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Announcing a hardcover book!

COV

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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 AND SAVE WITH FLAT-RATE SHIPPING 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 $6.95 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 $36.90 = $______ total Quantity: ___ x $29.95 = $______ total Payment method:  Check/Money Order  Visa  MasterCard  AmEx  Discover

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4 I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

Send form and payment to:

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FEATURES

OCT/NOV 2016

72

TRAILS THAT ROCK ON THE RIMS

BY MATT HOFFMAN

78

OHM SWEET OHM

BILLINGS EMBRACES THE MIND-BODY CONNECTION

BY TARA CADY

90

PLEASURE PRINCIPLES

PAMPERING BEYOND THE PREENING

BY RACHELLE LACY

84

FUN, FAMILY AND THE FUTURE

BY ROB ROGERS

97

THE NORTHERN PHOENIX selecteD

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BILLINGS LANDMARK HOTEL

BY DARRELL EHRLICK

Hop Into Fall Beer • Jeannette rankIn • pleasure prIncIples

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MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I 5

DEPARTMENTS

OCT/NOV 2016

RIVER TO RIMS

IN EVERY ISSUE

10

THE LIST

12

PERSON OF INTEREST

14

GIVING BACK

16

ARTIST LOFT

SEEN AT THE SCENE

18

ELEMENTS

110

20

MEDIA ROOM

8

FROM THE STAFF IN OTHER NEWS…

9

CONTRIBUTORS

107

DATEBOOK

FUN, FASCINATING FINDS

BILL SIMMONS

LIFTT

TYLER MURPHY

LABORS OF LOVE

BOOKS, MOVIES, MUSIC & WEB REVIEWS

114

LAST WORD

WHY MAGIC CITY?

SIGNATURE SECTION

FINE LIVING

WESTERN LIFE

22 33

GREAT ESTATES

37 44

EPICURE

50 56 62

LIBATIONS

TRAVELOGUE

THE ZIMMERMAN PLACE

GARDENS

CANNING ACROSS GENERATIONS

CHICO’S CHARM

HOP INTO FALL BEER

64

MT LEGENDS

JEANNETTE RANKIN

PHOTO JOURNAL

WILD, WILD HORSES

LIVING A GOLDEN LIFE

BY TARA CADY

QUINTESSENTIAL MONTANA CHICO HOT SPRINGS RESORT & DAY SPA

6 I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

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.

OCT/NOV 2016 I VOLUME 14 I ISSUE 4 MICHAEL GULLEDGE PUBLISHER 657-1225 EDITORIAL

tM

Why 0 Minutes 20 Matters to You

TARA CADY SENIOR EDITOR 657-1390 EVELYN NOENNIG COMMUNITY LIAISON / ASSISTANT EDITOR 657-1226 PHOTOGRAPHY/ VIDEOGRAPHY

LARRY MAYER, CASEY PAGE, HANNAH POTES, BOB ZELLAR, BRONTË WITTPENN AND TAILYR IRVINE DESIGN

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According to the textbook Comprehensive Aquatic Therapy by Drs. Bruce Becker and Andrew Cole, “immersion in warm water can lead to a faster and longer-lasting recovery. An environment which is less prone to cause pain, and is even pleasurable, makes immersion in warm water a unique healing environment.”

MOre tHan a HOt tuB More than home-improvement or entertainment, a hot tub is an investment in your health and well-being. Our owners say that they have more energy, sleep better, and can do more with their day. Plus, time spent together in the warm water can lead to better relationships outside the hot tub.

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD

MARCY BAUMGARTNER, BROOKE BUCHANAN, BILL COLE, CHRIS DORR, JAMEY EISENBARTH, JEFF EWELT, KIM KAISER, NICHOLE MEHLING MILES, PAIGE SPALDING, HELEN TOLLIVER, LIZ WILMOUTH, JEREMIAH YOUNG CONTACT US: Mail: 401 N. Broadway Billings, MT 59101 editor@magiccitymagazine.com FIND US ONLINE AT montanamagazines.com/magic

FIND US AT VARIOUS RACK LOCATIONS THROUGHOUT BILLINGS: Billings area Albertsons I Billings Airport I Billings Clinic Billings Gazette Communications I Billings HardwarevCurves 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 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2016 I 7

EVELYN NOENNIG,

IN OTHER NEWS...

BY THE STAFF OF MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE At almost any other time, we’d consider this edition a sort of commercial break — something to take your mind away from the main topic.

But commercials these days — during the heat of an election cycle — aren’t necessarily a break from anything. It’s hard to turn on the TV without seeing some kind of ominous political message.

You can’t even walk down the street without seeing ubiquitous yard signs.

The tone is shrill and the message often dark.

Heavy times as we head into the days of darkening light.

Voters seem already exhausted by the election. A Pew Research Poll conducted in late June revealed deep voter dissatisfaction. Forty-three percent of Democrats and 40 percent of Republicans said they’re dissatisfied with their choices for president.

Roughly the same percentage, according to that poll, say neither choice would make a good president.

And, it gets worse.

Almost half of the Democrats and more than half of the Republicans polled said their vote was more about voting against the other candidate rather than because they support their party’s nominee.

Still need more?

Less than one-in-four people younger than 30 said they’re satisfied with their choices for president — a low that hasn’t been seen for more than a decade.

So we’ve decided to take a commercial break of a different sort.

We’re tuning out. It’s not that we don’t care about the very important issues of this election. It’s just that we’re guessing you can find plenty on poli-

8 I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

tics, elections and candidates elsewhere.

Instead, we’re going in the opposite direction: How can you take care of yourself? What about feeling good? What about doing something that’s not related to politics or public policy?

As we’re busy and as rhetoric heats up, how do we make sure we’re taking care of ourselves and having fun together?

In this issue, there’s just one semi-related political theme, the very thoughtful column of John Clayton, who rethinks the legacy of one of Montana’s most notable politicians, Jeannette Rankin (page 50).

Meanwhile senior editor Tara Cady takes us to Chico Hot Springs, a favorite of so many Magic City residents. And yet, as she explores the historic spa and hotel, there’s elements of the unexpected.

It’s a twin-feature which doubles as our travel piece (page 64) and shares much-loved recipes from its famous kitchen in our Epicure section on page 37.

Kori Wood reminds us that happiness and relaxation can come in the form of the garden’s bounty on page 33. It can be derived from the pleasure of being self reliant, saving the food of the summer for the cold, bleak winter.

Rachelle Lacy reminds us that there are a lot of opportunities to pamper and take care of yourself — to experience a little magic right here in the Magic City on page 90. The challenge, of course, is to find the time to do it. But who knew there were so many options? Who knew they were so close?

So in this time of overheated rhetoric and full-volumed speeches, take time to turn it off and chill out.

Be good to yourself. Take care of others.

There.

There’s a message worth listening to.

executive assistant to the publisher and Billings native, continues to enjoy all that her hometown has to offer. She considers the opportunity to always run into someone she knows at the grocery store, downtown on the street or at one of the many wonderful events held throughout town one of the small blessings of living in the Magic City.

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.

CONTRIBUTORS

JOHN CLAYTON’s books include The Cowboy Girl: The Life of Caroline Lockhart, and, most recently, Stories from Montana’s Enduring Frontier. His new book Wonderlandscape, a cultural history of Yellowstone National Park, is due out from Pegasus Books next summer. You can learn more at johnclaytonbooks.com.

DARRELL EHRLICK

loves reading, writing, baseball, bourbon, cooking, Montana history, more books, bacon, old albums, cigars, cats (especially crossed-eye Siamese and black cats), his patient wife and his two children who are his real day job. He tends to have an opinion on everything, often being wrong but rarely in doubt. He works as the editor of The Billings Gazette and was born and raised in Billings. He’s written other things, few probably worth mentioning here.

MATT HOFFMAN

roams Montana landscapes as his increasingly-creaky Jetta allows. He’s written for newspapers in Billings, Butte and Wisconsin and attempted to teach high school math for a year in American Samoa. Having been in Montana for about 2.5 years, he’s looking forward to continuing to explore the Big Sky State.

RACHELLE LACY, a self-proclaimed feral woman, has been with The Billings Gazette for seven years. When she’s not immersed in the fittingly scattered newspaper setting, she can be found refusing to buy better beauty products, hovermothering her daughters, or in an isolation tank.

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.

JACI WEBB

fell in love with words and stories starting in second grade when her teacher banned her from recess one week, leaving her surrounded by books. Jaci has spent 30 years interviewing rock musicians, visual artists and actors for The Billings Gazette to give voice to their magic.

KORI WOOD‘s creativity flows through her in many ways – from hosting costume parties based on fictional favorites such as the Harry Potter series to wearing it on her sleeve in the form of watercolor tattoos. A complicated mix of two very different personalities, Wood has a soft spot for misunderstood female villains, modern abstract art and both pop and punk music.

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259-3624 MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 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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STRAIGHT SHOOTER

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PERSON OF INTEREST

BY DARRELL EHRLICK I PHOTO BY LARRY MAYER

The management team of MasterLube and employees from its store in downtown Billings, standing next to one of the “Walls of Fame.” Bill Simmons is in the back room, farthest to the right.

I ASK (OUR EMPLOYEES), HOW MANY OF YOU WHEN YOU WERE LITTLE KIDS WOULD PRAY EVERY NIGHT, ‘GOD, PLEASE SOMEDAY, LET ME CHANGE OIL IN PEOPLE’S CARS?’

BILL SIMMONS CHANGING LIVES BY CHANGING OIL Bill Simmons woke up one night in 1984, staring at the ceiling, his heart pounding.

“This is what I was meant to do,” he thought. “Change oil. This is what I’ve been put on earth to do. Lube and oil.”

It wasn’t a nightmare or terrifying — it was liberating, and it changed his life.

It changed his life because if it was what he was supposed to do, then he had to approach changing oil not just as a business, or something to do until something better else came along. It had to be his passion and singular focus.

That’s not how MasterLube was born — it had started three years before that. That’s just how MasterLube came to life.

For MasterLube’s customers, getting great service and oil change or car wash is a service. For Simmons, changing oil is a way of changing lives.

That transformation begins at training.

“I ask (our employees), how many of you when you were little kids would pray every night, ‘God, please someday, let me change oil in people’s cars?’ That’s always followed by a burst of laughter. It’s recognizing the obvious: No one comes

12 I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

to us with the intent of working forever at a lube center,” Simmons said.

It sounds funny, but that’s why the business has turned into a mission. Simmons and MasterLube hire with the expectation that their staff will leave — sometimes quickly.

The average time spent at a lube center is less than 100 days, Simmons pointed out.

“My goal is to help them become what they want to be,” Simmons said. “And when they leave — and they will leave, because they didn’t come here to stay in the first place — it’s so that they won’t be in an economic crisis.”

It’s not that MasterLube, Simmons or his employees believe they’re better, just different. And, it’s a model that might be used to do more than just change oil.

During the employee’s stint, sometimes spanning just weeks, Simmons and the MasterLube staff help them answer the question: Who do you want to be? And they teach employees lessons that go beyond the service bay.

“It has to have value in their home life,” Simmons said.

For example, employees learn about petroleum products, often knowing as much about the products as the sales reps who float in and out. They don’t teach the employees so they can wax conversational about the benefits of a synthetic blend. Simmons helps them realize this simple point: If you can become a master in a subject you may not care about — for example, oil — just imagine what you can learn

may not care about — for example, oil — just imagine what you can learn when you study your passion.

An employee wall in each of the MasterLube’s five area locations is a testament to employees who have found their passion and a founder who revels in their success. Simmons may be the only person who curates a public collection of former employees for customers to see. He routinely rejoices in his employees finding new careers.

“One of the other epiphanies I had was after I started, I realized that everyone was worth about three times what I could afford to pay them — at least,” Simmons said. “So that meant that in order to not take advantage of them, I had to do something to try and square up the deal. I had an obligation to help them discover that.”

Changing oil, Simmons said, is a means.

Changing lives is the end.

“Don’t get trapped into thinking the means is the end,” Simmons said.

And so sometimes the training means teaching that lesson in a tangible way — like having the group gather around the conference table while one of them lays on it, arms folded, eyes closed. The exercise is a mock funeral, and the point is to have people say what they would if it were real.

“We ask, ‘What would you want people to say about you?’ We want them to think about what would they need to read in order to see their life as good,” Simmons said. “Whatever they say, that’s what’s important.”

What’s important to Simmons aren’t just the photos on the wall, it’s their stories behind the smiling faces.

Like Hugo.

It started one night when Simmons drove past his West End store, formerly located on 24th Street West. He noticed a bunch of hoods in the parking lot, loitering, up to no good probably.

He pulled into the parking lot. His wife, Marilyn, asked him not to get out of the car.

They had just had a nice evening at the movies — you know, don’t ruin it. She probably also

knew it was a pointless request. “’Get a life. Get out of here. Get a job,’ I said,” Simmons remembers. “It was not my finest moment. It was not good.”

A young man appeared from the back of the crowd and replied, “I would get a job if I could find work.”

Still steamed, Simmons replied, “You have a job. Be here at 8 in the morning.”

And so Hugo with long hair, a trench coat, black gloves with the fingers cut out, and a black shirt arrived on time, just as Simmons had commanded.

For two years, Hugo was assigned to cleaning cars. Simmons just couldn’t put him out on the floor, close to customers. How could they trust this young man who looked more the part of a bandit than luber? Simmons often took him to coffee and lunch, reminding Hugo he would remain behind-the-scenes as long as he made customers feel as if they had to grab all the pennies from the cup holders in the car before they went to the lobby to wait.

Another time, Simmons drove Hugo down the street to a diner for coffee. He was fed up watching Hugo’s stubbornness stop him from capitalizing on his talent. Hugo looked the part of a punk. “’I can’t do it,’” Simmons said to him. “’You’re fired. I don’t ever want to see you again.’

I mean I really was worked up into a fever. I said that he couldn’t even go back and get his stuff and that I’d get it for him, but he was done. If he wasn’t going to make an effort at progress, then it was over. I got up and started to stomp out and he yelled out, ‘Bill, you can’t do this.’”

Hugo wouldn’t let Simmons forget about the promise he made to him — and by extension, to the other employees he hired.

Today, Hugo is a career Navy sailor, married with several children.

“The reality of what I have been trying to do is in his story,” Simmons said. “There’s something in people. It’s not me. ... He simply worked it through himself. He was ready to do it, he just had to work it out.”

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Please see PERSON OF INTEREST, Page 109

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I 13

GIVING BACK

BY TARA CADY | PHOTO BY BOB ZELLAR

LEADING THE WAY LIFTT ASSISTS MONTANANS WITH DISABILITIES IN DEFINING THEIR OPTIONS FOR OPTIMAL LIVING Driving self-determination‌

Executive director Tami Hoar and Brent Morris, peer transitions program manager, present the LIFTT mission statement.

F‌ or those with disabilities, much of the burden is placed on individuals and families in need, or federally-funded institutions whose running costs exceed the monetary - and personal - value of independent living.

But it’s not about the money; it’s about quality of life. Living Independently For Today and Tomorrow (LIFTT) is one of four independent living centers in Montana working to empower those with disabilities.

Tami Hoar, LIFTT’s executive director defines the true cost of institutional care.

“Every choice is made for you in institutional care,” she said. “Dignity and self-care are non-existent.”

Hoar leads the Southeastern Montana chapter of the national organization, aiming to support a large need in the Billings community and beyond. From legislative advocacy to education and peer mentorship, not one need goes unaddressed.

“We are cross-disability,” she explained. “It doesn’t matter if it’s new, temporary, chronic or genetic.”

LIFTT helps those who self-disclose their disability, meaning no medical records are required for services.

14 I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

Montana’s rural landscape can seem daunting for a resident requiring specialized care. That is why LIFTT functions as an “umbrella organization” to connect people to the services they need, even if that means driving across county lines to do so.

Brent Morris, LIFTT peer transitions coordinator, emphasizes that it’s all about “consumer choice.” “(Consumers) use self-determination to get what they want,” he said.

Whether that’s skills training for employment, assistance in filing a grievance or simply raising disability awareness, LIFTT fosters independent living skills in those who need it most.

Examples include asking city council for complete streets access, assessing ADA compliance at area businesses and teaching health management courses.

Advocates for all ages, LIFTT’s assistance also reaches the classroom.

“They have the right to ask for changes (to their education plan),” Hoar said of local youth living with disabilities. “They have the voice and right to be involved.”

Hoar’s team also educates parents, ensuring children are getting appropriate accommodations in school.

“The parents are the best advocates the youth have,” Morris added.

Morris says federal government funding is currently focusing on youth ages 14 and up, and LIFTT has partnered with the Montana Youth Transitions Program and the Montana Youth Leadership Forum to smooth the transition into adulthood for teens with disabilities.

Future planning‌ LIFTT’s transition services aim to divert people from institutional care or to transition those already inside institutions out into the community.

Self-advocacy training, job shadowing and life coaching are just three of the transition program’s components promoting independent living.

Teachers and health professionals, in addition to families, are also educated in order to build a network of support for today’s youth.

LIFTT earns its credibility with consumers – children included – by employing persons with disabilities on their team, creating a relatable relationship between the nonprofit agency and those in need.

“A person who has walked in those shoes is the best person to men-

tor,” Hoar said, referring specifically to LIFTT’s peer mentors.

Rapport is built through shared experiences, but Morris emphasizes peer support differs from counseling.

“We’re a supplement to other services,” explained Hoar. “We fill gaps for those who aren’t qualified for other services elsewhere.”

Aside from personal assistance services which require Medicaid eligibility, LIFTT’s programs are at no cost to consumers.

At its core‌

SUPPORTIVE SERVICES: Classes on various

topics Daily living training Budgeting skills Referrals Advocacy Peer mentoring Transition services Personal assistance services (Medicaid eligibility required)

Despite their central office being in Billings at 1201 Grand Ave. No. 1, a LIFTT-affiliated volunteer represents each county to connect consumers to services.

If a consumer is planning to move outside of the service area, Montana’s network of support eases the transition of care.

Recognized nationally for networking, weekly calls between the state’s independent living centers speak to Montana’s dedication to those with disabilities.

