2509 by yellowstonevalleywoman

Dianne Dianne Dianne Parker Parker Parker From Stalking Victim

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Lanie Elam, PA-C Melanie Lehman , PA-C Dr. Tanya Riddle Kynzie Oliver, PA-C

A FEW YEARS AGO, a dear friend shared an analogy of life. He said when you stand back and look at the weave of our lives, it’s like a bold and beautiful tapestry. The images are striking and colorful but when you turn it over to face the back, you see the dangling threads and the wonky knots that helped craft it.

That’s what this issue is about, the beautiful tapestries that are being created in the midst of those tangled threads and imperfections. We devoted this issue to survivors.

As I was writing and reading these stories, I couldn’t help but feel a small connection. Flashbacks of my own life played out in my mind.

I was a sophomore in college at Michigan State University taking the 70-mile-plus drive back to campus after visiting my parents for the weekend. Being the impatient person that I can be, I decided to take the exit that wove through the cornfields on the outskirts of the University. As I sat at a traffic light, for some strange reason, I noticed the man sitting in the car behind me. He was driving a compact rust-colored Dodge, the outline of his glasses and beard glowing under the light.

As I turned, he began tailing my vehicle rather close. I gained speed. He did too. Within minutes, the needle on the speedometer of my bright yellow Chevy Chevette was pointed way beyond 90 miles-per-hour. Then came the high-speed collision as his car rear-ended mine. I could hear myself screaming as if it were an out-of-body experience. As I looked in the rear view, I could see his car veer off into a ditch. When I kept driving, I watched him throw his car in reverse and start for me all over again.

Julie Letter Editor FROM THE

Ahead was the faint red glow of a set of taillights. “Please, Lord. Please, Lord. Please.” If I could pass that vehicle, get in front of it and slow down, maybe I could prevent the man from catching me.

I did.

Here’s where I feel a sisterhood with some of our survivor stories. When I got back to my dorm room to call police and explain, I was told to call the non-emergency number. Then, I was told that based on the location this happened, I needed to call the county sheriff’s office. When I got through there, they told me to call yet another number. Each person on the other end of the line was dismissive. I hung up the phone, defeated. I didn’t make the next call.

To this day, I believe that if my car had stopped in that ditch, I wouldn’t have made it out alive. There were news reports in a neighboring state where a woman went missing down a rural road, her car was in a ditch, her purse in the passenger seat, her keys still in the ignition. They never found her body.

Why do I share? Our cover girl said one thing to me during an interview that stuck with me. When we listen, we believe, we show curiosity and we make time to hear other people’s stories and, potentially, their trauma, a culture shift happens. Our hearts soften. We can better see the other human being sitting in front of us, and in a way, their beautiful tapestry instead of the tangled threads that sit behind them. ✻

2351 Solomon Avenue, Billings, MT 59102

Ladies of all ages are invited to join us for an afternoon of elegance and delight as we celebrate the essence of royalty in the company of friends. Indulge in a selection of scones, savories, and sweets fit for a queen. Enjoy the ambiance of live music, creating a regal atmosphere that will have you feeling like royalty.

Non-profit monies to go to: Eagle Mount (The mission of Eagle Mount Billings is to create meaningful experiences for people with disabilities through adaptive recreation. Our purpose is to provide a sense of belonging and lifelong friendships inspired by a spirit of adventure.)

36 a passion for healing

Fancy Belcourt is reclaiming medicine for her people

42 the design house that hustle built

Jessica Hannesson’s eye for design is sparking expansion

54 grandma on a mission

Virginia Toews starts every day with prayer and a purpose

58 an extraordinary life of adventure

Reminiscing with Jean McDonough

60 a stroke of community

Honoring the South Park Senior Center’s 40th Anniversary

64 catch this

West High girls grab the chance to play flag football in its debut season

68 fear in the rearview

Julie Rae proves that risk is worth the reward

72 from center state to storefront

Juggling harmonies and Hardin’s hometown heartbeat

76 milking dreams

Adeliah Curry’s goat business helps kids in need

80 from scraps to soil

home and garden

90 house built with heart

Blending modern style with a courageous family story

104 life happens here

Style, function, and family is at the center of this well-planned remodel

in every issue

48 fashion: Closet Refresh

62 karen grosz: French Mustard & Pragmatic Optimism

86 taste of the valley : Recipes with a Past

Turning

Women growing a grassroots business from the ground up

CORRECTION: In our July/August Issue’s article “Color, Courage, and a Life Remembered,” YVW inaccurately stated that a drunk driver caused the crash that killed 20-year-old Lexy Pyle. According to court documents, 20-year-old Payton Hunter “drove in an aggressive manner,” and “with excessive speed, preventing him from avoiding a vehicle pulling out onto the street.” Lexy Pyle was partially ejected from his truck and died on the scene. Hunter is now serving 5 years with the Department of Corrections after pleading guilty to felony criminal endangerment charges related to the crash. We apologize for the error.

meet the STAFF

Michele Konzen Sales Executive

gayle smith Sales Executive / Writer

melanie Fabrizius Design

daniel sullivan Photography

Terry Perkins Sales Executive

trish scozzari Sales Executive / Writer

Nicole Burtell Distribution

kayla gray Social Media

sue olp Copy Editor

Be Proactive with Your Health

Sometimes being healthy means staying on top of health changes and ahead of potential risks. Stay proactive by considering one or more of these key women’s health checks: For women of all ages:

• Bloodwork: Tests for cholesterol, blood sugar, thyroid, kidney, and liver function based on age and risk.

• Pap Smear: Every 3 years beginning at age 21; every 3-5 years ages 30-65 (depending on test type).

• Vaccinations: Recommended vaccines include flu, tetanus/pertussis, pneumonia, and shingles.

• Women’s Health Physical Therapy: For incontinence and pelvic pain. For women 40+:

• Bone Density: Noninvasive scans to assess osteoporosis or bone loss risk.

• Colorectal Cancer: Start screening at 45 or earlier if at higher risk.

• Mammogram: Begin annual screenings at 40 or earlier if at higher risk.

Talk to your Intermountain Health Primary Care provider to better understand where to start and discuss your options and risks. Visit intermountainhealth.org/mt or scan the QR code to schedule a Primary Care appointment today.

i’m a i’m a

Survivor Survivor i’m a

THE QUIET COURAGE OF WOMEN SPARKING CHANGE THE QUIET COURAGE OF WOMEN SPARKING CHANGE

FROM the quiet fields of rural farm towns to the frontlines of human trafficking recovery, four women in our community are turning personal pain into powerful action. One uses the airwaves to spotlight the rise of depression in agricultural communities. Another channels her experience as a sexual abuse survivor to build a ranch for trafficking survivors. A mother who lost her son to suicide now leads the fight to raise awareness and save lives. And a news anchor, targeted by felony stalking, is shaking up the system to drive change. Four stories, four women, unstoppable courage. ✻

“

Weathering the Quiet Storm

COURTNEY KIBBLEWHITE IS HELPING RURAL COMMUNITIES FACE MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGES HEAD-ON

written by LINDA HALSTEAD-ACHARYA photography by DANIEL SULLIVAN

COURTNEY BROWN KIBBLEWHITE would prefer to stay out of the limelight. But the vice president of Northern Broadcasting knows that by revealing her own vulnerabilities, it might help others.

Courtney owns and operates the family business alongside her brother Colter Brown. She is also the driving force behind “Beyond the Weather” — what she describes as a “social movement” to grow mental health awareness in the region’s rural communities. Ads for Beyond the Weather that pepper the Northern Ag Network’s broadcasts and testimonials are shared at beyondtheweather.com.

“What we noticed, especially in the ag community, is that we can talk for hours about things like the weather, but somehow we can’t get to the hard stuff,” Courtney says, explaining the name.

Weather, only 12 to 15 percent are even referred for further psychiatric help, she says.

“The majority just needed to talk to someone outside the family,” she says.

THE MOVEMENT IS ABOUT EMPOWERING PEOPLE TO HELP EACH OTHER AND TO HELP THEIR COMMUNITIES, IT’S AMAZING HOW NAMING THE PROBLEM TAKES THE POWER OUT OF THE RUMORS.

— Courtney Brown Kibblewhite

While Montana’s suicide rate has long ranked among the nation’s highest — in large part attributed to the state’s remoteness and lack of mental health resources — Courtney has intentionally shied away from dwelling on suicide. In fact, of those who have signed on for free counseling sessions through Beyond the

Courtney knows firsthand the stigma associated with mental health struggles, particularly in rural Montana where the culture lives by the philosophy of “buck up” and “suck it up.”

She traces her own mental health struggles, in part, to a tragic event — a murder-suicide that took place in her extended family long before she was even born. She believes the trauma shaped her family’s aversion to speaking about tough subjects, an approach that she feels later played into her own depression, anxiety and eating disorders.

She realizes the monumental task she has ahead, but feels the message is so important that she’s willing to shed her own cloak of privacy to reach others who suffer silently.

“The movement is about empowering people to help each other and to help their communities,” she says. “It’s amazing how nam-

COURTNEY WITH HER FATHER, TAYLOR BROWN, PRESIDENT OF NORTHERN AG NETWORK AND HER BROTHER, COLTER BROWN, THE NETWORK’S AG DIRECTOR

ing the problem takes the power out of the rumors.”

That’s when she turns to a large touchscreen at Northern Broad casting and clicks on several brief videos on the beyondtheweather. com website.

“We wanted it to be your peers talking to you, not actors,” she says. “These are people who are not comfortable talking about it. We want to normalize this. That’s our hope.”

There’s Manhattan rancher Walt Sales, who questions the old adage of “pulling yourself up by the bootstraps.” He asks, “But what happens if you can’t even find your bootstraps?”

Then there’s Jenny Stovall, who married into a ranching family and reflects on the “overwhelming expectations” she perceives.

“You might feel alone but you’re not alone,” she says.

Another, Dave Kelsey from Molt, has been able to manage the stresses of ag life himself but offers thoughts for helping others.

“Reach out and say ‘I’m here to talk to you, there’s help available,’” he says. “Volunteer with 4-H or the FFA instead of tunneling in on your own operations.”

Knowing that your neighbors face many of the same challenges is often very helpful, but Courtney says Beyond the Weather goes further, offering free online counseling sessions to farmers and ranchers through Frontier Psychology.

“It’s all teleconference,” she says. “That can be a big deal for some people if they’re super remote.”

The nonprofit also sponsors speakers on mental health issues. But above all, Courtney focuses her energies on reducing the stigma associated with the topic.

“I’ve loved going around to talk about it,” she says. “It feels very vulnerable and scary — and I’m not an expert — but sometimes you really connect with people.”

As the middle child of the well-known ag broadcaster Taylor Brown, Courtney’s personal challenges help her get her message across.

“I have always been an independent person,” she says. “As a teen I was determined I was going to do my own thing. And it was going to be someplace else.”

JENNY STOVALL/BEYONDTHEWEATHER.COM

COURTNEY FREQUENTLY ATTENDS AGRICULTURE RELATED CONFERENCES, MAKING SURE TO PROMOTE BEYOND THE WEATHER WHEREVER SHE GOES.

Attending school in Huntley, she says, “I was raised in 4-H and FFA.” She was also deeply rooted in the Brown’s family ranch in Sand Springs. That’s when she found herself caught between two cultures, and yet not fitting into either.

“Who are you?” she remembers asking herself. “A town kid or a ranch kid?”

When her parents became aware of her malaise, her mother took her to a pediatrician who prescribed medication. At times, Courtney tried to convince herself that the meds were no longer necessary, that she “should be stronger than this.” But she discovered that strength alone cannot heal, particularly when it comes to depression and other mental illnesses.

In hopes of helping their daughter, the Browns sent her to boarding school in Maryland. For Courtney, it was the first time she was known for herself and not as the daughter of a well-known figure.

“I got to have my own success. After two years, I was elected president of the school. I did that,” she says, stressing the “I.”

She went on to earn her bachelor’s degree in communications and international studies at Northwestern University and worked in human capital consulting in Chicago. All the while, the experiences of her younger self cultivated her interest in identity issues and psychology.

“I’ve always been looking for meaning and purpose,” she says.

That long-held fascination with identity led her to U.C. Berkeley, where she enrolled in a doctoral program for organizational behavior.

“I would probably still be there if they had not failed me,” she says. Her phrasing is intentional, as she still questions the factors that put an end to her studies there. “But now I’m grateful because it sent me on a path back to Montana.”

BEYOND THE WEATHER

is a community-led movement to normalize conversations relating to mental health in rural communities.

To learn more or get involved, visit beyondtheweather.com

COURTNEY VISITS WITH CHALEY HARNEY OF THE MONTANA BEEF COUNCIL

Before circling back, Courtney also made real on her desire to travel the world. She studied in Uganda and at one point bought a one-way ticket to India, where she stayed in an ashram, a place for a spiritual retreat and contemplation.

“Meditation was a huge gift for me,” she says. “I learned that you are not your thoughts. Your thoughts come and go.”

Describing herself as a “recovering perfectionist,” she says it was several years after returning to help with the family business — something the younger Courtney would never have considered — that a random interview on the Northern Ag Network planted a seed. It was 2021, one year after COVID-19 struck, when people’s focus had expanded from the pandemic to its after-effects on mental health. That’s when the Northern Ag Network featured an interview with Eric Arzubi of Frontier Psychiatry. Taylor, well aware of his daughter’s interest, suggested she pursue the topic further.

“My dad is very good at seeing opportunities,” she says, smiling.

Inspired by the thought, she wrangled early funding from the Montana Department of Agriculture and later the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation.

Over time, Taylor, too has grown more aware of the silent epidemic.

Farm and ranch families are quick to ask for help when it’s branding time, he says, yet they won’t ask for help or even talk about the stressors that put many folks in a tailspin.

“They’re just on the razor’s edge out here,” he says. “They’re just surviving.”

Even before the station launched ads for Beyond the Weather, he considered the station’s broadcasts as a point of hope for that farmer out on the tractor, alone with his thoughts.

“Hope is great, but it’s not enough,” Taylor says.

“It (Beyond the Weather) really pairs nicely with what we’ve been trying to do every day,” Courtney adds.

As Taylor speaks of stresses common to the ag community, he admits that broaching the topic doesn’t come easily — even for him.

“How do I say something to these guys — they’re my peers?” he asks. “But I care.”

One friend questioned him about the radio station getting into

this “woke movement.” Over time, that friend has softened on the topic.

“I didn’t get anywhere that (first) day,” Taylor says. “But I have since.”

After four years of promoting Beyond the Weather, Courtney’s role has come to consume more hours than she might admit. But she has no regrets.

“It’s probably taking away from the profits of our business, but to me it’s so important,” she says. “I’m to a point where helping people means more than the money.”

Now in her late 30s, Courtney feels that her varied roles are melding into what she’s long meant to be doing.

“I feel like the different aspects of my identity are coming together,” she says.

And that identity has now expanded to include her immediate family: her husband, a native of Wales, who she met while taking his scuba diving class in Thailand; a daughter who is 8; and a son, 6.

As a mother, Courtney hopes she can help her own children talk openly about anything that’s bothering them. She’s discovered age-appropriate books and other tools to help the next generation navigate upcoming challenges — whatever they may be.

“If you don’t talk about it, it can take up a lot of space in your mind,” she says. “What we don’t say can be just as powerful as what we do say.” ✻

LINDA HALSTEADACHARYA, writer

A long-time resident of the Columbus area, Linda Halstead-Acharya enjoys spending time and learning from her rural neighbors. She has a degree in wildlife biology but for the past 25 years has pursued a career sharing other people's stories in print. She loves riding, writing and traveling.

finding

Worthiness

FROM TRAUMA TO TRANSFORMATION, HEATHER MARIE ESTUS IS BUILDING A HEALING HAVEN FOR SURVIVORS

written by LAURA BAILEY photography by DANIEL SULLIVAN

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE WORTHY?

