheyenne’s Lions Park.

4. Tour the Historic Governor’s Mansion where Wyoming’s first families lived.

5. Built in the late-19th century, the Wyoming State Capitol building is undergoing renovations until 2018.

6. Take a horse-drawn carriage tour through Cheyenne’s historic downtown.

7. Celebrate the culture that Cheyenne Frontier Days performers bring.

4

A Little History Cheyenne was founded in 1867 and, like many towns from this era, its explosive growth resulted from the railroad’s westward expansion. The town grew so fast that it seemed to “magically” pop up overnight, earning that Magic City of the Plains nickname. Further fueled by the cattle industry, gold rushes, military forts and entrepreneurs, Cheyenne continued to grow and was once considered the wealthiest city in the world. Now its assets revolve around its rich history, diverse economy and western hospitality.

Plains, Trains & Personal Appeal Situated on the High Plains, Cheyenne has distant mountain views, along with activities for all ages. Get an overview on a self-guided walking tour (find maps at the Depot Visitor Center). For in-depth narrated tours, hop aboard the Cheyenne Street Railway Trolley, enjoy

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5

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a horse-drawn carriage tour or download audio tours to your mobile phone.

Train fans will love learning about Cheyenne’s railroading past. Visit the Cheyenne Depot, the Depot Museum or the Big Boy – the world’s largest steam engine.

Are gardens more your thing? Then make a beeline to the nine acres and 20 specialty gardens of the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens. For outdoor enthusiasts, plan some hiking, biking and waterfall-hunting in the Curt Gowdy State Park or Medicine Bow National Forest. Schedule a trail ride from a local dude ranch, tee up for a round of golf or go boating in Lions Park.

For historical architecture, stroll past the lavish Victorian homes of Cattle Baron’s Row. If you’re an art lover, don’t miss the 22 artfully-painted Cheyenne Big Boots around town or the eclectic art selection at the Manitou Galleries.

Learn about Cheyenne’s history at the Nelson Muse-

MAKE THE JOURNEY PART OF THE DESTINATION‌ Stop at some of these sights on your trip down or back: THE LITTLE BIGHORN

BATTLEFIELD NATIONAL MONUMENT Explore the battlefield, visitor center, prairie views, wildlife and artwork at this site memorializing the battle between the U.S. Army and Cheyenne and Sioux tribes.

Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument COURTESY PHOTO

SHERIDAN

7

um of the West or the Wyoming State Museum. Take a selfie in front of the State Capitol (interior is closed for renovations until 2018), tour the Historic Governors’ Mansion, or enjoy wildlife (even camels and ostriches) and train rides at the Terry Bison Ranch’s 30,000 acres.

Cheyenne Frontier Days Ready for a rodeo that’ll knock your socks off?

Then grab your boots and visit during Cheyenne Frontier Days – The Daddy of ’em All – from July 22 to 31. This western extravaganza hosts around 500,000 people (be sure to book early) and features the world’s largest outdoor rodeo, a carnival midway, a Behind the Chutes tour, free pancake breakfasts (more than 100,000 served last year) and an entertainment line-up worthy of its 120th anniversary.

Don’t miss this bucket-list event, where 1,500 con-

testants are looking to split a million dollars in cash and prizes.

Food & Nightlife For a town once known as the Paris of the West, Cheyenne still rises to this reputation with worldclass cuisine. But this is cowboy country, which means you’ll find plenty of barbecue, burgers and hearty steaks, too. At the Terry Bison Ranch, order the best cheeseburger in Wyoming, according to Bobby Flay. For authentic chuckwagon-style dinners – served with music and comedy – make tracks for the Bit-O-Wyo Ranch Horse Barn Dinner Show.

The Capitol Grille offers unique twists (steak au poivre with Courvoisier cream sauce, anyone?) on western fare, and you’ll be surprised by South Carolina lowcountry cuisine at Morris House Bistro.

For some honky-tonk style nightlife, two-step your

With the Bighorn Mountains as a backdrop, you’ll love exploring this western town full of shopping, museums, artworks and unique restaurants (try the Cajun burgers at the quirky Sanford’s Grub and Pub Brewery). Don’t miss the Mint Bar or historic Sheridan Inn.

BUFFALO

Another historic city. Stroll its streets and then have a brew and a burger at the saloon in the Occidental Hotel. Or, try a malt at the soda fountain in the Busy Bee.

CASPER

An oil-boom town, Casper is another welcoming western town with several museums, antique shops, art galleries, restaurants and a hot air balloon weekend in July.

DOUGLAS

Stop and see the statue of the World’s Largest Jackalope. Honest.

way around the 26,000 square feet of the Outlaw Saloon. And, for fine dining and unique martinis, don’t miss the Suite Bistro. Order the WY Campfire with marshmallow vodka, Kahlua, cream and a drizzle of chocolate. S’mores will never be the same.

Lodging

The Mile High City is approximately 100 miles away from Cheyenne and has a wealth of museums to visit.

BEYOND CHEYENNE ‌Enjoy the area surrounding Cheyenne with visits to some of these locations: BUDWEISER BREWERY

PINE BLUFFS

Take a tour of the brewery, see the Clydesdale horses and sample some brewskis. About 40 miles south in Fort Collins.

Travel east about 40 minutes on I-80 and visit the Pine Bluffs Archaeology site, where Native American artifacts are being unearthed.

LARAMIE

Also rich with western history, Laramie has a wealth of activities and sights, including the University of Wyoming’s Geological Museum (with a full brontosaurus skeleton), the Plains Museum, Lincoln Monument and vibrant murals. Less than an hour west of Cheyenne, on I-80.

DENVER

The Mile High City is about 100 miles from Cheyenne. Make a day trip or spend the night. Tour the U.S. Mint, Botanic Gardens, Denver Zoo, the Butterfly Pavilion and a wealth of museums. On your return, stop at the Factory Outlets in Loveland.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK

It’s less than a two-hour drive to this magnificent park (south on I-25, then west on US-34). Consider staying a night in Estes Park at the historic Stanley Hotel.

OREGON TRAIL RUTS

On your way home, take a side trip to Guernsey (Highway 26, off of I-25) and view the wagon ruts – five feet deep – etched into the soft sandstone from travelers on the Oregon Trail.

Laramie’s historic downtown district has a wealth of activities and sights to enjoy.

Rocky Mountain National Park is only a two-hour drive from Cheyenne.

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Laramie is home to the University of Wyoming’s Geological Museum, where you can find a full brontosaurus skeleton.

After a hard day of western play, you’ll want to hit the sack in comfort.

Cheyenne offers over 2,400 rooms, ranging from historic inns to chain hotels to B&Bs. Stay at the elegantly restored Victorian Nagle Warren Mansion B&B and feel like Lord and Lady Grantham, or savor the unique western feel of the rooms in the historic Plains Hotel.

At nearby Little America, you’ll find large rooms, a heated pool, dining and golfing. Between Cheyenne and Laramie lies the oasis of the Windy Hills Guest House with lake and mountain views, romantic lodging and amazing breakfasts. If you’re a camper, the Cheyenne area offers more than 750 commercial and public sites.

Learn about Cheyenne’s railroading past at the Cheyenne Depot Museum.

Wyoming is known as the “Cowboy State.”

Take the Cheyenne Street Railway Trolley and receive an in-depth narrated tour.

Getting There & Resources Cheyenne is about 450 miles from Billings. Follow I-90 to Sheridan, where you’ll pick up I-25/Highway 87. For an extensive listing of everything to do in the Cheyenne area, go to the Visit Cheyenne site at cheyenne.org. For ticketing and other information on Cheyenne Frontier Days, log on to cfdrodeo.com.

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Special Section: City, Medical and Education

Reflecting ON THE

W

hen Magic was first published in 2003, Billings was a city poised on the edge of amazing growth. Over the past 13 years, the Magic City has retained its strong dependable roots while weathering the Great Recession with relative ease shortly after hitting the 100,000 population mark.

Remember the former Deering Clinic and “Deaconess?” The medical community, which includes St. Vincent Healthcare, re-branded Billings Clinic and consolidated RiverStone Health, has evolved to become a strong regional resource, reaching out with mobile healthcare, traveling specialists and ever-expanding residency programs focused on rural healthcare.