“Not every state covers all counties,” explained

Hoar. “And many centers don’t talk. (We) advocate LIFTT’s five core services are: information and retogether – united for funding – and all serve massive ferral; individual and systems advocacy; skills trainareas with unique challenges.” ing; peer mentoring; and transition services.

Morris agrees that Montana is leading the way toward excellence in Counties represented under the Southeastern Montana chapter include Yellowstone, Carbon, Big Horn, Stillwater, Golden Valley, Mus- service, and ultimately independent, fulfilling lives.

“Montana has it going for us in that we work together,” he said. selshell, Treasure, Rosebud, Powder River, Carter, Custer, Fallon, Prairie, Garfield, McCone, Richland, Dawson and Wibaux.

“Our voice is being heard in unison.”

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MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2016 I 15

ARTIST LOFT

I DON’T DESCRIBE MYSELF AS AN ARTIST, I USE THE WORD HOST. I LOVE PUTTING TOGETHER NEW PROJECTS, EVENTS, EXHIBITIONS.

BY KORI WOOD I PHOTOGRAPHY BY CASEY PAGE

TYLER MURPHY

BUILDING CONNECTIONS IN DOWNTOWN BILLINGS nities—a collective of friends, artists and people.

T‌ yler Murphy’s art is a study of familiar things.

“I don’t describe myself as an artist, I use the word A teepee. Corralling horses during a roundup.

It’s how Murphy treats them — the texture of the paint, the host. I love putting together new projects, events, exhibilight that hits differently enough to make you rethink the picture. tions,” he said.

Montana Gallery is Murphy’s second gallery. At 23, he “The trick is learning how to see,” Murphy said.

Splotches of paint blend together—blue turns to a vibrant purple, and the edges are stained with bright oranges and yellows. The spectrum of colors traces a history and highlights the shades and brushstrokes.

When the palette isn’t being used, it sits up in Murphy’s studio, a small loft above his downtown business, Montana Gallery, located at 2710 Montana Ave. Connected to Ebon Coffee Collective, Murphy’s space features a number of events including paint and sips, live music and workshops. The point of the gallery is to sell art, but Murphy also hopes to create a place that fosters commu-

16 I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

opened his first in Red Lodge and owned it for three years before relocating to Billings.

“More than anything I came from a family of entrepreneurs,” he said.

Business ingenuity may run in the family, but Murphy also comes from deep creative roots. His grandpa wrote poetry, his mother worked as a jeweler and both grandmas produced art.

Growing up in Joliet, Murphy gained a reputation as the class artist. Art shaped Murphy’s formative years. His grandma enrolled him in programs with Kevin Red Star, Elliot Eaton and Joyce Lee. These mentors rooted his in-

“It’s reflecting reality,” Murphy explains of his artwork. This is his oil painting, “The Rope Corral.” terest in artistic events and community building.

In mid-August, one of Murphy’s projects took him to Yellowstone River Lodge, just outside of Columbus. His work was featured in an installation along the Yellowstone River. A few days before the event, he traveled to the lodge and worked on an impromptu painting of a teepee. He made the brushstrokes and details look effortless. The piece, mostly completed in little more than an hour, illustrated that even at 26, Murphy’s talents place him well within the ranks of the most seasoned artists.

Murphy works with oil and canvas. He prefers the texture over acrylic

or watercolor.

“Oil holds its body—its textual form. I enjoy working with thick paint and what it can start to imply,” he clarified.

Murphy’s oeuvre captures pastoral Montana landscapes, sometimes centered on farm life, other times on people or quotidian objects. His work doesn’t necessarily highlight an emotion or an abstract idea. He simply brings attention to subjects he finds interesting.

“It’s reflecting reality,” he said, “But I think that life, although challenging, for the most part it’s a beautiful gift to be here on this earth and it’s worthwhile to reflect the good stuff in life in art. I try to be honest in what excites me and just pursue those passions. It can take me down lots of different rabbit holes.”

Murphy’s philosophy extends to life beyond his identity as an artist and business owner. The explorations take him in several directions and adventures from traveling around the country serving coffee to opening his space downtown.

“My hope is that the gallery will be a place where the creativity of the individual is celebrated, and that that will awaken in our visitors their own creativity, because we don’t need more mass production, we need humanity.”

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MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I 17

ELEMENTS

BY TARA CADY

LABORS OF LOVE

MADE-IN-MONTANA MUST-HAVES STATE SIPPERS

With 504 Square Feet’s Montana mug, everyone will know your heart is in the right place. Perfect for the office, parade into your next meeting equipped not only with ample caffeine but a cool piece of local art, too.

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LOCAL ILLUMINATION

Light the way to your midnight snack with an Agate Night Light – or two – by Creative Gifts. Made from real stone, plug it in near the door or next room and softly radiate Montana’s rustic charm while you wander the halls after dark.

Available at agatesouvenirs.com $20

AUTUMN AFLAME

Jump on the pumpkin hay wagon and fill your home with fall’s signature scent. The Pumpkin Roll Soy Candle by Soy Works Candle Company blends ginger, cloves, cinnamon and cream cheese with roasted pumpkin, leaving your home smelling like a fresh pie was just pulled out of the oven.

Available at soyworkscandles.com $19

18 I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

FALL FLAVORS

Treat yourself this season with Caramel Cookie Waffle’s fall dessert, the “Nuss Tart.” Pecans, almonds and hazelnuts intertwine with caramel, vanilla and rum for a grand-finale feel to your meal. Drizzled with chocolate on top, you can expect requests for seconds.

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MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I 19

MEDIA ROOM

BY TARA CADY

BOOK

MUSIC

BILLINGS FOOD: THE FLAVORFUL STORY OF MONTANA’S TRAILHEAD

LABOR OF LOVE You’re right to recognize the band Fruition.

The Alive After 5 2016 season opener hails from Portland but frequently stops in Billings to share their bluesy rock with the Magic City. A moving mix of pop, soul, bluegrass and rock, the quintet expands horizons even for the most musically inclined. Explore their latest album for a refreshing take on life and love.

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DVD

HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE No one understands second chances better than Ricky, a foster kid uprooted from the city for a new start in rural New Zealand. Follow along in this comedic spin on the life of hard knocks as Ricky navigates an unfamiliar landscape with an equally unfamiliar (and ill-tempered) foster uncle Hec. Available on Google Play

WEB ED

CLIO Explore local fare with food writer Stella Fong in this historical account of Billings’ distinguished restaurant scene. With emphasis on tradition and what makes Billings one-of-a-kind, no menu page goes unturned, or recipe overlooked. Fong uncovers not only how area chefs get their inspiration, but where such ingredients are grown on Montana’s farms.

Available at arcadiapublishing.com

20 I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

America becomes a virtual museum with one click – or tap – of the finger using Clio, a website and mobile application that uses GPS to track historical buildings, monuments, museums and other sites. Authored by experts in history, search for a map of your favorite locale for videos, photos and orations, or widen your scope for new educational trip opportunities.

Available at theclio.com

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FINE LIVING

GREAT ESTATES

The Zimmerman Place, as seen from the Rims below, has a panoramic view of Billings.

THE ZIMMERMAN PLACE

BY DARRELL EHRLICK

PHOTOGRAPHY BY LARRY MAYER & CASEY PAGE

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I 23

‌M

ost builders dabble in the angles and lines of modern design.

Andrew Newman revels in it, in his latest high-end luxury home, The Zimmerman Place, located just an eighth of a mile east of the famous trail atop the Rims.

You can’t miss it driving by, and once you’ve stood on the fourth level, the roof and wrap-around balcony which provides a panoramic view of Billings, you never want to leave.

While most builders try to incorporate some of the elements of modern design — horizontal windows, angular buildings, spartan plans — Newman decided to bring a true modern design to Billings, showcasing that Billings is urban and urbane enough to appreciate it. Moreover, his mission is to demonstrate that just because something is modern doesn’t mean it’s not inviting.

And, this home is built around guests and enjoying the tremendous view and comfort this rimtop estate provides.

Many houses can rightly be called “Prairie Modern” — homes that features some elements from a modern design, but always fold in some other style to soften the nearly sterile environment the angular design creates.

The Zimmerman Place started when Newman saw something others missed in many homes that had been on the market for nearly a decade. Some didn’t like them because their views of Billings below just weren’t quite sweeping enough. Other didn’t like them because they felt secluded, but not completely.

Newman decided to capitalize on the dual nature of the views. Looking out a bank of square windows in the ultra-modern kitchen, downtown is visible and the city opens up. Two rooms over in the master bedroom suite, the view is of facing Rims, part of the cove that makes up Zimmerman Trail. The lights of the city are obscured and the feel is secluded.

This modern classic also has the undisputed high point for a house in Billings. It’s already on top of the Rims, and the roof-level wraparound deck is four floors above the basement level, which is literally built into the bedrock. From that subterranean floor to the peak of the roof, it’s 52 feet, giving it the highest view in the Magic City.

Newman was so obsessed with making sure this was the right spot for his modern masterpiece that before turning the first spade of dirt, he rented a construction lift and took in the view from 30 feet above the ground.

Then he got some lawn chairs.

He saw sunrise. He checked it at noon. He brought his designer to take in a sunset.

Every room is designed to offer something new, something different.

Maybe nowhere is this more evident than the kitchen, a space used for gathering and entertaining.

24 I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

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Above: A main floor view from The Zimmerman Place’s deck. Zimmerman Trail can be seen in the lower right. Left: Three garages attach to The Zimmerman Place. Far left: An exterior view of The Zimmerman Place.

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MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I 25

“We wanted to say, ‘When you step into this kitchen to cook, it’s not just an amazing design, you mean business.’

You better be ready to cook.’”

The kitchen cabinetry is built in. Besides steamed vegetables would have a chef add the gas range and grill, built into a stainless those ingredients at different times so that steel island in the middle of the kitchen, the they all finish bite-perfect at the same time. only appliances visible are the wine cooler, An installation crew from Califorthe espresso machine and a bank of four nia came to supervise the cabinets which ovens. The dishwasher? Out of sight. The boast no hardware. All the doors and cabrefrigerator? You don’t even know it’s there inets have automatic soft-touch opening among the deep mocha color of the importand closing mechanisms. And all have ed Italian cabinetry. motion-activated LED lights and sensors CLINT SCHULTZ, LEAD DESIGNER That’s right, four ovens. which automatically turn on lights as the “We wanted to say, ‘When you step into doors open. There’s no light switches and this kitchen to cook, it’s not just an amazing design, you mean business.’ there’s no lightbulbs to be seen.

You better be ready to cook,’” said lead designer Clint Schultz.

“We wanted to make sure that this was something that you couldn’t Two of the ovens are convection. One oven is a combination convec- find in Billings,” Newman said. “And while it was something you tion microwave oven. The fourth oven in the bank is a programmable couldn’t find in Billings, it was something that you can have in Billings. steam oven that allows you to input the menu and it will tell you when Just because we’re here doesn’t mean we can’t bring in the best or do a to add the different elements. For example, a dinner of fish and rice with modern design.”

26 I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

Left: An espresso and coffee barista machine is part of the kitchen at The Zimmerman Place. Most of the appliances are built in cabinetry. The only ones that can be seen are the espresso machine, four built-in ovens and a wine cooler.

Opposite page: A view of the kitchen and dining area at The Zimmerman Place. The built-in cabinetry was imported from Italy.

The windows allow for an expansive view of Billings below the Rims. A door from the kitchen leads to one of the home’s decks.

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MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I 27

And maybe nowhere in the house is more modern than the white marble master bathroom. Clean, classic and imposing, with natural light coming through the opaque frosted pencil windows, it’s both private, secluded and bright. It’s not quite other-worldly; maybe closer to heavenly. A soaking tub lends a luxurious feel, a walkin, walk-out closet makes changing easy and the three-sided, full glass shower is something that just cannot be found in other places. It could be the heels clicking on the flooring, like in some museum, but the space is designed to impress.

Left: The modern shower design in the second bedroom suite at The Zimmerman Place features full-length windows in the shower that can be tinted for privacy and yet still offer spectacular vistas.

Above: The marble shower of the master bathroom at The Zimmerman Place is fully enclosed by glass.

28 I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

A lit soaking tub sits on a heated marble floor in the master bathroom. The opaque window pencil allows for both privacy and sunlight.

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MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I 29

“People don’t know they like this style until they see it.

And then they love it. People don’t know what they want until they see, but after they see it, they have to have it.”

ANDREW NEWMAN And yet, for all the marble in the master bathroom, for all the innovation in the kitchen, the focal point and jewel of the house is a top-to-bottom, four-story bannister stretching from the basement to the roof with stained wood ballusters. The wood is Douglas-fir with a dark walnut stain to match other wood in the house, like the cabinetry in the kitchen or light fixtures in the wet bar.

In fact, it’s such a focal point that large two-level windows at the front of the house showcase the woodwork, and special lighting can be turned on to highlight the wooden masterpiece and darken the rest of the house, calling attention to it. It’s not the steel and glass you might expect from the modern experience. It’s something warmer, more earthy.

More Montanan.

“People don’t know they like this style until they see it,” Newman said. “And then they love it. People don’t know what they want until they see, but after they see it, they have to have it.”

Top: The ballusters that line the four-floor, stained Douglas-fir staircase run from the top floor to the ground level. Right: The study in The Zimmerman Place features sweeping views of the Rims and Billings below. Far right: The lower level living room of The Zimmerman Place provides extra space for gathering.

30 I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

Auto Home Business Life Medicare Long Term Care Farm & Ranch Financial Services

Roger L Daniel Insurance 2047 Broadwater 406-252-3411 rdaniel@farmersagent.com MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I 31

We Can Handle It. People know Freyenhagen Construction for the quality of work we do, but that’s just the beginning. We believe in making the process as easy as possible for our customers by offering everything you need, all in one place. In our newly-expanded showroom, our design team gives you the convenience of creating your new space and selecting everything from flooring to finishes. Plus, we handle the entire construction process, eliminating worry and giving you an exceptional experience from start to finish.

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FINE LIVING

Canning Across Generations A FALL TRADITION

BY KORI WOOD

COURTESY PHOTO

‌ e satisfaction of opening a jar is what keeps the practice of canning Th alive. Canners derive pleasure in the taste and smell of their products.

“I made that,” they say. For a canner there’s nothing like hearing that first lid pop—the sound of a fall ritual coming to a successful close.

“When the lids suck down and I hear that first ping, I clap and shout, ‘Hooray!’ I want the rest of them to pop so I cheer them on,” longtime canner Christie Nolen says.

Nolen cans salsa and names each jar. She saves the lids of ones she deems especially creative. For Nolen, every name illustrates the character of each batch of salsa. A jar labeled “Hot Stuff ” signifies the heat of one batch while “Sassy Salsa” might indicate a blend of spices that worked well.

Nolen taught herself how to can salsa from The Joy of Cooking, a book passed down from her grandmother. Now she’s entrusting her knowledge to her daughter, Anna.

As far as canning goes, Nolen typically sticks to salsa, but this year she and Anna canned pickles.

“I’ve always wanted to can with her. It’s a good experience. I use my mind and my body. It’s good exercise,” she said.

34 I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

Nolen gifts her salsa to family and friends. She grows her own peppers that range from red hot to a mild yellow, experimenting with a variety of flavors, textures and heats. Her salsa is famous among family and friends, not to mention her husband’s co-workers. Beyond the prestige, Nolen also enjoys the social aspect of canning.

“You start talking to someone and canning comes up and they get excited about it,” she said.

This year’s pickle recipe came from a 94-year-old man named Leo. Nolen bonded with him over canning. Leo’s family spent decades improving their pickle recipe, “Gramp’s Dills.” The devotion Leo’s relatives put into the recipe is best illustrated by a note jotted down on the bottom of the recipe, which tracks the adjustments made over the years.

“I hope it works because Anna and I have a lot of pickles to eat,” Nolen said.

Many families have their own variations of “Gramp’s Dills.” For some canners, that’s what it’s all about. Recipes passed down through generations is part of the allure. For Billings resident and canning enthusiast Chandra West, her grandmother’s recipes tap into her family history.

“This is something my mom did. My grandma did it.

I’m using her recipes. They are stained and almost unreadable, but they belonged to them. It’s something that is part of your dialogue as a family,” West said.

West’s daughter Alli learned to can from her grandmother. Their food of choice—pickles.

Over time, Alli developed award-winning pickle recipes.

“Alli started turning them into the fair.

She competed against a lot of older ladies and she started winning ribbons for Best in Show.

Anyone who knows us knows the pickles,” West said.

Alli can credit picking dill and canning pickles with her grandmother for her success.

These types of memories are invaluable to canners. Many remember their mothers or grandmothers working in the kitchen, methodically dicing and cutting fruits, vegetables and even meat in preparation for a long day of canning.

Billings resident Dori Kimball remembers her mother canning plums from the trees in their yard, and using panty hose to strain the juice.

“I cheat and buy the juice, but she used old panty hoses as strainers. She would start at the top and squeeze the juice through. That’s much too hard for me,” Kimball laughed.

When her mother passed away Kimball learned to can from her sister, Tika. In the summer and fall seasons, the two sisters bought fruit in bulk and stayed up through the night canning.

“These days I pace myself,” Kimball said.

The Kimballs have a large storage room with jars stacked in boxes. It used to be a year supply but now that the kids are grown it lasts a lot longer. Raising eight kids, Kimball’s lifelong hobby became a vital skill for saving money and bringing the family together for dinners.

“It’s been a part of many delicious meals over the years,” Kimball’s daughter Naomi said, “Her canned chicken is so much better than storebought. I can’t eat

store-bought canned chicken. My mom’s is much more flavorful.”

Although she’ll drop by to take some canned peaches or the occasional cucumber home from her mother’s garden, Naomi isn’t interested in canning. None of Kimball’s children want to continue the tradition.

“When I die, all this goes away. My kids aren’t interested in learning. This is a generation of instant gratification. They want to open a packaged food and eat it right away. They don’t want to go through the process of growing their own food and then washing it and going through the long process of canning it,” Kimball said.

“You can guilt me into a lot of things, but this isn’t one of them,” her daughter laughed.

“I’m not trying to,” Kimball said, “I’m not singling you out. It’s your generation.”