That’s a question Heather Marie Estus has been pondering for more than 10 years, and it’s become a lifechanging one. Heather Marie is the author of “The Worthiness Formula,” a book due to land on shelves in 2026. She’s also a speaker and coach and is in the process of establishing Worthy Ranch, a place of healing for human trafficking survivors.

“Worthiness is something we already have. It’s innate. We can’t erase it, and we can’t build it. We just need to remember it,” Heather Marie says. “That takes soul work.”

At 51, she speaks from experience.

“I could easily have been a statistic,” she says. She credits grit, divine intervention and luck for breaking free from her past. The oldest of 11 children, she is a survivor of childhood sexual abuse. It took her years to come to terms with it.

“I just buried it and moved on,” she says. “Trauma shows up in your body and in your choices if you don’t deal with it.”

“I was constantly making choices that didn’t align with who I was,” she says. “I didn’t know what it was to be worthy.”

It took seven years for Heather Marie to get back on her feet. She moved to Las Vegas to live with her mother, went back to college and worked full-time in the hospitality industry while earning a degree in Communications and Public Relations at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Her drive and work ethic helped her quickly climb the corporate ladder. Even still, poor decisions continued to weigh her down.

“There were areas in my life that I didn’t feel I deserved so I was constantly making decisions that didn’t benefit me,” Heather Marie says.

THERE WERE AREAS IN MY LIFE THAT I DIDN’T FEEL I DESERVED SO I WAS CONSTANTLY MAKING DECISIONS THAT DIDN’T BENEFIT ME.

— Heather Marie Estus

She now recognizes many of the events earlier in her life as a pattern of self-sabotaging decisions.

“I lived a double life. I was in student council, in sports, but I partied and drank,” she says.

In her first semester of college at Arizona State University, she became pregnant and dropped out.

She married and had four more children, but the relationship was manipulative and abusive. After divorcing, reconciling and divorcing again, her ex-husband moved the children to California and cut off her finances, leaving Heather Marie destitute. After a long court battle, she lost custody and could only see her children on weekends.

“He left me with nothing,” she says. “But that flipped a switch in me. In a way, that needed to happen.”

Heather Marie once again built her life back up, focused on her career and became a successful fundraiser in the nonprofit sector. Still, she felt her life lacked purpose.

That’s when an unlikely coincidence started her on a new path. Her mother revealed to her that her father wasn’t her biological father. She gave Heather Marie the name of her birth father:

Richard Villa. All she knew was that he lived in Arizona. She hired a private investigator and a few days later, she was staring down at a list of 60 Richard Villas. Instead of starting at the top, she dialed a random phone number in the middle. It was her father’s number, and before she knew it, she landed in Buckeye, Arizona, to meet him for the first time.

“He was a Mexican vaquero, a rodeoer, a Navy Seal, and a Vietnam vet. A tough guy,” she says.

On the first day, they saddled up for a ride. Heather Marie didn’t

mention that her only experience on horseback was pony rides as a child. When her horse acted up and started bucking, she didn’t panic and easily calmed the horse.

“I was fearless. It felt natural to me,” Heather Marie says. “I knew right then I wanted horses.”

When she returned home, she started shopping for horse properties and found a lease-to-own parcel that included a horse-boarding facility. Before she knew it, she was caring for seven horses.

“Even though it wasn’t what we consider equine therapy, I knew something was happening with me. Working with horses was grounding me,” Heather Marie says.

In her career as a major-donor fundraiser, Heather Marie had access to many influential people. She began to ask questions to discover how they had become successful.

“I just listened to their stories and started paying attention to what they were saying,” she says.

The difference, she realized, was that they knew their self-worth. Some came from a place of trauma and healing, while others were raised in homes where they were allowed to be themselves and be guided by their intuition. When she discovered worthiness is an innate right of all human beings, Heather Marie began to look at everything in a new light.

HEATHER LAUNCHED “THE WORTHINESS FORMULA,” TEACHING WORKSHOPS AND COACHING OVER 3,000 ATTENDEES. HER INTERVIEWS ALSO INSPIRED A BOOK OF THE SAME NAME, SET TO RELEASE IN 2026.

“We were never broken to begin with,” she says. “We always deserved everything in the universe. It’s our thinking that’s the curse.”

In the years that followed, Heather Marie interviewed more than 100 women, asking them the same two questions: What does it mean to feel worthy? And where did that worthiness come from?

In almost every instance, the subjects of her interviews told her that worthiness was nothing they had to earn. It was honored by living their core values and trusting their intuition.

While Heather Marie first used those interviews to understand her own worthiness, the answers led to opportunity. She launched “The Worthiness Formula” and began teaching workshops and coaching. More than 3,000 people have attended her

workshops. The interviews were also the foundation for her book, “The Worthiness Formula.”

“My book is for people like me,” she says. She’s also working on an online course she calls Worthy You-niversity, set to launch at the end of the year.

“It’s about learning more about who you are and trusting that and allowing it to become part of your life,” Heather Marie says. “You’re earning a degree in you.”

Four years ago, she moved to Billings for her ultimate dream: Worthy Ranch, place of healing and growth for survivors of abuse and human trafficking. Heather Marie has coached human trafficking and abuse survivors for years and has established partnerships with numerous local organizations that provide support to survivors. She wants Worthy Ranch and the Worthiness Formula to be a part of their healing and recovery.

Worthy Ranch was incorporated as a nonprofit in 2020, and Heather Marie and her board are on track to purchase the ideal property.

“I want it to be near water and mountains,” she says. “To create healing, you need a healing space.”

In addition to providing a place for survivors to heal, Worthy Ranch will also be an event center with space for retreats, conferences and special events. It will be home to Worthy You-niversity, and may also include a recording studio, a restaurant, and catering company, which could all provide career training opportunities for survivors.

“It’s for everyone, not just survivors,” Heather Marie says.

Even without a physical ranch, Worthy Ranch is taking off with such financial backers as The Gianforte Foundation, Murdock Trust, TDS Fiber, Alpha and Omega Disaster Restoration, and Black Hills Federal Credit Union among others. Programming is already being delivered to survivors with the help of local partnerships.

As Heather Marie looks to share what it means to be worthy, she’s still learning to embrace it in herself, not only as an abuse survivor but as someone who struggled with a mixed ethnic identity.

“I wasn’t white enough, Mexican enough, or Native American enough to fit in anywhere,” she says.

Today, she celebrates that heritage knowing that when you know who you are, it can be a game-changer. She can’t wait to share that message with others on a bigger scale.

“Understanding my core values and listening to my intuition, that’s when everything changed for me,” she says. “It’s a constant evolution of that formula.” ✻

still walking,Still Hoping

NANCY BARBULA IS TURNING GRIEF INTO A MOVEMENT FOR SUICIDE AWARENESS

written by LAURA BAILEY photography by DANIEL SULLIVAN

WHEN NANCY Barbula steps into the crowd of supporters at the Out of the Darkness Walk, she’ll be wearing a string of white beads. The walk to raise awareness about suicide prevention is a tradition in Billings and one that Nancy hasn’t missed in 15 years. When the announcer asks everyone with white beads to hold them up, she’ll raise her beads, look around and see maybe a hundred or more other strings of white beads held overhead, a reminder that she’s not alone.

At the walk, white beads are given to everyone who has lost a child to suicide. Those who have lost a spouse or partner raise red beads. Those who have lost a parent raise yellow beads. If you’ve lost a sibling you’ll raise orange beads, and if you’ve struggled with thoughts of suicide, you will raise green beads. There are nine identifying colors in all.

“Look at all these people who have lost a child, lost a spouse, lost a parent,” Nancy says, reflecting on the day. “It brings everyone together in community.”

Nancy lost her son to suicide in 2002. She watched him struggle with depression, complicated by substance use.

“He was only 23. He had a huge heart and a beautiful smile and gave the biggest bear hugs,” Nancy says.

The loss was heartbreaking, and, at the time, Nancy knew almost nothing about suicide prevention. In the years that followed, she found peace and healing through her faith and in her church community. She speaks freely about her experience now, but wishes she had the same freedom to talk about suicide when her son died.

“I want to bring awareness so it’s not so taboo to talk about it, so people aren’t afraid to share their experiences,” she says.

Nancy has become an unstoppable champion for suicide prevention and has helped raise funds for the cause for the past 15 years. Her involvement started when she saw a poster for the annual

Out of the Darkness Walk. She sold Tupperware at the time and wanted to donate to the silent auction. Before she knew it, she was helping plan the silent auction, and she’s been helping organize the walk ever since.

Nancy is now the chair of the Yellowstone Valley Out of the Darkness Walk, and this is her second year in that role. With the help of a core team of other volunteers, Nancy helps to find sponsors, organize fundraisers and arrange awareness opportunities in advance of the walk. She’s the local organization’s spokesperson and can be heard on the radio, seen on TV and found at local restaurants that host suicide awareness fundraisers. Everywhere she goes, she meets people whose lives have been impacted by suicide.

“I think everyone has been touched by suicide in one way or another,” Nancy says. “I don’t think they even have to try hard to come up with the name of someone who has been lost to suicide.”

Nancy also helps coordinate a flash tattoo sale with 406 Ink that has people lined up for hours to get a semicolon tattoo. All proceeds from the sale support the Yellowstone Valley Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. The semicolon is a symbol of suicide prevention because the punctuation is used when a writer could have chosen to end their sentence but instead continued. It symbolizes a person’s decision to carry on with their life story despite the challenges. Last year, Nancy got her first tattoo, a semicolon with her son’s name, Jake, inside a looping heart.

“At some of our fundraisers we get the opportunity to talk to people and love on people,” she says. “As they share their stories, we listen and ask them questions about the one they lost.”

Last year more than 1,000 people attended the walk, and this year, Nancy is hoping for twice that number.

“The community has been so supportive with donations for the silent auction, sponsorships, and in-kind donations,” she says.

The Walk includes activities for all ages, raffles, a silent auction and music. There are tables set up to offer resources and support

NANCY’S SON, JAKE

I WANT TO BRING AWARENESS SO IT’S NOT SO TABOO TO TALK ABOUT IT, SO PEOPLE AREN’T AFRAID TO SHARE THEIR EXPERIENCES.

— Nancy Barbula

to those who have lost a loved one to suicide. More than 75 volunteers, including Nancy, make it happen.

“People who come for the first time are often surprised,” she says. “It’s a Sunday afternoon. It’s family time. You want to be there with your family.”

The Walk is the culmination of Nancy and her team’s preparation, but Nancy is committed year-round to suicide awareness and prevention. She’s always open to sharing her story and listening to the stories of others. She will never know how many suicides she has prevented or how many individuals have found a measure of peace because of her outspokenness.

“I look at this as my voice to touch others, even in their hardest times,” Nancy says. “I can reach out so they know they have options, and they can ask for help.” ✻

LAURA BAILEY, writer

Laura is a Red Lodge based storyteller with more than 20 years experience. When she's not tapping away on her keyboard, chances are she's off on an adventure with her family or starting another DIY project. You can find her online at www.penandlight. com.

Yellowstone Valley Out of the Darkness Walk JOIN

IN THE FIGHT

The 21st annual Yellowstone Valley Out of the Darkness Community Walk will be held on Sunday, Sept. 21, at Will James Middle School. The event begins at 12:30 pm. The opening program starts at 2 followed by the walk. The walk winds through the neighborhood and covers two miles. A shorter option is also available. The event includes a silent auction, raffles, music and sharing. The walk is a family friendly event, and it is free. However, preregistration is appreciated. For more information and to register, go to www.afsp.org/yellowstonevalley

The walk is hosted by the Yellowstone Valley Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the funds raised are used to help distribute awareness materials, share prevention training and awareness events. The foundation offers training programs, including Talk Saves Lives, Talks Saves Lives Workplace, and Introduction to Supporting Those at Risk. A suicide-loss support group is also part of the programming the foundation provides.

by building and sustaining a top-notch team and providing youth-focused programming that evokes lasting life change. With our community's help, we can.

According to the most up-to-date research, 49,000 peo ple died by suicide in the U.S. in 2023 — that’s one person every 11 minutes. Another 1.5 million people attempted

900 1,700

Visit www.tumbleweedprogram.org to find out about the programs in place to help our youth. The Chaffee Foster Care Program, dropin center youth resource center, crisis intervention, and helping victims of human trafficking.18,000

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Reporting From

Experience

NEWS ANCHOR DIANNE PARKER’S JOURNEY FROM STALKING VICTIM TO VOICE FOR CHANGE

written by JULIE KOERBER photography by DANIEL SULLIVAN

Editor’s Note: YVW made the deliberate decision not to name the man convicted in the felony stalking of Dianne Parker. While transparency is important, psychological experts advised that naming him could unintentionally embolden his behavior, especially now that he is out of jail. Out of concern for Dianne’s safety, we decided to alter his name to conceal his identity.

FOR MORE THAN TWO DECADES,

Dianne Parker has been a familiar face in Billings’ broadcast news scene. She’s anchored mornings, evenings, weekends — you name it — at both of the city’s TV stations. Viewers know her as calm, credible and compassionate. So in 2022, when a fan sent her a cheery bouquet of sunflowers with a handwritten note, she thought it was nice.

“I thought nothing of it,” Dianne recalls. “It’s not every day someone tells you, ‘You brighten my day.’”

work. She never imagined she’d be at the center of one. “I never saw this coming,” she says.

Growing up in the small town of Chugwater, Wyoming, as the daughter of an organic oat and wheat farmer, there was no such thing as a stranger. “I always see the best in people,” Dianne says. “I’m a pretty trusting person.”

When she earned the title of valedictorian at her high school, it came with a full-ride scholarship to the University of Wyoming, where she studied graphic design and journalism. She got an internship at KGWN in Cheyenne in the commercial production department. It wasn’t until she decided to tag along with a news crew, however, that she found her passion. She loved the unpredictability of the news business, the human stories, and the chance to learn something new every day.

I FEEL LIKE I HAVE A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY AND I WANT TO USE THAT FOR THE GOOD OF EVERYONE. THERE ARE GAPS IN THE SYSTEM ALL THE WAY AROUND. IT WILL TAKE SOMEONE LIKE ME TO HELP START OUTLINING THINGS SO WE CAN FIND SOLUTIONS.

— Dianne Parker

A week later came a basket of chocolate-dipped fruit from the same man with a note that read, Just Friends? Then came a card that read, I would like to start something. It was signed: Love, Daniel.

“That one put me on alert,” Dianne says. “Something wasn’t quite right.”

That was the start of the man’s three-year campaign of stalking, one that, in time, would escalate to the felony level. It left Dianne with severe anxiety and PTSD and forced her to fear for the safety of her two young kids.

She’s covered a slew of criminal cases over the years in her line of

Since then, Dianne has solidified her place as a trusted news anchor. She’s a two-time Emmy Award winner and has a handful of state broadcasting honors under her belt.

Being in the thick of breaking news stories, she quickly learned to take precautions on the job. “You always know you could be walking into a scene where something could be going on,” she says. “One time, I was scanner chasing a little too close and I actually heard bullets fly by my car window. I learned those lessons very early on, that your life is more important, but I never thought I’d actually be a victim in this capacity.”

After the first gift and then the next two arrived on her newsroom desk, Dianne says, “The cards started getting more aggressive because I wasn’t responding.”

She started to make a paper trail of the odd communications and eventually filed a police report. When Billings Police officers visited the man’s home and asked him to stop bothering her, things quieted down for about a year.

But then, in January 2024, the cycle began again when Dianne received flowers with a note proposing marriage.

“He said he wanted to have babies with me and he wanted to help me raise my children,” she says. “That was very alarming to me. He knew that I had two young children and that I was a single mom.”

Dianne had never crossed paths or even met her 67-year-old stalker before.

“I would smile or make a gesture on the news, he would think it was directed at him,” Dianne says. “Nothing I could do other than going off the air would stop him.”

She found herself calling the police non-emergency number so often to report his behavior that she was urged to file for and was then granted a temporary order of protection. Even after that, however, came more cards and collect calls from the Yellowstone County Detention Center after he’d been picked up on a violation.