In answer to overcrowding and accreditation issues, voters in Billings Public Schools passed a landmark bond in 2013 to build two new middle schools, renovate Broadwater and McKinley elementary schools and upgrade several others plus hire additional educators. Recently both elementary and high school district boundaries have been re-drawn with changes effective at the start of the 2017-18 school year. BPS currently enrolls nearly 17,000 students.

Additionally, as this issue goes to press, voters will again cast their ballots on the operating levies for BPS plus many other independent area schools.

Try pressing the “pause” button to take a closer look at these elements that make up our home base and how they have changed over the past 13 years – we think you will be magically surprised.

The mountains to the west give the Magic City a dreamlike atmosphere at dusk.

LARRY MAYER/GAZETTE STAFF

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 69

BY ROB ROGERS Tina Volek recently was at a conference for city managers, talking to some of her colleagues from other cities about Billings’ metronome-like, upward economic growth. Specifically, they wanted to know how she managed to lure to town the new Scheels All Sports mega store, recently built on the south end of Shiloh Road. It was clear they were a little jealous of this economic coup.

LARRY MAYER/GAZETTE STAFF

70 I MAY/JUNE 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

CASEY PAGE/ GAZETTE STAFF

Views from atop the Rims at Swords Park give residents a sweeping vista of the city and Yellowstone Valley with the South Hills in the background. olek, who has been city manger of Billings for almost 15 years, told them the answer was simple.

Billings, this lone outpost on the edge of the Great Plains with the respectable population of 110,000, draws in an eye-popping half million visitors every year. And they come specifically to shop. That kind of statistic, she told them, gets the attention of national retailers and big businesses.

It’s been Billings’ saving grace.

“When nothing was happening nationally, Billings was humming,” Volek said.

“For marketing purposes, companies want to see a certain (population) number,” she said.

The 100,000 mark shows that a city has the sufficient population density to support various types of business and retail ventures, she said. So when a city reaches that benchmark, it catches the attention of heavier hitters.

“It turns you from a town into a city, and we’re there,” Volek said.

Billings has been making that transition into a city for a while. When Magic City Magazine began publishing 13 years ago, Billings had no roundabouts, no Sam’s Club or Cabela’s, and South Billings Boulevard was still a rickety drive down to the Yellowstone River.

“When I got to Billings, Shiloh Road didn’t

apartment complexes and the supersized Scheels have popped up.

Since Magic began publishing in 2003, the First Interstate Bank operations centers moved to Billings, the new federal courthouse was built, Stockman Bank built a new headquarters downtown and voters approved a bond to build the new library, which opened in 2014.

As a regional hub, Billings is able to pull in both people and businesses because it’s the only large city along the otherwise isolated I-90 corridor. Shopping and business in Billings attracts visitors from three states, providing the city a constant, extracurricular source of income.

Millar calls it “regional appeal,” noting that as the region grows so does the city.

Steady as she goes

exist,” Volek said of the rural two-laned 40th

Billings growth hasn’t been particularly rapid over the last 12 years but it’s been remarkably steady, about 1.5 percent each year. The city hit the population benchmark of 100,000 in 2006 and since then Billings has seen more residents, some pretty large retailers and national businesses show up.

The 100,000 population mark is a kind of magic number, noted Candi Millar, the city’s planning director.

Many city and business leaders like to say that particular type of growth speeds up as voters had just approved the bond that would a city passes the 100,000 population mark, overhaul and expand South Billings Boulevard exponentially increasing its momentum. and Alkali Creek Road in the Heights. A few “I hear that a lot,” Millar said. years after that, the city secured federal help But she likes to point out that cities are for the Shiloh Road project, paving the way always growing. It just looks bigger for a for expansive retail growth on the far west end city of 100,000, pointing out that 1.5 percent of town. Since Shiloh Road was upgraded, growth multiplied by 100,000 is going to be significantly larger than when that growth rate restaurants, movie theaters, a car dealership,

Street West.

New math

When Volek took over as city manager,

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 71

CASEY PAGE/ GAZETTE STAFF

LARRY MAYER/ GAZETTE STAFF

Scheels All Sports opened on Sept. 6, 2014 and features a Ferris wheel inside the massive shopping and entertainment complex. is applied to a population size of 50,000.

And that’s what she projects for Billings.

Based on the current rate, she said the city will

An aerial view shows the intersection of King Avenue East and Shiloh Road in 2001. The former gravel pit has undergone tremendous growth over the past few years, most notably the Shiloh Crossing shopping center anchored by Kohl’s and Scheels All Sports.

hit 150,000 people by 2035.

years, and especially since it crossed the 100,000 mark, Billings has evolved from its bona fide growth. It’s been good for the economy. cow-town roots to become the state’s business “We’re buffered a bit more and that’s good center. That change has come about more or for us,” Volek said. less organically as the city’s rail hub, airport The medical centers in town, Billings Clinic, and interstate system make it one of the better St. Vincent Healthcare and RiverStone Health places in the state to plant a business. anchor thousands of jobs and provide busi“What drives growth here is a little different ness for dozens of companies that support the than what drives growth in a place like Bozemedical industry. The three oil refineries in the man,” Millar said. area play a similar role. As a result, much of Bozeman, home of Montana State University Billings’ economy is homegrown, insulating it and a handful of tech startups, is seen as a trasome from the whims of the national economy ditional college town and has become the state’s and giving the city its underlying economic technology hub. Growth in one sector spurs strength. growth in the other, Millar said.

“This is, in my opinion, the ideal growth that Billings is moving away from its blue collar most cities hope for,” Volek said. roots and heading toward a more business-cenAs the city has expanded over the last dozen tric economy. Agriculture, while still a signifRegional appeal has not only aided the city’s

icant piece of the regional economic pie, isn’t the driver it used to be, Millar said. The same is true for the refineries as the price of crude oil continues to wallow below $50 per barrel.

Instead, the medical industry in town has matured over the last two decades and will continue to do so, Millar said.

“What we’re seeing is that medical really is the biggest growth (sector),” she said.

It’s a classic “snowball” effect. The medical industry feeds related businesses, which in turn, drives growth throughout the city, making it appealing to all kinds of outside businesses. That expansion package has led Billings to become the state’s business hub. Volek points to FedEx placing its regional headquarters ‘in the city and said she expects to see more moves like that in the future.

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72 I MAY/JUNE 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

Kira Fercho Carol Spielman Brenna Tyler

JAMES WOODCOCK/ GAZETTE STAFF

BY THE NUMBERS

Billings has changed a lot in the last decade and a half. We’ve gotten a little older, a little richer and the city has gotten bigger.

Here’s a look:

JAMES WOODCOCK/ GAZETTE STAFF

1

The number of years we’ve aged. Median age in the city has moved from 36.8 to 37.5

Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark was repaired and reopened almost exactly one year after the tornado, on June 19, 2011.

“We’ll continue to be the head-

It was a group community that helped jumpquarters for regional firms,” she said. start the campaign for a Finding balance new library. They’ve been Volunteers Kathy Davis, left, and Deb Peters Volek acknowledges that Billings’ help clean up debris around MetraPark after active in expanding and what became known locally as the “Father’s Day transformation from a strict blue-colupdating the city’s walkTornado.” The twister produced extensive damage at lar town to a more business-heavy ing and biking trails. The the facility in 2010. community has created a bit of disBillings School District’s one sector in the city’s economy goes sonance. Parts of the community are historic $121 million bond, passed by down, other industries in town can actively looking to make Billings more voters in 2013, was championed by a help fill the gap. business-friendly and attractive to group of business leaders.

Volek points to 2008 when the outsiders while others want the city to Volek said that it’s easier to attract national economy took a nosedive hold onto some of its cow-town past. families and businesses to Billings if and the country entered the Great But it’s both sides that give the city it’s a vibrant community with valued Recession. its vibrancy. And the groups that are amenities.

The economy “didn’t really slow active in helping make Billings more Balance also helps Billings maindown much here,” she said. Looking appealing to businesses and family – tain its diversified economy. With like an active chamber of commerce regional hubs for national companies, at the city’s past and noting all the and a local economic development

firm – have boosted some of the city’s growth, Volek said.

medical centers, refineries and destination shopping, Billings’ economy is not reliant upon one industry. If

growth that’s taken place over the last decade, Volek smiled.

$12,927 That’s our raise! The city’s average household income has moved from $35,147 to $48,074

9.2

The number of square miles we’ve expanded. The city has grown from 32.8 square miles to 42 square miles

65

The number of miles of road the city has added.

