MONTANA

August 2016

A Monthly Publication for Folks 50 and Better

Down to a T
Senior Summer Olympics
Drivers ed instructor

INSIDE
Bookshelf..................................................Page 3
Opinion.....................................................Page 4
Savvy Senior.............................................Page 5
Travel........................................................Page 14

Circus acrobats tie the knot

on tightrope during show

On the Menu.............................................Page 16
Calendar....................................................Page 19
Volunteering..............................................Page 20
Strange But True.......................................Page 22

Biker nabbed after Facebook post

HOUSTON (AP) Two circus acrobats tied the knot on a

tightrope during a performance in Houston.
Mustafa Danguir and Anna Lebedeva got married 30 feet off
the ground during a recent Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey
show at NRG Stadium.
The groom, wearing a white tuxedo coat, arrived on a camel
and climbed a side ladder to reach the tightrope.
The veiled bride rode a horse.
She shed her high heels and adjusted her flowing gown to also
climb a ladder to the wire.
The ringmaster presided as the pair met in the middle of the
wire, then exchanged vows and rings.
The smiling newlyweds descended and waved to the cheering
crowd as they walked away arm-in-arm.

LAKE ORION, Mich. (AP) A suburban Detroit motorcyclist

was apparently fast enough to leave police in the dust during a
chase, but not swift enough to stop from bragging about it on
Facebook.
Lake Orion police say 33-year-old Michael Brown, of Rochester Hills, turned himself in recently, three weeks after the
incident. Hes charged with fleeing police and reckless driving.
Police say an officer pulled up to Brown outside a restaurant
after seeing loud motorcycle maneuvers in the street. Brown sped
off and the officer eventually stopped pursuing him.
Police say Brown boasted on Facebook that he was going 140
in a 35 mph zone. He added: #nojailthisweekend. Someone
shared the post with police.
Brown doesnt have a listed phone number and couldnt be
reached for comment. He was due in court Aug. 2.

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August 2016

Bookshelf

Cornell grad takes one-room school teacher job in Montana

Horseback Schoolmarm: Montana, 1953-1954
University of Oklahoma Press (July 2016)
Softcover 144 pages 5.5x8.5 $24.95
ISBN 978-0-8061-5388-9

By Montana Best Times Staff

Here is a brand-new book that not just rural Montana Best
Times readers but city dwellers as well can appreciate, for what it
evokes about Montana.
In 1953, Margot Pringle, newly graduated from Cornell University, took a job as a teacher in a one-room school in rural east-

plumbing, or running water. She drew water from a well outside.

The nearest house was a half-mile away. Margot had a car, but
she had to park it so far away, she kept her saddle horse, Orphan
Annie, in the schoolyard, the release says.
Miss Margot started with no experience and no supplies, but
her spunk and inventiveness, along with that of her seven students six boys and one girl made the school a success. A
classroom menagerie and field trips into the plains yielded lessons on science and history; plays at Halloween and Christmas
engaged her more reluctant learners in reading and writing.
Evocative of Laura Ingalls Wilders school-teaching experiences some 80 years earlier, Horseback Schoolmarm gives readers
a firsthand look at an almost forgotten-yet not so distant-way of
life.
Margot Liberty, widely known as an anthropologist specializing in Northern Plains Indians and ranching culture, is the author,
coauthor, or editor of: Cheyenne Memories, with John Stands
In Timber; A Northern Cheyenne Album, with photographs by
Thomas B. Marquis; Working Cowboy: Recollections of Ray
Holmes; A Cheyenne Voice: The Complete John Stands In
Timber Interviews; and Songs and Snippets: Poems of Margot
Liberty.
Horseback Schoolmarm is available from online booksellers,
in bookstores, and directly from the University of Oklahoma
Press.

Residential
Commercial
Control
Agricultural
Industrial
ern Montana 60 miles southeast of Miles City, a news release on
Horseback Schoolmarm from publisher University of Oklahoma Press says. Miss Margot, as her students called her, would
teach at the school for one year. This book is the memoir she
wrote then under her married name.
Filled with humor and affection for her students, Horseback
Schoolmarm recounts Libertys coming of age as a teacher, as
well as what she taught her students. Margots school was located
on the SH Ranch, whose owner needed a way to retain his hired
hands after their children reached school age. Few teachers wanted to work in such remote and primitive circumstances.
Margot lived alone in a teacherage, hardly more than a closet
at one end of the schoolhouse. It had electricity but no phone,

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August 2016

Opinion

When the medication seems worse than the disease

August 2016

they can say, We told you so.