By late February 2024, Dianne petitioned the court and was granted a 50-year permanent order of protection. Daniel was court-ordered to wear an ankle monitoring system so police could keep track of him. He wasn’t permitted to come within 1,500 feet of Dianne’s home or work. At 67, there was no way Daniel would outlive the order.

He violated it within days.

“I got a card at work from him that said, ‘50 years Dianne, really? How about 50 days, 50 minutes or 50 seconds?’ Each choice had a check box by it,” Dianne says. “At the end it said, ‘Love, Daniel.’ I just knew that was a direct threat.”

When officers showed up to arrest him for violating the protection order, “He was very combative with the police. He was sitting in his chair with a sidearm and exactly 50 rounds of ammunition.” Dianne says, one bullet for every year of the protective order. “From that point on, instead of being obsessed and in love with me, he became upset, angry and threatening.”

In March of that year, court records show Daniel entered Dianne’s exclusion zones around her home and work no less than 42 times.

“He would be sitting in his vehicle, lurking,” Dianne says. “Alternatives, who does the ankle monitoring, would call and tell me,

THE Q2 BUILDING WHERE DIANNE’S OFFICE USED TO SIT & WHERE HER STALKER USED TO WATCH HER

‘He’s in your zone at your work right now and it looks like he’s circling around your office.’”

Dianne’s office was right next to a huge window visible from the street. Her employer issued a half dozen emails ordering him to cease and desist and a picture of Daniel was posted urging her co-workers to prevent the man from coming inside the building. Dianne wanted to scream at him to stop.

“From the research that I have done on stalking, any form of communication back to a stalker is like oxygen to him,” she says. “I would just be giving him more oxygen. It would be taking it to the next level in his mind.”

Eventually, Daniel would learn where Dianne lived. One night she got a call from Alternatives, Inc., telling her Daniel was in the exclusion zone around her home.

“I did feel helpless,” Dianne says with tears welling in her eyes. “I felt so helpless.”

She stocked pepper spray in every room in her home and mounted cameras at every one of the entry points. She took self-defense classes and when those things didn’t make her feel safe, “We started living in hotels from night to night,” she says.

The problem, Dianne says, was the fact that Daniel was a man of means. He’d be arrested for a violation, bond would be set, and he’d immediately bail himself out.

“He knew he was going to violate the order, so he just brought cash,” she says. In February of this year, Dianne says, “One of the judges said enough is enough. He has cash on him when he gets arrested.” A $75,000 cash bond was set, which kept him in jail until July.

IT SEEMS LIKE A LOT OF VIOLATIONS AND A LOT OF CONTACT HAS TO HAPPEN BEFORE IT RAISES TO THE LEVEL OF FELONY STALKING AND AT THIS POINT, THE VICTIM IS ALREADY IN SERIOUS EMOTIONAL DISTRESS.

— Danielle Myers, Dianne’s court appointed victim/witness coordinator

DANIEL ARRIVES IN COURT TO FACE SENTENCING ON FELONY STALKING CHARGES

BILLINGS POLICE TAKING ANOTHER ORDER OF PROTECTION VIOLATION REPORT

“It seems like a lot of violations and a lot of contact has to happen before it raises to the level of felony stalking,” says Danielle Myers, Dianne’s court appointed victim/witness coordinator. “And at this point, the victim is already in serious emotional distress.” With each new violation, Danielle adds, “It starts all over for her again.”

By this time, Dianne’s anxiety was soaring. During much of 2024, she was forced to take months off work on short-term and then long-term disability to work on her mental health.

“I literally couldn’t think,” she says. “It got to the point where it became so debilitating. I felt like my life was on hold.” She remembers spending days lying on her couch. “I would just let hours go by.”

She realized her children bore a heavy burden as well. It was affecting her then 5-year-old at school. During recess, Dianne says, “She told me for the very first time that she had been hiding under playground equipment every time she saw a black truck drive by.” She adds, “I decided that I’m not going to live like this. I don’t want to be a victim anymore.”

That’s when something shifted inside her and she decided instead of being worried about being on the air, she’d use her job as a platform to advocate for women just like her.

“I feel like I have a unique opportunity and I want to use that for the good of everyone,” she says. “There are gaps in the system all the way around. It will take someone like me to help start outlining things so we can find solutions.”

Her first order of business was to tighten up not only the way exclusion zones are shared but how victims are notified when a stalker violates them.

“This is what Alternatives gave Daniel to sign,” Dianne says, pointing to a black and white map of a section of the city. Right where her home would sit is a big circle showing the 1,500-foot radius around it. “They don’t put the address but they put a pinpoint on it and also on my kids’ schools. This is where my kids live with their dad,” Dianne says, pointing

to the map. With frustration in her voice, she adds, “I didn’t know this until my case was escalated to the felony level. I was shocked. It literally gave him the place where I live.”

“Absolutely, an offender can figure it out,” says Hollie Bowman who is the former director of community programs at Alternatives Inc. She adds in stalking cases a victim could decide to keep these areas confidential, but that leaves a gap in prosecution. “The problem that you have with confidential exclusion zones is an offender can never violate them because they don’t know they’re not supposed to be there. There’s that catch-22.”

When an offender enters a “no zone,” a victim is supposed to be notified. If contact can’t be made, law enforcement is supposed to do a welfare check.

“If police get called for a welfare check, that’s their lowest priority,” Dianne says. “Sadly, I hope it won’t take one of us being murdered for things to change.”

Dianne knows firsthand that human error can play a part in neglecting to notify a victim that their offender is close by. In one instance, she found out four days after the fact that Daniel had showed up multiple times at her home and work.

“He was at my work for 2-1/2 hours and I didn’t know it,” she says. “He was in his vehicle across the street, parked, waiting for me to come and go.”

“We changed a lot of internal policies after that,” Hollie says of Alternatives’ monitoring program.

As a board member of Alternatives, Dianne kept pressing these issues in hopes of finding a solution. It came thanks to a relatively new app called SCRAM Ally that works with an offender’s GPS ankle monitor. A victim can program exclusion zones on the app and when an offender enters one of them, it sends an immediate push notification to the victim, to the monitoring service, law enforcement and probation and parole. She’s now testing this app for Alternatives. She wants it to be available for all victims of stalking or domestic violence with the dollar a day fee to use it levied on their offenders.

In late September, Dianne will have another chance to make an impact. She’s a guest speaker at the McGuire Conference put on by the Billings Area Family Violence Task Force (BAFVTF).

“I am going to go through holes in the system that I experienced as a victim to hopefully give that full-circle view,” Dianne says.

“With this conference, we’re hoping that between law enforcement, probation and parole and anyone else who is working with stalking victims that we can get a better coordinated response to help these individuals,” says Lisa Cetrone Wells. She’s been the executive director of the BAFVTF for going on 30 years and has watched this conference make a difference — from helping launch the Northern Lights Family Justice Center to uniting advocates to create the Yellowstone Human Trafficking Task Force.

“When victims are able to tell their stories, it helps others to understand what’s going on. It helps other victims say, ‘Hey, this is happening to me. This has got to stop.’ I’m proud of

Dianne,” Lisa says. “She is facing this head on.”

In time, Dianne would love to write a local resource guide for stalking and domestic violence victims.

“There’s no handbook on how to live your new life as a victim, or to live your life even better as a survivor,” Dianne says. Having information for victim-witness advocates to share at the time a case enters the court system would, in her mind, be key. “Most of the victims I have talked to are spiraling, just like I did, because it is so hard to navigate the system,” she says. “I want to help other victims to be able to get through this very long, very draining, very debilitating process in a much easier and straightforward way.”

In late July of this year, Dianne’s stalker was released from jail on a separate stalking charge. He’s to remain on an ankle monitoring system for his five-year suspended sentence tied to Dianne’s case. So far, he’s kept his distance even though Dianne is back to work, anchoring a statewide morning show produced at the NBC affiliate in town.

that had ended in a 37-year-old woman’s homicide.

“She told me she was a victim of rape. She had been raped twice by someone she had met on Tinder after going on a couple of dates,” Dianne says, adding the woman had already gotten a temporary order of protection and the man was already violating it. When Dianne began to dig into the case, “I learned he had a warrant out for his arrest in the state of Oregon for rape,” she says.

She helped the woman get an appointment at the YWCA, which aids victims of domestic abuse, sexual assault and human trafficking, and remembers asking the woman, “Do you have someone to go with you?” When the woman said, no, Dianne met her there.

WHEN VICTIMS ARE ABLE TO TELL THEIR STORIES, IT HELPS OTHERS TO UNDERSTAND WHAT’S GOING ON. IT HELPS OTHER VICTIMS SAY, ‘HEY, THIS IS HAPPENING TO ME. THIS HAS GOT TO STOP.’ I’M PROUD OF DIANNE, SHE IS FACING THIS HEAD ON.

— Lisa Cetrone Wells, executive director of the BAFVTF

“Right now, I’m enjoying the stability of doing a job that I love and am passionate about,” she says.

In mid-July, Dianne remembers sitting in the newsroom, hearing the phone ring. She debated answering it but ended up taking the call of a woman who was looking for help. She had watched Dianne on the news report about a recent domestic violence case

“I sat there with her for two hours while she cried during her intake interview. Just to be there with her because she was alone, that was worth it for me,” Dianne says.

She knows with each connection, each brush with another victim, each chance to speak publicly about her experiences, she’s advancing the cause and hopefully helping future victims in the process.

“I want victims to know that they are not alone,” Dianne says. ✻

FOR MORE on stalking awareness, resources and information, visit the Stalking Prevention Awareness and Resource Center at stalkingawareness.org.

DIANNE SPEAKS AT AN ACCESS BILLINGS EVENT ABOUT THE SILENT DISABILITY OF POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER

Passion Passion Healing Healing A for

FANCY BELCOURT IS RECLAIMING MEDICINE FOR HER PEOPLE—AND INSPIRING OTHERS TO FOLLOW

written by LINDA HALSTEAD-ACHARYA photography by DANIEL SULLIVAN

WHEN FANCY BELCOURT drove past a construction site on Shiloh Road in Billings, she had no idea it held her future.

“There was just a frame and piles of dirt,” she says. “And I wondered what it could be.”

That was three years ago. One year later, the steel frame and dirt would morph into Rocky Vista University, Montana’s first medical school. Within another year Fancy would be enrolled there in the school’s Master of Medical Sciences program. And this summer she started her four-year degree to become a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine.

With each step she’s taken, Fancy, now 29, has worked her way closer to a dream she’s held since she was a young girl: to become a physician devoted to improving health care for her fellow Native Americans.

“I grew up seeing so many of my family and friends affected by health disparities on the reservations,” she says. “I wanted to make a change.”

galia and was the first to include a blanket ceremony and honor song. She is one of only two Native students currently enrolled in its medical school. A third just enrolled in the master’s program.

While those factors alone mark her as unusual, the path she has taken can only be described as exceptional.

I GREW UP SEEING SO MANY OF MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS AFFECTED BY HEALTH DISPARITIES ON THE RESERVATIONS. I WANTED TO MAKE A CHANGE.

— Fancy Belcourt

Fancy was the first Native American to graduate from Rocky Vista’s master’s program. She received her degree in full Native re-

As the child of a Chippewa-Cree father and a Crow mother, Fancy was given the name “Woman Who Anoints With Oil” from her great-grandmother Marie A. Wilson-Knows. Having roots in two tribes, Fancy and her three siblings moved frequently, from her father’s home on the Rocky Boy Reservation to her mother’s on the Crow Reservation to stays in Billings, in between. Her parents and grandparents provided a network of support that served as her lifeline, one which remains vital today.

Fancy’s path was abruptly altered when she became pregnant in her mid-teens. Though she didn’t finish high school, having a child motivated her to take charge of her life. She earned her GED and, at the young age of 17, enrolled in college at MSU-Northern. From there her life pinballed from school to school as she pursued her education.

“My grandparents told me how important education was and that I needed to keep my eyes on the prize,” she says.

There were gaps along Fancy’s path and two more children. At one point she worked as a certified nursing assistant. She even augmented her income by modeling, which led to acting offers that tempted her. When friends saw her struggle, they suggested she try an easier route. But the single mother remained steadfast in her goal: to honor her elders and pursue her dream of becoming a physician.

“I was always raised to listen to my elders,” she says. “I would do anything to help them.”

Ultimately, she earned her bachelor’s degree from MSU-Northern and later a master’s from Montana State University.

Even with diplomas in hand, she kept coming up against one major roadblock: if she were even accepted into medical school, she’d have to move out of state and leave her family behind.

“My support system is here,” she says. “I really didn’t want to do that.”

For that reason, her drive up Shiloh Road three years ago suddenly brought her goals within reach. The prospect of a medical school “in our own backyard” seemed the answer to her dreams. So, when her application was denied, her disappointment was palpable.

“I really thought that would be the end of my journey,” she says. But then a member of the admissions committee reached out to

her, suggesting she’d be a good fit for the school’s one-year master’s program.

“They made me feel that they truly wanted me to be at the school and to be successful,” she says.

The master’s program was no slack alternative. The students learn side-by-side with their medical school peers. But by keeping her grades up, Fancy earned her way into the school’s fullfledged medical school for Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine – a program that held special appeal for her.

Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine — or DOs — take the same classes and exams as their MD counterparts. But the DO approach is more holistic and incorporates manipulation aimed at restoring health for both body and consequently the mind.

“This is where healing stemmed from,” Fancy says. “Native Americans taught these practices to the New World. I want to reintroduce them back into the Native community.”

Fancy believes that osteopathy, by offering non-pharmaceutical alternatives for healing, will provide her with tools that could help address health disparities on the reservation and could even play a role in stemming the opioid crisis.

Jaquelyn Waller, PharmD at RVU, was one of Fancy’s instructors in the master’s program. She was impressed by Fancy’s unique blend of lived experience, academic excellence and cultural insight.

“I have no doubt she will be a transformative force in healthcare

FANCY AND HER MOTHER, SYLVER BELCOURT IN FRONT OF THE TRIBAL FLAG DISPLAY THE TWO ORGANIZED

for Native populations,” Jaquelyn says.

Cindy Funk, Ph.D., Fancy’s anatomy professor, also saw something special in Fancy. Witnessing her student’s combination of academic excellence and a passion for serving her community, Cindy is confident Fancy will become not only an “outstanding osteopathic physician” but also a powerful advocate for Montana’s tribal communities.

Fancy has already taken on the role of advocate — for the school

and for Natives and non-Natives alike. Surprised that so many Montanans are unaware that the state now has its own medical school, she’s determined to spread the word.

“Rocky Vista sets you up for success. They teach professionalism in everything that we do,” she says. “I want other indigenous students to know there are resources. If I’d known this was accessible, it’d have been so much easier, so less stressful.”

As she seeks to raise awareness, she’s taken lead of the school’s first Native American Club and organized an event in May highlighting the tragedy of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. She’d like her medical school classmates — nearly 90 percent of whom come from out of state and have little exposure to Native culture — to better understand the traumas and history that shape life on the reservation.

health in rural and tribal leaders. When Fancy needed a boost, Hopa Mountain supported her with guidance and stipends for books. Now she’d like to pay back the favor.

Bonnie Sachatello-Sawyer, executive director at Hopa Mountain, loves to see such reciprocity.

“That’s the beauty of it — that peer-to-peer mentoring,” Bonnie says. “She will be a leader in her community for generations to come.”

ROCKY VISTA SETS YOU UP FOR SUCCESS.

THEY

TEACH PROFESSIONALISM IN EVERYTHING THAT WE DO. I WANT OTHER INDIGENOUS STUDENTS TO KNOW THERE ARE RESOURCES. IF I’D KNOWN THIS WAS ACCESSIBLE, IT’D HAVE BEEN SO MUCH EASIER, SO LESS STRESSFUL.

In keeping with that theme, Fancy even enlisted help from her mother, Sylver Belcourt. Together they gathered flags from all eight Montana tribes, now on display just inside Rocky Vista’s entrance. She hopes the colorful banners will serve as reminders of the Native communities, their unique cultures and their need for better health care.