Billings has gone from 458 miles of road to 523

2006

The year the city reached 100,000 in population

109,059 Our current population

2035

The year Billings is expected to reach 150,000 residents (based on projected 1.5 percent growth)

“We’re a pretty resilient bunch.”

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 73

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For a full listing of summer offerings, visit www.msubillings.edu/kids 74 I MAY/JUNE 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

BILLINGS PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Making

Grade I THE

n 2003, when then-West High senior Rachel Schillreff wanted to meet someone for lunch, she made sure she had her arrangements made before first period; otherwise she would get left behind.

“We still passed notes or slipped messages into lockers—communication was done in hallways.” But now, she said, “you text or tweet.”

In 2003, Schillreff ’s teachers were still using overhead projectors, and they pushed TVs on carts from room to room. Computer use was limited, and Google wasn’t quite the thing it is today.

“We used Dogpile as a research engine, or we went to the card catalogue to look things up,” Schillriff, who is now librarian at Billings West High School, noted of the differences in student research from just 10 years ago.

STORY BY EVEY LAMONT PHOTOS BY CASEY PAGE

TAKE NOTE

Today students in Billings Public Schools live in a much different world than when Schillreff was passing paper messages in the hallway. Daily activity is fast-paced and stimulating. They confidently navigate the internet and use Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat with ease. Educators need to step up their game to stay relevant for our kids. So what changes have taken place in Billings Public Schools to keep kids safe, prepare them for a technology-driven future yet provide the caring and nurturing environment necessary for learning to take place?

Schillreff sees that the biggest change in the Billings schools is the introduction of technology. Today high school and middle school kids can bring cell phones into the classroom. They are a great tool for research, but can also be a distraction.

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 75

In 2013 Billings school board chair Allen Halter, left, and school board clerk and district CFO Leo Hudetz, right, highfive as superintendent Terry Bouck and his wife Kristy, center, celebrate the passing of the school bond at the Yes For Kids campaign headquarters.

Below: Teachers lead their classes around the building to the new addition to McKinley Elementary for in 2015.

76 I MAY/JUNE 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

High agrees. Technology has played a positive role in educating students, but it can never take the place of good teaching. Kids still need good direct instruction, and she looks for a better balance between technology and teaching.

MIDDLE SCHOOL ANGST

Sarah Lord, science teacher at Billings Senior High, gives 10th grade students a bit of extra attention. Lord graduated from BPS and sees technology as instrumental in today’s classrooms. JAMES WOODCOCK/GAZETTE STAFF “With technology, there is always an undercurrent of communication that we as teachers are not always aware of. Drama that happens outside of school comes in with them,” she said.

“Kids need to understand that cell phones are a great tool. But we need to teach them how to use cell phones responsibly and to exercise self-control.”

What may seem obvious to an adult is not always true for teens. For example, answering a phone call (even from your mom) during a test is not okay.

Sara Lord, science teacher at Billings Senior

Elementary school kids are not allowed to use cell phones during the school day. However, when sixth graders are dismissed from school, they are immediately on their phones. It is a huge part of their world.

“We are putting a lot of power into the hands of these young kids. For some kids developmentally, they don’t necessarily realize that when they press send they no longer have control over their message or photo,” said Kevin Croff, principal at Poly Drive Elementary School.

Teaching youth to consider consequences beyond their own present state seems almost counter-productive to exactly how teens function – they, by their very nature, live in their own, immediate moment. As the district moves forward, both the positives and negatives of technology will be addressed.

Beginning in 2013, sixth graders in BPS joined their seventh- and eighth-grade peers at Lewis and Clark and Riverside to ease over-crowding in the elementary schools; the rest will do so as Medicine Crow and Ben Steele Middle Schools are opened in the fall of 2016 and 2017 respectively.

“Sixth graders are ready for a middle school environment where they have an opportunity to meet different kids in different classes,” said the long-time educator and principal, Shaun Harrington. “This has resulted in fewer discipline issues and helped to expand their social circle.”

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 77

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Your teen is sleeping in an extra hour Wednesday mornings? They don’t have to be at school until 9:20? What’s up with that?

For the last three years, Billings’ high schools exercise weekly “Late In” days when kids arrive an hour or so later on Wednesdays. Yes, some sleep in, but many use that time to socialize over breakfast with friends or utilize that time to finish an assignment. It’s also an ideal time for students or parents to schedule one-on-one conferences with teachers or counselors.

Teachers, on the other hand, are hard at work during that hour teaming with colleagues in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs).

They talk about how to use technology effectively in the classroom, they evaluate data gleaned from computer-based assessments or they consult on how to help a faltering student succeed.

Lord describes one such reflective session at Senior High where the conversation revolved about a one-size-fits-all educational system which misses filling some kids’ needs. Another session discussed graduation issues such as how to impress why grades are important and what they really mean.

“Sometimes it’s hard to lose that class time, but such discussions are having a very positive impact on kids’ education,” said Lord.

EDUCATIONAL LESSONS

Technology helps gather reliable data that will be important as Billings Public Schools continues to implement Montana’s Common Core standards adopted in 2011. Common Core grew out of a concern that the 2001 No Child Left Behind law had lowered the bar on what students should learn. Some leaders and political actions groups have protested what they see as a federal takeover of local classrooms.

At Poly Drive, Croff encourages parents to come in and talk about these concerns. He tries to take the political sound bites out of the issue.

Once he shows parents the rigor, accountability, critical thinking and problem-solving expected of students, they are often convinced this is best for their child.

“Common Core goes deeper into the curriculum instead of broader,” said one teacher who chose to remain unnamed.

Paige Darden, parent volunteer and 2010 Yes for Kids campaign chairperson, applauds Common Core which helps kids become more competitive with others from around the nation as they think about college. She also believes that the school district has done a good job of rolling out technology by piloting programs first before making a big investment. For example, one school will try out a new series of tablets or

JAMES WOODCOCK/GAZETTE STAFF‌

A group of school supporters and parents of students from Lewis and Clark, Poly Drive, Highland and Senior High Schools wave to people on their commute to work in 2008,, reminding them to vote on the mill levy. Holding signs are, from left, Nancy Dimich, Carrie McClelland, Paige (Montague) Darden and her daughter Virginia Lynne, and Julie Whitworth.

Castle Rock Middle School seventh-graders look out of a second floor classroom window as they tour the new Medicine Crow Middle School under construction in the Billings Heights in April 2016.

Chromebooks before providing them as an option to other schools.

“The school district has been careful to not be early adapters of every new item that has rolled out,” said Darden.

Of course, things besides technology have changed.

ANOTHER VOTE

In 2003, a teacher’s strike had just ended, and there was a great deal of dissention on the school board. Public opinion was low and mill levies failed. As a result, there was less money coming into School District 2 (SD2) as enrollments increased. Students bore the brunt of the budget crisis by enduring overcrowded classrooms and limited technological advancements.

SD2 leaders were reprimanded by the state for allowing classrooms to get too crowded and were informed that failure to address the issue could result in sanctions or a possible loss of accreditation.

The arrival of Superintendent Terry Bouck in 2012 was a “terrific change of pace” said one teacher who did not wish to be identified.

Bouck worked tirelessly with the YES for Kids campaign to pass the landmark 2013 mill levy. This provided needed Billings West High monies to expand librarian Rachel technology in the Schillreff, who was a schools and inBPS student in 2003, crease teacher/stuhas lived through rapid technological dent ratio. changes in education.

In November Here she works with of 2013 voters apstudent Craig Walker proved $14 million before classes start

JAMES WOODCOCK/GAZETTE STAFF‌

Eighth graders at Riverside Middle School celebrate making a 4.0 grade average by ringing a school bell during a 2013 Graduation Matters assembly. in federal construction bonds toward building two new middle schools in SD2. With this, the school district drafted a detailed strategy on how to cope with steadily growing enrollment, overcrowded classrooms and aging facilities. Teachers were encouraged by a new spirit of community support.

Change began to permeate the air of BPS.

IT DOES MATTER

In 2009, Montana’s high school dropout rate was five percent. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau launched the “Graduation Matters” initiative to help keep kids in school.

BPS responded with Incentive Days – a program that allows high school students to “earn” a

day off of classes. Those who are passing classes and fulfilling the minimum attendance requirements need not attend school while students who remain are expected to use this day to make up missing work and to improve grades.