We all know whats going on, of course. The drug companies are marketing directly to us, bypassing the old way
we used to learn about the newest medicines from our
doctors. Many of these TV-marketed drugs we cant buy
without a prescription, so the companies want us to badger
our doctor for them and you know how much the docs
love that.
Its a lousy system. Id rather let my doctor tell me what I
need. Its too hard to figure out which of the new wonder
drugs might actually make me die a slow, painful death.
Dwight Harriman,
Montana Best Times Editor
MONTANA

The routine is always the same:

You turn on the TV in the morning to watch the news
before you start your day, and inbetween news stories you
are bombarded with health ads directed at 50-plussers and
beyond (advertisers know young people arent watching
news on television).
These ads promise amazing results for treating seniorrelated conditions everything from various kinds of
arthritis, to heart and lung diseases and, of course, mental
sharpness issues (by the way, Im sick to death of hearing
about those drugs derived from jellyfish for improving
brain function).
But lo, as soon as they hit a drugs high points, they
launch into a list of terrifying risks from severe, dangerous
and outright fatal side effects that could result from of those
same drugs.
By the time the advertisement is done, you feel like you
need a drug for the side effects. The drug seems worse than
the disease.
Its all due to our litigious age, of course, with pharmaceutical companies making sure every posterior is covered, every i dotted and every t crossed so that if a
patient has a bad reaction to one of those medications,

A Monthly Publication for Folks 50 and Better

P.O. Box 2000, 401 S. Main St., Livingston MT 59047

Tel. (406) 222-2000 or toll-free (800) 345-8412 Fax: (406) 222-8580
E-mail: montanabesttimes@livent.net Subscription rate: $25/yr.
Published monthly by Yellowstone Newspapers, Livingston, Montana
Dwight Harriman, Editor Sean Douma, Designer

Jim Miller, creator of the syndicated Savvy

Senior information column, is a longtime
advocate of senior issues. He has been featured in
Time magazine; is author of The Savvy Senior:
The Ultimate Guide to Health, Family and
Finances for Senior Citizens; and is a regular
contributor to the NBC Today show.

How to find financial assistance

for elderly parents
Dear Savvy Senior,
Where can I go to locate financial assistance programs for
seniors? I have been helping support my 70-year-old mother the
past couple years and really cant afford to do it any longer.
- Feeling Overwhelmed

Dear Overwhelmed,
There are actually a wide variety of financial assistance programs and government benefits that can help seniors in need. But
whats available to your mom will depend on her income level
and where she lives.
To find out what types of assistance your mom may be eligible
for, just go toBenefitsCheckUp.org, a free, confidential Web tool
designed for adults 55 and older and their families. It will help
you locate federal, state and private benefits programs that can
assist with paying for food, medications, utilities, health care,
housing and other needs. This site created by the National
Council on Aging contains more than 2,000 programs across
the country.
To identify benefits, youll first need to fill out an online questionnaire that asks a series of questions like your moms date of
birth, her ZIP code, expenses, income, assets, veteran status, the
medications she takes and a few other factors. It takes about 15
minutes.
Once completed, youll get a report detailing all the programs
and services she may qualify for, along with detailed information
on how to apply.
Some programs can be applied for online, some have downloadable application forms that you can print and mail, fax or
email in, and some require that you contact the programs administrative office directly (they provide the necessary contact information).
If you dont have Internet access, you can also get help in-person at any of the 47Benefit Enrollment Centers located throughout the U.S. Call 888-268-6706 or visitNCOA.org/centerforbenefits/becsto locate a center in your area. Some centers also offer
assistance over the phone.

Food Assistance Program, Commodity Supplemental Food Program, and the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program.

Healthcare:Medicaid and Medicare Savings Programs can

help or completely pay for out-of-pocket health care costs. And,

there are special Medicaid waiver programs that provide in-home
care and assistance.