Kimball feels Naomi’s lackluster attitude towards canning is typical of her age, but as more millennials and Gen-Xers start families, food has taken center stage among national debates.

Bernie Mason, a former MSU Home Extension and Consumer Science Agent of 25 years is an expert on food preservation. Her perspective on food trends is different than Kimball’s.

“There are a lot of young people who are getting into food preservation and gardening.

More families are interested in where their food comes from. They choose food preservation and gardening because they feel more in control of what they are giving their kids,” she said.

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MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I 35

Chandra West’s family falls into the canning-for-health category. Her family includes children ranging from ages six to 18. West’s grandmother, mom and even her daughter all started canning in their youth, but she didn’t get into it until five years ago, when she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease triggered by food sensitivities.

“I’m not someone you would think is fanatical about it. But when I found out I had celiac I became more aware of what I need to eat to feel better and what I need to feed my kids so they stay healthy. When I’m canning, I know what goes into it,” she said.

West cans everything from pizza sauce to jellies and jams. She feels in control of her health when she knows what goes into her food. Her children can’t eat store-bought canned food anymore.

When Alli packed for her first year of college, she made sure to bring her own pickles and jams, the ones developed from the recipes she created with her grandma. Along with the jars, Alli carries the memories of her grandmother, too.

West’s family illustrates a growing shift from McDonald’s convenience to organic, farm-to-table fare, and highlights the general population’s growing concern over where their food is coming from.

With the changing landscape towards fresh food, preservation isn’t far behind. Canning is the solution to eating fresh throughout the year. Health is one of the many benefits, but for many canners that’s not the main reason they do it. It’s about creating memories and carrying on traditions.

“When my grandmother died it wasn’t ‘Who gets her furniture?’ It was ‘Who gets her recipes?’ There’s a true connection to family,” West said.

36 I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

“This is something my mom did. My grandma did it. I’m using her recipes. They are stained and almost unreadable, but they belonged to them. It’s something that is part of your dialogue as a family.”

CHANDRA WEST

FINE LIVING

EPICURE

Chico’s DELECTABLE DISHES & DESSERTS

BY TARA CADY | PHOTOS BY HANNAH POTES At Chico Hot Springs Resort and Day Spa, delicious comes naturally.

The spring’s geothermal waters supply vegetables, herbs and fruits harvested in Chico’s gardens with ample nutrients, aided by a vertical growing process, maximizing the crops.

Picked fresh daily, chefs transform these ingredients into works of art, best experienced by taking a bite – or two – at Chico’s rustic dining room.

The legacy that is their gourmet menu lives on in the next several pages, offering up original recipes for your inner chef to explore in the comfort of your own kitchen.

PHOTO COURTESY OF LONEMAN PHOTOGRAPHY

Pan-Seared Scallops with Curry Sauce over Moroccan Salsa Arriving fresh from the East Coast, Chico’s sea scallops are effortlessly arranged with a medley of dried apricot, bell peppers, onions and olives. The variety of color on the plate speaks to the beautiful blending of flavors experienced in each bite.

CURRY SAUCE

INGREDIENTS: 1 T. sesame oil 3 shallots, sliced thin 2 T. green curry paste 1 c. white wine ¼ c. lime juice 2 cans unsweetened coconut milk 1 can Coco Lopez sweetened coconut milk DIRECTIONS: In a sauce pot, add oil, shallots and curry paste and cook on medium heat until the paste starts to brown. Deglaze with wine and lime juice until reduced by half. Add both coconut milks to the pan and reduce by half again. Once all reduced, store in an appropriate container and make sure to label and date the sauce.

YIELD: 4 CUPS

MOROCCAN SALSA

INGREDIENTS: 1 c. dried apricots, julienned ½ red onion, diced small 4 green onions, thinly sliced 1 red pepper, diced small 1 c. black olives DIRECTIONS: In a mixing bowl, add all ingredients and mix thoroughly. Once mixed, place in an appropriate container and make sure to label and date the salsa.

YIELD: 1 BATCH

SCALLOPS

INGREDIENTS: 12u/10scallops ½ c. dried apricot, julienned 1 red bell pepper ½ red onion, julienned 7 green onion, julienned ½ c. black olives DIRECTIONS: Set scallops atop super-hot pan (close to 180 degrees). When golden brown on top, remove scallops from the pan and onto another, allowing a paper towel to soak in grease. Add curry to plate, then mixture of dried apricot, red bell pepper, red and green onion and black olives with Moroccan salsa in separate piles. Place one scallop on each grouping.

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Gorgonzola Filet Mignon Montana is famous for its beef, and Chico uses the finest cuts for its menu. The combination of herbs in this recipe brings out the natural, earthy flavors of the most tender meat.

A similar recipe can be found in A Montana Table: Recipes from Chico Hot Springs Resort.

PORT WINE SAUCE

INGREDIENTS: 1½ c. port wine 1 c. sweet vermouth ¼ c. sugar DIRECTIONS: Combine ingredients in a small saucepan. Reduce over medium heat until the mixture forms a syrup (about 30 minutes). If it coats a spoon, the sauce is done.

FILET MIGNON

INGREDIENTS: ¼ c. fennel seeds ¼ c. whole coriander seeds 1 t. salt 1 t. black pepper

4 8-oz. beef tenderloin steaks Port Wine Sauce ¼ c. Gorgonzola cheese (for garnish)

DIRECTIONS: In a spice grinder or blender, pulse fennel, coriander seeds, salt and pepper until coarsely ground. Roll outer edge of each steak in herbs to form a crust; do not encrust cut ends. Grill each steak to desired temperature.

Ladle warm Port Wine Sauce onto individual serving plates making a small pool slightly larger than the steaks; set the steaks on top of the sauce.

Garnish each steak with equally divided Gorgonzola cheese and serve!

SERVES 4

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MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I 39

Trout Almondine New to Chico in 2015, locally-sourced trout from the Yellowstone River enters the finedining scene equipped with natural Montana flavors and accented with toasted almonds and roasted potatoes.

INGREDIENTS: 8 fillets of trout, skin on 2 c. panko 1 c. almonds 4 c. clarified butter

15 fingerling potatoes, pre-roasted 1 head of kale, chopped 5 T. garlic, chopped ¾ c. white wine

DIRECTIONS: Combine panko and almonds in pan for crust. In a sauté pan, add 1 cup of clarified butter on medium heat. Take two fillets of trout and place meat side down on the crust mixture. Cook until almonds are toasted and brown. Remove from the pan and set aside.

In the same pan used to cook the trout, add five roasted potatoes and heat through. Add a handful of kale and garlic, cooking it in and then adding 1/4 cup of wine. This will help wilt the kale and should only take 30 seconds.

Place the potato mixture in the middle of your plate and then the two fillets of trout—enjoy!

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Montana Mud Pie In the restaurant, Chico uses Wilcoxson’s Ice Cream, a Livingston staple for more than 100 years. For an extra rich version of this delicious dessert, use their specialty flavor, Moose Tracks—vanilla ice cream swirled with semisweet chocolate and mixed with miniature chocolatecovered peanut butter cups. Substitute Moose Tracks for your favorite flavor for each of the layers in this recipe.

This recipe can be found in A Montana Table: Recipes from Chico Hot Springs Resort.

INGREDIENTS: 4 c. chocolate creamfilled chocolate cookies (e.g., Oreos) 5 T. unsalted butter 1 c. crushed toffee 3 c. vanilla ice cream

3 c. coffee ice cream, slightly softened 1 ½ c. heavy whipping cream 1 lb. semisweet chocolate squares

DIRECTIONS: Crust: Lightly spray a 10-inch pie plate (preferably glass) with cooking spray. (A 10-inch springform pan with removable bottom will be fine, too.) Combine 3 cups of crushed cookie crumbs with the melted butter and press into bottom and sides of pie plate to form the crust. Place in freezer until firm, at least 1 hour.

Filling: Create your first layer by placing the slightly soft coffee ice cream into a mixer fitted with a dough hook and mix until smooth, but not runny. Or mix by hand until the ice cream is the consistency of a very thick milkshake.

Remove crust from freezer and spread ice cream onto the crust.

Take remaining 1 cup cookie crumbs and combine with the crushed toffee. Reserve a handful for later and spread remaining mix on top of the coffee ice cream. Place pie back into freezer until very firm, at least 1 hour. Repeat with vanilla ice cream and place back into the freezer again until very firm, at least 1 hour.

Chocolate ganache topping: Heat the heavy cream until just boiling and add semisweet chocolate. Remove from heat. Let stand 2 minutes, then stir until smooth. Take pie from freezer and spread ganache over ice cream. Sprinkle your reserved handful of cookie and toffee mixture around the rim of pie. Place pie into freezer for 2 hours before serving.

Remove pie from freezer 10 minutes before slicing to serve.

SERVES 8 TO 10

Almond Joy An old favorite also known as the Coconut Almond Tart, this is always featured on Chico’s dessert cart. Inspired by the Almond Joy candy bar, it is a delectable combination of dark chocolate and coconut combined in a toasted almond crust.

This recipe can be found in A Montana Table: Recipes from Chico Hot Springs Resort.

CRUST:

INGREDIENTS: 1½ c. toasted almonds ¼ c. brown sugar, lightly packed 4 T. unsalted butter, melted

FILLING:

INGREDIENTS: ½ c. canned Coco Lopez coconut cream 3 oz. white chocolate, chopped ¼ c. sour cream 4 T. unsalted butter, cut into pieces at room temperature 1¼ c. shredded sweetened coconut, lightly packed

TOPPING:

INGREDIENTS: ¼ c. heavy whipping cream 3 T. unsalted butter 2 T. light corn syrup 4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped 2 oz. white chocolate, chopped and melted in double boiler

42 I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

DIRECTIONS: Prepare oven to 350-degrees. Coarsely chop almonds in a food processor or blender. Add sugar and melted butter. Process the mixture until finely chopped. Using plastic wrap as an aid, press mixture into the bottom and along the sides of a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Bake 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and let it cool.

DIRECTIONS: Bring coconut cream to boil in a heavy saucepan. Reduce heat to low. Add white chocolate and stir until it is melted. Pour mixture into a medium bowl.

Whisk in sour cream. Add butter and whisk until it melts into batter and the batter is a smooth consistency. Stir in shredded coconut. Chill until filling is very cold, but not set, about 1 hour. Spoon filling into crust, smooth top.

Chill until set.

DIRECTIONS: In a heavy saucepan, combine whipping cream, butter and corn syrup and bring to a low boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to low. Add bittersweet chocolate and stir until melted. Pour over tart, covering filling. Spread topping with back of spoon to cover evenly. Spoon melted white chocolate into pastry bag fitted with small tip. Pipe in parallel vertical lines over topping, spacing evenly. With a skewer or toothpick drag the lines to form a decorative pattern in the chocolate. Chill and serve.

SERVES 12

Flaming Orange Served since the late 1970s, this dramatic dessert is an original recipe from Chef Larry Edwards. It is a creative combination of whimsy and wild, the childhood experience of a Creamsicle partnered with fascination for fire.

This recipe can be found in A Montana Table: Recipes from Chico Hot Springs Resort.

INGREDIENTS: 8 large oranges 10 oz. bittersweet chocolate Filling: 4 c. high-quality ice-cream (e.g., Wilcoxson’s) ½ oz. Grand Marnier ½ oz. Triple Sec ½ oz. vodka ½ c. sour cream 1 oz. frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed Merengue topping: 4 egg whites, room temperature ¼ t. cream of tartar ¾ c. sugar ¼ t. almond extract

DIRECTIONS: Cut the tops and bottoms from the oranges, making the top cut a little wider than the bottom. Hollow out each orange by running a grapefruit spoon halfway between the skin and the pulp on the top. Repeat this step on the bottom of each orange, then carefully push out the pulp. The inside of the orange should be clean of any pulp.

Melt bittersweet chocolate in a double boiler. Replace a pulp-free slice of orange end on the bottom of orange shell, creating a plug for the hollow rind. Line the inside of the orange with the melted chocolate using a soup spoon to smear it until all the white is covered. Repeat with remaining 7 oranges. Place oranges in the freezer at least until chocolate has hardened.

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FINE LIVING

LIBATIONS

HFALLOPBEER INTO

BY JACI WEBB

Levi Bequette, left, and Cole Whitmoyer of High Plains Brewing in Laurel hold pints of their beer.

CASEY PAGE/GAZETTE STAFF

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I 45

Y

ou don’t have to own a pair of lederhosen to enjoy a crisp, clean fall lager.

As nights grow longer and colder, craft brewers are tapping kegs of maltier bock beer and ales with a hint of pumpkin or squash. If you haven’t embraced the craft beer scene on the rise in every corner of Montana, fall may be a good time to jump in.

Montana boasts 65 craft breweries from Beaver Creek Brewing in tiny Wibaux on the Montana North Dakota border to beer cities like Billings, where there are seven craft breweries.

Yet there are still folks who come in almost daily to High Plains Brewing in Laurel getting their first taste of a craft beer.

“We have craft beer virgins most days,” said brewer Cole Whitmoyer. “I tell them to be open minded.

Don’t go for the heaviest, darkest thing or the hoppiest beer.”

Owner/brewer Mike Uhrich, A good starter beer is the traditional fall Oktoof Carter’s Brewing, shows berfest lager because it is crisp, clean, not too-hoppy off his German lager and has a rich maltiness. And it pairs nicely with Carterfest, which should be available through October. tail-gating favorites – brats.

JACI WEBB/GAZETTE STAFF Oktoberfest beers are generally brewed in early summer and they are allowed to ferment longer for a cleaner flavor, said Mike Uhrich of Carter’s Brewing fermented sugar,” said founder/brewer Travis Peterson. “It’s just a nice in Billings.

“It’s a transitional beer between the long days of summer and clean Oktoberfest lager. We’ll call it Squashtoberfest.”

The squash is grown at Peterson’s parents’ farm. Two hundred creeping into winter,” Uhrich said. pounds of squash were harvested last year and roasted for an hour and Neptune Brewing in Livingston offers classes for beer drinkers to learn more about what they’re drinking or how it’s brewed. Owner/ a half before the butternut squash was added to the mash.

Beer drinkers should pay attention to two numbers when it comes brewer Jon Berens is teaching a class on the trend of barrel-aging beer to sampling craft beer – the ABV, which stands for alcohol by volume, later this year.

“We get people in here pretty much every day who look kind of and the IBU, which stands for international bitterness units.

If you’re used to drinking Budweiser, which is an American lager, scared and they say, ‘Oh we don’t drink that stuff.’ The problem is these the ABV is 5 percent and the IBU is 7 percent. Craft beer, depending people don’t know what to go with,” Berens said. on its style, generally starts around 4 percent ABV and runs as Neptune’s Oktoberfest beer features 120 pounds of pumpkin and high as 8 or 9 percent. One trend for craft beer is session pumpkin pie spices, but don’t expect the pumpkin flabeer with plenty of flavor but a lower alcohol content vor to overwhelm. Berens promises it’s subtle. so beer drinkers can drink two or three pints withMeadowlark Brewing in Sidney is also lookout feeling out of control. Session beers measure ing at adding butternut squash to its Oktoaround 3-4 percent ABV. berfest lager.

Likewise, the Oktoberfest brews are low“We use the squash as a source for

46 I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

er in alcohol than IPA beers, which are generally 6 or 7 percent ABV, and they are

Mark Clark harvests a backyard crop of hops, a prime ingredient of beer, from his deck in Billings.

GAZETTE STAFF‌

lower on the bitterness scale, which ranges from 1 to 100.

The IBU measures the amount of isomerized alpha acids in beer. The earlier you add the hops, the more bitter the beer becomes. Brewers usually add more hops at the end of the boil to give the beer more flavor and aroma.

New fall beers are celebrated throughout the world, dating back to 1810 when the Oktoberfest tradition began in Munich as the Crown Prince’s wedding was celebrated with a special new Oktoberfest lager and a 16-day party.

“We make 15 barrels of it every year and when it’s gone, it’s gone.

At High Plains Brewing, Bocktober-

fest, named for the maltier bock-style beer, makes its debut in mid-Sep- Everybody knows it’s a once-a-year beer and they come looking for it,” tember and on Oct. 12, the Laurel brewery hosts a neighborhood party Uhrich said.

With a bit of knowledge about the different styles of fall beer, it’s

featuring an “oompah band” and German food.

Carter’s Brewing celebrated tapping its Carterfest beer on Sept. 3, the time to do some taste-testing. Here are six fall beers from Montana 10th anniversary Oktoberfest party at the Montana Avenue brewery.

craft breweries to try out:

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MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2016 I 47

FALL BREWS 1. Carterfest at Carter’s Brewing, Billings German lager with a crisp, clean flavor featuring a bready malt character, according to Mike Uhrich, owner/brewer at Carter’s.

4

ABV: 5.5 percent IBU: 25

2. Neptune’s Oktoberfest, Neptune Brewing, Livingston

JACI WEBB/GAZETTE STAFF

Classic nut brown ale with pumpkin and spices added to the mash to give it a nice, mellow flavor. “You get a hint of pumpkin, but it’s not overwhelming,” said brewer/owner Jon Berens.

1

ABV: 7.5 percent IBU: 12

3. ZachKoberfest, Angry Hanks, Billings A traditional German Oktoberfest lager beer, using malt and hops imported from Germany.

The flavor is malt, malt, malt. Beautiful orange hue in color with very low bitterness. Named for assistant brewer Zach Kober, who always says, “I never get credit for anything.”

ABV: 5.8 percent IBU: 20

2

4. Bocktoberfest, High Plains Brewing, Laurel Lager style beer that’s easy drinking with a light profile but with a malty flavor to it. It’s not too hoppy or too sweet.

ABV: 6 percent IBU: 18-20

5. Squashtoberfest, Meadowlark Brewing, Sidney.

Lager beer with butternut squash added to it. It’s a clean Oktoberfest lager featuring 200 pounds homegrown squash, said founder/brewer Travis Peterson.

6

5

ABV: 6.6 percent IBU: 20

6. Fender Bender Blackberry Amber, Busted Knuckle Brewing, Glasgow An amber beer with blackberry flavoring added to it. It’s easy drinking with a light alcohol content, said owner/brewer Ben Boreson.

