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Articles written by Kate Radford


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  • Art & Music festival returns

    Kate Radford, Contributing writer|Updated Aug 31, 2022

    The Lincoln Arts & Music Festival is set to return Aug. 14 and 15 after a hiatus last year due to COVID-19. The event is scheduled to include music and other performances on Saturday and Sunday, alongside artists' booths, kids' activities and more. "We'll have three bands on Saturday," said Karyn Good, one of the event organizers, adding, "Music will go from 2-8 this year. Then on Sunday, we have two musical acts starting at 11 o'clock, and then our last act is a storyteller....

  • A foot stompin' good time returns to Grantier Barn

    Kate Radford|Updated Aug 31, 2022

    The Lincoln Council for the Arts sponsored the annual Barn Dance this year on Aug. 13. As in years past, the dance took place at Eddie Grantier's barn, and this year, it featured the band Edge 406 from the Great Falls area. The first Barn Dance was held in 2009, said Sue Murphy, who organizes the event. "Terry Mooney had a vision, and she called me up. We went and asked Eddie, and Eddie also had a dream that he wanted a barn dance," said Murphy, adding, "The whole town of...

  • Montana Poet Laureates to draw inspiration from BPSW, work with Lincoln students

    Kate Radford, BVD|Updated Aug 31, 2022

    Each September, Blackfoot Pathways: Sculpture in the Wild invites artists, composers, musicians, and other creators to Lincoln as part of the Artist in Residency program. This year, Montana's 2019-2021 Poets Laureate, Melissa Kwasny and M.L. Smoker, are scheduled to speak and engage with students and the community Sept. 16. Kwasny and Smoker earned a shared $50,000 fellowship from the Academy of American Poets to "partner with seven Montana art and historical museums,...

  • Kolves donate groomer to Ponderosa Snow Warriors

    Kate Radford, BVD|Updated Aug 31, 2022

    The Ponderosa Snow Warriors received a new groomer this year, donated by Glen and Marge Kolve. The new groomer belongs to the snowmobile club and will give them access to two groomers during the winter season, which will help the club maintain and potentially increase their funding. "The majority of our funding is tied to groomer hours. The state owns the groomer that we have right now. When Gordy goes out, he gets paid for running on the trail system. We get reimbursed for...

  • Brolly begins residency at Sculpture in the Wild

    Kate Radford, BVD|Updated Aug 31, 2022

    Michael Brolly is one of two featured artists-in-residence at Blackfoot Pathways: Sculpture in the Wild this year, and he will be in Lincoln for a three week residency throughout September. Brolly teaches woodworking at Moravian Academy in Pennsylvania and is also the current artist- and maker-in-residence at the Northampton Community College Fab Lab. The Fab Lab, short for fabrication laboratory, offers tools and instruction in woodturning, metalworking, recording equipment,...

  • BPSW Education program encompasses array of arts

    Kate Radford, BVD|Updated Aug 31, 2022

    Every fall, Lincoln students get the opportunity to work with visiting artists and creators during the artist residencies held by Blackfoot Pathways: Sculpture in the Wild. This September, students have the opportunity to engage with poets, musicians and visual artists, and to contribute to pieces being developed by these artists. "The sculpture park educational program is more than just visual arts," said Annette Gardner, who has been education chairperson for BPSW since 2014...

  • Nature Pick: Rubber Rabbitbrush

    Kate Radford and Klara Varga|Updated Aug 31, 2022

    "Ahead was an ocean of rabbit brush bursting with yellow blossoms. The prairie under hoof was lavender in the dimming light." – Sarah Bird, Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen The perennial rubber (or gray) rabbitbrush, or Ericameria nauseosa, is a native species to Montana and can be found locally in the Blackfoot Valley as well as throughout the state. Additionally, the species ranges as far south as Mexico and north into British Columbia. Montana is host to four variants o...

  • Emerging Artist Beth Korth brings avian whimsy to BPSW

    Kate Radford, BVD|Updated Aug 31, 2022

    Blackfoot Pathways: Sculpture in the Wild introduced Beth Korth, this year’s emerging artist-in-residence, Sunday, Sept. 6 during the Artist-in-Residence Reception at the Teepee Burner. The three-week residency program, which kicked off Monday Sept. 7, allows artists to create site-specific pieces drawing on Lincoln’s economic, environmental and cultural traditions, according to BPSW’s website. “My work contains a lot of animal imagery. I really like to think about how we use...