Incentive days started at Senior High School about five years ago.

“They were particularly successful at first,” said Lord, “because they were a novelty.”

Lord stresses the need to be creative in finding other ways to promote good attendance.

“We need to be aware that a student does not just drop out because something happened the day before,” she said. “It is an accumulation of poor achievement. We need to catch them at preschool.”

for the day.

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 79

Billings Senior High School English teachers, including Jeff Bottrell (foreground) gathered to plan assignments and programs during a Wednesday “Late In” in 2013.

LARRY MAYER/GAZETTE STAFF

A STEP BEYOND

Students who are more interested in challenging themselves can stretch themselves by committing to the “Platinum Program,” which introduced in 2014 as pilot at Senior High. Similar programs are now options at West and Skyview.

To complete the program students

must take every Advanced Placement (AP) and honors course that their high school offers. They also complete an independent final project their senior year that can range from putting together a charity event, to publishing a book of poetry, to helping to preserve Senior High murals.

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The Platinum Program gives students a way to distinguish themselves nationally, while the journey to complete the project instills time management skills, patience and perseverance.

Additionally, BPS juniors can now take the ACT college entrance exam for no cost. The $56 fee had been tough for some students to come up with and prevented some from even considering college. Now even students without financial means can see if they are ready to take that next step.

LOOKING AHEAD

Darden believes that, if after occupying the two new middle schools, BPS can keep 90 percent capacity at each school it will be “poised to have the ability to do interesting things in our

schools, like the medical clinic at Orchard,” she said, adding that she hopes Billings can keep the schools smaller than in other communities.

Schillreff sees technology as here to stay to the point that the “Back to School” list may include personal tablets for each student.

Will technology ever replace the teacher? Croff offers a resounding “no,” saying that kids need human interaction to learn best.

“Part of good teaching is assessing what kind of day a student is having, analyzing how they are learning and what is going on in the classroom at any given time to determine how receptive a child is to education,” he said “And yes, sometimes to learn their best a kid just needs a hug, something a teacher can (easily) give.”

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T

here’s no denying it.

The explosive velocity of change in healthcare over the past dozen years has brought whip-speed innovations to medical technology.

The entire industry has experienced indelible game-changers.

Some major urban medical facilities struggle to manage the complexity of this accelerated progress. Billings’ three flagship medical providers are not part of that struggle. The ability of Billings Clinic, RiverStone Health and St. Vincent Healthcare, to remain on the vanguard of technology, has catapulted the region’s medical services into the national spotlight.

And, we Montanans are the beneficiaries.

“Whoever would have guessed, 13 years ago, that you could take a heart valve and, through a catheter, place it in a heart for somebody who is too weak to undergo a surgical procedure?” asked Steve Loveless, CEO and president of St. Vincent Healthcare. “Today, that’s happening right here in this community because of new technology.”

Western pioneers Streamlined leadership within each of the three organizations retains clear vision. They have positioned themselves for the unpredictable medical advances of the future. It also allows them to be flexible and adaptable to continuous, rapid change.

Over the past 13 years, Billings’ three major medical facilities have evolved toward a more patient-empowered approach that prioritizes prevention – a decisive societal shift that less adaptable organizations still seek to employ.

“Ongoing comprehensive primary and preventive care means fewer hospitalizations, fewer emergency de-

84 I MAY/JUNE 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

“Ongoing comprehensive primary and preventive care means fewer hospitalizations, fewer emergency department visits and increased vaccinations that translate into fewer illnesses.”

John Felton, president and CEO of RiverStone Health

partment visits and increased vaccinations that translate into fewer illnesses,” said John Felton, president and CEO of RiverStone Health.

These benefits, he adds, empower patients in their health and financial wellbeing.

Arguably, however, the most critical method for improving patient care can be found in the three facilities’ joint approach to determine, and then tackle together, the major healthcare issues facing Billings ABOVE: Dr. Arturo Echeverri and the broader of St. Vincent Healthcare region. performed a botox procedure on a patient in Lewistown who This remarkable suffers from phantom limb pain. ability to collabCOURTESY OF ST. VINCENT HEALTHCARE orate, something LEFT: The St. Vincent Frontier many do not see Cancer Center offers CyberKnife from the outside, treatments, a special delivery of radiation to cut treatment time to is what marks the a fraction of what it used to be. diff erence in Billings’ LARRY MAYER/GAZETTE STAFF unique brand of healthcare delivery.

That is what has made us Western pioneers once again. This time, however, the “Frontier of Discovery” is not land; rather, it’s innovation within the healthcare-industry to maintain a compelling competitive edge.

So far, Montana is winning.

ABOVE: Dr. Mathew Westmark, right, points out aspects of a pregnant patient’s ultrasound to a medical student training at RiverStone Health Clinic.

COURTESY OF RIVERSTONE HEALTH/JOHN WARNER

RIGHT: Dr. Tanya Hamilton examines a patient at RiverStone Health Clinic.

COURTESY OF RIVERSTONE HEALTH/JULIA PRICE

Not-so-secret partners Because marketing efforts are visible among the three flagship organizations, “many people see only certain competitive issues,” said Dr. Nick Wolter, CEO of Billings Clinic. “Unfortunately, what they maybe don’t recognize is the tremendous amount of continuous collaboration that goes on among us,” which trumps any advertising campaign.

Collaboration among the organizations to share resources, in an effort to curb consumer costs, comes on many different levels: from sharing laundry services to operating the Community Crisis Center for individuals with drug and alcohol issues to providing monthly medications for people who cannot afford them. The trio also operates the Community Health Line and facilitates a rigorous, comprehensive Community Health Needs Assessment to monitor the pulse of the Yellowstone County community.

The efforts focus solely on issues that benefit all residents, regardless of socio-economic standing.

In its first year the internal medicine residency program

MFMR, 80 percent of Montana is received an amazing 2,300 medically underserved. applicants for only 12 openings.

COURTESY OF BILLINGS CLINIC “There are only six counties that are even close to having the number of primary-care physicians that they need,” he said.

Country doctors As older rural family doctors retire, it has become One of the most life-changing collaborations among the increasingly difficult to recruit young physicians to replace three major medical facilities comes through their efforts to ease the shortage of primary-care physicians in rural and them. Part of the reason for this, Guyer explained, is because new physicians “are not connected to the community; they medically-underserved areas. are not familiar with the experience of living in a rural area.

The Montana Family Medical Residency Program Oftentimes, they have spouses and children who also need (MFMR) at RiverStone Health has been a significant boon to rural Montana. Residents train, and later work in all three to find their fit.”

Yet another factor, he added, is that many rural and Billings facilities, which jointly fund MFMR. The program medically-underserved communities of Montana cannot has garnered national attention for its numerous successes offer the physician medical school loan repayments, a strong including a recent, coveted Center of Excellence Award.

This year, MFMR celebrates 20 years of educating family recruitment incentive. medicine physicians.

Rural physicians, said Felton, often are the sole commu- Match-makers The science may be in the medical training, but making nity providers in the areas in which they serve. a good match between a physician and a particular rural or “If they’re not there, there are no medical services in those communities,” said Felton. “All you have to do is look medically-underserved area in Montana is an art.

Barbara Schneeman, vice president of communication around our state to realize that rural healthcare is critically and public affairs for RiverStone Health, gives credit for important and extraordinarily difficult to keep going.” the program’s 70 percent retention success to the MFMR According to Dr. James Guyer, program director of

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 87

recruitment-interview team.

“We receive in excess of 1,000 applicants every year for just eight positions,” she said.

Dr. Mike Geurin, MFMR’s associate director, explains that is because out of the 60-65 medical students from Montana graduating each year, only a small number are interested in family medicine – the focus of MFMR. Practicing family medicine in rural areas is, in many ways, its own specialty. For some, it can be the most enriching experience of their professional lives – those are the recruits MFMR seeks.

“We feel like our success as a family practice residency program is to bring in physicians who want to do rural practice; train them in the environment in which they’re going to be working; get them settled in that environment; and then get them connected so they and their families feel comfortable in those communities,” Schneeman said.

This unique process has garnered attention from medical residency programs throughout the country.

“When I go to national conferences and people talk about the things they’re doing that are new, I usually find that we’ve been doing them for about three years,” laughed Guyer. “We couldn’t exist without RiverStone Health – it supports the residency within the clinical structures and is a symbiotic, mutually-benefitting relationship.”