Prescription drugs:There are hundreds of programs

offered through pharmaceutical companies, government agencies

and charitable organizations that help lower or eliminate prescription drug costs, including the federal Low Income Subsidy
known as Extra Help that pays premiums, deductibles and prescription copayments for Medicare Part D beneficiaries.

Utility assistance:Theres the Low Income Home Energy

Assistance Program (LIHEAP), as well as local utility companies
and charitable organizations that provide assistance in lowering
home heating and cooling costs.

Supplemental Security Income (SSI):Administered by

the Social Security Administration, SSI provides monthly payments to very low-income seniors, age 65 and older, as well as to
those who are blind and disabled. SSI pays up to $733 per month
for a single person and up to $1,100 for couples.

In addition to these programs, there are numerous other benefits they can help you locate such as HUD housing, home weatherization assistance, tax relief, veterans benefits, senior transportation, respite care, free legal assistance, job training and employment and debt counseling.

Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443,
Norman, OK 73070, or visitwww.SavvySenior.org.

Types of Benefits

Depending on your moms income level and where she lives,

here are some benefits that she may be eligible for:

Food assistance:Programs like the Supplemental Nutrition

Assistance Program (SNAP) can help pay for groceries. The average monthly SNAP benefit is currently around $127 per person.
Other programs that may be available include the Emergency
August 2016

Model T Tinkerer

Red Lodge resident getting his car down to a T

Bill Barnes with his latest project, a 1927 Model T Roadster.

Montana Best Times photos by Alastair Baker

By Alastair Baker

Montana Best Times
RED LODGE Hes already put together a Cushman Truckster, which has a top speed of 20 mph. And now has just finished
assembling another vehicle, a 1927 Model T Roadster. On both
cars, he started with a basic body and began gathering parts for
them from there.
Bill Barnes is a bloke who never stops moving or tinkering.
He jokes its partly because it takes him four years to finish
any project.
His Cushman Truckster, a small, utility vehicle, made its debut
in last years July Fourth parade in Red Lodge.
The Model T wont have the same sort of unveiling.
Barnes is still having trouble finding the sweet spot when he
drives it.
Photo by Alastair Baker
When your ears are pinned back, thats good, as then everyThe basic, yet complicated, dashboard of the Model T.
thing is running, said Barnes.
August 2016

down again, Barnes recounted.

He and DeVille continued to mess with it but decided another
trip to Florence was in order.
We took it back and he gets it running. But while Im there, I
see an engine in the corner of the shop and asked what year it
was, finding out it was from 1927, said Barnes. I bought it on
the spot and replaced the 23 engine in the Model T.
It now has a new or reconditioned engine, new transmission
and steering. Ive thrown enough money at it. How much? I cant
tell you, Barnes chuckled.

Ive thrown enough money at

it. How much? I cant tell you.
Bill Barnes, discussing his Model T

All from the same year

The Model Ts parking brakes.

Engines and parts

Ears are everything when driving a Model T it seems, listening

to see how happy the engine is. Barnes recently purchased an
engine temperature gauge that doubles as a hood ornament,
which helps a driver determine whether the engine is overheating.
Watching the operational procedures a Model T driver goes
through is akin to someone juggling eggs while standing on hot
coals, with the myriad of levers to operate and an awkwardly
placed reverse peddle between the clutch and the brake to boot.
Barnes admits to being not the least bit talented mechanically, so he has an army of friends come in on projects to help him
out.
Such has become Barnes interest in Model Ts that he recently
organized the weeklong visit of Florences Model T Ford Club of
America to Red Lodge, with the help of friend Dick DeVille.
It was DeVille who helped Barnes with his 1927 Model T.
It was just happenstance, said Barnes of when he, DeVille
and another friend, Kelly Bertrand, went to Twin Falls, Idaho,
and by chance connected with a mechanic who knew a little
something about Model Ts him having known about them
since he was 11 years old.
Barnes asked the mechanic if he could help him get his Model
T off the ground because they couldnt get it to start, since the
1923 engine Barnes had put in it didnt seem compatible with the
1927 body.
Dick and I loaded it up and took it to Florence, and he worked
on it. That was July last year. We brought it back, and it broke