  • Local artists on display this weekend for Tour of the Arts

    Kate Radford, BVD|Updated Aug 31, 2022

    Alpine Artisans' annual Tour of the Arts, highlighting artists in the Blackfoot and Seeley-Swan Valleys, is scheduled for Oct. 9 and 10 this year to take advantage of the autumn foliage changes, particularly among the larch. This year marks the 18th anniversary of the tour, said Jenny Rohrer, program manager for Alpine Artisans, Inc. The event was started by AAI artist Christine Jewett in 2004 and allows local artists to open up their studios to the public and give people a...

  • The Big Read returns in November

    Kate Radford, BVD|Updated Aug 31, 2022

    The Lewis & Clark Library plans to host their 15th annual National Endowment for the Arts Big Read in November featuring the poetry book An American Sunrise by Joy Harjo. "Big Read is a chance for the community to get together and read the same book and share their thoughts on that book and the ideas that they found, and have that shared community feeling of experiencing the same thing...and then getting together to talk about it," said Library Director John Finn, adding, "It...

  • A little batty

    Kate Radford, BVD|Updated Aug 31, 2022

    International Bat Week is celebrated annually on the last week of October, from the 24-31. Organized by Bat Conservation International and in partnership with groups like Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, the event is meant to highlight the need for bat conservation and demonstrate the important role bats play in the ecosystem and economy. Bats belong to the order Chiroptera and are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. There are over 900 species of bats, acco...

  • Nature Picks: Cranberries and Sundews

    Kate Radford, BVD|Updated Aug 31, 2022

    The Thanksgiving holiday is commonly associated with food, and while turkey is often the main dish, cranberries, Vaccinium macrocarpon, are a complimentary side. Cranberries grow in extremely precise conditions, needing wetland bogs to thrive. Bogs are found in cooler northern climates and often develop in lake basins created by glaciers, according to the National Geographic Society. Bogs tend to be oxygen and nutrient poor, making them uninhabitable for many plant species,...

  • Lincoln Resource Map being developed by mILp, RTC: Rural

    Kate Radford, BVD|Updated Dec 29, 2021

    Montana Independent Living Project (mILp) and the Research and Training Center on Disability in Rural Communities at the University of Montana (RTC: Rural) are developing a community map of Lincoln to bring together resources, services, and events that can support community inclusion and independent living. Maria Stout, who works as an independent living specialist at mILP, has been working to expand services in the Lincoln area over the past year. mILp is a Center for Indepen...

  • For nearly a decade, Sam's Hope has helped kids with childhood illnesses and people in need in Lincoln

    Kate Radford, BVD|Updated Dec 15, 2021

    Lincoln nonprofit Sam's Hope was originally started to help support those battling childhood cancer. Since its inception in 2012, Sam's Hope has grown to support people battling any type of childhood illness, as well as members of the Lincoln community. "It started out with kind of a sad story. We lost our Sam in 2011, September 26. He passed away from cancer. He died when he was sixteen years old. He was the most beautiful person I knew. It was just so hard to lose him," said...

  • Santa's Workshop gets a hand from Optimist Club

    Kate Radford, BVD|Updated Dec 15, 2021

    Nearly 100 kids and their families descended on the Lincoln School Gym to make crafts and holidays gifts at the annual Santa's Workshop Dec. 4. Hosted by the Lincoln Council for the Arts each year, students from across the Blackfoot Valley are invited to participate in the event, which usually has a $5 fee per student. Students are welcomed to the event, whether they can pay the admission fee or not, but this year a local organization paid the fees or all the students, and...

  • Methodist Church welcomes new pastor

    Kate Radford, BVD|Updated Nov 17, 2021

    The Lincoln Community United Methodist Church has a new pastor who provides services for the community every other Sunday at 10:30 a.m. "I've been feeling the call to ministry my whole life," said Pastor Jason Cox, who was assigned to the Lincoln United Methodist Church three months ago. Cox travels to Lincoln from Missoula, where he was born and raised, and where he obtained his undergrad degree in religious studies from the University of Montana, with a minor in south and...

  • Annual Community Benefit postponed

    Kate Radford, BVD|Updated Oct 6, 2021

    The Lincoln Valley Chamber of Commerce has decided to postpone their annual Community Benefit, which is usually held the first weekend in November. This is the second year that the Community Benefit has been disrupted by COVID-19 concerns. In pre-pandemic years, the event consisted of dinner served during a play performed by the Lincoln Community Players, as well as an auction and the annual "Chair Game," which raises funds for a local nonprofit and offers event attendees the...

