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Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, we read the note Ms. Rosie wrote the day after Easter, mentioning how fun Easter had been at her place with her kids and grandkids. Then, the day after Easter, how they had all set aside their Easter bunnies in those bright candy baskets, but once the baskets were set aside, the colored eggs began to fade and begin to rot, and “cute” than turned into a chore to clean up. Not so much fun, but furthermore, it is then that we should begin our journey with Christ again. She added: “On t...
These last ten days have been among the toughest 10 days of calving that I have seen, and I am old! Most of south central Montana received two to four feet of heavy wet snow during a three day storm. Much of it came down horizontally, but it piled up, crusted, and made a terrible back drop for the busiest calving weeks of calving season for many of us. We felt lucky if we could find the calves in the deep snow with low visibility. We had calves in our vehicles, houses, tack rooms, and ATV’s every day and night for several d...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, an Easter Baskets is easy and fun to make. A small paper basket (3” X 1 ½ inches) with a little bunny pasted on the front, and across him is written ”Some bunny’s been pray‘in for you.” A while back a friend who taught a Sunday School class wanted a poem. She listed items she wanted included in the Easter Basket for hay (green Easter Grass) ‘some’ gold coins (‘peeps’), and an empty egg shell (representing the empty tomb). She wanted to be sure that at least the children in her clas...
Ekalaka Public Schools School Trustee Election, High School Technology Fund Levy, and Elementary General Fund Mill Levy On April 14, 2023, a mail-in ballot will be sent out to all registered voters in Carter County, MT. The ballot will have the following items to be voted on: School Trustee Election: Samantha Wright is running for a one (1) year term. Michael Ashbrook and Abbey Bruski are running for a three (3) year term, with one position open. High School Technology Fund...
A couple weeks ago at the Sweet Grass County Chamber of Commerce Banquet, rancher, Chuck Rein was named Ag Person of the Year. Chuck ranches and runs an outfitting business with his wife Pam and his son Charlie and his family on one of the most beautiful outfits on the planet in the shadow of the Crazy Mountains west of Melville, Montana. Chuck wrote this poem several years ago about riding colts with his son Charlie, and he shared it at the banquet. This poem sums up why ranchers ranch especially during times like this past...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, ‘D.S.’ shared about both Palm Sunday and Easter! She said, “Thinking back some years ago about Easter time, we remember that we stood in church on Palm Sunday watching the children parade through the aisles, waving their palm Branches. It was enjoyable watching the youngest ones hold onto a ‘cord’ secured to their Sunday School teacher so they could follow her through the jam-packed sanctuary because they were too small to see where they were going; they could hardly walk through the...
Because of my eyesight and health problems my articles have been slow coming. I would like to write about some businesses, owners and employees of past years. Let’s begin with those on the west end of Main Street and on the south side. First, C.M. Summers and Co. which was owned and operated by Summers, V.E. Figg and Henry Stenseth. Henry had an auto repair shop across the street and south of the station. Also employed was Ernest ‘Sharkey’ Stenseth, a mechanic; and Bud Penn, who was a parts manager for many years. Now going...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, it’s fun to hear how some families prepare for Holidays. ‘Tillie’ shared that one day she mentioned to her son and grandson that it was time to put up the Easter decorations! Her son offered to run up and get them out of the attic. Little grandson ‘Logan’ bounced up and down on his toes, clapped his hands and asked,” Can I help decorate, too.” I just smiled at him and told him ‘Sure’”. She mentioned how she loved to decorate for seasons, and that Easter ran a close second to Chris...
Now that Saint Patrick’s Day is over, my Easter decorations are calling me from the closet, but I am trying to ignore their call. It doesn’t seem worth it to drag out all of those tubs of decorations if they are only going up for a couple weeks, so I guess I should answer the call to optimize the decor time. Instead, I find myself checking out Pinterest for decorating ideas. I absolutely love Pinterest, because I can spend hours pinning and admiring thousands of cutesy ideas and avoid getting out the ladder and tubs and get...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, it’s interesting when a friend shares a motivating article or a feeling she may have about what she’s dealing with in life - so here goes. She mentioned the distressed disciples over the predominant blast buffering their boat, and how they woke Jesus and He quickly addressed the raging wind and waves: “Quiet! Settle down”! (Mark 4:39). The storm stopped! ‘E.V.’ continued. “You know what? That translation of Jesus’ words caught my attention. ‘Settle down.’ You know, I first heard t...
I will have been writing a weekly column for 27 years this June. The best part about being a columnist is reading my mail. Sometimes I get “fan mail” that I use to fan the fire in the wood stove, but usually I get really nice comments and fuel for my column instead of the fire. Two such pieces of mail arrived recently. One sweet letter, which came from T.J. Cheetham of Cloverdale Ranch in Redstone, Montana, sorted itself to the top of the pile by explaining that he and his wife of 58 years totally relate to my stories. His...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, recently a friend shared how her grandkids helped her discover that she was making no effort at all to express joy and happy feelings when she spoke to them, or even to the rest of her family. She shared that one little granddaughter was so excited when she knew that her Grandma had made them some lemonade to have for lunch. She said that she noticed ‘Mary’ was breathless and so excited, that it even took her breath away! And another day, how happy her grandson was when Grandpa had fo...