— Fancy Belcourt

“I am grateful that all the tribes of Montana donated a flag to help aid my daughter in her dream of paving a pathway for future Native American students to go to medical school,” Sylver says.

Likewise, Fancy encourages others from tribal communities to dream big. She plans to turn her enthusiasm into action by mentoring others through Hopa Mountain, a Bozeman non-profit that focusses on education, economic development and ecological

This summer, Fancy dove into medical school just weeks before her children — ages 12, nine and seven — started their next school year.

She remains intent on raising them with ties to their Native culture, adding powwows, round dances, feeds and sweats to their activities. She knows she can’t do it without lots of support.

“It really does take a tribe to raise a family,” she says.

Just days before classes began, she received the news that she’d been selected for a full-ride scholarship. Even as doors are opening for her, she’s sometimes overwhelmed by the goals she has taken on.

“At the end of the day, when I’m really tired, my reminders are my kids, my Native communities and the reasons I wanted to do this,” she says. “I use that as motivation and that helps ground me. I pick myself back up and get back into it.” ✻

THAT HUSTLE BUILT design2 house6 THE

JESSICA

EYE FOR DESIGN IS SPARKING EXPANSION AND GRABBING NATIONAL ATTENTION

written by JULIE KOERBER photography by NATHAN SATRAN

FOR JESSICA HANNESSON, home has always been more than four walls and a roof.

“It’s special to me. It’s the one place where I feel like we have control over our environment,” she says. “It’s a sacred space. It’s a place where we get to raise our families.”

From the first steps of her childhood to her role now as a business owner and interior designer, home has been the common thread.

“I always joke with my parents that my childhood home was my first love,” she says. “There are just so many great memories in that space — family gatherings, holidays, simple everyday things that make life feel full.”

She’s built two businesses around that feeling. Hannesson Home is a full-service interior design and cabinet studio. Made for Home is a home décor and furnishing store downtown.

I WANTED PEOPLE TO WALK INTO A HOUSE AND SAY, ‘OH, THIS MUST BE A HANNESSON HOUSE.’ A GOOD BRAND SHOULD MAKE YOU FEEL SOMETHING.

— Jessica Hannesson

“I think the number one thing I wanted to do with Hannesson Home was to build a brand. I wanted people to walk into a house and say, ‘Oh, this must be a Hannesson house,’” Jessica says. “A good brand should make you feel something.” It’s why her brand statement is, “Design you can feel.”

Growing up in Glendive, Jessica was surrounded by strong women who poured their hearts into their homes.

“I remember my aunt buying these custom curtains and putting them on layaway,” Jessica begins with a smile. “It was never about how much money you had. It was about how much care you put in.”

While her mother and grandmother taught her how to be a homemaker, her father, who owned a tire store in town, taught her what it looked like to be an entrepreneur.

“Whatever age you could legally work, I was there selling tires, cleaning the store, meeting with the farmers. It taught me a lot about people,” Jessica says, “How to talk to people and not be afraid.”

If you ask 18-year-old Jessica about her future, she’d tell you she had her sights set on becoming “the next Beyonce.” After high school, she moved to Los Angeles to attend a small performing arts college. She lasted one year. “To be frank, I hated it.” When her dad told her she didn’t have to stick it out and could just come home, it was her mom who suggested the interior design program at Montana State University.

“She just knew,” Jessica says of her mom. “When I didn’t know what I’d be good at, she did.”

That’s where Jessica discovered that creating an emotional connection is what sets her work apart.

“That’s why you’ll see me close my eyes as I’m talking with a client,” Jessica says, adding that she’s trying to see the vision before

HANNESSON’S

it’s even drawn into plans. She’ll ask, “What are the memories we are going to create here?”

Christian Hannesson was Jessica’s high school sweetheart. After college, the two got married and when his job brought him to Billings in 2013, Jessica found herself applying for every design opportunity in town. She found just the right fit with a budding new business, The Cabinet Center.

“I don’t even know if it had been open a year when I started,” she recalls. “It was like a startup in a lot of ways.” Randy Mostad, who owns Carpet One, opened The Cabinet Center to expand his offerings.

they had a deal and Randy handed her the keys.

She renamed the company Hannesson Home and spent the last five years creating the company’s identity.

“I want to sink our teeth into this community and show them that great design is here too,” Jessica says.

“The minute I interviewed, I told Randy, ‘I would love to open my own business. That’s my goal. That’s what I want to do,’” Jessica says. “And he really encouraged that.”

That’s why she’s investing in a brand new 14,000-square-foot building near Shiloh and Monad.

“We always knew we would outgrow this space,” Jessica says as she points to the 2,000-square-foot design studio she operates out of now. “So, we’ve been looking for a new home for probably two years.”

She became instrumental in growing the company — launching the website, expanding cabinet lines, and helping shape the brand.

“We really built this thing,” she says. Seven years in, she told Randy, “I’m going to come to you every single day until you sell it to me, or else I’m going to have to start my own.” Two months later,

Half of the building will be used as the new headquarters for both Hannesson Home and Made for Home. The other half will be available to lease. Inside the new home base, there will be a library space perfect for dreaming up new concepts, a rooftop patio, a big resource room and even a private area which could be used as a nursing room for new moms.

“We are going to have gas lanterns,” she says pointing to one of the building’s renderings. “And over here will be a skylight.”

As she looks at the next exciting chapter, she vividly remembers

RENDERING OF THE NEW HANNESSON HOME & MADE FOR HOME LOCATION

time.

“When you first start a business, the word I embodied was ‘hustle’. Everything is riding on this,” Jessica says. “Just get up and go to work and work your butt off every day, all day.”

She laughs about the early days of Made For Home and humbly shares a story about how she launched the décor business without a lot of retail prowess. She decided immediately to jump into e-commerce and ship orders nationwide. The rest of the story involves an online order to Nebraska and a bathroom scale.

“The first time we shipped out a package, I didn’t even know how to weigh it,” she says with a laugh. “I got my scale from the bath-

room, which is a very humbling experience to sit on a scale without the package and then get back on with the package and say, ‘Okay, this is a nine-pound package.’”

Today, the founder and creative force behind Hannesson Home has found balance and knows what she needs to do to level up her business.

“We run Hannesson Home like a media company,” she says. “We’re documenting the designers, the in-between, the process. We’re shooting video during installs and at the final reveal. It’s extra work, but it pays off.”

The extra work has grabbed the attention of not only Martha Stewart Living, Southern Living and House Beautiful, all of which featured her work on their magazine and web pages, but it got her nominated for HGTV’s Designer of the Year award in the kitchen and bath category.

“They found her,” says K.J. Blattenbauer, Jessica’s publicist. “Jessica has both the talent and that unmistakable spark that sets true visionaries apart. I have no doubt what we’re witnessing is the rise of the next Joanna Gaines.”

As voting continues for the HGTV honor through September 25, one nominee will win the People’s Choice award; the other will be

JESSICA AND CHRISTIAN WITH THEIR DAUGHTERS EZRI (L) AND ADALINE (R)

to vote2for

HGTV’S DESIGNER OF THE YEAR visit

hgtv.com/decorating/hgtv-designerof-the-year-awards

You can vote daily through September 25 to help Jessica Hannesson earn the title of People’s Choice in the kitchen and bath category.

chosen by HGTV’s editorial team. Several of the winners and contestants have gone on to host their own shows on HGTV.

“Just to be able to say that we were an HGTV Designer of the Year nominee? I love that!” Jessica says.

She knows the nomination will open doors.

“A brand collaboration, like designing a rug line, is a major goal of mine,” Jessica says. “I’m drawn to the creative process behind it and the opportunity to bring my design perspective into people’s homes in a new way.” She’s already had talks with a few potential partners so, of course, it’s her mission to focus on the things she needs to do to make that kind of collaboration happen.

For now, breaking ground on the new building consumes much of Jessica’s time. She knows however, even with the blueprints still crisp in her hands, there’s always room to dream about bigger things down the road.

“This will not be the last thing we do. It can’t be,” she says with a laugh. “I’ll lose my mind.”

She and her husband just bought a window and door company and hope one day to potentially meld that into Hannesson Home. “We have big dreams,” Jessica says.

It’s been 12 short years since Jessica earned her interior design degree. The fresh-faced girl hoping to make a name for herself has done that and a whole lot more. She never takes any of it for granted.

“I always want to come at things from a place of gratitude,” Jessica says. “When you first open a business, you feel like one day it will just go crazy. It doesn’t.”

Tracy W. Hawbaker AWMA®, CTFA

• Team approach with over 75 years of combined experience in the financial services industry

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Success, she says, involves showing up every day and being consistent.

“It’s a bunch of losses and then some mini wins,” Jessica says. “When you get those wins, you hold onto them.” ✻

Sam Van Dyke

closet5 REFRESH REFRESH

REFRESH

STAPLE PIECES CAN SIMPLIFY YOUR STYLE AND ELEVATE EVERY OUTFIT

DO YOU EVER LOOK at your closet and think to yourself, “I have nothing to wear!” Refreshing your closet to include staple items like well-fitting denim, classic jewelry and a versatile boot isn’t just about style — it’s about creating a reliable foundation that makes getting dressed effortless. These timeless pieces act as anchors in your wardrobe, allowing you to mix and match with ease. ✻

signature denim

Having a go-to denim is a must. From mid-rise to high-rise to barrel and wide leg, there are endless brands and styles to choose from. Just keep in mind, comfort leads to confidence.

(L to R)

Mother Denim Mid Rise Rambler, $248 at RocHouse

Pistola Wes High Rise Barrel, $178 at SomethingChic

L’agence Marty Flare, $278 at RocHouse

Kimes Olivia Wide Leg, $150 at Western Ranch Supply

closet5

essential accessories

Want to add personality, polish and intention to your look? Even the simplest pieces, like a chunky gold hoop, a layered necklace or a classic statement ring, can transform a basic outfit into something styled and complete.

(L to R)

Marrin Costello Monterey Hoops $88, Marrin Costello Crown Choker $98, Marrin Costello Herringbone Necklace, $82, all from SomethingChic; Hayden Statement earring $48, Jenny Bird Supernova ring, $118 from RocHouse

Nothing defines your waist and pulls together an outfit better than a basic belt. Think of it as the punctuation mark to your outfit.

(L to R)

Gail Leather Belt, $69 at SomethingChic Over and Over Belt $69, RocHouse

A little black bootie strikes the perfect balance between style, versatility and practicality. Its sleek silhouette and neutral color make it easy to pair with everything from jeans and dresses to skirts and tailored pants.

Jarli Boot, $189.50 from RocHouse

Every wardrobe needs a staple jacket. It’s one of the most versatile and hardworking pieces you can own. Not only can it dress up or dress down an outfit, it can deliver warmth across Montana’s ever-changing weather.

Contrast Color Barn Jacket, $129 at SomethingChic

on a GrandmaMission

AT 100, VIRGINIA TOEWS STARTS EVERY DAY WITH A PRAYER AND A PURPOSE TO LOVE THE HURTING

AT 100 YEARS YOUNG, Virginia Toews has seen a thing or two in her long life. From milking cows every day before school while growing up on a North Dakota farm, to lobbying in Washington, D.C., for the Northern Cheyenne tribe, to serving people who are homeless in Billings, Virginia says the most important thing she’s ever seen is the power of Jesus in the lives of those who are hurting.

“Every day I pray, ‘God, use me today,’” says Virginia. “Working with the homeless has taught me who Jesus is,” she adds. “Many are maimed by their lifestyle, but giving them a pat on the back, telling them, ‘You’re doing a good job. I like the way you’ve faced this. Keep it up.’ Why, that just perks them up like nothing.”

Five days a week, you’ll find Virginia at the Montana Rescue Mission Bargain Center in Billings’ West End, combing through donated household supplies to prepare them for sale. She calls herself a “chaos coordinator,” and it’s a role she relishes. But her favorite part of working at the center is the opportunities it gives her to pray for the many struggling people she encounters each day.

we train them hopefully to get a job,” says Virginia. It’s awesome working with them and encouraging them.”

In every season of life, Virginia has made it her mission to love and encourage those around her. Before moving to Billings, she and her husband, John, spent 38 years living on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation and caring for people there.

WORKING WITH THE HOMELESS HAS TAUGHT ME WHO JESUS IS. MANY ARE MAIMED BY THEIR LIFESTYLE, BUT GIVING THEM A PAT ON THE BACK, TELLING THEM, ‘YOU’RE DOING A GOOD JOB. I LIKE THE WAY YOU’VE FACED THIS. KEEP IT UP.’ WHY, THAT JUST PERKS THEM UP LIKE NOTHING.

— Virginia Toews

“We have volunteers coming from the mission downtown and

“We had just built our own home in North Dakota when my husband told me about a need for someone to go to Lame Deer for six months on a mission to help out a church there,” says Virginia.

Once they arrived, they fell in love with the Cheyenne people and knew they were there to stay. During that time, Virginia’s life took an unexpected turn when tribal leaders asked her to help them lobby the federal government to improve housing on the reservation. She had no formal training as a lobbyist but soon found herself alongside the tribal chairman in Washington, D.C., voicing their concerns. Virginia began working for the Northern Cheyenne Housing Authority and earned her pilot’s license so she could fly to meetings with federal authorities.

JULIE LOVEL photography by DANIEL SULLIVAN & VIRGINIA TOEWS

After her husband passed away in 1993, Virginia and her daughter moved to Billings. When she first arrived, she wasn’t too impressed with the Magic City.

“Billings was the most boring place, and I was sorry I had moved,” says Virginia.” The Cheyenne people are ever so loving and kind and gracious, and I missed them terribly.”

When she visited the Montana Rescue Mission to try to donate items after her move, she felt a strong calling to help the nonprofit serve people who are homeless. Now Virginia’s days are anything but dull. She started off as a volunteer, but before long was a full-time employee.

“God gave me a longing to bring up the destitute,” says Virginia. “It was heart-rending to see what was happening.”

To many co-workers and mission volunteers, Virginia is known as “Grandma.” Each morning, she leads them in prayer and it’s clear she has had a powerful impact on their lives.

“She’s truly one of the best people there is,” says store manager Dan MacIntyre. “My own faith was shaky when I started working here. But you cannot be around her and not have a strong faith. You just can’t.”

Co-worker Ruth Cross says Virginia keeps the morale up at work. Her strong worth ethic also inspires those around her.

“She’s probably the busiest one here, doing all of the pricing and getting all of the housewares out,” says Ruth. “You feel a little tired one day and see her and it’s like, ‘oh my goodness, I could do more.’”

For many years, Virginia also led a weekly Bible study at the Montana State Women’s Prison in Billings. Although she has pulled back from teaching because of hearing loss, the prisoners are still close to her heart. Her message to them and to others who struggle with the mistakes of their past is simple.

“I tell them not to look back, because they’re not going there,” Virginia says.

Conversations with Virginia are filled with wisdom and wit. Her strong faith sustained her through two successful battles against Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, but she says there’s another reason she’s had such a long, productive life.

“I’ve never smoked, I’ve never drank, I’ve never chased men,” says Virginia with a laugh. “Clean living!”

Virginia is now undergoing treatments as she battles cancer a third time. She says some days are harder when she lacks energy. But she has more work to do, and she trusts God will heal her again.

“It’s the work and the joy and the fun of it all, and thinking, ‘I can’t wait to see what God’s going to do today,’” Virginia says. “I’ve had 28 years of fun. This place is anything but boring!” ✻

JULIE LOVELL, writer

Julie is a former Billings news anchor who loves sharing positive news stories. After spending a decade in Georgia, her family is happy to back home in Montana. When she’s not writing, you’ll find her volunteering for special needs organizations, stretching her faith and getting reacquainted with the joys of life under the Big Sky!

Life of Adventure

REMINISCING WITH JEAN MCDONOUGH

written by CYDNEY HOEFLE

photography by DANIEL SULLIVAN

JEAN MCDONOUGH relaxed on the patio at her home in Billings as she reminisced about her life. Though she just celebrated her 99th birthday, she still lives alone, drives her car to the grocery store, church and doctor’s appointments and keeps her own house.