3

“The northeast corner up here is different in taste. People like the lighter beers with less alcohol.”

COURTESY PHOTOS

ABV: 5.2 percent IBU: 23

48 I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

COURTESY OF LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

FEMINIST, PACIFIST, POLITICIAN THE CONFLICTED LEGACY OF JEANNETTE RANKIN

M

BY JOHN CLAYTON

ontanans are rightly proud of the legacy of Representative Jeannette Rankin, who was first elected 100 years ago this fall the first female in Congress. In our rush to admire the qualities of this uniquely principled trailblazer, we rarely acknowledge the tension inherent in her story.

Rankin was both a feminist and a pacifist—and those two causes didn’t always mesh.

The first woman ever elected to national office, Rankin served two terms as a Montana representative in the U.S. House. Elected once in 1916 and again in 1940, she ended up serving during two historically consequential votes.

Today she is perhaps best known as the only member of Congress to vote against both World War I and II. Yet Rankin didn’t want events to turn out that way.

She set out to bring women suff rage.

“If I am remembered for no other act,” she told the Montana Constitutional Convention in 1972, “I want to be remembered as the only woman who ever voted to give women the right to vote.”

COURTESY OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

A 2004 portrait by Sharon Sprung shows Rankin early in her political career.

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I 51

COURTESY OF LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Jeannette Rankin ran as a suffragist Republican, pledging to fight for a Constitutional amendment to give the franchise to women nationwide, while also working on other social welfare issues.

I WANT TO STAND BY MY COUNTRY, BUT I CANNOT VOTE FOR WAR. I VOTE NO.

Rankin was born near Missoula in 1880 to a relatively wealthy family. After college she trained as a social worker, and while working in Washington state became involved in the suff rage movement.

Before women achieved the right to vote nationally, they achieved suff rage in several individual states, including Washington in 1910 and Montana in 1914. As a lobbyist, speaker and organizer, Rankin contributed to both those victories.

In 1916, she decided to run for Congress. The pool of Montana voters had doubled; she had all that organizing experience; her brother Wellington had become a wealthy political power broker who wanted to fi nance her campaign. She ran as a suff ragist Republican, pledging to fight for a Constitutional amendment to give the franchise to women nationwide, while also working on other social welfare issues. She didn’t hide her opposition to the already-raging European war, but it wasn’t much of an issue. In the same election, Democratic President Woodrow Wilson won a second term on the slogan, “He kept us out of war.”

Rankin campaigned hard, traveled everywhere, met everyone. The Election Day tally was close, and she went to bed that night thinking she had lost. But buoyed by female voters in rural eastern Montana, she won one of two at-large seats—and was suddenly one of the most famous women in the country, the first female anywhere elected to a national legislative body.

When she was sworn in on April 2, 1917, the applause in the House chamber continued until she rose twice to bow.

But world politics had changed in the five months since the election. Th roughout the Atlantic Ocean, German submarines were attacking ships regardless of nationality. Four days later Wilson called a special session, asking Congress to declare war on Germany and thus “make the world safe for democracy.”

How should Rankin vote? Some believed she should take the “manly” stance for war, to strengthen the suff ragist cause by showing that women would not vote differently than men. Or perhaps her vote should account for the interests of Montana’s mining companies, including the powerful Anaconda Copper company, which would profit from munitions. On the other hand, it was not clear that Montana’s voters, half of whom were foreign-born, really wanted to jump into Europe’s war. (The mail she later received suggested not.) In the end she voted her conscience.

“I want to stand by my country, but I cannot vote for war,” she told the House. “I vote no.”

She was joined by 49 other Representatives, and six Senators. But all those others were men. As a woman, Rankin bore the brunt of criticism that she represented the weakness and failure of her gender.

It was a turning point in her service, after not even a full week.

Later in her term, Rankin opened the debate, and voted affirmatively, on a Constitutional amendment for women’s suff rage. “How shall we answer the challenge, gentlemen?” she asked. “How shall we

COURTESY OF LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

By 1940, with Europe again consumed in war, she saw growing Montana support for her anti-war stance, and decided to run again for office.

explain to them the meaning of democracy if the same Congress that voted to make the world safe for democracy refuses to give this small measure of democracy to the women of our country?”

The initiative passed the House, but failed in the Senate. In 1919 it passed both houses, and after ratification became the Nineteenth Amendment, but by then Rankin was out of office. She was a victim of redistricting, as Montana switched from the at-large system into eastern and western districts. But also, now that the bloom was off the suff ragist rose, Montanans were willing to go back to traditional politicians In the 1920s and ‘30s, Rankin did some speaking and lobbying and built a winter home in the Georgia countryside, while summering on brother Wellington’s ranch.

By 1940, with Europe again consumed in war, she saw growing Montana support for her anti-war stance and decided to run again for office. She made a deal with the Anaconda company, which owned most of the state’s major newspapers: If they supported her, she would serve only one term, and let the former mine-mucker Mike Mansfield take over in ‘42.

Garnering 54 percent of the vote, she returned to her old job.

“No one will pay any attention to me this time,” she predicted.

“There is nothing unusual about a woman being elected.”

But once again events overtook her. Nine months into her term, a President again came to Congress to ask for a declaration of war.

Rankin again voted “no.”

However, because it followed the attack on Pearl Harbor, this vote was less about entering a foreign war and more about defending Amer-

ican soil. None of her colleagues joined her. Her vote was met with hisses and boos, and she later needed a police escort back to her office.

“As a woman I can’t go to war, and I refuse to send anyone else,” she later said. In private, she told friends, “I have nothing left but my integrity.”

When her term ended, she retreated to Georgia and Montana, keeping a low profi le for more than 20 years. She traveled around the globe, especially to India, where she was an admirer of Mohandas K. Gandhi. In the late 1960s, with a new wave of feminists and war protesters, her stature rose again. In addition to the opportunity to address the Montana constitutional convention, she considered running a third time for Congress, this time opposed to the Vietnam War. But

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I 53

she was now in her 90s, and that was one ambition too far. She died in a California retirement home in 1973.

In 2016 Rankin’s story has particular relevance—not only because we are celebrating the 100th anniversary of her fi rst election, but also because this year’s election may involved some similar “fi rsts.” (“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme,” as Mark Twain probably didn’t say.)

Denise Juneau is seeking to be the first Montana congresswoman since Rankin. She’s already the first American Indian woman in the country ever elected to an executive statewide office. She’s now seeking to be the first female Native American in Congress. She’s also Montana’s first openly gay candidate for federal office. (Saying that a married woman lost her independence, Rankin refused to marry, reportedly even spurning fellow Congressman—and later New York mayor—Fiorello LaGuardia, whom she adored. Her stance prompted inevitable rumors about her sexuality, but little is known of her private life.)

And on the national level, of course, Hillary Clinton has an opportunity to become the first female president. For that matter, Clinton’s opponent, Donald Trump, would be the first president to come straight from the private sector, without having held a significant elective, appointed, or military position.

Yet Rankin’s story suggests that anyone we elect this year will eventually be remembered more for the unexpected events they have

to deal with than for their biographical uniqueness. Election Day may mark a history-making event, but that historical chapter will likely end at the next president’s swearing-in. Immediately thereafter— perhaps even, as in Rankin’s case, that very week—our leaders will be called to make decisions about life-or-death matters that may have been tangential to their campaign policy stances, or to their personal histories.

That’s a big part of what makes the American democratic system such a privilege. We grant power to regular folk, rather than royalty trained from birth. We use the electoral process to make candidates prove that they are deserving of this trust, and we reserve the right to change our minds in two to four years.

In 1918 and 1942, Montanans changed their minds about Jeannette Rankin. But in general, during the past century, history has remembered her warmly. She was neither venal nor corrupt. She voted her principles. She cared. Her quest for suff rage gained widespread acceptance; her quest for peace proved more quixotic. In hindsight, many more of us might join with her in that 1917 vote. And if fewer of us would join with her in that 1941 vote, we do look at it as one driven by ethics. Rightfully, nobody calls Rankin a traitor. We see her as a person of courage and integrity; indeed we understand that those qualities, along with hard work and good fortune, helped her achieve significant milestones.

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Business Networking | Catering Private Rooms | Weddings

30th Annual

31st Annual The Holiday Food ood & Gift F Festival has been a crowd-pleasing d-pleasing tradition for 31 years ears – and this year’s event will be the biggest ever!

November 12 & 13, 2016

MetraPark Expo Center

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• Beautiful art, hand-crafted wares and • Prizes unique foods not available anywhere else • Local music and dance entertainment • Giveaways • Photos with Santa $3 admission or $1 with a non-perishable food donation to Billings Food Bank

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Pillar Event Services, Inc.

Sponsored by:

A wild horse grooms the shoulder of another member of the band.

56 I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

The Devil’s Canyon Overlook in the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area attracts tourists looking for wild horses in the desert lowlands of the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range.

A band of wild horses in the East Pryor Mountains grazes.

Right: Wild horses spar in the Pryor Mountains. There are roughly 170 wild horses and 22 bands in the mountains, according to the Pryor Mustang Wild Horse Center.

WILD, WILD

HORSES

T

BY TAILYR IRVINE

he Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range sits on the Montana-Wyoming border and is home to approximately 170 wild horses.

The range is managed by the Wild Horse and Burro Program of the Bureau of Land Management.

The horses are believed to be descendants of Spanish horses and brought to the area for Native Americans, according to the Pryor Mustang Wild Horse Center.

Before heading into the mountains, I stopped at the Pryor Mustang Wild Horse Center in Lovell, Wyoming. Staff were able to tell me where the horses were last spotted and information on the best route to find them.

The horses can be seen in two areas of the range, the low desert lands along Highway 37 in the Bighorn Canyon National Recreational Area or in the East Pryor Mountains.

Initially I took Highway 37, an easy excursion on a paved road, but the horses were scarce. When I returned I took the path to the East Pryor Mountains; the road was rough and it took me close to four hours to reach the top.

The entire way up I did not see one horse. Nearly losing hope, I finally came across a mare and her colt. I parked my car and began photographing, and eventually a herd of roughly 50 horses emerged from the woods.

I watched the horses interact, running and calling to each other. Older horses groomed and nuzzled while the younger horses playfully sparred.

It was an experience I won’t soon forget.

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I 57

READY! READY!

Constructed Constructed in 1947, 1947, the MSU Billings Science Science Building is in need and READY READY for for renovation renovation and expansion. expansion.

The The facility facility will provide provide a modern and dynamic dynamic space space for for Science, Science, and and aa home home for for the the growing growing College College of of Allied Allied Health Health Professions, educating educating science science and Professions, and health health care care workers workers for for the the region. region.

SET!!

Thanks Thanks to to aa $10 $10 million million appropriation appropriation from from the the Montana Montana Legislature, Legislature, construction construction on on the the renovation renovation and and expansion expansion is is SET SET to to start start once once private private funding funding of of $5 $5 million million has has been been raised. raised.

The The completion completion of of the the project project requires requires an an additional additional $3 $3 million million to to provide provide necessary necessary enhanced laboratory laboratory facilities facilities and enhanced and support support for for student student learning. learning.

GO!!!

With With the the ever-growing ever-growing need need for for science science and and health health professionals, professionals, this this building building will will GO GO aa long long way way in in meeting meeting the the workforce workforce needs needs of of the the area area and and the the region. region. Graduates Graduates of of MSU MSU Billings Billings answer answer those those needs needs with with over over 85% 85% of of them them staying staying and and working working in in Montana, Montana, and and over over 50% 50% of of those those remaining remaining in in Yellowstone Yellowstone County.

County.

With With your your help, help, this this building building is is aa GO GO for for Eastern Montana, state, and region.

Eastern Montana, the the state, and the the region.

Construction on the Yellowstone Science and Allied Health Building can begin once private matching funds are raised. The renovated and expanded facility will continue to produce outstanding MSU Billings students such as Joseph Walters (left) and graduates like Erin Popp (center) and Dillon Key (right).

Give today and be a part of this great opportunity!

msubfoundation.com/ways-to-give/yellowstone-building

A horse grazes in the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range.

Two horses from a band in the East Pryor Mountains nuzzle in the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range. The range was established in 1968 and was the first public wild horse range in the United States, according to the Pryor Mountain Wild Mustang Center.

60 I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

A band of horses run across a field in the East Pryor Mountains.

Left: Two horses nuzzle in the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range.

Far left: Traveling through the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range offers unique views while searching for the horses.

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I 61

BY TARA CADY | ILLUSTRATION BY ROB JOHNSON

LIVING A GOLDEN LIFE

‌ y dad always says, “Life sucks and then you die.”

M But he’s only kidding. Mostly.

A railroad man of more than 30 years, his dark humor has lightened with age.

As he approaches retirement it’s not cynicism that he takes away from decades of hard labor, but an appreciation for the joys in life, acknowledging how easy it is to get swept away by responsibility.

His advice to me is this: Enjoy life while you’re young.

62 I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

What makes me shine at work isn’t the labor itself, but what I bring to the table every day. If I was living a robotic existence, waking up at 6 a.m. to go to work to come home and eat, go to bed and repeat, at some point my performance would dull or I’d have to really be dedicated to those “golden years.”

Living to work‌ Memes shared across social media are a bold statement for millennials’ reluctance to mature: “There’s no way I was born to just pay bills and die.”

But work – what we call “adulting,” often accompanied by the phrase, “The struggle is real” — is part of a fulfilling life. That sense of accomplishment, prestige, sacrifice, all culminating in a job well-done and deserved retirement to some place like Florida (or a log cabin nestled in the foothills of Northern Colorado, in my father’s case) speaks volumes for a life well-lived.

Then, you get to enjoy the things you never did, or did as often as you’d like. A paradise where it’s OK to be selfish because you’ve earned it.

As I begin my own career, I don’t want to wait – and work — for my golden years. I want my entire life to be golden, not just the professional part.

Self-help books, human resources – heck, even horoscopes – tout the importance of maintaining a work-life balance. You’d think in the modern age we’d have figured it out by now – how to have our cake and eat it too – but we haven’t.

The only solution I can think of is to burn the candle at both ends – work hard and play harder.

A happy medium‌ Exploring not just what fills our pocketbooks, but our hearts as well, has a grounding effect on a person.

For my dad, it’s the outdoors.

For me, it’s painting.

I never painted as a kid, or even in college. This relatively new hobby came to me after joining the workforce.

Almost a year later, painting is now as

much a piece of who I am as is my career. And the two are mutually beneficial.

What makes me shine at work isn’t the labor itself, but what I bring to the table every day. If I was living a robotic existence, waking up at 6 a.m. to go to work to come home and eat, go to bed and repeat, at some point my performance would dull or I’d have to really be dedicated to those “golden years.”

But with time spent nurturing my interests in arts and entertainment, I arrive to work more refreshed and whole, without regretting another wasted weekend or work night.

Of the essence‌ …time is, you know. Life doesn’t wait.

Instead of “TGIF,” “Sunday Funday,” and “Cheers to the weekend,” I see every hour outside my 8-to5 as opportunity for enjoyment (sleep included, of course).

Whether that’s by painting, researching the social sciences or exploring the plethora of other things I enjoy doing, I’m honoring my interests, curiosities and desires now instead of postponing them until I have more time; or the time is right; or when certain conditions are good; et cetera, et cetera.

“I can’t wait,” my dad will say.

For now, he has to, and will continue to, until the retirement bell rings next year.

Just because he can doesn’t mean that he should.

The log cabin in the woods is not a destination or specific moment in time. It is the here and now. An attainable dream. A blending of responsibilities to family, work, the world, and to the person making it all happen. You.

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I 63

Quintessential

MONTANA

Chico Hot Springs Resort & Day Spa

BY TARA CADY | PHOTOGRAPHY BY HANNAH POTES

Steam rises into the open air. Two adjacent pools tell a century-old story, its waters reflecting a history of healing and recreation. The sign reads 95 and 106 degrees, respectively, just another day at Chico Hot Springs Resort & Day Spa in Pray, Mont.

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I 65

Whether it’s just you two or the whole family, Chico provides various lodging options with amenities such as a large spa tub, private deck or gas fireplace.

C

hico, a Montana tradition dating back to the 19th century, gets its name from Emigrant Gulch miners. Having heard captivating stories of Yellowstone National Park’s geothermal features from a visiting Hispanic worker, the miners decided to name the encampment’s nearby hot spring after him both in honor of his fascination and their love of bathing in its waters.

Percie Knowles, Chico’s original owner, publicized the spring’s “curative powers” in the early 1900s. Her dream for it to become a therapeutic oasis came true upon hiring Dr. George A. Townsend and subsequently opening a 20room hospital wing for examinations, labs and surgery.

Though no longer a hospital, Chico’s legacy as a healing hideaway remains, as does Knowles’ spirit.

Five family owners and more than 100 years later, the 152-acre resort maintains its original culture as it adapts to the modern era.

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Above: Relatively untouched, “this is the way (it) was 100 years ago,” said co-owner Colin Davis, of Chico’s rustic charm. Left: Forget selfies, take an “elkie” in Chico’s lobby.

Welcome home‌ Approaching guests are greeted by a “Welcome Home” sign, confirming co-owner Seabring Davis’ long-held belief: “Chico is not just a one-time experience.”

Those who visit return often, delighted by the familiarity.

Recipes introduced in the ’70s remain on the menu today, for example, and die-hard fans can take them home with Davis’ commemorative cookbook, “A Montana Table: Recipes from Chico Hot Springs Resort.”

Even Chico’s original garden continues to thrive with runoff thermal water, providing Chico chef Jeremy Berg with fresh herbs, vegetables and fruits for the day’s dishes.

And the resort itself preserves its original structure aside from convenient additions like cabins and a convention center.

“Comfort and nostalgia keep people coming back,” she said of Chico’s traditions in hospitality.

Erin Turner of Helena is a regular at Chico, coming with her family annually and “sometimes more than once if we can.”

“We made our first trip down there after we got married 18 years ago,” she explained. “It has such a warm, inviting environment. It’s not like a (hotel) chain, not cold and impersonal.”

Annual visits have included an anniversary trip, and she knows lots of people who make Chico a part of holiday celebrations.

“There are a lot of people that come in that are regulars,” she said.