We just celebrated Dr. Seuss’s birthday, so it is time for what has become my annual tradition—my Dr. Seuss Whoville poem. Probably every generation feels that the overall moral and ethical state of the world is declining at breakneck speed, but we have two choices. We can either sit and wring our hands, or we can speak out against and fight it! The Whoville State of the Union: The Whos down in Whoville are led by Joe, A man who is senile, incompetent, and slow. Yet Joe has great vision for the masses. Looking through his...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: Thank You, dear Lord, for our great guys; neighbors, family, and friends. They come when called or just show up –they’ve helped us through our ‘bends’. They’re likable and merry, too, they’re popular and blessed. It’s fun to have them visit us, they care and they’re the best. They’re friendly guys, devoted, too; sensible and supreme, Occasionally, they share a meal and some do like ice cream. Some ‘arty’ ones just love to paint, they’re thoughtful, skillful, good. And some are strong and help a lot b...
The thermometer reads 17 below this morning, but I am in a wonderful mood, because I am fleeing from the tundra of Montana for a few days in Arizona. My torn hamstring has healed enough from doing the spilled dog water splits four weeks ago, and we are sunshine bound. We had previously been banned from going anywhere right before calving, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that the warm up is coming and no calves will come early. The pre-calving travel ban was put into effect five years ago by our son, Bret, who had a...
Many years ago I met this woman, I had drove off the road from Ekalaka Park, Ted and her drove us out to get my yellow pickup back on the road, It was an embarrassing way to meet, but Darlene was a woman of humor, and all was good, we laughed, her’s was such a memorable laugh, Throughout the years she showed genuine care for many, the Alzada Grade School comes to mind, a school teacher like my mother, Those times in Alzada took me back to my childhood, it drenched me with familiarity, it cemented my appreciation for D...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, one can certainly be caught off guard if someone asks us, “What has God done for you today?” Our minds freeze, that’s almost like a pop-quiz teachers like to give, right? That question keeps one thinking about You all day, Lord. We notice Your fingerprints, Your goodness and faithfulness or more specific things like a glorious sunrise, lovely colorful sunsets, finding a penny in a parking lot or a favored item on sale at the grocery store, or even a hug from a child. Old or young,...
This year for the first time in 41 years, I will not be a participant in inducing trauma in children. Since I have retired as an educator, I will not be involved in the spelling bee. All across the country, kids are being traumatized not by cyber bullying or the Pythagorean theorem, but for another reason--they are good spellers. Yes, in preparation for the National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. in June, almost every county in every state is hosting a chamber of horrors for their best and brightest. Most adults have a tale...
My last article was on the J.G. (June) Olson and Harry Roberts families and stated how Harry loved baseball as did his son Gary. Gary has contacted me and triggered memories of another homestead family. That family was Charles F. “Chuck” and Maude O. Welch. Lucile (Welch) Venhaus is the author of the article on the family in “Shifting Scenes, Vol II,” page 919. The article shares a very interesting history of them and their children. “Both my parents, Charles (Chuck) and Maude O. Wilson Welch were born in Iowa, grew up i...
I have a love affair with Ekalaka and Carter County. Compared with my entire life I didn’t spend much time there but it is embedded way down deep in my soul. Every time that I go there it is brought back to the forefront of my mind again. What is it about the area that affects me that way? I think that first of all, it is the area itself. We lived in several places near Ekalaka and I really liked all of them. I think that my favorite was what we called the Opechee Park place. Jesse LaBree referred to it once as the Kinsey p...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, A silly Calendar has a ‘Know-It-All’ on every single day, so, a glance showed that the other day was ‘Hot Tea Day’. We didn’t even notice that, but Hot Tea is what we had. Then there’s a Gumdrop Day; maybe some grandkids would be delighted in doing that! Pizza Day would be a great day to share some with busy working friends; we might have to check into that, right? A friend suggested that there was probably also a ‘Make A Special Soup Day’. We didn’t look that one up but it was a remi...
During this last month before calving begins, we are enjoying normal dinner hours and having an actual bedtime as we count down the days until calving starts and that all changes. I love calving season now, because I am pretty much a second string player in the calving barn. Since we have an adult son as a partner on the ranch, I don’t often get called out in the middle of the night or during a blizzard--unless for some reason they are really hard up for help or really tired. Primarily my function has become providing f...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, sometimes one sees Love being shared. One day, while waiting for an appointment, an older lady was checking out, a gentleman came in, greeted the guy at the desk, who greeted him, ‘Hey, Joe – I’ll be just a moment’. The manager asked the older lady if he should help her out to her car. Joe spoke up, “It’s icy out there, my grandson said to be careful, so I’ll walk her out, I know where the ice is”. The lady prepared to go, took ‘Joe’s’ arm, and whispered, ‘He’s my grandson.’ Off...
I grew up in the Sun River Canyon northwest of Great Falls and thus Malmstrom Air Force Base. All the years I was growing up, a nuclear war with Russia was an ever-present threat. Our friends, the Mergenthals, who lived right by Gibson Dam had a warehouse full of dry food provided by the USDA in the event of a nuclear war. The Glory Hole (dam overflow) was a bomb shelter. I grew up thinking that some day there might be an alarm that sent us into the Glory Hole of Gibson Dam with all that food in the warehouse to keep us...
This time I am going to share some history on a business, its early time owner and some of his family. Some recent phone calls with Gary Roberts triggered my thoughts for this article. The individual was J.G. (June) Olson, his wife Henrietta and the business, Olsen Drug. Their daughter, Beverly (Olsen) Roberts, wrote their story in “Shifting Scenes, Vol. II,” page 648. “J.G. (June) Olsen came to Montana from Iowa in 1895 with his brother Clarence. He was thirteen and his brother fifteen. They started working at the TD Ranch...