This is important, Guyer said, because, of the 70 percent of the residents who remain in Montana, most do so for their entire 20-year career.

“That’s huge,” he smiled.

In addition to the obvious medical benefits, there is an economic boon to the community as well. The expense to train a resident for the three-year program comes with a hefty price tag. Estimates range from between $600,000-900,000, regardless of whether or not the resident stays.

“When I go to national conferences and people talk about the things they’re doing that are new, I usually find that we’ve been doing them for about three years.”

Above: Specialists, like Billings Clinic oncologist Dr. Jesus Fabregas, often fly or drive to a rural clinic to see patients from across Eastern and Central Montana.

CASEY PAGE/GAZETTE STAFF

Left: Of the 523 breast cancer diagnoses between 20102014, 50 of those patients received their screening mammogram on the Mobile Mammography Coach.

COURTESY OF ST. VINCENT HEALTHCARE

Another challenge lies in Montana’s aging population – of both inhabitants and of physicians themselves. A 2014 NBC report noted that Montana is facing a “tsunami” of elderly residents. For example, in McCone County more than 25 percent of the population is over age 65. Additionally, 31 percent of Montana’s physicians are over age 60 according to the American Association of Medical Colleges.

Those statistics are startling.

In response, Billings Clinic leadership crafted an internal medicine residency (IMR) program to focus on the state’s aging population. In its first year the program received an amazing 2,300 applicants for only 12 openings. The IMR program at Billings Clinic recently received a $4.3 million grant for rotations and promoting research into the health care needs in rural locations. IMR currently houses 19 residents.

Wheels & wings All three Billings medical leaders agree that getting a physician into every single community of need is a daunting assignment. In a state with more than 147,000 square miles, that geographical challenge requires innovation.

Well ahead of the national trend, all three facilities have taken clinical branches and sub-specialties of their organizations into outlying areas. Advanced care is delivered through specialists who travel daily, as well as through technology such as telemedicine – a concept that just a dozen years ago

Dr. James Guyer, program director of MFMR

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The Billings Clinic internal medicine residency program currently houses 19 residents. C ASEY PAGE/GAZETTE STAFF

was sorely lacking.

Plans are on the table to accelerate these services into additional areas, and the move toward increased use of digital technology will be yet another game-changer.

“On any given day,” said Loveless, “you’ll find a cardiologist, an ENT, an oncologist, a gastroenterologist, a urologist and other specialists on the road, somewhere, providing care in a rural community.”

The St. Vincent Healthcare Mobile Mammography Coach travels to 46 sites in 22 different towns across Eastern Montana. Since 2010, nearly 13,500 women have received the breast cancer screening in the mobile office – many who may not have been able to travel to Billings for the same test. Of the 523 breast cancer diagnoses between 2010-2014, 50 of those patients received their screening mammogram on the Mobile Mammography Coach.

The commitment to serve people in rural areas also strikes a personal note for Jim Duncan, president of the Billings Clinic Foundation.

“There’s a sense of pride for me that people like my parents have access to great care in Miles City, but when they need something at a higher level, it’s also there for them in

Billings,” Duncan said.

The end-goal that all three top administrators cite, is to have patients receive care as close to their homes as possible.

“If we can keep them in their home communities, where they have their greatest support and they can receive the necessary care at a very high level of quality, then that’s where we want them to be,” emphasized Loveless.

The outreach programs also save patients on potential long-distance travel.

“We’re providing advanced services to a large rural geography so that people do not need to go to Minneapolis, Seattle or other urban areas,” added Wolter.

Certain procedures that would have required 10-14 days in the hospital a decade ago are now happening with one- or two-day stays in the hospital; situations that used to require a one- or two-day stay now are happening on an out-patient basis. Advances in technology have changed that drastically.

“Medicine is going through tremendous growth and evolution, and the winner is the patient,” summarized Loveless.

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vintage revolution EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN

BY JULIE GREEN • PHOTOGRAPHY BY CASEY PAGE

n a crisp Saturday morning, Heather Brenden stands in line, along with her husband and her mother, anxiously at the doors of Expo Center at MetraPark. They crane to see inside, check their watches and then chat for a few minutes, passing the time.

What they’re waiting to see, in fact, is all about time.

Beyond the anxious crowd, coffee cups and bags clutched tightly in hand, is Rescued & Reclaimed, an antique salvage market which makes an appearance in Billings twice annually.

“For me, this is about nostalgia,” said Brenden, who remembers the home she grew up in as “a 1960s time capsule. We still had stuff from the Mad Men era. I love seeing things from when I was young.”

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 91

T. K. Kantner of Rusty Dog Rescued Antiques talks about old suitcases refurbished as speakers.

er mother’s home gave her a love of midcentury modern styling, but she notes that she also enjoys adding pieces from a variety of decades—including those which have been brought back to life for use in a new way.

“It’s great to see older things made better,” she said.

“IF YOU AND FRENCH DOORS HAD A BABY…” This idea of “making old things better” has sparked a vintage revolution over the last several years. Once the purview of car guys devoted to keeping classics on the road, the “re-do” trend has moved into home décor and design.

Two names virtually synonymous with the movement are Chip and Joanna Gaines, whose HGTV show Fixer Upper has become a phenomenon among home improvement and DIY enthusiasts. Before the Waco, Texas couple began airing their hour-long show, shiplap was something few had ever heard of. Today, farmhouse kitchens featuring the reclaimed wood are gaining in popularity, as any visit to the social media sites Pinterest or Houzz will testify.

Other television programs like Junk Gypsies and Flea Market Flip show how the once-sacred “original finish only” mantra associated with the long-running Antiques Roadshow could be glaringly ignored on non-heirloom pieces.

Instead, finding vintage pieces and deconstructing, painting and reimagining them has not only become acceptable—but something worth aspiring to. Even American Pickers hosts Frank and Mike, whose love of “rustorations” is near legendary, give a nod to finding a new purpose in old pieces.

BUT WHY? According to Kate Stevens, who founded her Billings shop, Salvage Designs, on Moore Lane in 2013, people who take classes with her do so for a variety of reasons.

“A lot of people are rescuing old ‘throwaway’ pieces that aren’t as stylish as they once were,” she said. “They are pieces

92 I MAY/JUNE 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

Vintage and recycled items at shows like Rescued and Reclaimed both boggle the mind and change each time.

from their parents or grandparents and have sentimental value. The furniture is built well—which you can’t say about a lot of today’s furniture—but it just doesn’t look good anymore. There are also those people who like the idea of upcycling so they’re not just filling up dumpsters.”

For Stevens, DIY has gotten a boost from Pinterest, which has exposed people to a product well-known among vintage fans: Annie Sloan chalk paint, which she carries in her store.

“It really has catapulted the DIYers of the world in terms of what they can do,” she said. “It’s so easy to use, and there are a lot of different techniques.”

For Stevens, who has done applications on a vast variety of reclaimed pieces, her favorite “canvas” is one many have overlooked in the past: doors.

“We love doors!” she laughed. “You can make them into a bench or headboard or table—or privacy screen. You can do so many things with them. I think desks are fun, and benches too. Small cabinets are fast and easy and again—you can do a lot with them.”

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Kate Stevens of Salvage Designs demonstrates a painting technique in the store’s studio.

“We love broken stuff, and we love telling their stories.”

That’s how Angela Campbell, who owns Rusty Dog Rescued Antiques with her husband T.K. Kantner, explained their dedication to the vintage revolution.

“Taking the three-legged table or the half a door that others walk by and then piecing them together to create something new is for us like historical artwork,” Campbell said.

Campbell loves the reimagining process, finding the hidden gem in cast-off pieces. She notes Kantner, who is retired military, favors working with lighting and can rewire anything.

One of his signature pieces are speakers he creates with vintage luggage.

“I was on a flight and flipping through a Skymall catalog,” Kantner recalled.

“They had a speaker in there that caught my eye—but it was $1,800! It kind of got me thinking, so I came home and started putting one together. You have to find just the right kind of suitcase to make it work, but the sound is great. And they definitely don’t cost nearly $2,000.”

Campbell, who left her full-time job to focus on Rusty Dog’s booth at Marketplace 3301 and at various shows, says the couple especially enjoys researching pieces so they can tell their stories. A not-quite-square bobcat cage, old diner coffee cans and a coal shuttle each have a tale to tell, whether or not the couple has used them as the basis for something new.

