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Covering the Bitterroot Valley – “Where Montana Begins!” – Established 1985 – Locally Owned & Independent
‘The Volume XXXVII, Number 1
’ ! l a c o L t a t s e B
Wednesday, July 21, 2021
www.bitterrootstar.com
Community memorial service set for those lost during ‘20-’21 The public is invited to come together for a community memorial service that is open to all, to commemorate and celebrate the lives of loved ones who’ve passed. The event will be held Thursday, July 22 at 7 p.m. on the lawn of Sapphire Lutheran Homes, 501 N. 10th St, Hamilton. “Many in our community haven’t been able to mourn the loss of a loved one due to the stress and strife of COVID-19 restrictions, and that’s made their loss difficult and lonely,” explained Michelle Meyer, Licensed Hospice Social Worker at Marcus Daly Memorial Hospital (MDMH). “It can be difficult to handle grief and loss when someone hasn’t been able to mourn and celebrate the life of their loved one. So we wanted to offer
the community an event where they can come together to honor someone they’ve lost, and see they’re not alone,” said Meyer. “I would like to welcome the community to join us on our campus to remember the loved ones we lost in 2020 and 2021. I feel it will be a very healing event and a chance for us to come together as a community,” said Dominic Farrenkopf, Director of Community Life at Sapphire Lutheran Homes. Science has shown that an act of a traditional memorial or ritual is important when going through grief.
Gathering together with family and friends to celebrate the life of a loved one
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“Pandemic restrictions left many without closure. We appreciate Sapphire Lutheran Homes for joining with us to host this community event to help families remember and begin the healing process,” said Dunn. Attendees will have the opportunity to sign a guest book and have their loved one’s name read during the service, enjoy an invocation, special readings, music, and refreshments. Those joining are asked to bring lawn chairs or blankets to sit on during the service if able. There will be minimal chairs available.
...we wanted to offer the community an event where they can come together to honor someone they’ve lost, and see they’re not alone.” -- Michelle Meyer, MDMH Hospice Social Worker
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is a normal step in the grieving process and can help bring comfort and peace,” said Jennifer Dunn, Director of Hospice at MDMH.
Sapphire Lutheran Homes is a Christian oriented, non-profit retirement center, whose mission is to provide compassionate, innovative services and amenities, enabling seniors to maintain and enhance their quality of life. Marcus Daly Hospice embraces the philosophy to affirm life, not hasten or postpone death. Hospice provides education, support and medical care while seeking to preserve and promote quality of life for individuals and families during this last phase of life. For more information about this event, contact Dominic Farrenkopf at Sapphire Lutheran Homes by calling (406) 363-2800, or MDMH Hospice Director Jennifer Dunn via email, JDunn@mdmh.org or by calling (406) 375-4749.
Hamilton wants volunteers to ‘Perk up the Parks’ by Nathan Boddy
There can be little doubt that residents of Hamilton are lucky to have a wide selection of top notch municipal parks. It is also true that those parks have endured an ever greater usage since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Over the last year and a half, the open space, river access, playgrounds and sporting facilities owned by Hamilton have seen a marked increase in use, due to many other recreational options being limited. From the new access lot and trails within Skalkaho Bend Park on the south, all the way to Hieronymus Park in the north, residents have increasingly been stretching their legs in their collective backyard. This increase of use and pressure upon the parks has not been without impact, and the Healthy Hamilton Subcommittee of the Hamilton City Council has taken notice. Amongst its many efforts, the Healthy Hamilton Subcommittee aims to foster those activities which translate to healthy activities and economy for Hamilton and its residents. Committee Chair, Robin Pruitt, Public bench overlooking Skalkaho Bend Park. Photo by Nathan Boddy. expressed what many people Subcommittee recently gained the go-ahead who make daily usage of their favorite parks from the Hamilton City Council to sponsor a could plainly see, “The parks (have been) vital community clean-up day for the city’s parks, to all of our mental health and they are going to called ‘Perking up the Parks.’ According to be vital in building the community back.” Pruitt, sponsoring a project like Perking up the To this end, the Healthy Hamilton
Parks made sense in light of so much increased usage in the past year. “We love our parks and are continuing to use them,” said Pruitt, while also pointing out that, “our town is growing, our town is having more tourism, and it is
incumbent upon us as citizens to take care of our parks.” Perking up the Parks is set to take place on Monday, July 26th, and will be a coordinated effort for citizen volunteers and city staff to work together for the improvement and repair of a variety of needed projects within several of Hamilton’s municipal parks. Projects will include staining benches and signs at Steve Powell Park, moving mulch within the playground at Claudia Driscoll Park, painting shaders and benches at the Dog Park, and even generalized weeding and clean up. But the aim of the Healthy Hamilton Subcommittee is not just the improvement of the parks themselves, but also as a community building project, and to bring people together to celebrate shared/valued public spaces, especially as a growing population makes the parks even more important for citizens. People interested in volunteering for ‘perking up the parks’ will be asked to complete a liability form, but that requirement needn’t preclude people from lending a hand when they see a need. “Even if people could pick up a piece of litter on that day,” says Pruitt, the event could be a great success. “I think the larger community effort is that all of us pitch in.” For more information, the City Clerk’s office can be reached at 363-2101.