But the important element to all this is that every thing on the
1927 Model T is now from that year. Barnes had used parts
not just the engine from other years in assembling it and has
replaced those parts over time.
I wanted it to be right, all one year, and I got tired of explaining why parts were from different years. It is rare to find a Model
T with every thing from the same year, he said.
The vehicle has a rough, unfinished beauty about it.
Beautiful patina? joked Barnes, admiring the almost base
coat black it carries. Its a little beaten up but itll be easy to
maintain.
The vehicle even has a flatbed it came from the factory like
that back in 1927.
There are hazards to enjoying what you build, especially when
it comes to the elements and the Model Ts lack of coverings.
I drove it to Nye through a hailstorm and was frozen from
breast plate to backbone. A waitress at a bar had to get me two
towels to dry off, Barnes laughed.
Now that the Model T, named Bills T, is a whisper away
from perfection, Barnes is looking at building a trailer.
Its long term, he said, Im not Henry Ford.

Alastair Baker is the editor of the Carbon County News in Red

Lodge. He may be reached at news@carboncountynews.com or
(406) 446-2222.

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August 2016

Photos by Becky Spain

Glenn DeHekker grins during a break in the action of the swimming events at the 2016 Montana Senior Olympics in Helena in June.

All for one, and wins for all

Hundreds participate in the Montana Senior Summer Olympics

By M.P. Regan

Montana Best Times

The spirit of friendly competition

burned like the Olympic torch and radiated
a special brand of warmth for participants
at Junes Montana Senior Summer Olympics.
Its just a great atmosphere, said
Diane Page of the annual state games for
participants 50 and older that she competed in for the sixth time last month.
Everybody was just very friendly, said
Wade Hansen, who drove up to Helena
from Dillon to take part in the 2016 Montana Senior Summer Olympics, his first
and the annual athletic extravaganzas 31st
installment.
The whole time, I saw only one guy
who had a serious look on his face, and
later he was smiling, too. Most people
looked like they were out on a Sunday
afternoon picnic, observed Hansen of the
competitors at the three-day get-together,
which convened for different events in different locations around Helena, and
August 2016

included opening ceremonies and social

opportunities outside the athletic competitions.

You get to see old

friends and meet a
lot of nice people
and they all cheer for
you when its your turn.
Diane Page

307s a crowd

The 2016 Montana Senior Summer

Olympics drew 307 athletes to Helena
June 16-18, according to its lead organizer.
We all know its important to stay
active as you age. Staying active keeps
you healthy and keeps your mind more
involved, said Kay Newman, director of

the Montana Senior Olympics, which

offers summer events in track and field,
swimming, road racing, cycling, tennis,
bowling, archery, basketball, golf, horseshoes, pickleball, table tennis, racquetball
and racewalking.
Molly Hayes, a well-known competitor
from Bozeman shes in her 80s. She
swims, cycles and runs. She is still out
there competing in those events, said
Newman, who also serves as secretarytreasurer of the Montana Senior Olympics
Board of Directors.
We have a lady in her 90s who competes in bowling, added Newman, noting
that participants vie with their peers for
medals in five-year age brackets (50-54,
55-59, 60-64, etc.).
I used to compete, but Im too busy
helping put it on now, added Newman,
who said that her own energies go toward
making sure the Montana Senior Olympics
come off as smoothly as possible.
It is a lot of work. We do everything by
volunteer. We do this in our spare time,
emphasized Newman, who began working

Road racer Steve Durand strikes a triumphant pose during

the Montana Summer Senior Olympics in Helena in June.
as the Montana Senior Olympics director about a decade ago
after the passing of her predecessor.
I said I would do it because I really didnt want to see it end,
asserted Newman of the Montana Senior Olympics, which also
includes a winter installment featuring hockey and Nordic skiing.
Id like it to grow. It is just so fun to come out and get together again with friends you have competed with before, said the
Bozeman resident.

Classy reunion

Page said seeing familiar, friendly faces and getting to know the
people behind unfamiliar faces provided her with extra motivation
to take time off from the family farm in Hot Springs and travel to
Helena for this years Montana Senior Summer Olympics.
You get to see old friends and meet a lot of nice people and
they all cheer for you when its your turn, added Page, who
gained additional support at this years Senior Olympics from a
large contingent of family members who joined her in Helena for
the weekend.
I had a sister from Idaho there, a sister from Circle, a niece
from Helena, my daughter and son-in-law from Bozeman and
their two children. I could hear them cheering me on when Id get
up to make a throw, especially the two grandkids, smiled Page.
Page gave her supporters plenty to cheer about with first-place
finishes in the javelin, discus, shot put and softball throwing
events in the 60-64 womens category.
But the thrill of victory seems secondary to the joy of competing, which takes a back seat to the joy of benignly engaging with
and even helping out fellow competitors during the Montana Senior Olympics.