“She’s amazing,” her youngest daughter, Maura Smith says. “Nothing stops Mom.”

The fact that Jean is nearly 100 and independent puts her in an exclusive club of people in the U.S. who live to be her age. It’s just one of many ways that she has set herself apart.

Jean was born and raised in Williston, North Dakota, the third of four girls. In a time when it was nearly unheard of for women to attend college, Jean and her sisters all graduated from college.

“Dad always encouraged us to go beyond high school,” Jean says. “Back then, very few women went. But my older sister was in college and I really wanted to get out of Williston, so I thought it was a good idea.”

Because money was tight and Jean had no idea what she wanted to study, she worked for a year as a bookkeeper in a bank. Just before World War II ended, she remembers meeting a woman who was a traveling pharmacist at the local drug store.

next thirteen years. When Maura started first grade, Cathy was heading to college.

Pat’s career in the oil and gas industry took them all over the world and the children often traveled with them. They spent one summer in Scotland, Christmas in Italy, and enjoyed trips to Sweden, Finland, Russia, Columbia, South America, Mexico, all over the United States and even made two trips behind the Iron Curtain.

When the family wasn’t traveling, and while the children were in school, Jean often took college courses, constantly looking for ways to keep her mind active.

“I always tried to be constructive with my time,” she says. She volunteered for Reading Rocks in the summertime, meeting children in the city parks to read to them or listen to them read to her.

When Pat passed away unexpectedly in 1979 at the age of 56, Maura was still a teenager. At 52, Jean returned to her career as a pharmacist. She spent almost three decades working for Western Drug in Billings and Laurel and filling in as a substitute pharmacist around town. She carried on that work until she was almost 80. Her kids teased her that she was going to die filling a prescription.

“I thought, ‘that sounds like fun,’” she says. “And that’s when I decided to go to pharmacy school.”

Jean was one of only three other girls in pharmacy school at the University of Montana in Missoula. That’s also where she met the man she would later marry. She graduated in 1949 and worked for a year as a pharmacist intern in Wolf Point to receive her license, before she and Pat were married.

When she began her career, everything was compounded and ingredients were individually weighed. Prescriptions were handwritten by doctors and bottle labels were typed on a manual typewriter. About the time that computers began revolutionizing the pharmacy world, Jean hung up her white coat.

With her husband in the service, the couple moved around the country for the first few years of their marriage and through the birth of their first child. After the military, the family settled in Billings and Jean worked as a substitute pharmacist for a short time before staying home to raise her children.

“That was a wonderful time in my life,” Jean says. “I was able to be home with the kids and travel with Pat.”

Five children: Cathy, Sean, Patricia (who passed away at two months old), Tara and Maura, were added to the family over the

“I had a great career,” Jean says. “I was so thankful I had my pharmacy degree to fall back on. When Pat died, I was too young to just sit around.”

These days, Jean lives in a one-level home that’s been a great fit for her. Maura checks in with her daily and Jean keeps up on other family members with phone calls and visits.

“My advice to others, if I could give it,” Jean smiles, “is to keep your mind active and do things that are out of the ordinary so your life is exciting.” ✻

JEAN, HER HUSBAND PAT, AND THEIR CHILDREN SEAN, TARA, MAURA AND CATHY

a a

Stroke of community of community

ONE WOMAN’S BRUSH HONORS THE SOUTH PARK SENIOR CENTER’S 40TH ANNIVERSARY

written by BROOKE WAGNER photography by DANIEL SULLIVAN

Editor’s Note: Susan wanted thank Jan Dennis, Karen Bauer, Doris Hill, Mana Lesman and Deb Werholz for their help painting and bringing her idea to life.

ONCE A CONSTRUCTION laborer wielding tools to shape buildings, Susan Kaiser recently picked up a paintbrush to breathe new life into a different kind of brick and mortar: the South Park Senior Center. Susan and a crew of like-minded helpers transformed a plain storage building behind the center into a vibrant mural that captures the heart of the center and the people it has served for the last 40 years.

“The doors to this storage shed were pretty beat up, and had been covered with scratches and graffiti,” Susan recalls. “We decided to paint something on it and make it look a little nicer.” But she didn’t just paint something.

Through a mural design contest organized by Brenda Eichele, a staff member at the center, Susan’s artwork was chosen as the one that best represented the activities and spirit of the Center.

“We asked the seniors in our painting class to submit designs, which were then voted on by the board and general membership,” Brenda says. “Susan was the overwhelming winner. She captured the whole picture. It was exactly what we wanted.”

Tucked away on a shady street on the South Side of town, the South Park Senior Center is typically buzzing with activity, from lively BINGO nights to warm communal lunches and spirited card games. The center fosters connection through nutritious, affordable meals and social activities like quilting and painting classes, bridge, pinochle, and a book club.

Susan and her husband, Tom, got involved a few years ago, and she was quickly drawn to the painting class. “Coming here gives me something to do besides sit and drink coffee and watch the news,” she says. Tom originally came along as what Susan jokingly calls her “security guard” during early morning mural painting sessions.

But it wasn’t long before he found his place there too, Brenda says.

“He came to start sitting with Susan and relaxing while she painted, but he got antsy pretty quickly and wanted to do something,” she recalls. “He brought his weed eater and pressure washer and helped us get the back cleaned up. He gave me 10 bucks and said, ‘I like this place and I’m joining.’”

And now Susan’s winning mural design—a joyful celebration of the center’s vibrant community—has turned the once-plain shed into a beacon of color and connection. Throughout the summer, early mornings found her sketching outlines on the metal doors before the heat set in, gradually adding color as the mural came to life.

“At first I worried I forgot to include the quilting class,” she admits. “But when you look at the mural as a whole, it kind of makes one big quilt. I thought that was just right,” Susan says.

Established in 1985, the South Park Senior Center will celebrate its 40th anniversary this year. Susan says the inspiration for the mural came from the sheer scope of what the center provides.

“It struck me how much they do here for the seniors,” she says. In addition to meals and classes, a free library and small thrift store enhances accessibility to members, and the center strives to provide a safe and welcoming space for older adults to engage, socialize, and thrive.

The mural has quickly become a source of pride. Visitors and regulars alike pause to admire it—snapping photos, pointing out hidden gems like a tiny BINGO chip tucked into a corner or the ace of hearts peeking from a card pile. More than just decoration, the mural stands as a lasting symbol of community—proof that with a little paint and a lot of heart, even a storage shed can become something truly special. ✻

BROOKE WAGNER, writer

Brooke is a music therapist and proud parent of three wonderful kids. She’s passionate about using the power of music to support healing and connection. When she’s not working or spending time with family, you’ll likely find her curled up with a good book, trying out new recipes in the kitchen, or sipping a warm cup of herbal tea.

FRENCH MUSTARD & PRAGMATIC OPTIMISM FRENCH MUSTARD & PRAGMATIC OPTIMISM

WHAT A MILESTONE BIRTHDAY TAUGHT ME ABOUT SIGNIFICANCE, SURVIVAL, AND SELF-WORTH

ON MY 50TH BIRTHDAY I was not happy with the world. My business was a mess. My family was out of tune. My waist was a complete waste and so were my finances. I’d been in my fifth car accident, (none were my fault) and didn’t really feel like dealing with the pain, physical and financial side-effects that went with someone else’s inept move. The idea of celebrating aging, well, let’s say I was at best unenthusiastic about the concept. I just wanted to run away. Because I am a pragmatic optimist, I didn’t want to crash my whole life, so instead, I ran away for the day.

I am not an ‘it’s my birthday week’ or ‘celebrate me all month’ kind of person, but I knew I needed to make the day significant somehow or I would risk losing just a little bit more of me, and there wasn’t much left to lose. So, I packed a camp chair, a book, and stopped at Hallmark for a journal and new, colorful makers. I trekked, by myself, (in a bit of a pity party) to Red Lodge and spent about $100

on a sausage, cheese and wine kind of picnic.

As I sat by the creek, snarfing gourmet olives and expensive French mustard (thank you Babcock and Miles) on this significant birthday (as those with a zero at the end tend to be), I decided to celebrate everyone who had been significant in my life. Now I could celebrate them by thinking of them as I inhaled expensive chocolate or sipped dessert wine, but that didn’t seem significant enough. So I used my fancy new markers and wrote letters to each of them — even those who were long dead or so lost I had no idea how to find them. In happy colors, I told them how what they had done, little or big, to impact my life in a significant way, mattered.

I wrote to teachers, bosses, friends, and even a couple of people who had let me down so hard that I looked at life through a different lens after knowing them. I laughed. I cried. And, I just kept writing, forgetting the nibbles, lost in the power of

family in ZooMontana’s 14thzoomontana.org Chase December Finals Montana. Memorial during

human experience of significance. By the time I went home — long after I had expected to — I was a new me, a happier me. I had shed the woe is me, and became a joy is me person. She was the woman I wanted to be, who looked for the best, knowing that clouds often cover the sun, but that the sun always returns.

That, my friend, is pragmatic optimism. As a pragmatic optimist, I know that everything will be okay. I have a strong faith, a powerful can-do attitude, and an unwavering belief that humans want to be their best when dealing with me, even if their best is not quite up to snuff. I look for smiles behind tears, laughs behind sneers, and I graciously accept the drivers who have blinkers but don’t use them because they are concerned about light pollution.

Beauty & the Beast

Billings Studio Theatre presents “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast Junior,” January 10th-13th. Brainy and beautiful Belle yearns to escape her narrow and restricted life including her brute of a suitor, Gaston. Belle gets adventurous and as a result becomes a captive in the Beast’s enchanted castle! Dancing flatware, menacing wolves and singing furniture fill the stage with thrills during this beloved fairy tale about very different people finding strength in one another as they learn how to love.billingsstudiotheatre.com

Pragmatic optimism means that you believe things will work out, but with the acknowledgement that ‘working out’ might take a lot of work. Working out might, and probably will, require looking at things in new ways, admitting failure, and starting over more than once. It requires a lot of grace. An idealistic optimist is certain everything will just magically come to be. A pragmatic optimist knows that’s probably not the case.

F R inge Festiva L

to those in my life who bring me joy. When my feet hit the floor in the morning, I put them in boots and hit the trail. Only after I have greeted the sun, walked the steps and gotten right with the day do I touch my phone, turn on the radio, or put buds in my ears. All I want to hear at dawn is the joy of a new beginning: birdsong, crunchy footsteps and a happy dog barking now and then. That routine makes me happy and gets me ready to face reality.

PRAGMATIC OPTIMISM MEANS THAT YOU BELIEVE THINGS WILL WORK OUT, BUT WITH THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT THAT ‘WORKING OUT’ MIGHT TAKE A LOT OF WORK.

KAREN GROSZ

Venture Theatre presents its Fringe Festival, January 18th-19th and 25th-26th.The festival features four nights of shows featuring local and regional performing artists of all types including dance, standup comedy, theater improv, one act plays, musicals, performance art, spoken word/poetry, and puppetry.venturetheatre.org

s ou L s t R eet d an C e

When you are a pragmatic optimist, you must be willing to begin again. And again. And, once again. You get to start over. You get to rise up. Overcome. Shake it off. Survive to thrive. Thrive to survive. Pivot, quit, and scream. But during this journey, a pragmatic optimist swirls in the laughter, wherever they can find it and tries to dive out of range of the direct hits. We give grace to ourselves, and our legions of supporters and we gracefully dump those that no longer deserve our loving attitudes.

I protect my pragmatic optimism at all times. I filter what I read, watch and listen to, not to the point that I have a myopic view of the world, but do I really need to know who is dating who this week? No, I do not. Do I really need to hear the same news segment every 20 minutes eight hours a day? No, I do not. Is there any value in borrowing trauma from crime podcasts and shoot ‘em up movies? No, not for me. (Just so you know, I feel the same about saccharine love stories, so movie night at our house is a lot of fun. We scroll, scroll and scroll some more looking for something, then we usually go for a walk.)

This high energy show comes to the Alberta Bair Theater on January 19th and presents a new era in dance, while pushing the artistic boundaries of street dance. Soul Street concerts consist of a mix of movement that will keep you at the edge of your seat. The music is combined with an electric mix ranging from hip-hop to classical. It’s a show that will make you laugh and keep audiences of all ages entertained.

a Con C e R t F o R the w ho L e Fami Ly

Billings Symphony presents its Family Concert on January 26th at the Alberta Bair Theater. Four time Grammy nominees, “Trout Fishing in America,” will perform along with the Billings Symphony. Trout Fishing in America is a musical duo which performs folk rock and children’s music. billingssymphony.com

I allot time for news, time for reels and time for really listening

Ever since that significant birthday, I have spent my birthdays in the same way. Just me, new pens, cards, and a picnic lunch by the creek. I don’t always write to others about their significance, but I do take time to celebrate others and what they mean to me. Then, I celebrate who I am and what I mean to me. We do that too seldom, stop and think about how we show up in the world, and how we take care of ourselves.

This birthday practice, which can be done any day I want to do it, allows me to reset and greet new wrinkles with aplomb and pragmatic acceptance. I mention the wrinkles because while writing this column, one of my co-conspirators for a business project asked first for my driver’s license, then he had to verify it was me with facial recognition. It took three times. This summer my face seemed to slide down three notches, and while that’s not very funny, it is the privilege of being alive long enough to be almost old.

And, when you are almost old, you have lived long enough to know that some days will be a picnic, some will be in the ICU, and it is the people who have had a significant impact on your life that matter most. Choose them well. Also know that you are someone’s sunshine, they need you. (If you are someone’s cloud, you might want to tidy that up.) No matter what happens, know that better days always follow bad days, and that a really good French mustard can change your whole perspective. ✻

KAREN GROSZ, writer

Karen Grosz is a local Team and Leadership Development coach and motivational speaker. She owns Canvas Creek Team Building, is the author of “What’s Next” and “Quiet Leadership” and founding voice of the Facebook group “I’ll Help”- Billings. You can find more from Karen at karengrosz.life.

By Karen Grosz

will help you discover your capacity to operate as a Quiet Leader for yourself, your team and your community. www.quietleadership.group

Order your copy today on Amazon!

Cat h Cat h Cat h This! this! This!

WEST HIGH GIRLS GRAB THE CHANCE TO PLAY FLAG FOOTBALL IN ITS DEBUT SEASON

written by CYDNEY HOEFLE

“OK, GIRLS. This time let’s throw a Fade,” Coach Steve Nieto calls out to a group of girls during a recent flag football practice. “Everyone in position.”

Quarterback Shay Leavitt, a senior, is alert and ready. Crouched in front of her, the center snaps the ball as coach yells, “1, 2, 3. Step — Throw!”

Just like clockwork, Shay clasps the ball and takes three steps back before launching it down the field to the receiver. That’s when Macy Wegner, also a senior, begins to run. She watches Shay’s throw fade through the air and reaches out her arms to catch and cradle the ball in her arms.

“Great catch, Macy!” Steve yells. “That was a 28-yard throw, wouldn’t you say, Shay? Good job! That’s how you play flag football, ladies.”

daughters, all of whom attended West, the idea of coaching flag football had great appeal.

“This is an opportunity to coach flag football for the first time in West High’s history,” he says. “It’s just a matter of time before it really catches on and it will be fun to be part of that excitement.”

When the first informational meeting was held in early June, 45 girls showed up to learn more. Eager to be part of something never offered before, Shay and Macy, along with fellow seniors Amarah Jefferson and Irelynn Reeve were in the crowd. When the four attended a clinic along with their teammates at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman hosted by the Atlanta Falcons, their excitement grew.

THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO COACH FLAG FOOTBALL FOR THE FIRST TIME IN WEST HIGH’S HISTORY. IT’S JUST A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE IT REALLY CATCHES ON AND IT WILL BE FUN TO BE PART OF THAT EXCITEMENT.