“Some kid’s 4-H project that was built

THRIFT AWAY

Wondering where to start your own vintage revolution? If you’re the crafty sort, now’s the time of year to look for pieces you can DIY at yard sales and estate sales—which you can easily find listed in The Billings Gazette, on Craigslist or on Facebook “For Sale” groups.

Area thrift stores are also a great place to find materials like frames, furniture and more.

For classes or to find pieces which have already been reimagined, including those Billings-area businesses featured in this story, consider: A AA Oxford Hotel Antiques 2411 Montana Avenue facebook.com/A-AAOxford-Hotel-Antiques Broadwater Mercantile Antiques 1844 Broadwater Avenue broadwatermercantile. webs.com For The Funk of It 14 South 27th Street facebook.com/ ForTheFunkOfIt

Habitat ReStore 1617 1st Avenue North billingshabitat.org/restore I-90 Antique Mall, Flea Market & Auction 6400 Frontage Road facebook.com/ I90AntiqueMall facebook.com/ NationalAuction Marketplace 3301 3301 1st Avenue North marketplace3301.com

Rescued & Reclaimed rescuedandreclaimed.com Rusty Dog Rescued Antiques rustydogantiques.com Salvage Designs 234 Moore Lane salvagedesignsmt.com YesterYears Antique Mall 102 N 29th Street facebook.com/YesterYearsAntique-Mall

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 95

to store tack out in the barn doesn’t look like much,” said Campbell. “But you flip it over and there’s a date on it. Add a little paint and suddenly it’s adorable. Or maybe someone built it for their sweetheart. We love having things that talk.”

Her husband sees an additional benefit.

“I look at schematics all day with my job,” said Kantner. “Everything is so efficient now that people have lost the ability to be unique. That’s why I like things that were built back then—they weren’t always just built to be efficient.”

A PIECE OF THE PAST A look around Marketplace 3301 or a show like Rescued & Reclaimed and it doesn’t take long to see that the vintage revolution has caught the attention of both men and women of all ages. But

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MUSEUMS & THE MONTANAN MUSE

BY ANNA PAIGE

A museum should never be ямБnished but boundless and ever in motion. ~ JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 99

C

ontrary

to

its

auspicious

beginnings as a railroad and cattle town, Billings has long been a cultural center. In fact, it is those hard-working roots – along with the ever-seeking soul of the frontiersmen and women – that echo throughout

the decades in local and regional museums.

As the largest city in Montana, Billings lives up to

its responsibility and reputation by preserving the past while looking to the future – bringing the world-class art to the city – with a plethora of museums for residents and visitors alike.

When Joyce Mayer, interim executive director of the Western Heritage Center, first saw Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa in person, she felt as though she were traveling through time and space to be with him. That painting directly connected Mayer to the Italian polymath.

“Da Vinci still lives in our collective cultural consciousness,” said Mayer.

A lover of history, she describes such connection as the intersection of art and history.

“Art is physically touching your ancestors,” she said.

With a mission to tell the stories of the people and families of Yellowstone Valley, the Western Heritage Center is a cultural storehouse of the Yellowstone River’s winding history. Through the center’s work, the area’s cultural memory is preserved and delivered in exhibits, in-person and through research.

“Stories are disappearing all the time,” Mayer said.

“We’re really lucky in Billings. We have a number of efforts to hold onto those stories because we understand how precious they are.”

The museum employs anthropologist Kevin KooistraManning who, in addition to his work as the community historian, conducts anthropological and archaeological work for the center.

“Not very many museums in our area have someone of that caliber on staff,” Mayer said. “A lot of historical museums rely on volunteer unpaid staff.”

The Yellowstone County Museum exhibits include a taxidermy-preserved two-headed calf that has been there since the museum opened in 1956.

LARRY MAYER/GAZETTE STAFF

100 I MAY/JUNE 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

Laura Voight, left, and Sheryl Costanzo check out Equus, a painting on glass by Carol Hagan during the 48th Annual YAM Art Auction opening at Yellowstone Art Museum.

HANNAH POTES/GAZETTE STAFF

Carol and John Green with Jaune Quick-to-See Smith’s Tongass Trade Canoe at the Yellowstone Art Museum in 2014. BOB ZELLAR/GAZETTE STAFF

MUSEUMS

 C. M. Russell Museum       

Above: The Yellowstone County Museum is located at 1950 Terminal Circle, at the front of the Logan International Airport, and includes a log cabin. BOB ZELLAR/GAZETTE STAFF Left: Assistant Professor of art history Leanne Gilbertson observes 50ft Queenie, a sculpture created by Elisabeth Higgins O’Connor as part of the Face to Face exhibit in 2014 at Yellowstone Art Museum. HANNAH POTES/GAZETTE STAFF

    

Complex Museum of the Rockies Montana Historical Society Western Heritage Center Moss Mansion Huntley Project Museum of Irrigated Agriculture The Charles M. Bair Family Museum Big Horn County Historical Museum Carbon County Historical Society Museum Yellowstone County Museum Museum of the Beartooths Prairie County Museum Rosebud County Museum

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 101

The Western Heritage Center is housed in the original Billings Parmly Library at 2822 Montana Ave. CASEY PAGE/GAZETTE STAFF To engage the public, the center hosts events such

Visitors to the Western Heritage Center can listen to songs and stories of rancher and cowboy singer, Bob Petermann, of Wibaux, Mont.

CASEY PAGE/GAZETTE STAFF

as High Noon Lecture series and Hoof-It with a Historian.

The Western Heritage Center has become a meeting place for community conversations. Writers, musicians

Artist Carol Spielman worked in the Visible Vault during her stint as artist-in-residence at the Yellowstone Art Museum in 2012.

and cultural organizations utilized the space for classes and lectures. The public is also welcome to conduct research at the center, which can be guided with the

JAMES WOODCOCK/GAZETTE STAFF

support of a staff member.

“To understand history, you have to view it through the

“We look backward in a relevant way,” Barton said of

lens of that time,” Mayer said. “You have to look at the cultural attitudes and morals and stresses and economics.

It is all tied in together in order to tell the truth.”

The people of Yellowstone County

the museum’s displays.

The Moss Mansion, located at 914 Division St., is red-stone mansion built in 1903 by Preston B. Moss. It features original draperies, furniture, fixtures, Persian carpets and artifacts; the mansion and grounds are open for tours, special events and private parties such as weddings.

Kathy Barton, curator at the Yellowstone County LARRY MAYER/GAZETTE STAFF Museum, has a fascination with the public side of history. Her degree in anthropology with a focus on

Another popular display is the exhibit on crime, A Rip-

Roaring Good Time: Sin in the Magic City, which explores the history of vigilantism, drugs, alcohol and prostitution of the area.

“People are fascinated by the stories,” Barton said.

Over at the Western Heritage Center, a series of High

The museum celebrates its 60th anniversary this Noon Lectures is focused, coincidentally, on the same

archeology had her removing artifacts from the ground year. As its name signifies, curators focus on collecting, theme. Barton notes that the museums are starting to but she became more interested in publicly displaying preserving and interpreting the history of the Yellowstone work more closely together. uncovered pieces of history.

River region. Exhibits vary from a western room with

“We are not an island in the city. We work together

Barton admits it’s a challenge to get people engaged. chuck wagon and saddles to a firearms display, to a to promote our heritage and our history,” said Barton Located on the top of 27th Street, the museum is Native American room with one of the largest displays of of upcoming collaborative project between Yellowstone accessed by driving through the airport loop. The beadwork in the state. building itself extends off one side of a historic 1893 cabin and includes a full basement.

County Museum and the Western Heritage Center.

A current exhibit explores the work of Dr. Tom Rust “You will see museums working more as allies, not as and his Montana State University Billings classes. Over competition.”

“We do have some unique pieces that bring people the past few years they excavated the Corps of Discovery

Billings is known for its effort to protect history. Thirty

in,” Barton said, including a two-headed calf taxidermy Expedition’s Clark canoe camp just south of Park City; years ago, the Billings Preservation Society obtained the mount that has been there since the museum opened the exhibit features artifacts they unearthed and tells the Moss Mansion. Ever since, the mansion has transformed in 1956.