“You can have the same experience with a twist. It’s never the same every time, but it does feel home-like.”

The old-fashioned atmosphere allows her and her family to hang out

Left: The front lawn is an ideal scene for life’s simple pleasures, like reading a newspaper or enjoying a cup of coffee. Bottom left: Grandma’s Garden is the ideal spot not only for honeybees, but for guests wanting a tranquil spot to relax on a bench, maybe with a glass of Chico’s finest wine. Below: Opt for privacy in one of Chico’s log cabins, conveniently spread across the property with various views of the outlying mountainous landscape.

together without the distraction of electronics.

Being close to Yellowstone is also a perk.

“October is our absolute favorite time to head down to the park, and Chico if possible. It’s wonderful when it’s just a little crisp outside and when the leaves are starting to turn.”

The food has a place in Turner’s heart as well.

“We really like that they use ingredients from the greenhouses,” she said of the dining room. “The Poolside Grille is great, too.”

A dining room she describes as beautiful and not really pretentious, it’s “one of the big reasons we go down there.”

Clearly, not one feature defines this healing hotspot. A hotel, fine dining restaurant, hot spring, event venue, outdoor recreation hub and spa, it’s OK to arrive with high expectations.

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MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I 67

Top left: The resort preserves its original structure aside from convenient additions like cabins and a convention center. Top right: The main lodge’s quaint quarters feature community bathrooms ideal for families, providing easy access to the dining room, lobby and outdoor pools. Bottom left: Towels arranged into decorative swans make for a unique personal touch in Chico’s cabins.

Stay the night‌

Fine dining‌

The main lodge’s quaint quarters feature community bathrooms Two geothermal greenhouses fed by runoff thermal water lengthen ideal for families, providing easy access to the dining room, lobby and Montana’s growing season at Chico. The resort’s eco-friendly approach outdoor pools. extends beyond recycling water, as evidenced by pest control via other Relatively untouched, “this is the way (it) was 100 years ago,” said pests, composting vegetable trimmings from the kitchen and raising Colin Davis, Seabring’s husband and Chico co-owner. honey from Chico’s 50 beehives.

Forty-eight rooms of rustic Montana charm make up the original From rosemary, watercress, kale and tomatoes to pears, plums, basil structure. Upstairs, couples enjoy king-sized beds and tranquility. and squash, chefs clip fresh ingredients daily. Any excess is canned for Below, queen-sized beds acseasonal sauces, like pesto. count for larger family-friendThe variety of dining venues ly rooms. caters to any palate.

The Warren Wing – named Looking for treasured dishes after the frequent guest and late from the cookbook? Drop in to actor Warren Oates – features the dining room where breakupgraded rooms with private fast, lunch, dinner and Sunday bathrooms. brunch boast mouth-watering Additional accommodations meals with time-honored reciinclude cozy log cabins, a pes. Try the fennel breadsticks 16-room Lower Lodge and an with a glass of Chico’s finest wine artsy Fisherman’s Lodge, feawhile you wait for your beef Welturing seven different 10-foot lington or filet mignon, but be murals of area fishing holes on sure to save room for dessert – COURTESY OF LONEMAN PHOTOGRAPHY‌ Drop in to the dining room where breakfast, lunch, dinner and Sunday its exterior. flaming orange, anyone? brunch boast mouth-watering meals with time-honored recipes.

Whether it’s just you two or Exactly how it sounds – the the whole family, Chico proflaming orange is hollowed-out vides various lodging options with amenities such as a large spa tub, or fresh fruit lined with dark chocolate and filled with ice-cream—aflame. private deck and gas fireplace.

Served on a tray doused in rum, this divine dessert literally lights up beThe Davises hear comments like “My grandpa taught me how to fore your eyes. The best way to dig in is to wait until the flame has subsidswim here” regularly. That’s because the resort operates by Colin’s mot- ed and then crack the orange, loosening the chocolate and releasing the to: “Turn your guests into friends and friends into family.” orange peel’s sweet scent.

68 I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

Grille’s beach-inspired scene, where waitresses don playful T-shirts that read, “Got hot wada?”

The Grille’s menu is also available at The Chico Saloon next door. A happening place, the Saloon hosts live music every Friday and Saturday night and features tasty drinks that you can take onto the pool deck if you aren’t already immersed in the Saloon’s western ways. From video poker and keno machines to pool and foosball tables and televisions, the Saloon has enough to entertain into the night.

Craving some quiet time instead? The Wine Cellar provides tranquil warm surroundings for 12 to 16 guests. Order from the dining room menu and be treated like a celebrity with your own server. Chico’s wine collection has received praise from Wine Spectator magazine for the last 15 years, and in 2016 Chico earned the Best of Award of Excellence for its wine list.

Above: The initial “ooh” of the hot mineral water touching your skin is Splash and soak‌ met with “ahhh” as “Dip out” of your usual domain and into Chico’s main attraction, your body melts into relaxation. Left: Make the hot springs. Flowing out of a hill through a pipe connected to a splash in Chico’s large hot spring pool, the resort’s two pools, the odorless natural mineral water begs to be averaging 96 degrees. bathed in.

The initial “ooh” of the hot water touching your skin is met with For a less fiery alternative, Percie’s Poolside Grille is a casual din- “ahhh” as your body melts into relaxation, mind into meditation. ing option where patrons seat themselves and dine on classic American The Saloon is conveniently equipped with a Pool Bar service window, cuisine. With burgers, pizzas and salads, relax and eat immersed in the guests can simultaneously soak and sip without changing their clothes.

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MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I 69

Chico takes convenience a step further, providing two pools at differing degrees and depths. Alongside the Saloon entrance lies the hotter, smaller pool averaging 103 degrees.

Spanning the length of Percie’s Poolside Grille, the larger pool averages 96 degrees, ideal for swimming and longer soak times.

Drained and refilled every night, these sanitized pools offer welcome warmth year-round. “(The pools) are ethereal with mist in wintry months,” Colin noted.

Special occasions‌ Coming to Chico is a special occasion. The 360-degree Absaroka Mountain views capture Montana’s magic, and it’s no wonder Chico is a go-to destination for business retreats, family reunions and weddings that impress.

The Convention Center and conference facilities provide companies useful space for brainstorming, networking and collaborative work. Not all work and no play, however, the Center features a dance floor, sound system and full bar. Whether it’s a small party of 20 or large group of more than 150, Chico’s catering wines and dines (literally) with buffet breakfasts, cocktail hours and an expansive dinner menu.

Similarly, families and friends can take advantage of Chico’s community spaces for an intimate reunion. The love shared among the staff creates the right climate for engagements, weddings and the like.

Chico’s staff – a family of their own – share meals twice daily in the dining room, and recently employees took their friendship a step further for executive chef, Will Standage, setting up dinner for two at the gazebo, where weddings are often held.

“It blew her mind. Everyone wanted to help,” said Colin. “His wife said, ‘There’s something going on,’ and he said, ‘Yeah, we’re having dinner.’”

Couples can take the Stairway to Heaven to the Field of Dreams for a wedding reception at the main lawn and ceremony at the gazebo. Or, the pavilion next to Grandma’s Garden, the Convention Center or the Front Lawn offer equally ideal scenes for saying, “I do.”

The great outdoors‌ Forty-five minutes away from Yellowstone, Chico is the optimal location for visiting the national park. Luckily for guests, the Rockin’ HK Outfitters works alongside Chico to get guests skiing and snowshoeing in no time.

Weather permitting, Rockin’ provides year-round horseback riding from Chico’s own Horse Barn. Riders age 8 and older can choose between navigating Yellowstone or local trails. Younger guests have the

70 I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

Above: Wrangler Julie Park leads “Black Dawg” with Mika Patterson on his back for a quick ride around the property at Chico Hot Springs. Left: The 360-degree Absaroka Mountain views capture Montana’s magic, and it’s no wonder Chico is a go-to destination for weddings that impress.

LARRY MAYER/GAZETTE STAFF‌

options of either a one-hour carriage ride or pony experience, depending on age.

The day after Thanksgiving, guests don’t have to go far for outdoor recreation. The Absaroka Dogsled Office resides on Chico’s property, providing patrons with not only an exhilarating trek led by Siberian huskies, but also lunch and dinner depending on the package purchased.

And while rafting isn’t a year-round sport, Paradise Adventure Company is at Chico too, ready to take you on a wild ride when the snow melts.

Lazy days ahead‌ Not everyone wants to jam-pack their vacation with sporting excursions. For the guest who just wants to unwind, Chico’s Day Spa is the destination.

With massage therapy, body wraps, yoga and pilates available, it’s easy to spend a whole day treating yourself to the calming services just beyond your hotel room. Top the pampering off with a night soak in the hot spring pools for added relaxation.

Whether you choose to sip wine in the garden, dine in the cellar, ride the trails, soak in the springs or spend the day at the spa, the adventure to Chico awaits. All you have to do is make the call.

For reservations and additional information, go online to chicohotsprings.com.

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TRAILS THAT ROCK RIMROCKS OFFER AN ESCAPE FOR BILLINGS ADVENTURERS WITHOUT THE LONG DRIVE

BY MATT HOFFMAN | PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRONTË WITTPENN

72 I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

Every Wednesday evening staff and other mountain bike enthusiasts from The Spoke Shop arrange group rides through Zimmerman Park and other nearby trails.

illings best adult playground runs ‘round the city, perched above the highest buildings.

Zimmerman, Swords and Phipps parks splay out

atop

northern

sandstone cliffs, while Four Dances Natural Area overlooks the Yellowstone River east of Billings.

In a state where getting to swaths of nature

Swords Park offers the smoothest path to the top of the Rimrocks.

often requires hours-long road trips, the Rims offers space to hike, run and mountain bike, all for a car ride as short as a few songs on the radio.

Mike Scheuer strapped on a bike helmet as he prepared to join his daughter for a mountain bike ride through Zimmerman Park on a clear August evening – a school night, he noted.

“It’s close and convenient,” said Scheuer.

Scheuer grew up biking as a kid, but the habit waned as he got older. When his daughter got interested in mountain biking, it was easy for him to get back into it; and Zimmerman Park was an ideal location.

“There’s anything from easy (terrain) to re-

ally hard and really challenging,” he said.

Some trails are sandy singletracks on easy slopes. Other areas don’t have designed trails, but are easily explored by hopping from rock ledges. Some people go to the Rims for the vantage point.

“When you get up there and enjoy the magnificent view, you can see the Bull Mountains to the north, you can see the Pryor and Bighorns and Beartooths to the south, the Crazy Mountains to the east; it’s just a magnificent view,” said Roger Williams, an avid parks user and a member of the Yellowstone River

THE PARKS

SWORDS PARK

Swords Park offers the smoothest path to the top of the Rimrocks. A paved path runs climbs from a small parking area near Airport Rd., switchbacking up the Rims. Adventurous hikers can check out side trails with less-sure footing.

A blood-pumping climb rewards those who make it to the top with sweeping views of Billings and rounded rock formations to explore.

A handful of benches make good rest stops, and a little-used road parallels the upper trail with several parking areas.

Get there: Take Highway 3 up the

rims and turn right onto Airport Rd. and take another quick right to a parking area, or turn west onto Aronson Ave. off Main St. and park in the lot on the road’s south side after a block and a half.

Time from downtown: 5 minutes

and less defined as they meander down the Rims. Trails also swoop out to the west and connect to Apache Trl., a road in the Indian Cliffs subdivision.

Get there: Pull into the bumpy gravel parking lot off Highway 3 just west of Zimmerman Rd. Time from downtown: 10 minutes

Parks Association.

As Billings continues to grow, residents will want end-of-the-workday escapes, Yellowstone County Parks Administrator Cal Cumin said. Places like Zimmerman Park, which he helps oversee, are the perfect spot.

“There’s only a few places like that,” he said. “If we don’t take care of them, they’re not making any more.”

Billy Endsley could become an example of that growth.

“It’s better than the flatlands of Texas,” he said as he and a friend embarked on a

302 as it curves right and becomes 62nd St. The road becomes Molt Rd. before the Phipps parking lot appears on the left near a railroad bridge.

Time from downtown: 15 minutes

FOUR DANCES

While not technically a park, the Bureau of Land Management Natural PHIPPS DIAMOND X Area is increasingly developed, ofTrails circle around the base and top fering a bathroom and shelter area, of the rock outcrop near the Ironwood and has had a caretaker since 2010. neighborhood. Flatlanders can loop Officials added a new, meandering trail ZIMMERMAN PARK around the sandstone pillar, while in the area’s northern portion. More Zimmerman Park offers room to those looking to break a sweat can established trails start from the south spread out. A crisscrossing network of walk up a steep trail to find gentler parking area, leading up a short climb trails are home to mountain bikers and paths overlooking Billings’ West End. to overlooks of the Yellowstone River. hikers. Some have forgiving terrain, The park is home to a disc golf course Signs caution people from wanderbut watch out for cactus if adventuring and mountain bikers, so be aware of ing too close to the edge depending on off main trails. your surroundings. the season because of falcon nesting A handful of bolted areas offer Get there: Take Rimrock Rd. toward areas, but a steep trail descends down Billings’ West End, then follow Highway to the Yellowstone River. Depending sport climbing, while trails grow less

74 I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

on water levels, hikers can access the main channel. Be aware of abundant cacti on less-developed trails.

Get there: Turn south onto Coburn Rd. off Old Highway 87 and watch for a pair of Four Dances parking lots on the right after climbing the hill.

Time from downtown: 10 minutes

TRAILS WITHOUT TALES

Some of the walking and biking paths in the Billings area aren’t officially managed, but have still become part of the city’s landscape

HIGHWAY 3 TO ZIMMERMAN ROAD

The paved path in Swords park continues west through a tunnel under Highway 3, where adventurous hikers and mountain bikers can leave the

The Rims are an iconic part of Billings, and visitors love the view.

Y ou r Be s t RE

STo LocaLNaTURaL FoR aLL

mountain bike ride in Zimmerman Park.

As a worker in the oil and gas industry, he periodically spends weeks in Billings while living in Texas. He was on a month-and-a-half rotation at the time.

He and his wife “want to buy a house up here,” he said, chuckling but not joking.

Williams, a retired neurosurgeon, has worked with groups like the Chamber of Commerce to help promote trails across Billings.

“They know it’s very helpful in recruiting businesses and professionals,” he said. “People are not only looking for somewhere to work in

path for a dirt-and-rock singletrack that buzzes the Rimrocks’ edge.

“It’s not an official trail but over time it’s become theirs,” said Cumin, the county parks official, of trail users. In several spots, the trail borders backyards, so be courteous.

The trail terminates at Zimmerman Rd. Paths branching off from Zimmerman Park are visible, but use extreme caution if attempting to cross the road.

Get there: Park at the lot near the roundabout at Highway 3 and Airport Rd., or along the expansive gravel area traveling west. Either take the paved path through the tunnel or take your pick of several footpaths dipping down from the gravel area.

Time from downtown: 5 minutes

but to raise their families in.”

Some activities attract more people than others. Hiking and walking is most popular, but Swords, Zimmerman and Phipps parks are also open to mountain biking. There are a handful of bolted climbing routes up the Rims, especially around Zimmerman Park, but bottom-of-the-rim access often depends on permission from local landowners.

Rappelling from the top of the Rimrocks is a less-popular but heart-pounding activity.

“I just got back into it,” said Ryan Baker, who grew up in Billings and would climb

MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY BILLINGS

Just behind MSUB athletic fields a dirt road rises along the Rimrocks. Picking a path that finds its way up the Rims will make you feel like an athlete and adventurer, but use good judgement. Primitive trails steeply pick their way through rocks. Be prepared for poor footing and some exposure, and avoid private property as the road continues on.

Get there: Park near the MSUB campus and either cross North 27th St. or take the MSUB tunnel underneath.

Northwest of the softball field, find the trail that creeps up the Rims.

Time from downtown: 3 minutes

INDIAN CLIFFS AREA

A series of trails wind between Phipps Park and the Indian Cliffs subdivision off Highway 3. Trails link up with the

east and west end of Iroquois Trl. and the west end of Nez Perce Lookout, with small parking areas on Iroquois Trl. Paths often cut through private land, so don’t stray.

Local cycling group Pedal United maintains the trails and posts updates on their Facebook page. Some general maps are posted on trails, but its easy to get lost. Steep climbs can be found for those who want a workout, while other trails explore flat prairie areas. Beginning mountain bikers should use good judgement about their technical skills in some steep and rocky areas.

Get there: Continue west on Highway 3 about a mile and a half past Zimmerman Park, then turn left on to Apache Trl. Take the first right at Iroquois Trl. and park in the small lot or continue west to a second parking area.

Time from downtown: 10 minutes

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Mountain bikers Sam Mather, left, and Christina Escamilla ride down a trail at Zimmerman Park. and rappel in the area while he was in high school. “Once you’re in your harness on the rope, hanging, it’s fun, but that initial ledge, oh man.”

Baker, spending time with friends as daylight faded, dropped several dozen feet down a sheer face using a climbing rope and belay device before climbing up through a more navigable seam in the rocks.

Most people have a more tame experience.

As part of the YRPA, Williams helps plan the development of Four Dances Natural Area, where trails were expanded this year.

“It’s a gorgeous trail and a great place to walk,” Williams said. “You get some great views of the river and the city of Billings near the edge.”

The Rims are an iconic part of Billings, and are woven into the city’s history. Zimmerman Trail, a road that winds up along side the park that shares its name, is near the original route that white settlers used to descend into the river valley. It’s still common to see small wildlife and deer, or even the occasional pronghorn antelope.

76 I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

Above: The Rims offer both easy and challenging terrain. Right: Jodi Peabody works on homework near the main entrance of Zimmerman Park. Peabody visits the park once a week and claims it is one of her favorite places.

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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 Hathaway HomeServices and Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices symbol are registered service marks of HomeServices of America Inc.® Equal Housing Opportunity.

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I 77

Ohm Sweet Ohm

BILLINGS EMBRACES THE MIND-BODY CONNECTION

BY TARA CADY | PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRONTË WITTPENN

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I 79

Inhale, exhale.

A few more measured breaths and the mind and body relax, allowing seemingly inflexible legs to transform into the most intricate pose.