— Steve Nieto

Flag football is being played at West High for the first time this fall. Though it started in Montana three years ago with just three high schools, it has rapidly grown to 28 schools across the state. School District 2 now offers the sport and West, Senior and Skyview are all participating in the Class AA division. Lockwood is in its second season playing in Class A.

Steve Nieto, West High’s head flag football coach, comes with a background of 33 years coaching, including ten years of football and nine years of softball at West. As the father of three athletic

Coached by Falcon football players, including former Montana State University Bobcat Troy Andersen, the clinic taught the fundamentals of flag football and helped coaches learn how to best launch and develop a team. It solidified the girls’ decision to play for West.

“It was such a great opportunity,” Amarah says. “Playing on the field really helped me to understand the game. And being coached by professional football players was amazing!”

Irelynn is the only teammate that came with flag football experience. She started playing intermural flag football during her freshman year when she lived in Las Vegas. When she moved her junior year to Montana, learning the sport wasn’t offered was disappointing.

MY DAD LITERALLY TAUGHT ME HOW TO CATCH A FOOTBALL WEEKS BEFORE I STARTED PLAYING FLAG FOOTBALL. I JUST LOVE THE GAME. IT’S EXCITING AND FUN AND A GREAT WAY TO MEET NEW FRIENDS. I WAS SUPER EXCITED WHEN I HEARD IT WAS COMING TO WEST.

—

Irelynn Reeve

whittled down to around 35 players with each girl learning multiple positions.

“This isn’t like coaching boys’ football,” Steve says. “I had to make changes in terminology and really explain plays for the girls to understand. I told them, don’t be afraid to stop me and ask for clarification.”

“My dad literally taught me how to catch a football weeks before I started playing flag football,” Irelynn says. “I just love the game. It’s exciting and fun and a great way to meet new friends. I was super excited when I heard it was coming to West.”

The team is a mix of girls from all kinds of sports backgrounds. Some are on the track team, others play volleyball, softball and basketball. There are also girls on the field who have never played a sport before.

“We each bring something special to the team,” Shay says. “You don’t have to be the fastest runner or have the best throw. This is a game of strategy, thinking, and planning how to get down the field.”

By summer’s end, the team was

Instead of yards, he uses steps. Three or four steps is an approximate yard. Plays are named after things the girls relate to: Caitlyn Clark, Love Island characters and affectionately, the names of the coach’s three daughters.

In July, he and his assistants put together two teams to participate in the Big Sky State Games where they competed against East Helena, Lockwood and Three Forks.

“I told them — it’s not about winning — just play,” Steve says. “The girls competed and battled, and one of the teams took second.” They lost to a team that had already been playing. “So it’s pretty telling what we can do and how to improve going into this season,” Irelynn adds.

Several former West High athletes — four girls’ softball players and several football players, now playing at the collegiate level — stepped up to help vol-

unteer coach over the summer. A catcher from the softball team helped the centers with squatting positions. An outfielder offered ideas on how to run down field while still keeping an eye on the ball. A former football receiver taught the girls how to catch the ball without corking their fingers.

“We’re all learning together,” Macy says. The majority of our players are underclassmen, so it’s an opportunity for us seniors to not only be leaders in the game, but to set the standard for years to come.”

“The biggest thing I’ve learned,” says Shay, “is that even if I throw a good ball and the receiver doesn’t catch it, or I throw poorly and the receiver catches it, we need each other. We’re a team. No one person can do it all.”

The Atlanta Falcons will help fund the program through grants over the next three years. The hope is, by then, it will be a sanctioned sport. It’s currently considered an emerging sport and is classified as an activity. If enough schools pick it up, it will be sanctioned.

“There are three million youth playing youth flag football in the U.S. and that’s a pipeline going north,” Steve says. “With more experienced players, playing at the high school level will be more popular. Some colleges are offering scholarships and by 2028 it is on track to be an Olympic sport.”

As the season unfolds over the next month, feelings are bittersweet for these seniors playing their first and last season for their school. They hope that they will have contributed to the beginning of a great legacy at West High.

“We’ve built a sense of community and we’ve found our places on the team,” Shay says. “But, most of all, we’re having fun.” ✻

fear fear fear rearview rearview rearview

in the

JULIE RAE PROVES THAT RISK IS WORTH THE REWARD

written by LAURA BAILEY photography by JULE RAE & THE WING WALK COMPANY

JULIE RAE doesn’t remember the first time she saw the soundless, black-and-white footage of wing walkers — women of the 1920s and ’30s who performed daredevil stunts on the wings of soaring biplanes — but she easily recalls the lifelong fascination they sparked.

“It just always looked like something I needed to do,” she says. “All the stunts excited me.”

When Julie, 58, moved to Red Lodge several years ago, she was thrilled to find several vintage biplanes and their pilots flying in and out of the small airstrip near her home. Every rumble they made overhead made Julie want to try wing walking more.

In the Unites States, the Federal Aviation Administration has banned wing walking, but Julie discovered a remote airfield and family-owned company in the United Kingdom that offered the adventure. She just so happened to have plans to be in the UK for work.

“I was so eager. This was my window!” she says, adding she was only in the country for five days.

The weather had been overcast and spitting rain her whole visit, but on the last day — her only day to make her dream happen — the clouds lifted just enough for a flight. Julie was ecstatic when the owner of The Wing Walk Company called her at 6 a.m. and gave her the all-clear.

After racing to the station to catch a train to Brighton, a city along the south coast of England, she planned on taking a taxi to the airfield. What Julie didn’t realize was that the train station was located in a small community that didn’t have a single taxi. Shouldering her backpack, she started running, cutting across muddy pastures, vaulting fences and scrambling up hills. When she finally made contact with the company, she shared her situation and, thankfully, they picked her up.

Julie Rae

WHEN YOU GROW UP FEELING UNSAFE, YOUR INTERPRETATION OF FEAR AND RISK CHANGES.

— Julie Rae

“It was a quite spectacle getting there and that’s much my life — just get me there!” Julie says.

After a short minutes-long safety video, she was strapped onto the plane that then coasted down the runway and eventually soared above the English countryside at 80 miles per hour.

“It felt surreal because I’d dreamed about it for so long, and I had this huge smile plastered on my face the whole time,” Julie says. “My jowls were flapping, and my eyes were weeping even under my goggles. This is real.”

The pilot was in contact with Julie, and she signaled to him during the flight. If she wanted to slow down, she could spread her arms out and give the thumbs down. When she wanted more, she’d spread out her fingers and wave her hands.

At every tip of the wing, every dive and every climb, Julie wagged her fingers. The pilot gave it everything he had and their speed reached upwards of 120 miles per hour.

biplane, but before she knew it, the 11-minute flight was over.

“It was magical,” Julie says. “I immediately wanted to do it again.”

“I was taking it all in,” Julie says. “There was nothing I was afraid of. Just pure joy.”

Minutes felt like hours as she bombed through the sky atop the

After the flight, the pilot said he’d never flown with anyone who enjoyed the experience as much as Julie did.

Julie is no newcomer to thrilling experiences. She’s tried skydiving, paragliding, bungee jumping, rock climbing, mountaineering, swimming with sharks and solo travel to remote destinations across the globe.

“Evil Knievel was my hero as a child,” Julie says. “I came from a big family, and I was the daredevil.”

She’s not sure when her sense of adventure was sparked, but Ms. Walker, her first-grade teacher may be to blame. Ms. Walker, an avid solo traveler, showed slideshows of exotic destinations she’d visited. Julie was enraptured.

It was about that time that Julie’s parents split up. Life hadn’t been stable. Her family moved frequently and never put down roots in any community they lived. Julie and her siblings went to live with their mother. Before long, her mom married a man who quickly became physically abusive. In Julie’s most formative years, she survived her unpredictable home life on instinct and with an acute awareness.

“When you grow up feeling unsafe, your interpretation of fear and risk changes,” she says.

While other children in her circumstances may have withdrawn, Julie was empowered. She was a survivor. Risk was a part of life, and fear wasn’t to be feared. That thread has run through her life.

“It’s about feeling the fear and doing it anyway,” Julie says. “Feeling the adrenaline pulsing through your body and leaning into the moment.”

Leaning into the moment is something she tries to teach others. She heads up a sixweek women’s empowerment course that culminates with her leading a backpacking trip into the Beartooth Mountains, on routes where she regularly hikes solo.

“This place is something that brings me so much joy and happiness. I want to share that,” Julie says.

She and her husband, Richard Burke, share a similar sense of adventure. They make lists of all the things they want to try each year. Not all of it is risky. One year, Julie wanted to learn to play the harmonica. Richard learned to ride a unicycle, which he still enjoys. And one year, they added to their list the idea of “living like locals in a small ski town.” It’s how they came to call Red Lodge home.

“We are redefining retirement and prioritizing adventure,” she says.

They share a philosophy that hijacks the corporate notion of return on investment or ROI. They believe that the best time for adventure and taking risks is later in life, when the investment of time and resources is easier and there’s not so much to lose.

“It’s about looking at the risk and asking, ‘is it worth it’? Yes. Yes, it is,” Julie says.

In every adventure that life has provided Julie, she’s become a champion for women who are seeking more in their lives. Whether it’s jumping out of an airplane or treating themselves to a new hairstyle.

“Just do it. Do all the things. Find your heart,” Julie says. “And stop making excuses and playing it safe.” ✻

Friday, October 10, 2025 // 5 – 8 PM Admission:

Artist Registration Open until Sept. 26th

Monster Drawing Rally is a fast-paced, lively event! Over 50 artists will create artworks from start-to-finish in front of a

Each piece is then auctioned for $50. Scan to learn more and get tickes!

FROM CENTER STAGE TO STOREFRONT FROM CENTER STAGE TO STOREFRONT FROM CENTER STAGE TO STOREFRONT

SINGER, ENTREPRENEUR, AND COMMUNITY CHEERLEADER, LANDA LEHMAN

JUGGLES HARMONIES AND HARDIN’S HOMETOWN

HEARTBEAT

written by CYDNEY HOEFLE photography by DANIEL SULLIVAN

ON A RECENT SUMMER EVENING, hundreds of people swayed and danced under Billings’ Skypoint to the music of Exit 53. Lead vocalist and guitar player, Landa (Uffelman) Lehman’s melodic voice paired perfectly with the band’s contagious energy. From country and oldies to modern tunes, each note seemed to inject a little more excitement into the crowd.

As the band’s manager, Landa books the group’s calendar a year in advance, playing special events or even weddings. This gig, however, isn’t Landa’s only focus. By day, she’s an entrepreneur who owns The Farmer’s Daughter General Store, which sits in the heart of downtown Hardin. It’s a business that has been in her family for more than six decades.

In 1960, Landa’s great-grandparents, Camiel and Alice Pattyn, along with their five daughters, opened a café in downtown Hardin and served burgers, pie and milkshakes. Five years later, they turned the business into a second-hand store. A few years after that, daughter Charlene Warren bought the business and the building and renamed it the Fort Custer General Store. Expanding beyond used merchandise to include gifts, souvenirs and craft items, Charlene filled two

levels of the building with treasures. She operated the business for the next 40 years.

“I grew up in the store,” Landa says. “It’s where I learned to walk. We were counting back change before we were old enough to go to school.”

LANDA IS THE LEAD SINGER OF THE POPULAR LOCAL BAND

• Exit 53 •

Though she spent much of her youth in the store, buying the business wasn’t Landa’s plan. She graduated from college with a degree in teaching and had already been singing with Exit 53 for several years.

“I always thought my mom or my aunt would take over the store,” she says. “But when Gramma said she was selling, they were both in their 50s and didn’t want to take it on. I asked her to wait until I graduated and I’d buy it.”

That was seven years ago, and since then, the ambitious young woman, who is now in her 30s, has transformed the store into a popular downtown destination, drawing customers from all over Big Horn County and as far away as Billings and Sheridan, Wyoming.

PHOTO BY CABEL NOTEBLOOM

Pay a visit to The Farmer’s Daughter General Store

at 206 N. Center Ave. in Hardin, visit them online at thefarmersdaughtergeneralstore.com or follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

“The transition was hard,” Landa says. “I thought we’d replace the flooring and do some painting, but with old buildings, you keep finding things that need to be fixed.”

After Charlene sold her inventory, the shop was closed for six months while Landa did a complete remodel. She also added a soda fountain, plus living quarters on the second floor.

“The soda fountain has been a great addition,” Landa says. “People love to come in and sit around the counter, drinking sodas and eating ice cream.”

On the sidewalk in front of the store, shade trees and a stock-tank planter bursting with flowers add ambiance as customers sit and visit while they enjoy their refreshments.

Changing the name was a hard decision. She wanted to stay true to her roots. Being from a third-generation farm family, she chose The Farmer’s Daughter General Store.

“I wanted to move beyond what the business had been,” Landa says. “But I also wanted to honor what my grandmother had built.”

“I like to say we have a little bit of everything,” Landa says. “We’re constantly changing and adding things. We have items for $1 up to $250. There’s something for everyone.”

Cubicles of jeans, racks of clothing, purses and jewelry offer customers plenty of options to pick out an entire outfit. Just around the corner, toys and baby items are thoughtfully displayed. Tucked into another corner are complete sets of enamel dishes, along with kitchenware, gifts, souvenirs and household items.

I WANTED TO MOVE BEYOND WHAT THE BUSINESS HAD BEEN, BUT I ALSO WANTED TO HONOR WHAT MY GRANDMOTHER HAD BUILT.

— Landa Lehman

Strategically placed wall units, hutches and shelves line the walls of the Farmer’s Daughter, all full of merchandise ranging from home décor to clothing. Creatively using antique and thrift pieces, many left from her grandmother’s store, Landa has managed to tastefully arrange hundreds of items to flow easily through the space.

Open Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Landa often works well into the night to unpack new shipments, update displays and maintain the store.

“Once I start rearranging a display and moving things around, it’s not long before I have the entire store dismantled,” she laughs. “Some nights I work until 3 or 4 in the morning to be ready to open by 9.”

Landa’s an astute businesswoman, wearing many hats as she navigates the varied aspects of running the store while managing and playing in the band. She mostly runs the shop by herself, except for part-time summer help and after-school teens. Her mom is also available periodically, which allows Landa to travel with the band and attend markets.

“There’s something about the owner being in the store that customers appreciate,” Landa says. “People come to expect that.”

In June, Landa married fellow band member, Gary Lehman. With both families from the Hardin area, the wedding was quite the affair.

“We were only open for a half day on my wedding day,” Landa laughs. She might have taken the day off from the store, but not from singing. At their wedding reception, she and Gary couldn’t resist taking a minute to join the band they hired to sing a few songs for their guests.

She’s passionate about helping the Hardin community. It’s why you’ll see her helping with the 4th of July festivities, Big Horn Days and the downtown Christmas Stroll, always lending a hand to keep the community strong and vibrant.

“Some of the businesses in town have been in the same families for generations. We’re a close community and we support each other,” Landa says. “I love to give back to the people that live here.”

CYDNEY HOEFLE, writer

A fourth generation Montanan, Cydney was raised on a ranch on the banks of the Yellowstone River where an appreciation of the outdoors was fostered. She and her husband raised three children in Billings and are now the proud grandparents of three. The best part of any of her days is time spent with Jesus, family, friends, a good book or capturing someone’s story in words.

AT 10 YEARS OLD, ADELIAH

CURRY IS RUNNING A FULLFLEDGED GOAT BUSINESS, USING HER PROFITS TO LIFT UP OTHERS

written by JULIE KOERBER photography by DANIEL SULLIVAN

DREAMS DREAMS

AT JUST 10 YEARS OLD, Adeliah Curry (pronounced A-dee-lee-ah) is already proving that business savvy doesn’t have an age requirement. Among her herd of dairy goats, she moves with quiet confidence, understanding the quirks of each one of her animals. There’s Junee, the drama queen, Daytona, the wannabe house pet (she loves to sit on Adeliah’s lap) and Galaxy, the adorable goat with ears twice the normal size. This might look like a backyard hobby, but it’s not. It’s a budding enterprise.