Some other ladies there came up to ask me how to hold a javelin or throw the discus, revealed Page, who obliged by demonstrating proper grip and technique last month to her fellow Senior
Olympic competitors.
It was just like when I was I was a coach I got a big charge
out of it, continued Page, who coached junior high track and
high school track and volleyball for eight years in Hot Springs.
When I got there, I didnt know what really was going on,
admitted Hansen of his arrival at the Helena Middle School track
for this years Senior Olympic racewalking events.
He got some direction from a good source Steve Harper, a
national champion racewalker from Helena.
When we were warming up, I was asking him some questions,
and he was just as friendly as could be, and he was giving me
pointers, recalled Hansen of his conversation that day with
Harper, the man he ended up racewalking beside, and then
behind, on the track, a short while later.
We walked side by side for awhile. Then I said, I bet you can
go a little faster than this, recalled Hansen of his time on the
track with Harper, who two years ago set the single-age American
record for 64-year-olds in the 50-Kilometer Racewalking Championships in California and took the gold medal in the 3K Racewalk for men age 55-59 at the 2009 World Senior Games.
And he took off. He has this gait thats like a Tennessee Walking Horse, which can walk as fast as most horses can trot. It was
quite an eye-opener, said Hansen, who opened plenty of eyes
himself last month in Helena with a second-place finish to Harper
in the 5,000-meter racewalking event and a gold medal performance in a 1,000-meter racewalk for men 65-69.

Training is gaining

For many, just preparing for the Senior Olympics represents a

reunion with past enthusiasm for sporting events, as well as a
gateway to better health in the future.
I hadnt thrown a shot put since my high school days,
recalled Hansen, a graduate of Beaverhead County High School
in Dillon, where he still resides.
I threw it maybe 50 times for training for the this Senior
Olympics, estimated Hansen, who in addition to his racewalking
achievements, notched a second-place finish in his age group in
the shot put in Helena last month.
The guy who got first place threw it quite a bit further, added
Hansen of the 2016 mens 65-69 state shot put champ, Charles R.
Widdicombe, of Missoula.
He said the only time he doesnt train during the year is when
the snow is too deep to find the shot put after he throws it,
laughed Hansen, who developed much of the cardio he used to
thrive in the racewalking events by regularly hiking and also traveling about six miles a day on foot in the summer while moving
irrigation pipes in his hay fields.
Page said that while she often goes to the local school track to
train, she will occasionally get in some extra practice throws on
the 1,000-acre spread in Hot Springs where her family raises
cows and buffalo and hay.
I have a 10-year-old grandson nearby who plays baseball in
the summer, so I play catch with him a lot, which helps condition
my arm. But living on a farm, you dont get a lot of extra time to
do a lot of other things, continued Page, who set state records
for women in all the throwing events during her years in the
Montana Senior Olympics 55-59 age group.
See Senior Olympics, Page 17
August 2016

Teaching them to stay safe

Longtime drivers ed instructor instills good driving habits

MT Best Times photos by Eric Killelea

Drivers education instructor Mike Dryden sits in the passenger seat of the drivers ed 2016 Chevrolet Impala while instructing a student driver at the wheel.

By Eric Killelea

Montana Best Times
GLENDIVE Sitting in the backseat
of a 2016 Chevrolet Impala, Ariana Mitchell and Trenton Reinhart hold their breath.
Kasidi Walker, 14, tries to build up the
courage to drive past the John Deere tractor ahead, but she taps the brakes because
she fears the shape of a truck far in the
distance.
From the passenger seat, driving instructor Mike Dryden motivates her.
Get on it, he says and praises Kasidi
as she hits the gas, circumventing the tractor.
Todays pretty busy, Dryden says, as
the car straightens out and continues down
the road.
August 2016

10

Not as busy as when the Bakken was

here, shouts Ariana, 14, Kasidis friend
from the backseat. Traffic was insane!