Head over feet in a stance that borders on toppling over, the body is released from its rigidity, leaving the mind to wander to a more grounded state of patience and perseverance.

Yoga and meditation not only ease stress but find its root cause. And Billings-area studios, shops and sanctuaries are providing space for such practices and more, enabling residents to be well and find themselves in the process.

80 I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

W

hen Sharli Kiner became pregnant with her first child she developed immense pain, prompting her to start yoga at the YMCA at someone’s suggestion. After yoga began alleviating symptoms, Kiner felt she could get more out of it.

“I’m a downtown person and there was a big gap – no yoga studio.”

Upon earning her yoga teaching certification, Kiner brought Limber Tree Yoga Studio to Billings.

With a business whose motto is “a haven for holistic healing,” Kiner’s intention was to “provide people a safe and comfortable place to grow spiritually, mentally.”

“We’re not anything religious,” she said.

“We use the practice of yoga to open the door to people’s journeys.”

More than a trend, yoga is making a long-lasting impact.

Just breathe “The use of breath with movement is in my opinion the best way to truly find self-acceptance and self-love.”

Put simply, Kiner describes yoga as just that, breath and movement.

Kiner says breathing brings you into the present.

“People who are open-minded are finding being in the moment important.”

Although the moment is significant, most people don’t get into yoga to change their overall mentality — they just want some immediate relief.

“Our body is a reflection of our minds,” Sharli Kiner explained. “If our mind isn’t quiet, neither (is) our body.”

Callie Feakin performs reclined spinal twist pose at Limber Tree Yoga Studio. The pose encourages movement in the spine and vertebrae. It also stretches tight muscles.

“I think if people practice with intention the world would be a better place,” said yoga instructor Sharli Kiner.

“Most people start (yoga) with a need for body – preventative care, strength, flexibility,” Kiner said. “Benefits lead into the mental aspect.”

Careful not to advertise as a fitness studio,

Kiner emphasizes overall wellness.

“People express their stress in different ways, through headaches, shoulder aches, neck stress, compression in spine, tight hips,” she said. “The practice (of yoga) covers all of those.”

Certain positions lengthen the spine, while others stretch the legs or test frequently unused muscles – all while maintaining a mindful breath.

“The movement and posture – the asanas – are what get us into our meditative practices,” Kiner said. “I say yoga and I also mean meditation practices. too.”

That mind-body connection is what makes yoga so beneficial.

“Our body is a reflection of our minds,” she explained. “If our mind isn’t quiet, neither (is) our body.”

And vice-versa.

To practice yoga is “to practice stillness physically and mentally to communicate spiritually.”

“Dancing, tai chi, even running – everybody has different methods,” Kiner noted.

“You learn to integrate it into every moment.”

Kiner doesn’t feel she is herself without yoga.

“It’s not a peaceful place to be,” she admitted.

Yoga is like a tool in Kiner’s toolbox.

“It’s (used) in my responses to conflict, how I choose to react to my environment.”

Over time, practice become easier, but Kiner recognizes getting started isn’t easy.

“Sitting still has become a big issue for people – even for children.”

But even three times a week can make a difference for beginners.

“You can maintain your practice with mindful breathing techniques,” she suggested.

“It is a practice. There is no ending point.”

Not needing anything but yourself, Kiner notes that it’s hard to make excuses.

“You never get to a place where you’re done or you’re so advanced that you have to quit,” she said. “Self-practice is hard. It’s hard to stay motivated.”

Kiner emphasizes that the end goal is more than physical health.

“It’s a very fantastic thing to find peace,” she said.

Having opened its doors in 2012, Limber Tree positions itself to make a difference.

“I think if people practice with intention. the world would be a better place.”

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I 81

From despair to dignity Focusing on the breath, all one has is themselves in that moment.

The Billings Dharma Center hosts weekly meditations, providing a space for self-understanding and growth.

Barbara Shenkel – her Buddhist name is Shila Mani – is a lama, or teacher, at the center.

“Meditation is a practice. It’s a method to let go of wandering or chaotic thoughts and come back to just here and now,” she said. “Developing a consistent practice can be a vital aspect of our daily life.”

Shenkel suggests people can meditate by going into the woods, or maybe doing artwork.

“Having a break of quiet can make us more functional, more relaxed. Event 10 to 15 minutes of meditation in the morning gives us an experience of peace that we can come back to during the day.”

Such quiet – being alone with only your breath – is what fellow lama David Diamond – known as Prajna Yana at the center – considers space for growth.

“It gives you space to know what’s going on within,” he said.

The isolation meditation affords allows for investigation into oneself, to look at things how they are.

“We do create our realities. We can’t fix the world, but we can fix how we are dealing with it.”

Although everything else is seemingly absent aside from the breath, all is not lost in meditation.

“We’re not really disengaging,” said Diamond.

“It’s not so much a doing as being,” added Thad Manney, also known as Yoga Dhatta, another lama at the Center. “If it’s hard to let the mind settle, (practitioners) haven’t failed but rather succeeded in finding out how much activity is going on in their own minds.”

Such time in isolation can be scary.

“Letting go of the thinking mind is not stopping thoughts. Just let go. Don’t grasp,” noted Diamond.

Manney likens meditation to crossing the street.

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COURTESY PHOTO

Barbara Shenkel, Billings Dharma Center lama, suggests people can meditate by going into the woods, or maybe doing artwork. Reading inspirational literary works sold at Barjon’s Books also works to raise self-awareness.

“There’s a lot of traffic in the mind – in there after.” feelings, expectations, attitudes. If there’s too Such emotions are powerful and have lastmuch traffic we’re going to get hit. We need to ing effects, not just momentary stress, which is watch for open spaces,” he said. “The openwhy the lamas include meditation as part of ings are in our reactions. If we their everyday life. relax and look for open“When we are full of ings we’ll begin to despair, meditation see things – the is a way of seeing other possibilithat we have acties which are tually grabbed there.” onto it. And After a we can refew weeks of lease it, a bit med itat ion, at a time, Manney says by shift ing people will our focus to ~ DAVID DIAMOND start seeing the moving things more breath,” said clearly and make Shenkel. better choices. And “Meditation enchoices lie in reactions ables (people) to change COURTESY PHOTO to life’s stressors. their whole outlook on life “Where there’s despair, there’s from despairing to dignity and seealso hope,” said Manney. “They occur si- ing possibilities ahead,” added Manney. multaneously. If (the stressor) is that big of a Meditation’s popularity and power in deal it can wait for a few minutes and it’ll be Billings is obvious. And one local store has

“We do create our realities. We can’t fix the world, but we can fix how we are dealing with it.”

It’s your home, at last.

Barjon’s Books in downtown Billings provides the tools for relaxation, including incense sticks.

COURTESY PHOTO

been promoting wellness through yoga, meditation and more since 1977.

Space for growth Barjon’s Books has been a Billings business long before meditation and yoga became mainstream. Owner Sue Powell describes what keeps customers coming back.

“Barjon’s means different things to different people,” she said. “The consensus is people walk in and within a few minutes they’re saying, ‘Wow, I feel better, I feel calmer.’”

What Powell calls a “sanctuary,” Barjon’s is more than a bookstore, or even a store in general. Selling books, music, crystals, incense and jewelry is only part of Barjon’s mystique.

“I tell people, ‘Know that you do not have to buy anything, you can just come in here and be,’” Powell said. “(Barjon’s) is not about the pressure of being a consumer.”

Instead, it’s a place where customers can come in and be themselves and ask questions.

Certain questions may be about the merchandise itself, like Barjon’s singing bowls.

“The vibration of the bowl works on the body,” she explained. “It helps to balance things.”

Other questions may be more inwardly focused, and visitors are able to peruse the bookshelves for topics ranging from the esoteric to the religious, all while maintaining a focus of self-help and/or inspiration.

Such books include the fiction works of Tolkien in addition to coloring books and children’s books.

“These are all just tools to help us get through a day – the stress that

modern society has placed on all of us,” said Powell. “(They) enable us to relax so we’re able to not develop aggravated symptoms.”

Certain products are specifically used for meditation, like the singing bowls and incense. Others, like crystals and jewelry, help manage a person’s energy.

“There is a tremendous energetic shift holding different stones,” Powell explained.

“There’s certainly enough anecdotal evidence that people are feeling tremendous changes.”

Whether those changes are the result of the holder’s feelings about those crystals, Powell does not know, but some materials do hold healing properties.

“Copper is an electromagnetic conductor.

People wear it (for) arthritis,” she explained.

To Powell, stones and jewelry hold symbolic meaning which differs depending on the person.

And similar to yoga and meditation, Barjon’s hosting classes and workshops to help people be more in touch with themselves.

Dubbed “The Room of Requirement” after the Harry Potter series, Barjon’s back room hosts a variety of events including palm and psychic readings, yoga, qigong (an exercise similar to tai chi) and meditation.

“This is a place where you can have an idea for how the world should be,” said Powell.

“There aren’t any rules (except) to be able to support each other and see the highest and best in each other.”

We’re allowed to do that and be that here, she said.

Once you find that perfect place to call home, the next important decision is the financing. So many mortgage options, so little time. We get that. Our goal is to partner with you to help guide you through the loan process and find the best financing to fit your needs. We’ve got the experience and mortgage products that will have you moving into your new home, at last.

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“The vibration of the bowl works on the body,” Sue Powell, Barjon’s Books owner, explained. “It helps to balance things.”

EQUAL HOUSING

Visit usbank.com to learn more about U.S. Bank products and services. Deposit Products are offered through U.S. Bank National Association, Member FDIC. Mortgage products offered by U.S. Bank National Association. ©2014 U.S. Bank Association. ©2014 U.S. Bank, Member FDIC.

COURTESY PHOTO

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I 83

Fun, Family AND THE FUTURE

BY ROB ROGERS | PHOTOGRAPHY BY HANNAH POTES

84 I AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I 85

Quilting, a tradition born out of necessity, has maintained its presence in Greer Baird’s life as a means for family togetherness.

LARRY MAYER/GAZETTE STAFF

G

reer Baird was a child when she first started quilting, like most of the little girls in her social circle. She grew up in the mountain valleys of northern Utah in the 1950s where thrift and self-reliance – and bitterly cold winters – cultivated a strong quilting culture.

“It was just part of our lives,” she said. “We grew

up under quilts.”

She means that literally. Quilts are stitched together by stretching them out over large wooden frames that sit at waist height. Women sit around the blanket, working on the quilt itself while the young girls sit underneath tying the stitches.

It’s a culture Baird, who lives in Billings with her husband Don, has fostered among her own daughters and grandchildren, a family tradition she is keen to keep alive.

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Rock collecting from the beach at Riverfront Park makes it easy for one-year-old Anson Groesbeck to participate.

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“We want our kids to grow up having fun memories,” Abbey said.

Establishing family traditions and finding ways to create fun and But when the kids are 1, 4 and 6, any plan can go awry and most atmemorable moments can take on almost any form. Andy and Abbey tempts at family fun seem to have even odds of ending in laughs or tears.

Groesbeck, a young married couple in Billings, have three children under Sometimes both simultaneously. The two oldest Groesbeck children are the age of 6 and are actively working to create that culture of family fun as girls. The youngest is a surprisingly mischievous boy. their children get older.

86 I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

“It seems like when we try to do some type of fun activity it flops,” Andy said.

Andy is an avid fisherman and a love of the outdoors is a family culture he and Abbey want to create for their kids. But it seems like every time they try any kind of outdoor excursion it bombs.

Comically so.

Harlee, 6, runs after a group Instead of catching a fish on the last fishing of ducks at Riverfront Park. trip they took, the girls caught a duck.

“We’re definitely creating memories,” Abbey said with a laugh.

And that’s what matters.

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David Bulkley, who lives in Billings with his wife Wendy, grew up hunting with his brothers and his dad and has amazing memories of the experience.

“When I was younger, it was all about the competition with my brothers,” he said. “Then as we got older it was just more fun to be with my brothers.”

As the years went on and his brothers married, their hunting group got bigger as spouses and kids joined in. Bulkley remembers some family elk camps with 50 people or more.

These days, his excursions are significantly smaller. They include his two sons Jess, 22, and Adam, 14 and usually a friend or two. They create memories as they bond over the campfire or get themselves out of sticky situations.

When Jess was 12, he and his friends went searching for an elk across the valley from where his father was hunting. David could see them in the distance until a powerful, quick-moving storm descended and dropped two feet of snow on them in the space of an hour.

After the storm, when David finally got across the valley and found Jess and his friends, they were huddled in a stand of trees around a fire Jess had built to keep them all warm. It’s a moment David cherishes. He saw his son use real skills he had learned on hunting trips with his dad.

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Some of Pam Whitney’s best childhood memories come from sitting under a quilting frame and listening to her mother Greer Baird, her grandmother Annie Gardner, and the other adult women there gossip, chat and laugh while stitching and sewing.

“It was fun to be with the grownups. I’m sure I heard things I wasn’t supposed to hear,” Pam said, smiling.

Pam participated in many of these quilting projects as a child. Every summer her parents with the kids in tow would travel from Billings back to Cache Valley, Utah to visit her Grandma Gardner and can peaches and work on quilts.

moavcoffee.com

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I 87

Greer Baird and her granddaughter work on embroidery projects together.

COURTESY GREER BAIRD

The Groesbeck family thro rocks into Lake Josephine.ws

Women from the neighborhood would come over and everyone would work together on a project. It wasn’t long before Pam was picking up sewing skills her mother and grandmother had learned from their mothers and grandmothers. She also learned about her mother’s and grandmother’s life.

“I remember my grandmother talking about all the dresses she made (as a young woman) and how the leftover material would go into a quilt,” she said.

Greer found by involving her daughters at a young age with these quilting projects she could create memories and form stronger bonds with them. It became really important.

“It’s a teaching time,” Greer said. “It’s a time to talk together and be together.”

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For Bulkley, it’s the one-on-one time that makes his hunting excursions meaningful and worth doing. Up on the mountain his sons are unplugged and the remote terrain lends itself to open and easy conversations about their lives.

“It’s a wonderful time to just be together and talk,” he said. “That’s what I remember with my dad.”

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Andy Groesbeck carries his son Anson away from the water at Riverfront Park.

88 I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

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As the Baird girls were growing up, Greer taught English at West High. Mom’s teaching gig meant that any quilting that happened while the girls were young happened in Cache Valley on those summer trips to grandma’s house. Greer didn’t begin quilting at home in earnest until she retired from West.

Pam was grown and married with children of her own at that point. When she got married she had seven quilts she had hand-made but hadn’t done a lot of quilting since.

“Mom started quilting again and she asked ‘Why don’t you teach your kids to quilt?’” Pam said.

Harlee, 6, giggles with her younger sister Oaklie, 4, left, at Riverfront Park.

“For me, it wasn’t about the quilting,” Pam said. “It was a place for my girls to go where they could be with their grandmother, where could be together, where they could create.”

“Some families get together and just drink and quarrel,” Greer said.

Quilting allows her to be with her family and do something meaningful, to create and to bond.

“It’s such a precious thing,” she said. “It’s a real gift, a real art.”

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And that was all the encouragement Pam needed. She’s been quilting with her kids – including her son who’s now 14 – for more than a decade.

Her son has made four quilts so far, each with a theme: Star Wars, Batman, Lego and Minecraft.

Her oldest daughter, who’s now 22, has made at least 10 quilts and is still going strong. Pam and her family live in Utah and come to visit her parents in Billings every year. When they do, Greer, Pam and Pam’s children get together with Greer’s quilting partners in town – Sharon Desjarlais and Janet Keeler – and they work on their projects.

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Abbey and Andy see similar benefits in the traditions they try to create with their own kids, whether the activity succeeds or it crashes and burns.

Andy, who spent the summer working on a number of home improvement projects, decided to build an “American Ninja Warrior” obstacle course in the backyard for him and the kids to do. The family is mildly obsessed with the reality TV show.

It was a bigger hit with the kids than the fishing trip that resulted in the captured duck, but only just.

“Even when we think it’s a flop, the kids still enjoy it,” Andy said. “They still have good memories.”

And for the Groesbecks that’s all that matters.

“I don’t want them to be scared to try new things,” Abbey said. “And we want them to love spending time together as a family.”

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MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I 89

Pleasure Principles PAMPERING BEYOND THE PREENING

COURTESY PHOTO

BY RACHELLE LACY

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I 91

‌L

ife. See also: stressed out, worn thin, maxed out, taxed.

Decades of evidence suggest having it all, while looking great and feeling fabulous, is impossible,

that mirage still persists. Obligations increase while the day remains 24 hours long. As expectations placed on us grow with to-do lists, selfcare gets bumped lower on the priority list.

In Billings, an increasing number of avenues

exist for replenishing and rejuvenating. The city offers opportunities for men and women to pamper themselves, to regain balance and restore drive. The race to recharge is on, and people are using tried-and-true practices, as well as more unconventional means.

Shining the light‌ Packed schedules, falling temperatures and di-

CASEY PAGE/Gazette Staff‌

Wayne Sundelius, owner of Sun Splash UV & Spa, believes in educating others on the health benefits of responsible tanning. The spa also offers sunless tanning, weight-loss services and unique treatments for clients’ skin and bodies.

minished daylight work against even the most diligent indulgers. There is a way to avoid it. Wayne Sundelius, owner of Sun Splash UV & Spa at 928 Broadwater Ave., sheds light on the situation.

“People intrinsically seek out sunlight. I don’t think it’s necessarily deliberate. Our bodies naturally crave sunlight, especially at specific points throughout the winter.”

BRONTË WITTPENN/Gazette Staff‌

In the colder months, most people living in Left: The spacious Matrix tanning bed is a client favorite at Sun Splash UV & Spa. Its special lamps

deliver rich color in just two sessions, yet the system is gentler on the skin than other beds and eliminates the risk of over-exposure. Right: Body wraps rest on the table in the Contour Light Body not receive enough sunlight to maintain suffi- Sculpting room at Sun Splash UV & Spa. The non-surgical and non-invasive treatment uses High cient levels of Vitamin D, Sundelius said. A key Photonic Red Light, resulting in fat loss and skin rejuvenation for clients. areas north of the 40 degrees north latitude do

vitamin for supporting health and mood, Vitamin D is produced in the body through the absorption of UVB rays from the sun. Indoor tanning beds can do the same, increasing the body’s Vitamin D at the molecular level.

icated to upholding high industry standards and unwanted orange tinting of the skin.