  • Teacher Feature: Cailey DenBoer

    Kate Radford, BVD|Updated Sep 29, 2021

    Lincoln School District's new first grade teacher, Cailey DenBoer, grew up in Lincoln and is excited to return to the town as an educator. DenBoer attended school in Lincoln from kindergarten through her sophomore year, ultimately graduating from Capitol High in Helena, and then attending the University of Montana-Western. "I have a bachelors in elementary ed, and a minor in early childhood education. When I was in college, I worked at the elementary school in Dillon as a...

  • Fashion and fun at UBVHS Heritage Day

    Kate Radford, Contributing Writer|Updated Aug 26, 2021

    The Upper Blackfoot Valley Historical Society hosted the annual Lincoln Heritage Day last Saturday with approximately 125 attendees. The event highlights Lincoln's history, and gives kids and adults alike the opportunity to try their hand at historic skills and activities. We do it "to show old-time skills, so we don't lose those," said UBVHS president Erin Dey. This year, in addition to candle-making, butter-making and embroidery, the event debuted some new activities and...

  • Annual Clothing Giveaway has banner year

    Kate Radford, Contributing Writer|Updated Aug 11, 2021

    Lincoln's annual Clothing Giveaway started Aug. 1 in the Lincoln Community Hall and had extended hours this year. Organizers are looking at ways to make the event even more accessible next year. Traditionally, the Clothing Giveaway was set up on Sunday and taken down on Thursday, giving people three days to shop. This year, organizers completed set-up on Saturday and were able to be fully open for visitors to shop starting Sunday and remained open through Friday. "We started...

  • Montana Independent Living Project specialist to visit Lincoln next week

    Kate Radford, Contributing Writer|Updated Aug 4, 2021

    The Montana Independent Living Project, which provides a variety of services to promote independence for people living with disabilities in southwestern Montana, has recently started offering one-on-one services for residents in Lincoln. MILP independent living specialist Maria Stout plans to visit with Lincoln residents Aug. 12, first at the Lincoln Library, then at Leepers Motel. "I help people live independently in their communities by providing services with whatever they...

  • Petition signatures needed to move RID chip seal projects forward

    Kate Radford, Contributing Writer|Updated Aug 4, 2021

    Two petitions to fund chip sealing on Lincoln’s hard surface streets continue to be available to residents living in the Lincoln and Lambkins Rural Improvement Districts. If 20 percent or more of property owners in the RIDs sign the petitions, they will then be presented to the Lewis and Clark County Commissioners for a resolution of intention to take out loans to fund chip sealing. At the July 20 Upper Blackfoot Valley Community Council meeting, the council discussed the low signature count on the current RID petitions l...

  • Paws Inn provides pet boarding services for animals large and small

    Kate Radford, Contributing Writer|Updated Jul 28, 2021

    Rayna Thompson opened Paws Inn Pet Boarding in Lincoln on June 7. "I used to babysit dogs around town here when I was in high school," said Thompson, who has worked in boarding kennels in Kalispell and Helena for over four years. When she returned to Lincoln, she decided to start her own. In addition to overnight boarding, Thompson offers bathing for dogs, including nail trims, as well as variety of day care services for different types of pets. The kennel includes a...

  • Annual Hooper Park Flea Market sees busy comeback

    Kate Radford, Contributing Writer|Updated Jul 21, 2021

    The annual Hooper Park Flea Market returned to Lincoln last weekend with a near record-setting number of vendors booked. Forty-five of the 50 vendors booked for the sale showed up, according to event organizer Jill Sallin. This year was her first full year organizing the event. In 2019, she took over the event just a few weeks before it took place. Last year, the event was canceled due to COVID-19. The flea market was originally started by Jill's mother, Jesse Sallin. "I went...

  • Stage 1 Fire restrictions go into effect throughout region; some exceptions in Lincoln area for now

    Kate Radford, BVD|Updated Jul 13, 2021

    Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest instituted Stage 1 fire restrictions throughout the forest beginning Friday, July 9 at 12:01 a.m., with the exception of the Lincoln Ranger District north of Highway 200 and the Rocky Mountain Ranger District. "Drought conditions continue to worsen across the Forest, and the hot, dry, windy weather persists," according to a recent press release from the United States Forest Service. The fire restrictions are in place to "proactively...

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