“This is Mazzie. She’s a tan buckskin and this is her second freshening,” Adeliah says as she walks down the line of goats. “Freshening means how many times she’s had kids.”

Adeliah got her first two goats — Mazzie and Daytona — in May of last year. By the time August and MontanaFair rolled around, Mazzy had given birth to a buck and Adeliah ended up taking home more than a half-dozen awards with her goats, earning the titles of Overall Supreme Champion Doe and Overall Supreme Champion Buck.

“I remember saying, ‘Oh my gosh. I just won the MontanaFair!’” she says. “That’s huge. It’s the biggest show in Billings.”

“It makes me happy to help others,” Adeliah says. She points to the 4-H pledge as her inspiration, which urges members to use their hands for larger service. “4-H teaches you how to start a business to care for the community,” she says.

When Adeliah first began with the service group, her mom thought she’d show sheep. Not only did her daughter not want sheep, she wanted dairy goats. And not just any dairy goat, a Nigerian Dwarf goat.

“She had been watching ‘Weed ‘Em and Reap’ videos on YouTube. It’s a lady in Arizona who raises dairy goats,” Katie Curry shares. The videos chronicle the lives of DaNelle and Kevin Wolford, who raise and breed Nigerian Dwarf goats. “She watched those videos for a year.” Katie remembers telling Adeliah, “Okay. Let’s find a goat breeder.”

IT MAKES ME HAPPY TO HELP OTHERS. 4-H TEACHES YOU HOW TO START A BUSINESS TO CARE FOR THE COMMUNITY.

— Adeliah Curry

But that’s just a sliver of her story. Along the way, she’s also raising her goats to help other children.

Adeliah operates Kidz for Kids, an online shop where she sells not only her goats but goat milk soap and Kidz for Kids merchandise. The proceeds are used to help other children. In the fall, she helps buy school supplies for youngsters in need. Last Christmas, she made a coloring book to hand out at the holiday parade, and she regularly stocks local food pantries with her handmade soaps.

A simple Google search brought up a dairy goat farm called Coyote Kidz in Livingston, owned by Lorelei Hallock.

“We walked right into the best mentor you could ever find,” Katie says.

Lorelei spent time answering questions and trying to see if the Currys would be a good fit for her goats. As a licensed judge serving on different committees within the American Dairy Goat Association, Lorelei also knew what it would take for Adeliah to show these goats.

“It was luck that I got hooked up with a really good kid who had a lot of motivation,” Lorelei says. “She just kept coming back with more questions.”

This past July, Lorelei took Adeliah and her mom with her to participate in the American Dairy Goat Association National Show in Grand Island, Nebraska.

“We showed up at the biggest goat show in the United States. They had a hospitality room with leather chairs and hors d’oeuvres overlooking the arena,” Katie says, adding that Adeliah and her goats would be competing alongside 4,000 other goats.

“I showed my goat, Junee,” Adeliah says, adding it was the first time she had entered a showmanship class with this goat.

In a showmanship competition, a judge looks at the way the animal is shown, the attention span of the showman as well as the disposition of the goat. “There’s posture, elegance and grace,” Katie says. Each exhibitor has to be able to share all elements of a goat’s physical structure and answer any and all questions about the animal.

“For two hours nonstop, she had that goat set up and watched the judge. It was huge,” Katie says.

In the end, Adeliah walked away with third place.

“She was competing against kids who are generational big time dairy goat farmers. That was a pretty amazing accomplishment,” Lorelei says. “It was a big stage with a lot of really intense competition.”

Just a few hours into the ride home, Adeliah “was already gibbering away about her plans for next year,” Lorelei says. The young girl talked about her breeding plans and the animal she hoped to show.

“She already has a five-to-ten-year plan on where she wants to take her herd,” Lorelei says. “That’s pretty spectacular motivation.”

These days, Adeliah is simply focused on the hard work of running a successful herd. If she’s not up by 7 or 8 in the morning, Adeliah laughs, “My goats are just screaming at me.” She has nine of them now.

“She milks them three times a day,” Katie says. “There’s no sleeping in and it doesn’t bother her in the least.”

Each pail of milk is liquid gold.

“When we first got goats, we got to thinking. We should make goat milk soap and sell it. So, we went back to our breeder and she taught us,” Adeliah says. She’s learned to create this creamy soap in scents like cactus blossom, lavender and sandalwood. She sells out when she hits vendor shows and her mother says there’s a customer in Oregon who special orders her lavender scent.

If you ask Adeliah about her history, she’ll point to her great-great-greatgrandma, Guadalupe Brannin. She, her husband and their 11 children left New Mexico bound for Montana in 1895. The couple not only moved 360 head of horses, but 90 burros and 900 Angora goats along with them. Five generations later, goats are back in the family. Adeliah uses the Bar Lazy Heart 6 brand created by her great-great-grandfather.

Her ancestors would, no doubt, be proud to know she’s honing her craft to help others.

Adeliah says the message behind Kidz for Kids is rather simple. “I have a poster that says, ‘one girl, a few goats and a mission to help kids.’” ✻

YOU CAN CHECK OUT KIDZ FOR KIDS at kidzforkids.com

NOTE: Congrats to Adeliah who captured a handful of awards at this year's MontanaFair including the Showmanship Award and Supreme Champion Doe for her goat, Junee.

Scraps ScrapsSoil Soil from

THE WOMEN WHO ARE GROWING A GRASSROOTS MOVEMENT FROM THE GROUND UP

written

STELLA FONG

photography by DANIEL SULLIVAN

JESSICA HART ISN’T AFRAID to get her hands dirty — she thrives on it. A passionate steward of the soil, she believes that healthy earth is the key to healthy food. That belief runs so deep, she helped co-found Swift Buckets, a company turning everyday waste into garden gold. From backyard beds to full-scale plots, Jessica is on a mission to breathe life back into the land — one bucket at a time.

Swift Buckets is a kitchen waste recycling program that anyone can subscribe to. For a monthly or annual fee, customers get 5-gallon buckets that they fill with kitchen waste or compostables, which are then picked up weekly. Those scraps are fermented into a soil conditioner full of micronutrients called Big Sky Bio.

“I am excited and passionate about soil health,” Jessica says enthusiastically.

After working at organic farms in California, in Gualala and Laytonville, north of San Francisco, Jessica returned home to Billings where she and business partner Patrick Certain dreamt up the idea of creating Swift Buckets in late 2017. Patrick, who holds a degree in sustainable food and bioenergy systems, had also worked on farms and composting businesses around the world. He wanted to recycle food waste into a product that could enrich the soil.

Swift Buckets is not Jessica’s first foray into agricultural products. She and her husband, Reed Youngbar, along with Patrick, first started Swift Microgreens.

“Microgreens were popular in California,” Jessica says. “So, when we came back to Montana, we thought it would be popular here.”

When the concept did not catch on, “We were shocked pretty quickly,” she recalls. “It was not what we thought it would be.” Many people turned their noses up at the thought of adding microgreens to their daily diet. Even with offers of free samples at the farmers market, they couldn’t get potential customers to bite.

You could call Swift Microgreens the happy accident that led to their latest endeavor. They turned to recycling out of sheer necessity. Since the greens were grown on fiber mats, Jessica says, “We were producing a lot of compostable waste.”

When Patrick left to pursue an opportunity to work on a farm in Missoula, Jessica and her husband decided to abandon microgreens and focus fully on composting.

These days, Jessica’s parents, Dwayne and Jane, and Jessica’s close friend, Chrissy Willis, are also partners in Swift Buckets. “I started doing pickups when the kids were in elementary school,” Chrissy says. “Jessica and I were having coffee one day, and she asked me to help.” That was five years ago, and Chrissy has been an equal partner since 2023.

The actual processing and fermenting of food waste occurs in a garage owned by Jessica’s parents. The space not only handles production but also provides storage and lab space for the company.

Buckets uses a special way to break down food waste called

Swift

the Bokashi method. Instead of using air like traditional composting, Bokashi works without oxygen. Food scraps are placed in a sealed container and a mix called Bokashi bran (made from bran and helpful bacteria developed by Dr. Larry Green in Washington) is sprinkled on top to help break it down.

Over the course of three months, the scraps ferment — kind of like pickling. During this time, a nutrient-rich, acidic juice is created, which can be drained and used as a natural fertilizer. The remaining solids can be tilled into garden soil to bring it to life or it can be added to a regular compost pile.

“This method doesn’t create methane gas, like regular composting,” Jessica says. “It ferments the food waste instead, breaking it down with good bacteria. The liquid we drain helps enrich the soil by boosting bacteria growth.”

“The nutrients give a leg up to the starts, especially for Montana weather,” Claire says. Stone Soup Garden grows 40 different crops, ranging from greens and garlic to herbs and seasonal crops like tomatoes and zucchini. “Our goal is to grow through December in the greenhouse this year,” she adds.

As you chat with these women, you see how woven they are into each other’s enterprises. Not only does Claire use the pulp and Big Sky Bio from Jessica’s Swift Buckets, she turns to the Charter Ranch for what’s called vermicast. It’s an organic fertilizer created by worms that have eaten compost and then excreted it into a nutrient-rich waste product, which plants love.

THIS METHOD DOESN’T CREATE METHANE GAS, LIKE REGULAR COMPOSTING. IT FERMENTS THE FOOD WASTE INSTEAD, BREAKING IT DOWN WITH GOOD BACTERIA. THE LIQUID WE DRAIN HELPS ENRICH THE SOIL BY BOOSTING BACTERIA GROWTH.

— Jessica Hart

Over in Laurel, on the first-generation, small-scale vegetable farm known as Stone Soup Garden, Claire Overholt uses Swift Buckets’ pulp for composting and the soil conditioner for her land. Claire co-owns the garden with her partner, Patrick Certain — Jessica’s former business partner.

“Vermicast is compost on steroids,” says Steve Charter, the owner of the ranch. Instead of insecticides and synthetic fertilizers, vermicast helps improve the long-term health of the soil.

Steve’s daughter, Annika, continues the three-generation ranching tradition and has used the Yellowstone Valley Food Hub as a way to bring her family’s meat directly to consumers. “I got Dad’s vermicast connected to the Food Hub. Now Swift Buckets buys the vermicast from us,” Annika says.

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SWIFT BUCKETS

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is a kitchen waste recycling program that anyone can subscribe to. For a monthly or annual fee, customers get 5-gallon buckets that they fill with kitchen waste or compostables, which are then picked up weekly. Those scraps are fermented into a soil conditioner full of micronutrients called �� BIG SKY BIO��

A SEASON OF

UPCOMING EVENTS

SEPT 11

SEPT 13

SEPT 20

Adventures in Music! Day

Diamond Jubilee Gala

SEPT 27 with violin rockstar Gil Shaham

Diamond Celebrations String Orchestra of the Rockies

OCT. 11 The Eurythmics Reimagined

Rocky Mountain Jazz Collective

OCT 25

75 Years of Music in One Night

Gil Shaham

Diamond Celebrations Guest Artist

The good news is, these products are not solely for commercial operations. Any home gardener can buy them at the Yellowstone Valley Food Hub.

“The soil amendments fit in with our mission to help create a localized food system,” says Clare Jurczak, general manager of the Yellowstone Valley Food Hub. “When you garden yourself, you know how hard it is, and so you appreciate farmers.”

Clare hopes that by educating others, they will either try composting to reduce waste or turn to Swift Buckets to help get the job done.

“Forty percent of food is wasted,” she says. She also touts the Food Hub as a way to keep that waste to a minimum. “Customers order weekly what they want, allowing producers and farmers to select the items sold that week. The food doesn’t sit on a shelf waiting to be purchased,” she says. Food also does not spoil in the process.

As Claire Overholt looks at her own garden operation, she sees something deeper than soil. She sees a community that is working toward healthy food production — a community she loves to lean on.

“It’s a great way to support locally owned and locally started, women-run businesses,” she says. “We’re making a closed-loop system.” ✻

STELLA FONG, writer Stella divides her time between Billings and Seattle and is the author of two Billingscentric books, Historic Restaurants of Billings and Billings Food. Her writings have appeared in Big Sky Journal, Western Art and Architecture, the Washington Post as well as online at lastbestplates.com.

WE

Power

RECIPES with a PAST

CHURCH COOKBOOKS TELL THE STORY OF AMERICAN KITCHENS & THE WOMEN BEHIND THEM

THE CHURCH COOKBOOK: It’s a disappearing part of Americana.

They reflect our communities — reflect us. They show us who we are or were.

Lauren Hunley, the Western Heritage Center’s community historian says this type of cookbook — be it by a church, club or service group — shows us, not in words but recipes, who the accepted and respected members of that group were. They read like an anecdote of our past. Each recipe is a forever, emotional connection with the cook.

I admit, I have quite a collection of church cookbooks. My oldest is The Progressive Cookbook for the M.E. Church of Billings, MT. The book was first published in 1893, four years after Montana became a state. My copy is one that First United Methodist Church reprinted in 2000. It’s a copy of a copy of the original.

baked goods don’t list an oven temperature or baking time because those wood or coal-fired ovens were impossible to regulate.

Probably my most used cookbook — weather-worn and stained with food — is Cooking Worth Crowing About from the Council of Catholic Women of St. Joseph’s Church in Rockdale, Illinois, published in 1977.

MORE RECIPES WITH A PAST AT yellowstonevalleywoman. com/recipes-with-a-past

Lauren read through this historical publication. She says back in the 1890s, a cookbook was a respectable way for a woman to have her name published. It was a time when a woman had her first name published only twice in her life — when she married and when she died. A cookbook was a socially acceptable way for a woman “to brag” of her kitchen prowess under her own name, be it as Mrs. John Doe, Mrs. Jane Doe or simply, Jane Doe.

Fascinating are the ingredients in some of these recipes. They had to be available in the local stores, like canned lobster or canned oysters. I looked for canned lobster in one of Billings’ food stores recently but failed to find any. Thank goodness we can turn to the Internet.

The recipes for cakes or cookies or other

This is where my mother grew up, surrounded by other Eastern European families. For me, it’s a tasty trip down memory lane, remembering the food I enjoyed whenever we visited. That cookbook, and mixing up the flavors inside, share a part of my history.

I know the Internet gives us access to a wealth of old and new recipes, along with social media sensations who demonstrate how to prepare some of those old classics. But having the cookbook spread out on the kitchen counter with notes on the page detailing improvements or helpful hints is a connection to our community — be it Billings in the 1890s or Rockdale, Illinois, of 1970s.

KAY ERICKSON, writer

Kay has spent her professional career in public relations and broadcast news, currently at Yellowstone Public Radio. Her journalism degree is from Northern Illinois University. Her passions include her family, sports and food. Her mom and an aunt taught her the finer points of cooking and instilled a love of good food and family mealtime.

SILVER OR DELICATE CAKE

Recipe from Lulu Browning, The Progressive Cook Book 1893

6 egg whites

1 c. sweet milk (fresh, whole milk)

2 c. sugar

4 c. flour

2/3 c. butter

Flavoring (most likely vanilla or almond extract or a mix of berries)

2 t. baking powder

DIRECTIONS: Cream the butter, mix in sugar and then add milk, flavoring and part of the flour, beaten egg whites and then the rest of the flour. Bake in two tins lined with buttered white paper.

NOTES: Use two 9-inch cake tins buttered, lined with parchment paper and butter the paper. Butter should be room temperature. Fold in the egg whites and then fold in the remaining flour. Bake in preheated 350-degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

PEANUT BLOSSOM COOKIES

Recipe by Dorothy Tomasino, Rockdale Cookbook 1977, Updates by Kay Erickson

1 ¾ c. all-purpose flour

1 t. baking soda

1 t. salt

1 t. cornstarch

½ c. unsalted butter, room temperature

½ c. creamy peanut butter

½ c. sugar

½ c. firmly packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 T. milk

1 t. vanilla extract

Chocolate candy kisses

Granulated or Turbinado cane sugar (for rolling the cookies)

DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, soda and salt and set aside. Cream together the shortening and peanut butter. Gradually add the sugar and brown sugar and cream well. Add the egg, milk and vanilla; beat well. Gradually add the dry ingredients; mix thoroughly. Shape by rounded teaspoonful into balls and roll in granulated or turbinado sugar. Place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and place a candy kiss on top of each cookie, pressing down so that cookie cracks around the edge. Return to the oven and bake 2 to 5 minutes longer.