The pura system delivers a heated spray, educating people about UV exposure, Sundelius teaches sunburn prevention to those who believe causing skin to better absorb the mist, enhancin the advantages of responsible indoor tanning. ing color and comfort. The system also dries the

In addition to recommending daily use of solution, doing away with the stickiness other sunscreen, Sundelius explains that a base tan, sprays leave behind.

“Today’s products are phenomenal. They’ve “Sunlight is natural and necessary in order gained over time and without burning, offers come a long way,” Sundelius said. for life to exist on our planet. We provide the Mother Nature’s SPF protection.

Sunless worshippers wanting a customized Sun Splash has other options for a healthy most controlled environment possible for those

Don’t shun the sun?‌

glow, like spray tanning, which has grown in glow can also take advantage of the spa’s cus“Many exaggerations are made regarding popularity among those avoiding UV expo- tom airbrush service. A 15 to 20 minute private sure. The salon houses two spray-tanning sys- session allows for personalized contouring and sunlight and sunbeds.”

Fears of skin cancer drive many into the dark. tems: pura and the Mystic. Both sprays use shading, as well as camouflaging blemishes, crewho believe in its value,” Sundelius said.

The focus should be on sunburn prevention color-match solutions, developing the user’s ating impeccable results.

Tanning is just one ray in the spectrum of pigmentation, rather than dying skin. This helps A member of Smart Tan, an organization ded- avoid the dreaded “Oompa Loompa” look, an services at Sun Splash.

rather than sun avoidance, he revealed.

92 I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

Lightening up‌ Additional services include body sculpting and holistic weight loss.

The Formostar Encore Infrared Body Wrap is one approach to weight loss and detoxification. Using far-infrared light to trigger the body’s natural cooling process, one session burns 700-1,400 calories, resulting in a loss of inches plus the removal of toxins. Many clients say after the treatment they sleep better, have increased mobility, and decreased body aches and pains.

Contour Light Non-Invasive Body Contouring treatments deliver a low-level laser wave to melt away cellulite. Clients see this as an alternative to liposuction. The cool sculpting naturally slims, shapes and tones all areas of the body safely, without surgery or pain.

And new to Sun Splash is an age-reversing service using a medical device called Omnilux. By delivering red-light phototherapy, the treatments increase collagen production, minimize pores, soften skin and remove discoloration.

It can make a person look 10 years younger, Sundelius said.

opened Central Wellness, located at 1010 Central Ave., about four years ago.

“Many people have a mentality to see a doctor only when they’re sick,” Mitchell said. “But if we optimize our health, we not only feel well, we also help ourselves avoid certain illnesses, including bone and heart diseases, and even Alzheimer’s.”

The spa offers bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT), a program overseen by board-certified nurse practitioners and known to restore health and vitality.

Wellness from within‌ While most of the spa’s clientele are women, their Ali Mitchell and her mother, Janine Griffin, believe partners often participate in the treatments after seeing feeling great begins on the inside. With that in mind, they the results.

Top, left: Janine Griffin and Ali Mitchell co-own Central Wellness Medical and Aesthetic Spa. The motherand-daughter team combine their perspectives to offer a wide range of services for clients in all stages of life. Top, right: A variety of indulgent services are offered in the posh-yet-soothing new manicure and pedicure station at Central Wellness. Bottom, right: Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, offered at Central Wellness, works from within the body to restore health and vitality.

LARRY MAYER/GAZETTE STAFF‌

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I 93

“They get to feeling so energized and healthy, their guys will ask, ‘Hey, what about me?’ and begin BHRT as well,” Mitchell said.

Central Wellness also offers a medically supervised weight-loss program focused on nutrition and exercise rather than the cold judgment of a scale.

A variety of massages to calm and heal tense muscles are also available. The 60-minute lavender-infused Thai massage employs steamed linen bundles filled with lavender and salt. These ingredients soothe tight and aching muscles, warming and relaxing the body. Hot-stone, prenatal and couples’ massages are also popular among guests seeking a healing touch.

At our fingertips‌ A posh-yet-soothing new manicure and pedicure station at Central Wellness was created with guest comfort in mind. Manicure and pedicure treatments offered include the Signature Fire & Ice Pedicure, during which feet and legs are soothed with cooling gels, then warmed with paraffin dip, warm chamomile lotion and a hot stone massage. Paired with aromatherapy, the process increases circulation, rejuvenates tired legs and promotes healthy skin and nails.

Other treatments include body contouring, as well as hair removal and facials.

A unique offering at the spa is the Signature Facial. Beginning with a back massage, a detoxifying mud is applied along the spine, then several anti-aging masks are gently massaged onto the skin, lips and eyes. The facial takes a one-ofa-kind approach to a two-fold benefit, relaxation and facial rejuvenation.

“Our bodies and minds are running 24/7.

Even going to bed, our minds are fixated on what there is to do. It’s proven that spending just a little bit of time to take care of ourselves helps with our overall wellness,” Mitchell said.

She and Griffin pride themselves on helping others maximize their time and health. The supporters of inner beauty believe working as a mother-and-daughter team gives them the advantage of understanding women in all stages of life.

“That’s why we’re here. To me, this isn’t about people looking like everyone in Hollywood, but people looking in the mirror and feeling confident and capable.”

94 I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

LARRY MAYER/GAZETTE STAFF‌

Kris Carpenter, owner of Sanctuary Spa, loves bringing “comfortable luxury” to clients by offering an wide array of customized amenities.

Mirror mirror‌

Hands-on approach‌

While a body benefits from being pampered from the inside out, many revel in the revamping. Makeovers, massage, and skin and hair care are highly sought-after ways to provide needed, yet often overlooked, self-care.

At Sanctuary Spa, owner Kris Carpenter loves bringing “comfortable luxury” to her customers by offering an extensive range of amenities.

“I want everyone to feel welcome,” she said.

Sanctuary Spa, located at 1504 24th St. W., offers a range of hair, nail, skin and spa services, and an expansive collection of Aveda products to cater to a customer’s needs.

Sanctuary’s one-of-a-kind hair coloring station allows colorists to hand-mix custom shades using environmentally friendly dyes.

The resulting rich, luminous hues keep clients coming back.

Carpenter’s over-and-above approach is evident in the spa’s other services — even a basic haircut. Before taming locks, stylists first unlock tension with a stress-relieving head, neck and shoulder massage.

“It’s really about giving our clients what they want, not just what we want to give them,” Carpenter explained.

Sanctuary’s massage experience delivers a healing touch while soothing other senses, too.

In the spa’s softly lit space, a guest may feel spoiled when slipping into a warmed robe and beginning a complimentary foot bath. After a gentle exfoliation and light moisturizer is applied, the guest is led to a private room where a heated bed awaits.

Clients may choose which aromas and other elements are incorporated into the experience.

Ingredients like sugar and honey sweeten the body polishes. A salt scrub offers a savory option.

Carpenter knows that customization is key to an extraordinary renewing experience.

“The sounds, music, smells… the whole experience from the first sigh of relief after slipping into a warmed robe. You just let go of the tension,” she said.

In the flow‌ Kristi Gardner, a licensed massage therapist and owner of Affinity for Healing, offers a unique variety of healing services to help others restore what life can take from them.

Some of her clients, when feeling drained, seek to refill by floating.

immersed in a tub of water, spa-goers experience detoxification while a device emits ions into the water. As those ions are absorbed through the skin, they attach themselves to toxins within the body, which are then flushed out through the feet.

“Work, relationship problems, even daily interactions with others change our vibration rate,” Gardner said. The long-term effects take a toll on the body.

Affinity for Healing offers a variety of healing massages, including Reiki, which channels energy between the massage therapist and client.

Several other energy and detoxification services are also available.

“People are highly impacted all the time by a barrage of energies,” Gardner explained. “I like reaching out to people, to educate them on energy and healing.”

LARRY MAYER/GAZETTE STAFF‌

Life is better lived when we care for ourselves,

Kristi Gardner, owner of Affinity for Healing, stands next to the flotation tank in a private room of her spa. and wholeness is within our reach. Taking time Flotation therapy is a unique service in Billings. “Floaters” report long-term advantages like improved out to relax and refresh is not a luxury, it’s a nesleep, energy and focus, and decreased anxiety and physical pain. cessity. From traditional services to out-of-the-

Flotation therapy is a relatively unknown resource in restoring tranquility and providing other health benefits. For two years, Gardner has offered the service at her salon, located at 3429 Central Ave. Phillip Sullivan, a regular client, began floating to develop his parasympathetic system, the rest-and-digest function of the central nervous system.

“Most people are dominated by the sympathetic system, the fight-or-flight adrenaline.

Floating helps control that,” he said.

Now, he floats twice a week, scheduling appointments for the late afternoon, when the day has taken its toll.

“After that one hour, the energy picks right back up, and I’m ready to go again. Floating’s very calming and grounding,” he said, “And it doesn’t really cost that much, compared to some of the other things people do.”

A large, private flotation pod is filled with about 18 inches of water and hundreds of pounds of Epsom salt, creating a buoyancy that results in a nearly zero-gravity environment in which floaters relax for an hour.

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MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I 95

This picture of the burned Northern Hotel shows what’s left of the structure after the Sept. 11, 1940, fire.

The iconic sign still clings to the side of the building.

P.B. Moss, the man who built the hotel in 1902, vowed to rebuild it even as it burned.

The new structure reopened in 1942, one of the last buildings to be constructed before World War II austerity measures.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE WESTERN HERITAGE CENTER

THE NORTHERN

PHOENIX

BILLINGS LANDMARK HOTEL HAS RISEN FROM THE ASHES TWICE

BY DARRELL EHRLICK

LARRY MAYER GAZETTE STAFF

P

reston B. Moss was one of the hundreds of onlookers Sept.

11, 1940, watching as his Northern Hotel burned.

Somewhere in those thoughts, he was probably reminded that this wife had helped pick the decorations down to the flatware used in the dining room. Many of the details were modeled after the Hotel Astor in New York City.

The sign from the Northern Hotel.

CASEY PAGE/GAZETTE STAFF‌

Flames from the fire shot so high that the glow was reported 50 miles away.

“This is a sad night for you,” one of Moss’ friends said, as the two gazed at the smoldering rubble.

“On the contrary,” Moss said. “I am envisioning a modern, fireproof structure that will replace this one — a building of which Billings will be proud.”

Somewhere near Moss was Alfred Heimer and his wife.

Heimer, formerly of Cody, Wyo., had been at one time the personal secretary for William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody. He had come to Billings after his bar in Cody had burned, taking some memorabilia from his days with the legendary showman.

Heimer took what had survived and moved it north to the largest hotel between Minneapolis and Spokane.

Now what was left of his bar and his historical artifacts had burned up in the day-long fire.

The Billings Gazette reported that the couple were “sad-eyed but courageous.”

“Heimer was not as dejected about losing his place of business as about losing his Buffalo Bill Cody relics,” the copy read.

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Above: Northern Hotel owner Mike Nelson describes the elaborate heating and cooling system in the basement of the historic hotel.

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The Northern Hotel is the epicenter of Billings, both literally and figuratively. It’s been an anchor landmark for more than a century, sitting at the intersection of First Avenue North and North Broadway. And, it’s played host to at least three different presidents.

It’s almost died twice.

The largest fi re in Billings left The Northern a heap of burnt bricks and shattered glass. The second time, a series of failed owners left it outdated and ready to become office space. Or condos.

Both times, though, through two different owners who had equal parts vision and love for Billings, The Northern was saved and rebuilt for the future.

LARRY MAYER/GAZETTE STAFF

Left: A postcard from “the old” Northern Hotel shows the lobby circa 1920. The original hotel burned on Sept.

11, 1940. In its place a new one was built and reopened July 7, 1942.

FILE PHOTO

in unexpected ways.

Moss, maybe the most iconic and best-known of any Billings founder, literally built many of the city’s most enduring landmarks, including The Northern and a mansion that bears his name.

■ ■ ■ ■ The Moss Mansion was saved through the efforts of P.B. Moss and the Nelson brothers, Mike and Chris, the Billings Preservation Society and one indomitable never knew each other. Yet their lives have intertwined force, Bernie Nelson. She saw Billings history through

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I 99

By 1912, the streets in front of the Northern Hotel had been paved and street cars had been added. H.W. Rowley helped build the hotel and organized the company that operated the city’s first streetcar service.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE WESTERN HERITAGE CENTER‌

the same excited lens Moss had, and she worked tirelessly to save his mansion. Her influence was so tireless that the Society named its highest annual award for historic preservation “The Bernie,” after her.

So, it’s probably only natural that some of that love was passed on in the DNA to her sons, Mike and Chris.

Mike had moved back home in 2008 to care for his mother in her dying days.

He originally thought he might sell insurance as his father, Tom, had. Several months after Bernie died, Mike got a call from the society.

“They said they had never filled the seat on the board and wanted to know if I’d take her spot,” Mike said.

He thought his involvement might be the occasional ask for funding on behalf of the society and a few board meetings. He never dreamed he would become co-owner and general manager of the hotel Moss had built and rebuilt.

As the Nelson brothers began renovating and remodeling the hotel — a process that took nearly four years — they came across a time capsule that Moss had buried shortly before the rebuilt Northern reopened in July 1942.

“Someone said that Moss had put a bunch of valuable things in there,” Mike said. “Someone else said that the

100 I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

H.W. Rowley and P.B. Moss expanded the Northern Hotel in 1914 and also added a fourth story. This photo shows the hotel in 1930. Note that the Northern sign had been moved to the corner of the building. reason we found it was because some of the former owners had opened it up, went through it and already gotten the valuables.”

Mike doesn’t know, though. He won’t open it, even if just to see what’s left.

“It’s a part of history and it deserves to reburied,” Nelson said.

The hotel belongs to the Nelsons, the history to the community.

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Above: Crowds of onlookers rush to see smoke from the Northern Hotel fire early in the afternoon of Sept. 11, 1940. The fire, still Billings’ most memorable, was one of the best-documented fires in the city history as folks rushed to get cameras. The thick brown smoke was probably due to the fire spreading to a drug store located in the old hotel. Top: This rare color photo shows the nighttime blaze of The Northern Hotel fire in September 1940. The lighted Babcock Theatre sign hangs in the foreground.

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While the hotel has risen from ruins twice, the end came differently both times.

In 1940, fire inspectors surmised the blaze had begun in a basement dress shop, but by the time the inferno ended nearly 24 hours later, no one could be certain.

The fire had first been detected by Mary Stoelting, who was working at a newsstand on the main floor and noticed smoke coming through the floor vents.

A hodgepodge of shops and walls with few entryways made it impossible for fire crews to get at the basement fire, which started belching thick, brown acrid clouds of smoke. At one point the fire department brought in equipment to cut through the concrete sidewalks to reach the flames in the basement.

Some firefighters wore breathing masks while others fashioned masks out of cloth.

The smoke seemed unrelenting as dusk moved in.

An elevator became a chimney, and soon flames had spread throughout the building.

Billings Fire Chief V.H. Steele eventually gave up on the basement, believing the unusually harsh smoke was probably the result of fire consuming the contents of a drug store in the building.

Besides, he had other problems.

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I 101

HOTEL FIRE BRINGS CITY TASTE OF CIVILIAN WAR BILLINGS GAZETTE

In a rare front-page editorial, The Billings Gazette commented on The Northern Hotel fire, what was then the largest blaze in the city’s history. This editorial ran on Sept. 13, 1940, two days after the fire started, as the ashes were still smoldering.

The loss was complete, totaling $750,000 then, more than $13 million in today’s money.

As the historic hotel burned, the news for the rest of the world told of the Nazis bombing of London.

Here is the editorial as it appeared, “Hotel Fire Brings City Taste of Civilian War.” Fear and uncertainty which prevailed in downtown Billings for several hours Wednesday night and early Thursday morning during the Northern hotel fire gave residents of this city a taste of the kind of warfare that has engulfed Europe for more than a year.

It was a very meager taste, but sufficient to give us a degree of comprehension of the kind of warfare that has brought the destruction of many European cities, the kind that is being projected daily against London and Berlin.

In those cities today there is constant fear that at any moment a bomb will be dropped that will wreck large buildings as completely as the fire gutted the historic Northern Hotel. No lives were lost in the fire and for that we have reason to humbly give thanks.

While the fire was held to the quarter of a block occupied by the four-story building now in ruins, power and telephone lines alongside and beyond the building were burned in so many places that several hours of hazardous work by Montana Power and A.T.&T. craftsmen were required to restore light, power and telephone connections.

Fire Chief Steele and the men of his department, aided by a corps of volunteers, did heroic work in holding the roaring fire away from the buildings surrounding the Northern and skilled utility company workmen did the seemingly impossible in limiting the disruption of their services to a matter of hours.

In the early hours of Thursday quickly replaced lines brought a substitution of light for darkness in the area around the Northern. Full power came with the lights and one of the results was that this newspaper, with an early edition on the press that had been stilled since early evening for lack of power was able to complete the run and meet train, bus and local carrier delivery schedules. Curtailment of wire transmission facilities from the outside world and suspension of power for type-setting machinery during the interim made the Thursday morning edition less comprehensive than would have otherwise been the case.

Other agencies had similar difficulties even with all of the fine cooperation of helpful and understanding neighbors in the business community. Water pressure with which to hold the fire to the Northern was materially increased with the suspension of the watering of lawns and gardens in the residential sections when the urgency of the situation was broadcast by KGHL.

A nighttime view of the Northern Hotel fire on Sept. 11, 1940.

Keeping the fire in bounds and quick restoration of essential services was accomplished through the concerted efforts of a cool-headed, efficient citizenry, the backbone of American progress and stability. It was done, however, with no fear of bombs from overhead, a threat that Europeans face as a constant menace to life and property in the congested districts of their most important cities.

We resume our normal activities with a greater understanding of the erasing danger which hangs as a constant menace over our European cousins, and with renewed zeal to maintain this country as a land of free enterprise, capable and unrestrained in meeting threatened major catastrophes such as we faced as a possibility Wednesday night.