102 I MAY/JUNE 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

story of the campsite.

into a museum itself, showcasing the lives of the affluent

ART IN ACTION: YAM’S ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE NEIL JUSSILA

Moss family. The former residence distinguishes itself with a red sandstone exterior and original furniture and artifacts from the late 19th century. Tours and facility rentals are available year-round. The mansion’s beautiful setting has become a popular venue for weddings and other private events like the Cigar Dinner and Party for Preservation.

In outlying towns, small local museums carry out preservation work for their community. Huntley Project Museum of Irrigated Agriculture personnel are currently documenting the stories of town residents ages 95 and above. Located in Forsyth, the Rosebud County Pioneer Museum houses collections from the area’s founding families including displaying photographs of the area by pioneer photographer Evelyn Jephson Cameron.

Accessible art Many perceive art as inaccessible. Robyn Peterson, executive director of the Yellowstone Art Museum, works hard to disabuse that misperception.

“The museum is not an intimating place. It’s a cheap date,” said Peterson. “We try to ease the access into the exhibitions and the larger esthetic and intellectual concepts by having more light-hearted

Neil Jussila will tell you stories.

An abstract painter, poet, Vietnam veteran and current artist-in-residence at the Yellowstone Art Museum, Jussila has a knack for painting pictures with words.

When Jussila was 16, at the urging of a family friend, he timidly shared some of his art with others at the Montana Institute of Arts in Butte. This social organization took him in, and he began to hang with a crowd of painters. After their art sessions, they would gather at the Log Cabin Bar. “I was intimidated. I was a real amateur,” Jussila said. “They accepted me as another adult – real grown-up stuff to a 16-year-old.”

As Jussila told it, one night around the bar, Jackson Pollock was mentioned.

The group asks, “Do you think that’s art?”

Local artist Fred Mass, who Trout Fishing in Montana by Neil Jussila had taken Jussila under his wing, lit a pipe. As a billowing cloud of smoke rolled from him, he began to describe the arctic front that Butte was in the grips of.

Jussila’s studio hours at the “It’s going to come to an end. When it comes to an end, you’ll Gary and Melissa Oakland Artist-in-Residence Studio know right away. The skies will be leaden and you’ll feel a warm at the Visible Vault are wind coming in—that’s the Chinook. By the end of the day, you’ll Tuesday through Friday, see streams coming down the streets of Butte, people walking in 10:00 a.m.—12:00 p.m. and the slush, and it will just feel good.”

1:30—4:15 p.m.

Jussila continued to narrate the story.

Fred said, ‘I don’t think that you could depict the sensation of a Chinook any other way than through abstract painting and expressionism.’

“I was young at the time when I came across that information. It stuck, and it has been one of the guiding principles in my life of art,” Jussila concluded.

Jussila, whose work is dashed with abstraction, thick brush strokes and primary colors, is working on a new series of scroll paintings. His residence at the YAM allows him the freedom to work with large-scale prints, crafted from his original abstract paintings, featuring his poetry handwritten in Jussila’s characteristic script.

“It was a lot better than having ‘#48, Red Sun at Dawn,’ on there, which people cannot connect with,” he said.

Jussila, “halfway through 73,” is living a contemplative life. His paintings are about being fully in the moment, the celebration of spirit, freedom and energy, life and mind, and love.

Studio Hours

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 103

events, such as the art auction, our masquerade ball create a dialogue with the wider world, bring things to and SummerFair.”

this area that relate, that have some relevance to life as

The YAM focuses on contemporary regional art, it’s lived here.” exhibiting primarily Montana artists to interpret and understand the regional art community’s contributions.

Nearly 85 percent of YAM patrons come from Montana zip codes, firmly establishing YAM as a

Still, it remains difficult to court the general public to community and local museum. the museum more than once or twice a year.

“That creates the opportunity to introduce local

“We wish that more of the local population would break out audiences to what is going on in the wider art world,”

Big Horn County Museum director Diana Scheidt shows the museum’s gallery in 2014.

of their habits and be more curious,” Peterson said. “Curiosity Peterson said. “Artists have a unique way of expressing JAMES WOODCOCK/GAZETTE STAFF is what makes you look into something you don’t already know their time and their place and their culture. They are often at desire to create. about and stretch outside of your comfort zone.”

the difficult or leading edge of defining a population.”

“I don’t look at museums as vaults for containing the

Over the past few years the YAM has focused on being Jason Jam, a Billings-based artist and community past,” Jam said. “I look at them as the present and what more community-oriented and responsive to public desires volunteer coordinator at the YAM, views the museum as a viewers can get at that moment of inspiration.”

Storytellers of the present, artists become our while continuing to serve as a cultural leader – displaying storehouse of inspiration.

“You go to the library for words, and you go to the documentarians of the past, expressing time and place through a visual medium.

“It is our job to be aware of what is going on in the museum for creativity,” he said.

“What is going to endure?” Peterson asked. “Ultimately contemporary art region and to look for whom is doing the When the museum brought in pieces on kinetic and defining the cultural identity of Montana.

most thoughtful, incisive work, reflecting somehow on its energy by Missoula sculptor and mixed media artist that is the whole idea of now. You can’t see yourself from a own reality,” Peterson said. “At the same time, we try to Stephen Glueckert, the work instantly sparked Jam’s distance until you are at that distance.”

Martinsdale

Huntley

Columbus

C.M. Russell Museum Complex (Great Falls); Museum of the Rockies (Bozeman); Montana Historical Society (Helena); Western Heritage Center (Billings); Moss Mansion (Billings); Huntley Project Museum of Irrigated Agriculture (Huntley); The Charles M. Bair Family Museum (Martinsdale); Big Horn County Museum (Hardin); Carbon County Historical Society Museum (Red Lodge); Yellowstone County Museum (Billings); Museum of the Beartooths (Columbus); Prairie County Museum (Terry); Rosebud County Museum (Forsyth)

104 I MAY/JUNE 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

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SEEN SCENE AT THE

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All My Sons

Alberta Bair Theater 1] Justin & Nicole Bottsford-Miller 2] MarlaLou Sump & Bobbie Meyers 4

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Garrison Keillor

Alberta Bair Theater 3] David Lehnherr & Linnea Forseth 4] Kelbi, Alicia & Renzi Lee

Kronos Quartet 7

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Alberta Bair Theater 5] Ann Miller, Allison Pizzolato & Julie Lien 6] Anna Calcaterra, Zach, Dave & Kim Mangels

Lyle Lovett & Robert Earl Keen 9

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Alberta Bair Theater 7] Dave & Paula Lankutis 8] Sue & Kim Cadwell

Mummenschanz

Alberta Bair Theater 9] Belina Williams, Belle Horman, Patrick Lafountain & Mady Johnson

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Trivia Night

Zonta Club of Billings 10] Connor Reilly & Aimee Rust 11] Monika & Zeke Hiott 12] Summer Barrett & Carina McPherson

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 107

SEEN AT THE SCENE 13

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Dentistry from the Heart

Brewer Dental Center 13] Derek Berube & Pier Brewer 14] Jessica Stenberg, Kara Strecker, Mandy Hanley, LaShell TurnerThurston & Pier Brewer 15] Kaitlyn Weierman & Nicole Bryson 16] Kayla Berube & Dr. Russell Homer 17] Pat Picicci & Doug Meissner 18] Ricca Kepa, Kay Woods, Sonia Martin, Paula Dillon, Shelby Sundheim & Allicen Keikover

Sample and Schlotzhauer exhibition

Yellowstone Art Museum 19] Alyzea, Alicia and Jason McNulty 20] Cindy Lou Smith & Dan Burkhart 21] Sarah & Jay Lemon 22] Kathy & Jay Schmidt 23] Liz Harding & Harold Schlotzhauer 24] Gene Onacko Jr. & Natalia Gradzka 23

BE GREAT Ball

Boys & Girls Clubs of Yellowstone County 25] Mayor Tom Hanel & Robin Hanel & Chris Dorr

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SEEN SCENE AT THE

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Spring Fling

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Relay for Life of Yellowstone County 26] Andrea Gardea & Sarah Dennis 27] Danielle Hughes, Harmony Jantz, Abbey Wink, Linda Franks & Rhonda Rigdon 28] Amanda Reinke & Katie Cline Ellis 29] Kay & Pete Hansen 30] Meadow Nilles, Stephen Haraden & Breeze Plumb 31] Marcie Nelson, Teresa Abfalder, Lani Hein & Angie Tidswell

A Wild Affair

ZooMontana 32] Jessi Sawicki, Sarah Harris & Annie Burns

EggstravaganZOO 33

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ZooMontana 33] Teagan & Devlin Sahli

Billings West Rotary Annual Fundraiser Auction

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34] Carol & Mike Burton 35] Greg & Vicki Glueckert 36] Shane & Jen Linse 37] Stacie & BJ Shaw 38] Vicki Tilleman & Wendy Pirami

Photo Credits: Alberta Bair Theater/Jody Grant; Brewer Dental Center/Ashley Bragg; Yellowstone Art Museum/Dixie Yelvington; Brett Maas; Miranda Murdock Photography; Kristen Stroebel & Jimmy Critelli

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 109

Montana Renaissance Festival ZooMontana | June 4-5 Over the course of two days, Billingshire and its knights, lords, ladies, fairies and other magical characters come to life. Explore the Sensory Gardens or sit back and watch the jousting tournaments and sword swallowers. Sixteenth century European history buffs are sure to delight at the region’s only festival of its kind.