PHOTO COURTESY OF YELLOWSTONE WOMAN MAGAZINE

home and2garden7

90 house built with heart

How the Schultzes blended ranch heritage, modern style, and a courageous family story

104 life happens here

Style, function, and family is at the center of this well-planned remodel

A HOUSE BUILT WITH heart7

KAYLEEN GOGGINS SCHULTZ stands in front of the timbered grand entry of her newly built two-level home and points across the road in the direction where her parents live. “I grew up out here,” she says, of the sweeping Vermilion Ranch near Shepherd. “My grandparents live over there where you see the white barn.”

It’s a spectacular sight overlooking the countryside from atop the knoll where Kayleen and her husband, Corey, decided to build their 5,200 square-foot home. It took some unexpected twists and turns, including a medical emergency involving their youngest daughter, for this young couple to make it to this point in their decade-long marriage, but the wait has been more than worth it.

heart7

HOW THE SCHULTZES BLENDED RANCH HERITAGE, MODERN STYLE, AND A COURAGEOUS FAMILY STORY

written by TRISH ERBE SCOZZARI photography by NATHAN SATRAN

Architectural features, like 20-foot rough-sawn timber from Grand Lumber at the front entrance and 12-foot timbers at the back of the house, embrace the pastoral beauty of this bit of Montana paradise.

Massive black-framed Pella windows from Pella Windows and Doors enhance the interior’s modern look, while natural ele-

ments such as stone and wood and “a lot of arches” provide the “Anthropologie vibe” Kayleen says she favors.

“Kayleen had a vision,” says Kristy Ferguson, co-owner of Beyond the Box, a local cabinet, design, and organization center. Kristy and co-owner Debbie Ferguson worked with Kayleen in designing a functional and simply stunning kitchen. The design

center supplied all of the cabinetry in the home, as well as the luxurious quartz countertops manufactured by Fabricators Unlimited. “She knew what she wanted,” adds Kristy.

Thoughtful details seamlessly blend the heritage of this ranch family with the overall modern farmhouse aesthetic.

“It’s a big space,” says Justin Graves, draftsman for Impact Drafting & Design. “I like the flow and openness from the great room to the kitchen.”

With blueprints in hand, Kayleen and Corey met with homebuilder Jerry Capp in the summer of 2023. “We didn’t break ground until the next June,” Kayleen says.

That’s because of a medical emergency that sent the couple to Denver with 5-month-old Gabby, the youngest of their three daughters. “When we left, Jerry said to us, ‘Take care of that little girl.’ It meant a lot,” says Kayleen.

Gabriella Hope had been born in Denver with hypoplastic left-heart syndrome, a severe and congenital heart defect.

“We had relocated to Denver three weeks before Gabby was born as the defect was caught in utero during her 20-week anatomy scan,” Kayleen says. “We were told she would live about three weeks.”

On Gabby’s fifth day of life, she underwent the Norwood procedure — open-heart surgery for infants, part of a three-stage palliative surgery plan. “After 38 days we came home,” Kayleen says. “They wanted us to stay five or six months during interstage, the time between the first and second surgeries.”

The couple returned to the children’s hospital in Denver during interstage for a checkup. “Gabby had a stent put in to balloon her pulmonary artery,” explains Kayleen. “It bought us some time.”

LOCALLY OWNED & OPERATED

As it turned out, that time away turned out to be brief. Kayleen and Corey were forced to cut short their homebuilding plans with Jerry and head back to Denver for fivemonth-old Gabby’s second heart surgery.

“She was in the hospital for 58 days this time,” says Kayleen. “We brought her home and the next year (January through August 2024) she hardly gained a pound. There were a lot of complications with the second surgery.”

Kayleen, Corey, and Gabby’s older sisters Daisy (now age 8) and Della (now 6) persevered through Gabby’s varied therapy sessions as they reignited their home building plans.

“We broke ground in June last year,” Kayleen says, “and in the midst of housebuilding, we had a big scare in October.”

Gabby had developed digoxin toxicity from the drug used to treat heart problems. Health struggles ensued, as did the family’s commitment to see Gabby survive and thrive. Their determination paid off.

Today, two-year-old Gabby toddles through the house after her two big sisters. Dolly, the family’s goldendoodle, runs close behind. A third surgery looms in the future, however, the Schultz family takes it one day at a time as they settle into their new home. “We moved in this June,” beams Kayleen.

“The home is very intentional with its warm heritage,” notes Kristy, of Beyond the Box. “When Kayleen came to us, she had her blueprints and inspiration pictures. We asked how she wanted her space to function. We ask the right questions so we can get the right results. It’s a comfortable, homey, curated home.”

GABBY

CONGRATULATIONS SCHULTZ FAMILY

White-oak kitchen cabinetry delivers timeless style and the versatile foundation for the warmth and elegance of brass hardware. The golden hue of the faucet arching over the white farmhouse sink adds an extra touch of glamour.

“We carried through into the butler pantry with cabinets, quartz countertops, flooring (luxury vinyl plank with hickory look), and a window,” says Kristy. A fluted glass door panel complements this space with distinguished flair.

Black-framed windows above the kitchen sink allow unrestricted views to the western landscape beyond. Kristy points out the windowsill’s wide ledge. “It creates a bay window effect,” she says. “And see how the quartz backsplash comes up under the cabinets? There are glass doors on the top cabinets and under-cab lighting.”

A handcrafted arched niche creates a dynamic focal point and serves as Kayleen’s space to cook on her induction cooktop.

Light-color quartz — the same as the 10-foot island countertop and kitchen countertops — covers the inside three walls of this finely crafted cooking area. A flush inset fan mounted in the ceiling above the cooktop stays hidden from sight.

“It was a production,” shares Kristy, regarding the meticulous rock arch skillfully fitted to the front of the niche. “It’s framed with underlying mesh. The cabinets were then installed, the countertop, and then the backsplash. It was a series of layering with all the pieces coming together.”

Schwarz Brothers Masonry fashioned the natural stone arch as well as the arch surrounding the quartz-topped coffee bar. Long, sleek, and flush with

the wall, the coffee machine sits close to the cherished family photographs carefully arranged on open shelving detailed with a fine-brass railing.

Corey, Kayleen and their children enjoy living in their new home, as their lives change and adjust.

“I was assistant basketball coach in Shepherd and a family portrait and ‘sometimes’ wedding photographer,” says Kayleen. “Since Gabby, I’ve stayed home with the girls.”

Corey continues his work as a sales associate for Premier Land

Company. He is also manager of Public Auction Yards and a sales rep for Northern Livestock Video.

The family’s journey through hospitalization and home building is one of sheer tenacity and inspiration. It’s also been rewarded with deep community ties.

Kayleen credits her cousin Becky Anderson for helping her with the home’s interior design. She commends everyone at Beyond the Box for being “understanding and easy to work with while navigating the journey of ups and downs of CHD (congenital heart defects) with Gabby. They were very patient with us and I

think most importantly I could feel they had empathy to our situation.

“I sat in their office one day a few months into the project and filled Debbie and Kristy in about Gabby’s heart condition because I had missed a meeting due to hospitalization. Debbie sat across from me, tears rolling down her face. It meant a lot to me and they helped not only sponsor our Yellowstone Brave Hearts Run but came out and joined the walk that day.”

The third annual Yellowstone Brave Hearts Fun Run and Walk took place this year on the last day of May at the Vermilion Ranch. Kayleen and Kristy agreed about four-hundred enthusiastic supporters showed up.

Kayleen eagerly became a “heart mom” soon after Gabby was born. “Kalee Plowman and Ashleah Hall, (directors of Montana Brave Hearts and moms to little ones with congenital heart defects), heard about Gabby and reached out to me,” Kayleen says.

“We’re the heart moms and the kids are heart warriors,” she says. “I’m a board member for Brave Hearts and so is Corey’s mom. I help run our gala that raises money for research and helping

families.”

Kayleen enjoys working from her home office situated off the grand front foyer. It’s a well-designed space filled with textural interest.

Kayleen and Becky painted the walls in deep gem-like colors. The wallpapered ceiling in a vintage pattern drifts dreamily above. A photograph of Gabby draped in her Brave Hearts “beads of courage” graces the wall.

More family photographs adorn the shelves of built-in arched cabinetries in the great room that flank the fireplace, balancing organic appeal and a practical solution to this exquisite living space.

“I wanted a rustic piece for the mantle on the rock fireplace,” says Kayleen. “It’s not stained, just sealed.”

It’s the details such as this, the vibes, and the craftsmanship that reflect the unique individuality and creativity of the Schultz’s new home.

It’s the love and heart that went into it that makes a very special home for this Brave Hearts family. ✻

MONTANA BRAVE HEARTS was founded by Kalee Plowman of Polson three years ago after her son was born with hypoplastic left-heart syndrome. She soon teamed up with Ashleah Hall of Billings, when Ashleah’s daughter was born with a heart defect.

Their mission was to raise funds for life-changing research. Today, the nonprofit organization also offers support and resources to Montana families with children affected with congenital heart defects.

“One in 100 babies is born with CHD,” says Kayleen, “and there’s no place in Montana for these kids to receive care. Our options are to go to Denver, Seattle, Salt Lake City or Texas.”

According to the Center for Disease & Control, about 40,000 babies born in the United States each year are affected by CHD. ✻

FOR MORE INFORMATION about Montana Brave Hearts please visit: www.montanabravehearts.org

Photo by Robb Vann

We know that coming together and helping one another is how we get through stressful times.

As your Morgan Stanley Financial Advisors, we can help you create a plan that makes sense for you and your goals. With our knowledge and resources we can seek to help you manage risk and keep your plan on track, so you can focus on all that’s happening in life.

401 North 31st Street, Suite 900 | Billings, MT 59101

Wesley: 406-238-8911 / Kyle: 406-896-4402 advisor.morganstanley.com/the-fangsrud-stone-group

Wesley A Fangsrud Senior Vice President Financial Advisor

Kayla Schuyler

Registered Client Service Associate

Kyle

Stone Vice President Financial Advisor

life7 HAPPENS HERE

WHEN KEVIN AND SALLY BROMENSHENK bought their 1972 home more than nine years ago, they saw the charm — and the challenges. They knew a remodel was in their future. What they didn’t know was just how much joy the transformation would bring.

For Sally, the kitchen is the heart of the home. An avid cook, she prepares nutritious, homemade meals daily for her family, carefully accommodating their son Cash’s food allergies.

“Cooking is something I do for my family every day,” she says. “I wanted a kitchen that truly worked for the way we live.”

KEVIN AND SALLY BROMENSHENK, JODI HUTCHINSON AND RICH NAYLOR

life7

STYLE, FUNCTION, AND FAMILY IS AT THE CENTER OF THIS WELL-PLANNED REMODEL

written

by GAYLE SMITH photography by DANIEL SULLIVAN

BEFORE

Kevin is a virtual design and construction director by trade. He and Sally had discussed and visualized kitchen colors, patterns, lighting, cabinet hardware, flooring and much more. “We’d choose our favorites separately, then compare notes every night and vote,” Kevin says. “Over time, a clear vision emerged — a space that was as functional as it was beautiful.”

The design began with the oven as the focal point, surrounded by deep drawers with dividers, pull-outs, and custom storage for every utensil. “I wanted to respect and honor the cooking Sally does for us,” Kevin says. “So, everything was planned to make her work easier.”

Décor Shallow Shaker doors in a rich Cushing Green set the tone, paired with natural alder trim and open shelves. The earthy green cabinetry glows in the abundant natural light, while white sub-

COOKING IS SOMETHING I DO FOR MY FAMILY EVERY DAY. I WANTED A KITCHEN THAT TRULY WORKED FOR THE WAY WE LIVE.

— Sally Bromenshenk

way tile, Cambria Quartz countertops, and brushed golden brass hardware add polish without overpowering the space. “The green is earthy and timeless, and the materials complement each other perfectly,” says Jodi Hutchinson, a Kitchens Plus designer with over 23 years of experience.

While white kitchens remain popular, Jodi notes that greens and mixed wood tones are making a comeback. “White will always be classic, but greens are timeless and calming. They bring warmth and create a relaxing vibe.”

Lighting became a centerpiece in the space. “I knew these pendants would be perfect,” Sally says. “When they’re on, they glow a transparent golden-brown. When off, they’re a solid gold. They completely change the mood.”

At the opposite end of the island is what the Bromenshenks call the coffee corner — part café, part family hub. It’s complete with an espresso machine, snack drawers, refrigerator, microwave and a fully stocked mini-fridge. “The microwave is built into the end of the island so Cash can easily make his favorite popcorn,” Sally adds with a smile.

Once the couple finalized their needs, Kevin gave his plans to Jodi, who delivered a detailed 3D rendering in just three days. “It was exactly what we envisioned,” Kevin says. Jodi then recommended Rich Naylor, owner of MHS Construction, to bring the vision to life.

“The smoothness of this project comes down to Jodi and Rich,” Kevin says. “They listened, there were no surprises, and they showed us exactly what the remodel would look like and what it would cost.”

Rich’s 16 years of experience proved invaluable. “With time, you start to develop a kind of x-ray vision — figuring out where plumbing and electrical need to be moved, how beams and walls will impact the design,” Rich says. “Overcommunicating and staying organized are everything.”

The remodel didn’t stop at the kitchen. Kevin was eager to lose the 1970s sunken living room. “When you opened the front door, you literally fell into the living room,” he jokes. The update meant replacing part of the ceiling, adding new flooring throughout the living room, hallway, bathroom, kitchen and laundry room.

WE’RE IN THE BUSINESS OF BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS, AND THAT HELPS THESE PROJECTS COME TO LIFE, AND MAKES THE PROJECTS GO SO SMOOTHLY.

— Rich Naylor, owner of MHS Construction

The laundry room, once dim and cluttered, is now a handsome, organized extension of the home. It features a glass-front cabinet appliance garage, washer/dryer, alder bench, and generous storage. The cabinetry — painted gray with a green tile backsplash — ties the space back to the kitchen’s earthy palette. Kevin loved it so much he swapped the planned solid door for a glass one.

“This project was easy because Kevin already had the bones for what he wanted,” Jodi says. “That can be half the battle in remodels.”

“Every project brings its own unique challenges,” Rich says, adding that making recommendations based on his experience plays a huge part in each project’s success. “We’re in the business of building relationships, and that helps these projects come to life, and makes the projects go so smoothly.”

Sally admits she hesitated to start the remodel, wondering how she’d cook during the four-month project. Rich’s solution was to set up a temporary kitchen in the basement. “Once he learned I cook three meals a day, he made sure I could keep doing it,” she says.

Jodi remembers one of her favorite moments. “When a homeowner calls and says, ‘I was at the coffee bar this morning and realized, this is exactly the way I envisioned it,’ that’s the reward.” She adds, “It reinforces the point that being invested and collaborating with homeowners is the key to a successful project.”

Kevin’s favorite space? The coffee corner. “When I think about the connectivity of cooking and all the activities that are going on in here starting first thing in the morning, I could envision myself and Sally sitting right here, enjoying the space and the quiet time. It’s the cherry on top,” he says.

The Bromenshenks’ remodel proves that with thoughtful planning, the right team, and a clear vision, a kitchen can become more than a place to cook. It can be the center of a family’s story — a place to gather, create, and savor life. ✻

— Rich Naylor

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SINGER, ENTREPRENEUR, AND COMMUNITY CHEERLEADER, LANDA LEHMAN

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A HOUSE BUILT WITH heart7

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LOCALLY OWNED & OPERATED

CONGRATULATIONS SCHULTZ FAMILY

life7 HAPPENS HERE

life7

BEFORE

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