Coulter is International Knights of Columbus Free Throw Champion
Gentre Coulter
Each year the Knights of Columbus sponsors a Free Throw Contest for girls and boys ages 9 through 14. The contest proceeds in several steps. The first step is the Council Competition in which contestant shoots 15 free throws in a row. Depending on their age and sex, each contestant shoots with a girls or boys ball from either 12 feet or 15 feet. The next step is a District Contest where the Council winners compete against shooters from the councils in the immediate area. This time each shooter shoots 25 free throws in a row. The Matthew Gappa KC Council #6294 conducts the Council Contest in the schools of Baker, Ekalaka and Plevna in January. The winners then met in Baker in February for the District Competition. During this competition Gentre Coulter made an amazing 25 out of 25 free throws to win the 13
year-old boys division. He shot a boys basketball from the regulation 15 foot line to win. The winners scores are sent in for State and International awards. This year the competition was halted because of the Covid-19 epidemic and no state or international awards were given. Because of the mail in nature of the contest there is no more shooting and the best scores, even ties are awarded International Champion status. Mathew Gappa Council felt that Gentre should be recognized for this great accomplishment and produced a trophy for him. Coulter is not the first International Winner from the Matthew Gappa Knights of Columbus Council. In 1991, Kamie Newell of Baker and Kody Cline of Ekalaka were International Winners in the 14 year-old divisions.
Please come help “Light up the Park” by decorating a tree. Many beautiful trees line McClain Park and all businesses, organizations or individuals are urged to adopt one of these trees to decorate for the holiday season. Baker’s Christmas in the Park will kick off with an event to “Light up the Park” on Sunday, Nov. 29 at McClain Park. Please plan to have your decorating done by Nov. 22. Many events are being planned Nov. 29 from 3-6 p.m. including food, games, wagon rides, caroling and more. Food and craft vendors may contact Alissa Miller at milleralissa392@gmail.com or 406-852-3735, if they would like to participate and for details. For more information, e-mail bakerchamber@midrivers. com.
Stan Wagner Memorial Game Feed postponed Staff Report
The 17th annual Stan Wagner Memorial Game Feed has been postponed. It was originally scheduled to be held Nov. 14 in the Livestock Barn at the Fallon County Fairgrounds, but the recent spike in COVID-19 cases prompted the decision to reschedule to a future date, according to organizer Wendy Wagner. The game feed had recently gotten approval from the Fallon County Health Department, as long as masking and social distancing was maintained, but the increase in the number of cases in the county prompted the change. There will still be an online drawing, Wagner said. “We have two drawings and we are going to be doing them live on Facebook the night of the Nov. 14. The Game Feed will be at a later date,” she said. “It will all depend on the number of local COVID-19 cases after January,” Wagner explained. “The Wild Game Feed is not canceled but due to the recent rise of COVID-19 in our community, we are deciding to postpone the event
to a later date. We hate to have to do this but we think it is what’s best right now,” it was announced on the Fackebook page for the game feed. “If you’re wanting to get in to the Weatherby raffle or the Big Ticket raffle, you can contact one of the board members or through Facebook messenger,” the announcement stressed. Only 250 tickets will be sold for the Big raffle, and are $100 per ticket, with a limit of one per person. People wanting to purchase a ticket can contact Jake or Wendy Wagner, Jim Reetz, Darick Gorder, Justin or Andrea Koenigsfeld, Rita Nemitz, Norton Walker or Devon Banister. Among the big raffle prizes are a 2020 Polaris 500 Ranger ATV Side by Side, a $3,000 gift certificate to Guns N Things, a John Wayne Commemorative 32-40 Winchester and a Commemorative Legendary Frontiersman 38-55 Winchester. The Weatherby raffle tickets are one for $25 and five for $100. In addition, people can look for updates on the status of the Stanley Wagner Memorial Wild Game Feed event on its Facebook page, she said.
Some warmer weather ahead for Fallon County – for now Staff Report
Fallon County will be getting a brief respite from the early taste of winter – at least for the next few weeks. According to a meteorologist in the Billings office of the National Weather Service, the trend will be warmer for Fallon County after it was recently hit by a cold front and several snowstorms. The regional winter weather warnings and snowstorms of a week ago will be giving way to temperatures in the mid-40s, according to Julie Arthur, one of the NWS meteorologists. “We are going to start warming quite a bit. Friday it will be up to 48 degrees,” she said. “It is what is called a low pressure trough and it is rotating down from Canada. It is going to rotate right across Montana. It is going to bring moisture and cold weather with it,” she said Friday before the second wave of cold and snow hit the area. “There will be a brief cool down through Nov. 2, with a chance of below normal temperatures. It doesn’t necessarily mean down below zero, but it could mean below normal temperatures. “But then, it will change after that. There
will be chances of above normal temperatures,” she explained. That pattern of above normal and below normal temperature swings will continue through mid-November, she said. “Looking out to weeks three and four which takes us out to Nov. 20, we are still calling for above normal temperatures. It is hard to be that exact and if it is going to be a weekly cycle,” she explained. “In general, through late November, it is going to be warmer than normal after this period of cold leaves,” she said, noting the weather that hit Fallon County over the weekend could be a preview of the upcoming winter. The outlook for Fallon County and the area over the next few weeks if for below normal precepitation, she added. Looking further ahead, the meteorologist said that it appears that there will be below normal temperatures and above normal precipitation for the majority of the upcoming winter. That could mean more snowfall or rainstorms, depending on the temperatures. “We can get more warm ups in January here and there,” she said. “But overall, it should be a
colder than normal winter and a wetter than normal winter.” The trends can be tied to El Nino or La Nina conditions, she explained. “El Nino is warmer than normal ocean temperatures at the surface, while La Nina is colder than normal. That is a big factor in how our winter goes. “This year, we are looking at a pretty decent La Nina pattern. That will make it a colder and wetter winter, the meteorologist said. The extreme weather was borne out with reports of extreme cold and snowfall across the state. The weather dropped temperatures in Montana as low as minus 29 degrees in Potomac Sunday, reportedly the coldest temperature of the season in the lower 48 states. Reportedly Missoula had among its coldest October temperatures on record in recent days. It also logged a near record two day snowfall total of 13.8 inches, settling in as the eighth most snow on record. In Anaconda, the Montana town had a previous cold October record of 5 degrees, but shattered in Monday morning with a minus-23 degree reading.
Park drainage plan approved to move water to nearby creek Staff Report
A plan to help drain water from the north edge of the Parkview parking lot and the south edge of the City Park was approved Oct. 21 during the City Council meeting. According to Mayor Steve Zachmann, the plan is to pick up water from Parkview and carry it west to Fourth Street. “It will continue on the city side of the street…and drop the water into the creek,” the mayor told the city council. “This was a project that came from the county to drain water from Parkview...from the courtyard around the foundation. It comes underneath the parking lot and daylights at the city park. They need to add some drains so
that what they are going to do is pick up all the current drainage and take it all to the west and the north,” the mayor explained. The city council passed the motion by Brittany Hoversland to allow an easement for the drainage. It was seconded by Mike Loutzenhiser and passed unanimously. George Avenue project In other business, new public works director Rod Morris told the council that the project on George Avenue was moving along in spite of the weather and other snags. “They (the crew) are fighting through it and trying to get as much done as we can. It is an ongoing project. We are going to use all the three weeks allotted to it,” Morris added.
Tim and JJ Robinson house decorated for Halloween.