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The new Classy Cactus Floral shop specializes in home decor, silk flowers, chocolates and several unique items. Classy Cactus Floral also offers Montana made items such as candles and jewelry.

Local florist turns over new leaf in downtown Baker

By Brad Mosher

bmosher@countrymedia.net Josey Madler has always been interested in flowers. Now, the Baker High School graduate has a place to show that off after taking over All 4 U Flowers and more on New Year’s Day. Madler and Brian Strasheim are the new owners of Classy Cactus Floral. “I’ve always been into cactus and succulent plants. I wanted something unique and I thought that was how I could tie it into the floral industry,” she explained recently. “I was looking for a new adventure.... I was kind of getting sick of the oil fields,” she explained. Madler had been working in sales and as an office manager for an oil company. She also had approached the owners of All 4 U Flowers about selling the business on Main Street in Baker. Madler and Strasheim are still in the process of changing their new business, to reflect their interests, especially with Valentine’s Day coming soon. “We haven’t set up our social media yet. We have a website and they (customers) can call or stop by. We are kind of waiting on the social media presence until I get everything the way I want it.”

“We have the (new) sign up (outside),” she added. The new owners took over Jan. 1. “We started talking to them (the owners) about a year ago. We decided that it would be easier for everyone if we started at the new year,” she said. She said her interest in the floral industry was piqued in recent years when she helped with wedding flowers for friends and her sister’s wedding parties. “Everyone was saying that you have a knack for this...,” she explained. “I have a ton of flowers that I grow out in my yard, so I would always cut fresh flowers. I always have been interested in it and I have kind of a green thumb.” Madler is staying at the family place in Ollie, while the couple have put their home in Dickinson on the market. Strasheim still works in the Bakken oilfields north of Dickinson. “He is working an ‘8 and 6’ schedule, so he gets to come here for six days to help with flowers,” she added with a chuckle. “Brian has a pretty good job, so we are making

Local veteran honored with Quilt of Valor

Printed with permission from the Miles City Star

Quilt of Honor ceremony was held at the Veterans Administration Community Living Center on Friday, honoring World War II Veteran, Marion “Dakota” Callen. Quilts of Valor is a civilian award given out to honor service members and veterans who have been touched by war with comforting and healing Quilts of Valor. Callen’s family from both Bismarck, North Dakota and Kansas were in attendance for the ceremony. Lea Moore’s Washington Middle School, eighth grade citizenship class provided letters to the other Veterans, thanking them for their service. Callen was nominated by his granddaughter, Shannon Eagon, whose husband is a Sergeant in the North Dakota Army National Guard, who was also honored with a Quilt of Valor. Callen served in WWII, serving in France, Belgium, Germany and Austria with the 9th Infantry Division, 10th Armored Division, 34th Field Artillery and also served as an aide to General Patton. He received the Victory Medal, the European African Middle Eastern Theater Ribbon with one bronze star, two overseas service bars, an Army of occupation medal, a combat infantryman badge

sure we can make everything swing.” While her mother lives in Ollie, her father and stepmother live in Baker. “It’s been nice to move back and be around all my family.” After Madler graduated in 2006, she went to Glendive and played basketball at Dawson Community College before returning to Baker. “Then I started working in the oilfields here in Baker. That’s where me and Brian met in 2009 and we have been together ever since then,” she said. When Brian got a job offer near Dickinson, the couple took it and moved there. Now, she is back in Baker full time. In the new business, Madler said that she wants to make the shop specialize in things like home decor, silk flowers, chocolates and several specialty items. She already is stocking Montana Made candles and some jewelry also made in the Treasure state. Getting weekly floral shipments, Madler ex-

and a Purple Heart. The Quilts of Valor Foundation (QOVF) was founded in 2003 by Catherine Roberts, when her son deployed to Iraq. Since that time, over 265,000 Quilts of Valor have been awarded. For more information about the Quilt of Valor Foundation visit their website at QOVF.org.

Garbage rate increase moving forward The Baker City Council has decided to move forward with a proposed rate increase for garbage service at its Feb. 3 meeting. “We accepted the recommendation of the garbage rate committee to look at the rates and voted to move forward with getting it published and a public announcement made and made a resolution on that,” explained Mayor Steve Zachmann. The council approved a motion for continuing the process for a tentative rate increase for garbage service at the meeting.

plained that people need to give her about a week for special orders for events. For those wanting to stop by, the shop is located at 23 S. Main Street in Baker. The phone number is 406-778-2279. The business hours are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and they will be open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays. The shop will also be open Sunday, Feb. 14 (Valentine’s Day).

City’s Montana Avenue watermain project facing challenges Staff Report

World War II Veteran Marion “Dakota” Callen was awarded the Quilt of Valor on Friday.

Josey Madler is hoping her move back to Baker will pay off with the Classy Cactus Floral business in downtown Baker. She co-owns the business with partner Bryan Stasheim.

The Montana Avenue Main Replacement Project continues to move forward after a draft agreement was recently approved by the City Council and sent to Fallon County for review. The Montana Avenue watermain project was discussed at the Feb. 3 council meeting, including the plans for decommissioning of the water line under Burlington Northern Santa Fe rail property, in addition to arranging a bond for the project. In December, Shannon Hewson of Brosz Engineering told the council that the budget for the project had decreased to $5.6 million with construction scheduled to being in April and finish in August. But the project still has some challenges and local decisions to be made. According to Hewson, the discussion at the Feb. 3 council meeting focused on the requirement for the railroad to decommission the waterline within their right of way. “With the new project, we are going to bore a new watermain from 5th Street basically to city property on the west side of the city shop,” he said. “The decommissioning of the water line will consist of pressure grouting the pipe which is lying underneath the railroad. Then we have to remove and dispose of the pipeline within the BNSF right of way.

“This was originally thought of as something that would potentially be done by the city crew, but after further discussion, we went out to the contractor we did ask them what their approximate costs would be to complete the work. “They came back with a cost of $23,980. I did talk with them about submitting a formal change order and they are currently working on it,” he explained to the council. He said it probably would not be feasible for the city to do the removal and disposal, in part because of the need to meet OSHA guidelines and the need for specialized equipment and procedures. “It is going to be fairly slow work but it is something they (the company) said they were willing to take on if the council will approve it,” he said. “If they stick with the cost, it would be a fair cost for doing that.” Bond discussions The project’s bonding needs were discussed recently between city officials and Montana Department of Transportation. “MDT is going to require a twoyear $500,000 bond on the highway. Our contractor is going to be bonded to the city for one year and the state is going to require a performance bond from the city for a timeline of two years,” he explained to the council. “MDT told us that there are other cities that can’t get the bond,” he

said. “Two surety companies told me in a roundabout way that the contractor would have to get the bond and then it would be bond to the city and then to the state.” There were other options, including having the contractor potentially bond it to the city. “The other was potentially requesting the county to maybe bond the $500,000 due to the fact we are not using the entire $5 million for the project that we had originally requested to move forward.” Hewson said that changes in state staffing have had an impact on the process. “The utility occupancy permit has been submitted for multiple months now. When DOT went into COVID shutdown, all their employees basically have been working from home. The Glendive District helped us push through and they got us the utility occupancy permit. It is ready to go for us.” “The issue was that Helena legal did not give us – and still haven’t – the full requirement. Verbally, they have told us that is what they are going to require. To this day, we have not received any paperwork from them,” Hewson said, regarding the bond requirement. “That is why this is coming up now.” He explained that the city just needs to complete one of the bond choices to meet the state requirements.


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