Stevensville Creamery Picnic is scheduled by Victoria Howell The Stevensville Creamery Picnic, one of the valley’s oldest and biggest festivals, is scheduled to take place this year on August 6th & 7th. The executive board of the Stevensville Civic Club, which hosts the picnic, has been working on the details of this major event after it was cancelled last year due to the pandemic. This will be the 108th annual picnic in 110 years. It has only been cancelled twice since it first began, once during World War I and once for the Covid-19 pandemic. The Creamery Picnic is the oldest annual community celebration in Montana. The first Creamery Picnic was in 1911 after a fire devastated the Bitterroot Cooperative Creamery on June 20th of that year. The creamery, under the management of John Howe, was a major economic driver of Stevensville and the fire threatened the community’s
economic base, according to “Montana Genesis,” a history of Stevensville. The creamery provided employment for quite a number of people and it was an important market for farmers raising dairy cattle and depending on a monthly “milk check.” Howe put out the word that if his crew and volunteers from the community could rebuild the creamery by August 1st of that year, he would throw the biggest picnic Stevensville had ever seen – complete with free butter, buttermilk and ice cream. The job was done on time and the Creamery Picnic started its legendary trek through the following 100-year-plus history of the town. The Creamery Picnic has been held at Lewis & Clark Park for many years, but many locals remember when it was held on Main Street and some have been vocal
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about wanting it back there again. Two years ago, in 2019, an effort was made to bring some events back to Main Street and this year there will once again be some activity on Main. According to Liz Cook, Civic Club
putting the bulk of its energy into raising money to build a splash pad at Lewis & Clark Park. The splash pad is projected to be completed later this year. The theme of this year’s picnic is “Stevensville’s Making a Splash!” The Creamery Picnic will begin on Friday at 4 p.m. at the park with an arts and craft market, kids’ bouncy houses, and live music. The beer & wine garden will be open until 10 p.m. The Kiddie Parade takes place at 6:30 p.m. with Montana Bob’s parking lot at Main & Ravalli Streets as the starting point and the park as the ending point. Kids can win ribbons and prizes and free ice cream will be served to all the participants. Saturday kicks off with the annual pancake breakfast at the Masonic Lodge on 3rd & Church starting at 7 a.m. The
Stevensville’s Making a Splash!” - the Creamery Picnic theme president, this year the board decided not to hold a Garden Party, an event that honors Stevensville’s special citizens for what they accomplished in the past year. “Instead, because the pandemic put many activities on hold, the Creamery Picnic will serve as a general ‘congratulations’ to everyone for persevering through a long, tough year,” said Cook. The club is also
Grand Parade is at 11 a.m. After the parade, the block of Main Street between 2nd & 3rd Streets will remain closed for the rest of the day. Later on, there will be live music and firefighters’ games in that area. After the parade, free ice cream will be served at Lewis & Clark Park until gone. All of Friday’s events will continue, with the addition of free pony rides for the kids, and the wildly popular greased pig races in the afternoon. Tickets for the Pot of Gold raffle will be on sale throughout the event, and on Saturday evening, some lucky person will win $2021 in cash! Information about parade entries and about food and arts & crafts vendors can be found online at www. creamerypicnic.com. For more information about the Civic Club contact Liz Cook, President, at 8802007 or 777-3928.