Learning the basics

Kasidi wasnt taking a leisurely drive

north on Highway 16. She was participating in drivers training.
She had it all under control, said
Dryden, 62, his feet hovering above the
instructors brake pedal.
After 20 years of teaching driver courses to teenage students, Dryden said he has
many memories of bracing himself for
impact.
Today, students spend six hours with
him or his co-worker learning how
to change lanes, brake at high speeds and
parallel park. The teenagers know him

because he also serves as the high school

history teacher and track coach at Dawson
County High School.
Students can get a Traffic Education
Learners License as early as 14 and a
half years old, according to the state
Motor Vehicle Division. They can get a
Learner License once they turn 15, complete a state-approved education program
and pass the required driver license tests.
They must complete 50 hours of supervised driving experience, including 10 at
night.
On a recent Wednesday in June, Kasidi
and her classmates participated in the seventh of nine lessons with the local instructor. The students, all under 18, are told
they must hold the Learner License for a
minimum of six consecutive months

Mike Dryden teaches a class at Dawson County High School

You dont want to start taking anything for granted, Dryden said. As a
teacher, I have to remember this is
always a new experience for the students.
That morning, he addressed a drivers
need to multitask when checking for road
signs, vehicles and pedestrians. Then he
touched on speeding, asking the students,
What is the speed limit at the high
school?
Perhaps due to the quiet, Dryden, who
also serves on the Glendive City Council, responded, The City Council
changed the speed limits to 15 mph.
A father and husband, Dryden looked
at the speedometer and quipped, Do you
think spouses criticize each others driving?
Shifting from tones of humor to seriousness, Dryden went on to answer student questions on distracted driving and
cruise control. He told them not to drink
and drive, before adding that they could
face arrest, DUIs, MIPs and suspension
of their licenses, along with other penalties.
He reiterated his rules on distracted
driving and music, food and phones in
the car.
There will be distractions when they
drive on their own, Dryden said. There
is no music for the first few drives here.
They have to earn it. But we dont eat in
the car and we put all the phones away.

Conversations

Kasidi Walker moves into the drivers seat during a stop-and-switch along Highway 16 near Glendive. Three students were taking turns practicing their driving
skills.
before applying for a First-Year Restricted License.

Driving challenges

Dryden said he gives teenagers the

skills they need to drive safely in the ups
and downs of the Bakken oil field traffic.
He jacks up the air conditioning, but
turns the radio off during the first couple
of sessions until the students earn it.
Now that traffic has slowed down a

little, the highway can give some students a challenge, Dryden said of students who havent had much experience
with highway driving because until
recently its been too busy for them to
drive.
Dryden himself avoided Highway 16
when the Bakken was in full swing.
Dryden, a lifelong Glendive resident,
recommended slow and careful driving
for his students, especially near trucks.

Dryden, who has grown children,

taught 70 students how to drive this
school year. Many of his students celebrate birthdays around the time of their
driving lessons and tell him about school
and friends. They tell him about their
families, and he does the same.
You have conversations with students
that you dont have otherwise, Dryden
said. Lots of stuff happens in your life
while youre in your car. Thats why we
talk about family sometimes.
Dryden, who this past year taught drivers ed from February through April, and
between May and June, has been considering teaching a course in the fall season.
More instructors and vehicles are needed, but he said budgets are tight and he
feels an obligation to continue teaching
young adults how to stay safe on the
roads.
The kids will be in control of the
cars, Dryden said. They will need to
take responsibility for it.
August 2016

11

By Jenny Gessaman

Montana Best Times
LEWISTOWN Lewistowns Central Montana Family
Planning clinic has a broad clientele. It serves six counties and
treats men and women of any age. For the clinic, family planning is a term sometimes tactfully reversed to define itself: all
the medical services needed for planning a family.
While the general definition implies care centered around
having or preventing children, the clinic has a more encompassing and honest phrase on its brochure: reproductive health
care.
Sexual health is a factor in family planning, but the subject
has also grown into an independent set of services. Sue Irvin,
director and disease intervention specialist for the clinic,
admits the target clientele is reproductive women. But she also
said its services go beyond that gender, age and focus: Central
Montana Family Planning offers STD and HIV counseling,
education and testing to any age.
Ask Irvin, and she will tell you testing and awareness are
part of sexual responsibility regardless of generation. Whether
or not a client teenager or baby boomer exercises that

responsibility relies on one thing.