MAY Exhibition is ongoing: Boundless Visions: Selections from the Permanent Collection Yellowstone Art Museum artmuseum.org Thru May 29 360° Skateboard Design Competition and Exhibition Yellowstone Art Museum artmuseum.org Thru July 3 Exhibit: Harold Schlotzhauer: The Shape of Motion Yellowstone Art Museum artmuseum.org Thru August 21 Exhibit: The Falcon’s Eye: Nature Photographs by Michael Sample Yellowstone Art Museum artmuseum.org

May 6-21 Desperate Measures Billings Studio Theatre billingsstudiotheatre.com May 6-7 Classic Car Auction Expo Center at MetraPark metrapark.com Mothers of Multiples Garage Sale Montana Pavilion at MetraPark metrapark.com May 6 ArtWalk Downtown Billings artwalkbillings.com Jam at the YAM Yellowstone Art Museum artmuseum.org

110 I MAY/JUNE 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

Princess Day at ZooMontana ZooMontana zoomontana.org May 7 Montana Women’s Run Downtown Billings downtownbillings.com Dollar Day Yellowstone Art Museum artmuseum.org May 8 Mother’s Day Open-House Tours Moss Mansion mossmansion.com May 9-14 MSUB Foundation Wine & Food Festival Various locations winefoodfestival. com

May 10 Atreyu Babcock Theatre 1111presents.com May 11 YAM Teens Yellowstone Art Museum artmuseum.org ZooTots ZooMontana zoomontana.org

May 12 Paint ‘n’ Sip with Emily Nell Yellow Bird Yellowstone Art Museum artmuseum.org Carrie Underwood in concert Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark metrapark.com May 14 McDonald Family Free Day Yellowstone Art Museum artmuseum.org Crow Agency’s Exhibition Reception Yellowstone Art Museum artmuseum.org Geraniumfest ZooMontana zoomontana.org Trunks & Treasures Tours Moss Mansion mossmansion.com

Bruise Fest Expo Center at MetraPark metrapark.com

June 8 ZooTots ZooMontana zoomontana.org

May 15 Nitro Circus MetraPark Grandstands nitrocircus.com

June 9 Alive After 5 Wild Ginger downtownbillings.com

May 18 International Museum Free Day Yellowstone Art Museum artmuseum.org May 19 High Noon Lecture Series Kid Gloves and Brass Knuckles: The Life of Nancy Cooper Russell Western Heritage Center ywhc.org Revelations of a Life in Motion: Gallery Talk

by Harold Schlotzhauer Yellowstone Art Museum artmuseum.org May 20 FAM at the YAM Yellowstone Art Museum artmuseum.org

June 11 Trunks & Treasures Tours Moss Mansion mossmansion.com Zoom MT – Car Show ZooMontana zoomontana.org Heritage Home Tour | May 21

Billings Wolves Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark billingswolves.com Heritage Home Tour Moss Mansion mossmansion.com Tyga Live in Concert Shrine Auditorium albedooshrine.org May 28-29 Montana Arabian Horse Show SuperBarn at MetraPark metrapark.com

Rock ‘N Relief: A fundraiser for Family Service Pub Station 1111presents.com MMA Fights Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark metrapark.com May 21 Hand-dyed Batik Kite Building with Terry Zee Lee and Drake Smith Yellowstone Art Museum artmuseum.org

May 29 Senior High Graduation Ceremony Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark metrapark.com West High Graduation Ceremony Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark metrapark.com

Skyview High Graduation Ceremony Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark metrapark.com

June 3 28th RiverStone Health Hospice Golf Tournament Laurel Golf Club riverstonehealth.org

Veterans and Armed Forces Free Day Yellowstone Art Museum artmuseum.org

June 4 28th Annual SpringFest Moss Mansion mossmansion.com

JUNE June 2 Alive After 5 Pub Station downtownbillings.com June 3-18 Becky’s New Car Billings Studio Theatre billingsstudiotheatre.com

June 4-5 Montana Renaissance Festival ZooMontana zoomontana.org June 5 30th Anniversary Free Day Moss Mansion mossmansion.com June 8-9 Carson & Barnes Circus Carnival Lot at MetraPark metrapark.com

Strawberry Festival Downtown Billings downtownbillings.com June 14 PintAid: P.E.A.K.S. Yellowstone Valley Brewing peaksbillings.com June 16 High Noon Lecture Series Houses of Ill Fame: A History of Prostitution in Billings, 1882-1940 Western Heritage Center ywhc.org Alive After 5 Commons 1882 downtownbillings.com June 17-19 Jurassic Quest Expo Center at MetraPark metrapark.com

Relay For Life of Yellowstone County Billings West High School Track | July 8 Everyone has some connection to cancer. Survivors, caregivers, friends and family can team up with the American Cancer Society to fundraise for the cure and honor the fight of their loved ones at Billings West High School. Take laps around a candlelit track overnight. Luminaria tribute bags line the course in remembrance of those who have battled cancer.

Go on your own or join a team at acsevents.org.

June 18 Billings Wolves Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark billingswolves.com Montana Truck Driving Championships Carnival Lot at MetraPark metrapark.com 37th Annual Heart & Sole Race St. Vincent Healthcare heartandsolerace.org

June 23 3rd Annual Cigar Dinner Moss Mansion mossmansion.com Alive After 5 CafĂŠ Italia downtownbillings.com June 24-26 Livestock Training Event Expo Center at MetraPark metrapark.com

June 25 Billings Wolves Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark billingswolves.com Yellowstone Highland Games ZooMontana zoomontana.org

July 7 Alive After 5 The Fieldhouse downtownbillings.com

July 9 Trunks & Treasures Tours Moss Mansion mossmansion.com July 13 ZooTots ZooMontana zoomontana.org

July 8-9 52nd Annual Homesteader Days Homesteader Park visitbillings.com

July 14 Alive After 5 Tiny’s Tavern downtownbillings.com

June 28 USAF Academy Band Alberta Bair Theater albertabairtheater.org

July 8 Relay for Life of Yellowstone County Billings West High School acsevents.org

Starts July 14 Exhibit: Echo: Unspoken Dialects Yellowstone Art Museum artmuseum.org

June 29 Boston in concert MetraPark metrapark.com

July 9-10 Summerfair Veterans Park artmuseum.org

June 26 Symphony in the Park Pioneer Park billingssymphony.com

June 30 Alive After 5 Pita Pit downtownbillings.com

112 I MAY/JUNE 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

JULY

July 15-17 Big Sky State Games Various locations, Billings bigskygames.org

July 16 Montana Brews & BBQs Chiesa Plaza at MetraPark metrapark.com All Original Car Show North Park billingsalloriginalcarshow.org July 17 Moss Mansion Day – Free Tours Moss Mansion mossmansion.com

July 21 Alive After 5 Walker’s American Grill & Tapas Bar downtownbillings.com High Noon Lecture Series Alcohol, Corsets & the Vote: A Conversation with Mary Long Alderson Western Heritage Center ywhc.org

July 18 Downtown Night at the Mustangs Dehler Park downtownbillings.com

July 22-31 You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown NOVA Center for the Performing Arts novabillings.org

July 21-23 Crazy Days Downtown Billings downtownbillings.com

July 25 Family Fun Day ZooMontana zoomontana.org

Summerfair | Veterans Park | July 9-10

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MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I MAY/JUNE 2016 I 113

BEGIN NOW | PHOTOGRAPHY BY L ARRY MAYER

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