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Hundreds — The Gazette thought maybe even thousands — had crowded around the blaze to get pictures and watch the fire. Fire crews were having a hard time pulling hoses and fire equipment through the throngs of gawkers. Even the Montana Highway Patrol was called in to help move the crowd, which seemed oblivious to the danger. Walls of hot bricks and ashes were collapsing onto the streets. The intense fire caused windows to pop and shatter, sending a cascade of hot glass below.

One fi refighter was sent to the hospital, put into an oxygen tent because of smoke inhalation. Though

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Above: The Sept. 11, 1940, blaze that destroyed The Northern Hotel reaches a crescendo. Across the street, the bell tower from the old city hall can still be seen. Sparks and cinders from the fire actually started the wooden bell tower smoldering, and crews raced inside to put enough water on it to keep the blaze from spreading. Top: Clean-up begins on the Northern Hotel fire in this Sept. 12, 1940 photo.

Piles of still-smoldering bricks are strewn on the ground after the inferno destroyed all four floors of the historic hotel, which opened in 1902.

Left: Onlookers survey the damage of the Northern Hotel fire in September 1940. The sign from Heimer’s Tavern is visible.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE WESTERN HERITAGE CENTER‌

the hotel’s guest log had been burned in the flames, no one else was injured or killed.

Other businesses along Montana Avenue were preparing to move inventory, should the fire spread. It was made more difficult because phone lines had been cut or burned, so many of the stores sent messengers to employees’ houses.

Power to the nearby Billings Gazette had almost caused it to stop the presses (please see accompanying editorial from

the Sept. 13, 1940, edition of The Gazette).

Chief clerk Don Snyder’s heroism was relegated to Page 13 of the next day’s paper.

The fire had spread so rapidly that it blocked many of the exits. There wasn’t enough time to call each guest using the house phone system. Snyder found a ladder, scaled the building and entered the second floor, wading through the acrid smoke.

There, he roused sleeping airline pilots.

One unnamed salesman also found a ladder and returned to his second-floor room, desperate to save a suitcase full of samples. A helpful crowd below caught the suitcase.

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MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I 103

The Northern Hotel as it looks today.

BOB ZELLAR/GAZETTE STAFF‌

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Sixty-one years later, the near-collapse of The Northern wasn’t quite as spectacular. A succession of owners and the need to renovate the aging downtown hotel had left its structure less damaged, but its future just as uncertain as in September 1940.

There were two foreclosures and plans to turn the building into condominiums and upscale boutique hotel rooms.

There was an Iranian-born investor from San Francisco who had big plans and little money.

Then, there were the Nelson brothers.

On Jan. 9, 2009, a Friday morning, Mike and Chris Nelson showed up at the Yellowstone County Courthouse. There were 40 or 50 other people there.

The brothers had talked about their bidding strategy, NELSON but with such a crowd, The Northern would probably go to someone else. It was the second bankruptcy sale in two years.

It was expected that the creditors would buy back the

“IT WANTED TO BE A HOTEL. IT’S HAPPIEST WHEN PEOPLE ARE HERE.” MIKE

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property to cover the original loans, as had happened two years before.

The Nelsons bid $1.5 million.

The creditors bid $2,475,089 — the sum of the original loan plus penalties and interest.

“We’ll beat his bid by $1,” Chris Nelson said.

One dollar more purchased the landmark. Millions more would be needed to bring it back to life.

Mike Nelson remembers grabbing a cup of coffee after the sale while the paperwork was prepared. The document preparation didn’t take more time than a cup of coffee, literally.

He only had to sign his name once, much less than what would be required to buy a used car. The Nelsons handed over the check.

Then, officials gave the brothers the keys.

It was the first time they had a chance to look at

www.econoprintonline.com Mike and Chris Nelson hold portraits of their parents, Tom and Bernie, before the opening of Bernie’s Diner inside the remodeled Northern Hotel in 2013. The diner is named for Bernie Nelson, who had a popular local cooking show on Billings television. The restaurant, TEN, is named for the brothers’ father, Tom. TEN are his initials.

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what they were buying.

They started at the top level and walked through. The Northern had not been used in years, and yet the beds had all been made, the soap dishes had wrapped soap, and the towels still hung folded on the racks, as if guests were moments away from arriving.

Plates were still stacked in the kitchen.

The bus carts still had dirty dishes, a plate with a half-eaten hamburger and few drink glasses with petrified food. All of it was as if the hotel had just been sitting, waiting.

About a week later, after the excitement had subsided, Mike found himself on the tenth floor, looking out the windows in the corner of the building that faced both North Broadway and First Avenue North.

The snow was falling. The street lights were glowing. The hotel, built like a brick fortress, sat silent. Mike was the only person in the building, looking out onto the same street where the hotel had stood for more than a century.

That was the only time he stopped and wondered, “Oh no, what have I done?”

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Love, The MillersK athy, Ella & Ne mo

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It’s not just about what he and his brother did. It’s more about what the hotel did as part of a downtown rejuvenation that has seen old bus depots become hipster pubs and a martini bar go right next to a custom tailor for men’s dress clothes.

“It wanted to be a hotel,” Mike said. “It’s happiest when people are here.”

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Named after the owners’ mother, Bernie’s Diner is a fun-spirited eatery in The Northern Hotel that offers hearty breakfast and lunch options. One of our favorites is the Monte Cristo sandwich, made with ham, turkey and Gruyere cheese, deep fried and then topped with powdered sugar and raspberry jam.

It’s a nouveau take on a sandwich made popular during the 1960s. GAZETTE STAFF‌

The Northern has a soul nestled beneath that square brick exterior. It looks like a fortress literally by design. This would be a building that would never burn again.

It’s understandable why Moss would have had that on his mind: Just five years before the Northern went up in flames, the original Babcock Theater burned. Three years before that, most of an entire block of buildings on North 29th Street had burned to the ground.

In the basement of the Northern, now mostly hidden by shelves of spare electrical parts and other supplies, a wall made of sandstone colored brick, not so unlike the stonework of Rocky Mountain College, is the last remnant of the original structure from 1902, possibly earlier.

In many ways, that wall in the basement explains exactly the mission of the Nelson brothers. Keep the original soul, but make the surroundings as comfortable and up-to-date as Moss had in 1942 when it reopened.

“We were hard on our architects. We said we want this to be a Montana hotel, but classy enough to be on any city street corner in America,” Mike said.

“And if we see one wagon wheel or antler chandelier, you’re fired.”

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The hotel’s mishmash of furniture and rooms were gutted, even the iconic fireplace where so many politicians had begun their public service quest, was torn out.

In those places went new restaurants, including TEN

106 I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

and Bernie’s, a diner and tribute to the Nelsons’ mother who also had a popular cooking show on television in Billings.

The structure of The Northern was so solid that it made renovation tough sometimes.

“The bones of this hotel are so healthy,” Mike said.

It’s still rated as a Class 1 seismic building, built to withstand not only fire, but also earthquakes.

The Northern had run on three different heating and cooling systems. Every time a new one was added, the ceilings were just lowered again for new ductwork.

What had originally been seven-foot ceilings were now barely high enough for an average man. That’s just one example in dozens of updates.

The newly renovated Northern now has 11 computer rooms and 16 miles of CAT-5 cable on every floor.

One-hundred sixty rooms have been upgraded to topof-the-line. The sequential boilers now sit in a space a tenth the size of the original ones. They can heat 150 gallons of water per minute. The heating and cooling system monitors not only the temperatures in every room, but follows The Weather Channel, anticipating the next heat wave or cold front.

Though Mike couldn’t imagine all the work — all the hiccups and bumps along the way — it was work he knew and enjoyed. Before he left Las Vegas to come home to care for his mother, he had been at the 2,700room Imperial hotel.

“It’s a tough road to get a business to maturity with these standards,” Mike said. “But, I said let’s have a fourstar business hotel in Billings again.”

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In Mike Nelson’s lower-level office with worn marble floors where barber chairs used to sit, there is a growing number of unexpected items.

One is a copy of a wedding reception tab from The Northern in 1951.

There’s a collection of photos. Over there, a couple of postcards.

These memorabilia are family treasures and keepsakes from area residents, often given to Mike after someone dies. They are pieces of The Northern someone took with them and treasured. Now they have been given back.

Someday, they’ll probably go into a historical display in the hotel to amaze visitors, onlookers and guests whose jaws drop when they come inside what looks like an typical brick building only to discover dark wood, luxurious couches and a vintage diner.

“When it’s full of people, it’s happy,” Mike said.

SEEN SCENE AT THE

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Billings Public Library Foundation 1] Leslie Modrow, Bill & Sandy Anderson 2] Carolyn Tolton & Marcy Baumgartner 3} George Warmer, Sara Becker, Evelyn Noennig & Suzanne McKiernan 4] Doug Modrow, Jim Hefenieder & Ryan Allen

Billings Clinic Classic

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5] Emily Heikinen, Amy Cebull & Stephanie Bluher 6] Drs. Bob Wilmouth & Bob Hurds 7] David & Michelle Trost 8] Bryce & Vicki-Lynn Terpstra 9] Gerry Beckley, Dr. Eric Arzubi, Ela Mata & Dewey Bunnell 10] Dr. and Mrs. Goulet, Dr. Stevens & Jennifer Webber 11] Toril & Lyle Knight 12] Sami, Greg & Dr. Ginny Mohl 13] Dusty Eaton, Julie Burton & Kara Eaton

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PHOTO CREDIT: Carol Hefenieder/Billings Public Library Foundation; Jeffrey Aders; Kerry Sherman/11:11 Presents; Dixie Yelvington/Yellowstone Art Museum; DeLaney Hardy/NOVA Center for the Performing Arts; Lee Ann Yucha/ ZooMontana; Virginia Bryan/ArtWalk Downtown Billings;

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I 107

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The Roarin’ Summer Concert Series ZooMontana 14] Jeremy Salazar & Levi Horsley 15] Blair Walters & Lauren Satchell 16] Nik Petersen & Daniel Chang

Echo Exhibition Opening Yellowstone Art Museum 17] John Green & Michael Haykin 18] Berenice Munson & Matilde Carranza 19] Susannah Casey & Kate Hunt 20] Jerry Iverson, Robyn Peterson & Holly Netz 21] Catherine Courtenaye, Donna Forbs & Gary Oakland

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NOVA Ice Cream Social 22] Natalie Burg 23] Karla Stricker & Jack Chapman 24] Sadie Borgstrum 25] DeLaney Hardy, Anna Hayes & Hannah Hoefle 26] Zell & Ethan Dick

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Jill Brody Exhibition Opening Yellowstone Art Museum 27] Judy Gray, Lafawn Kleinsasser & JoAnne Sipes 28] Corby Skinner, Aaron Rosen & Jon Lodge 29] Linda Snyder, Herb Rheingruber & Neil Jussila

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Person of Interest From 13

Or maybe it was that grandmother who came in once. After pulling her car into a bay at a MasterLube store, she handed him a folded piece of paper. It was the MasterLube mission statement that her granddaughter had gotten when she worked there. The grandmother said that piece of paper changed her granddaughter’s life because she realized her purpose.

“We help them recognize that one part of them that’s brilliant and extraordinary. There’s something special in you that’s really special. Once you find out what that is, things start to change,” Simmons said. “And I got it. I was surprised I got it, but once I got it, I had to change everything.”

“Good actions have meant good business. They’re not exclusive.”

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LemonZOOade Day Opening ZooMontana 30] Rachel Kremer, Casey Paul, Shari Woodward & Jeff Ewelt

Summer ArtWalk 31

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MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I 109

Autumn ArtWalk Downtown Billings | October 7 What’s great about ArtWalk isn’t the free finger food and drinks, it’s the connection had between downtown businesses and the art community, bringing together the best pottery, paintings and sculptures for local art aficionados to enjoy. Functional pottery, environmental portraits and abstract collages make it easy to add to your art collection. Who knows, you might learn something from the featured artists too. For more information or a map, visit artwalkbillings.com.

OCTOBER Exhibition is ongoing: Boundless Visions: Selections from the Permanent Collection Yellowstone Art Museum artmuseum.org

Through October Hoof-it with a Historian: Billings Walking Tours Western Heritage Center ywhc.org Until December 17 Exhibit: In the Wind: Montana Motorcycle Memories Western Heritage Center ywhc.org

Until December 19 Exhibit: Echoes of Eastern Montana: Stories from an Open Country Western Heritage Center ywhc.org Until December 19 Exhibit: Who Owns the Yellowstone River?

Western Heritage Center ywhc.org Until December 30 Exhibit: Jill Brody: Hidden in Plain Sight Yellowstone Art Museum artmuseum.org

October 7, 9, 15-16 Don Pasquale Roebling Theater novabillings.org

110 I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

October 7-9 Magic City Monster Con Billings Hotel and Convention magiccitymonstercon. yolasite.com October 7 ArtWalk & Jam at the YAM Yellowstone Art Museum artmuseum.org

October 8 High Plains Book Awards Yellowstone Art Museum highplainsbookawards.org HarvestFest Downtown Billings downtownbillings.com Docent 2nd Saturday: Art for Kids Yellowstone Art Museum artmuseum.org Auction of Arias McCormick Café novabillings.org

Autumn ArtWalk Downtown Billings downtownbillings.com MOMIX Opus Cactus Alberta Bair Theater albertabairtheater.org

Magic City Rollers Back Alley Brats Montana Pavilion at MetraPark metrapark.com

Trunks & Treasures Tours Moss Mansion mossmansion.com October 12 Scotty McCreery in concert Alberta Bair Theater albertabairtheater.org October 13-14; 20-21 Haunted History Ghost Tours Yellowstone Art Museum artmuseum.org October 13 High Noon Lecture Series Sentinels – Yellowstone National Cemetery: From Prairie to Hallowed Ground, How it Began Western Heritage Center ywhc.org

NILE Stock Show and Rodeo | October 15-22 Shocktails at the Moss Moss Mansion mossmansion.com Walk for Freedom South Park a21.org Adult Art Education MaskMaking Workshop Yellowstone Art Museum artmuseum.org October 14-29 The Velocity of Autumn Billings Studio Theatre billingsstudiotheatre.com October 15-22 NILE Stock Show and Rodeo MetraPark thenile.org October 15 Music of the Masters Alberta Bair Theater albertabairtheater.org Exhibit: Hardin 6th Grade Exhibition Reception Yellowstone Art Museum artmuseum.org

October 20 High Noon Lecture Series Leprosy in Montana: The Story of Orville Willett Western Heritage Center ywhc.org I Speak: Native American Language and Expression documentary Yellowstone Art Museum artmuseum.org Educators’ Free Day Yellowstone Art Museum artmuseum.org October 21-22; 27-29; 31 Twilight Tours Moss Mansion mossmansion.com

Masquerade Party | October 22 October 21 Halestorm in concert Shrine Auditorium 1111presents.com

October 22 Masquerade Party Yellowstone Art Museum artmuseum.org

October 24 Purity Ring in concert Babcock Theatre 1111presents.com

MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I 111

November 11-13; 18-20 Cinderella Roebling Theater novabillings.org November 12-13 Holiday Food & Gift Festival Expo Center at MetraPark metrapark.com Raising our Spirits: Tales and Tour of the Haunted Museum fundraiser Western Heritage Center ywhc.org October 28-29 Midnight Madness Tour Moss Mansion mossmansion.com

November 12 Docent 2nd Saturday: Art for Kids Yellowstone Art Museum artmuseum.org

October 28 – December 30 Exhibit: Unleashed: Critters from the Permanent Collection Yellowstone Art Museum artmuseum.org

Trunks & Treasures Tours Moss Mansion mossmansion.com

October 29 Purgatory Expo Center at MetraPark metrapark.com Adult Art Education Animal Illustration Workshop Yellowstone Art Museum artmuseum.org Boo at the Zoo ZooMontana zoomontana.org

November 13 Chicago and Earth, Wind & Fire in concert Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark metrapark.com

Holiday Parade & Christmas Stroll | November 25 October 30 Fame the musical Alberta Bair Theater albertabairtheater.org First Saturday $1 Day Yellowstone Art Museum artmuseum.org

NOVEMBER November 3 New Exhibition Opening Reception Yellowstone Art Museum artmuseum.org November 5 Dollar Day Yellowstone Art Museum artmuseum.org

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November 9 Five Finger Death Punch & Shinedown in concert Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark metrapark.com

Yellowstone Chamber Players at the YAM Yellowstone Art Museum artmuseum.org

November 10 Once the musical Alberta Bair Theater albertabairtheater.org November 11-13 Huff’s Antique Show & Sale Montana Pavilion at MetraPark metrapark.com

November 17 High Noon Lecture Series Understanding the 1988 Yellowstone Fires Western Heritage Center ywhc.org

November 26-27 The Nutcracker Alberta Bair Theater albertabairtheater.org November 25 Native American Heritage Free Day Yellowstone Art Museum artmuseum.org

The Nutcracker | November 26-27 November 18 Jay Leno Alberta Bair Theater albertabairtheater.org

November 25-27 Billings Gun Show Montana Pavilion at MetraPark metrapark.com

December 2 Holiday ArtWalk Downtown Billings Downtownbillings.com

Warren Miller’s 67th Film Alberta Bair Theater Albertabairtheater.org

Holiday Parade & Christmas Stroll Downtown Billings downtownbillings.com

December 3 Christmas with C.S. Lewis Alberta Bair Theater Albertabairtheater.org

DECEMBER December 1 Merriment at the Moss Moss Mansion Mossmansion.com

November 24 Run Turkey Run Good Earth Market runturkeyrun.org

First Saturday $1 Day Yellowstone Art Museum Artmuseum.org

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TAKE A MOMENT

“Relax. Take a few minutes to steady your mind by focusing on the sensations of breathing in your belly or chest, or around your upper lip.

“Become increasingly mindful of the changing feeling tones—pleasant, unpleasant or neutral—of your experience.

“Sense a growing impartiality toward whatever arises, an ease, a relaxed and undisturbed presence. Accept and be at peace with whatever is arising. Let your mind become increasingly steady, quiet, and collected.”

Rick Hanson, Ph.D. with Richard Mendius, MD “Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love & Wisdom”

114 I OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I MAGIC CITY MAGAZINE

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