Its a matter if you want to talk about it or not talk about it,
Irvin stated.

We didnt even have sex ed . . .

Today, the state of Montana recommends sexual education.

Department of Education benchmarks, or standards, expect students to describe the workings of the reproductive system, as
well as personal health enhancing strategies for sexual activities and disease prevention.
However, OPI Communications Director Emilie Ritter Saunders tracked down such mandates to only 1990. According to
the last census, done in 2010, roughly 45 percent of Montanas
population has had the chance to attend class.
So how do health professionals approach the other 55 percent, including people 50 and over, who might not have formal
knowledge about their sexual health?
In all cases, Irvin said, communication is the key a point
she emphasizes with hesitant clients.
Awkward teenagers may be the stereotype for uncomfortable
sex talks, but Irvin sees the same reaction in older generations,
too. She said hesitance might spring from a lifelong taboo

Montana Best Times photo by Jenny Gessaman

Sue Irvin, Central Montana Family Planning director and disease intervention specialist, is pictured in one of the clinics
examination rooms.
August 2016

12

against discussing sex. It could also come from an unexpected return to the dating scene after divorce or the loss of a
partner.
Irvin tries to encourage familiar scenarios to diffuse anxiety
about sexual discussions, especially sexual history.
You need to be able to ask Earl over pie, Irvin said.
She suggests clients use the idea of their own health as
motivation to work through difficult discussions, such as previous partners or STD screenings.
(I try to) put the thought of How do I protect me? in their
head, she said.
Irvin recommended approaching potential sexual partners,
and their sexual pasts, from a point of concern and caring. She
said caring for a person included caring about their health.
Earl and his pie helped illustrate.
Earl, I care about you, she said as an example. I need to
know more about your past.

Unknown threats: Protecting yourself,

protecting others

But why figure out how to speak to partners?

The Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance is an annual
publication of STD statistics and trends. The Center for Disease Control releases the information as reference material,
and combing the numbers finds some unexpected results for
older generations.
From 2010 to 2014, reported cases of Chlamydia increased
85 percent in 55- to 64-year-olds. Cases increased 52 percent
in people 65 or older. Gonorrhea had a more dramatic increase
for both groups: 107 percent and 75 percent, respectively.
Even cases of syphilis increased by more than half.

However, sexual activity and its potential diseases arent

the only reasons baby boomers need to consider open conversations and STD testing. Irvin said older generations
could be carrying diseases contracted through blood transfusions.
She gave HIV as an example. Aids.gov, a federal group promoting HIV/AIDS awareness, traced the diseases U.S. presence to the mid- to late 1970s. The sites timeline of HIV/
AIDS pinpoints 1985 as the year the country began screening
the blood supply. Anyone given a transfusion in the 15-year
gap could have been exposed.
Central Montana Public Health District Public Health
Director Sue Woods added hepatitis C to the list.
The blood supply was not tested for hepatitis C until
1987, Woods said.
Woods admitted the disease was mostly blood borne, but
clarified it could be sexually transmitted.
She said baby boomers were at high risk for hepatitis C,
adding safe sex was one of the prevention strategies.
There is no protection from STDs related to age, she said.
Woods, like Irvin, thought late middle age could bring situations that once again required sexual responsibility. Problems
can come, she said, when people dont consider the necessity
of monitoring their sexual health.
People dont associate this group with safe sex, and the
elderly dont associate themselves, Woods said.
Both Woods and Irvin hope to see that change.

Jenny Gessaman is a reporter for the Lewistown NewsArgus. She can be reached at reporter3@lewistownnews.com
or (406) 535-3401.

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406-628-8251

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August 2016

13

Travel

Every familys vacation awaits in

Lake of the Ozarks

By Kathy Witt

Kathy Witt/TNS

LAKE OF THE OZARKS, Mo. _ There are the green, rolling

hills of Ozark Mountain Country; cutaways layered thickly with
sandstone and limestone; two superlative state parks; and that
lake the jewel of mid-Missouri: the massive, 54,000-acre Lake
of the Ozarks, stretching out more than 90 miles from end to end
in sun-shimmering splendor.
Here is a laid-back, lake-front family vacation destination that
checks all the boxes for a memorable, scenic and affordable getaway with more than enough to see and do.
With 1,150 miles of meandering shoreline surrounded by a
dozen pretty communities, the lake is the focal point, and area
accommodations from cottages, condos and camping sites to
full-service hotels and full-on resorts take full advantage to
showcase the view. For example, Tan-Tar-A Resort Golf Club,
Marina and Indoor Waterpark, an amenities-rich wilderness

retreat, spreads over 400 acres on the banks of the Lake of the
Ozarks. The comfy and more intimate mom-and-pop Holiday
Shores Resort offers thoughtfully-designed three-bedroom cottages tucked into the trees and lining the lakefront.

A STORIED LAKE

To get an idea of the sheer size and scope of the Lake of the
Ozarks and learn how one of the worlds largest manmade lakes
came into being, stop by the sprawling circa 1930 Willmore
Lodge, a visitor center and free-admission museum operated by
the Lake Area Chamber of Commerce. You can read up on the
areas pre-lake history and towns submerged to make way for the
construction of Bagnell Dam, which began in 1929, and follow
the progression of the lakes development. Stroll along the front
deck for a lake view that brings photographers to their knees.
Follow this up with a narrated lake cruise everyone in the family will love: Captain Omer Clark and Tropic Island Cruises offer

Sitting on the dock of the lake at

Lake of the Ozarks State Park.
Photo courtesy FunLake.com/TNS

August 2016

14

From top to bottom: Tour castle ruins at Ha

Ha Tonka State Park. (Photo courtesy Missouri State Parks/TNS); Holiday Shores
Resort has spacious three-level, three-bedroom cottages located right at waters edge
of Lake of the Ozarks. (Photo courtesy
FunLake.com/TNS); The magnificent Lake
of the Ozarks is miles and miles of family
fun. (Photo courtesy FunLake.com/TNS)
90-minute excursions aboard a 150-passenger motor yacht. Departing from the
dock at Tan-Tar-a Resort, the new Tropic
Island II glides past rugged bluffs and
multimillion dollar homes as the captain
shares lake history and highlights. Order a
cocktail from the bar to enjoy on the sundeck or inside in the air conditioning.
Of course, with a lake the size of this
one, there is opportunity aplenty to dip
your toes into the water swimming,
fishing, boating and all sorts of watersports adventures.

NATURAL BEAUTIES

A full 85 miles of the lakes shoreline is

within ruggedly beautiful Lake of the
Ozarks State Park, Missouris largest at a
whopping 17,441 acres. Stretch out on two
free sand beaches, swim, share a picnic, go
hiking, mountain biking or horseback riding or take a boat out in this National Register of Historic Places marked by soaring
bluffs, woodlands and ravines, historic log
buildings, rustic bridges and stone ditchdams built by the Civilian Conservation
Corps of the Great Depression era.
Head underground into Bridal Cave, one
of four area show caves as well as one of the
largest caves in Missouri. Sitting adjacent to
the lake, Bridal Cave legendarily hosted a
Native American wedding ceremony in this
pristine wonderland in the early 1800s.
Today, more than 3,000 couples have been
married or renewed their wedding vows in
the same spot, now called Bridal Chapel.
Follow your tour guide over concrete
pathways for a one-hour journey into this
national treasure, whose chambers are
marked by mineral deposits, giant columns, delicate soda straws and massive
draperies. The cave boasts more onyx formations than any other known cave or
cavern and Mystery Lake, a pure-water
lake you can see on your tour that leads to
the second, unseen Spirit Lake.
Nearby is Ha Ha Tonka State Park, a
magnet with its 70-foot wide natural
bridge that stretches upwards more than
100 feet; steep-sided sinkhole called the
See Travel, Page 18

August 2016

15

On The Menu

Dog Days Chicken Dish

The ancient Romans called the hottest days of summer dies caniculares, or dog days. The name was
derived from their associating the hottest days of summer with the star Sirius. Sirius was known as the Dog Star
because it was the brightest star in the
constellation Canis Major (large dog).
August brings serious heat to Montana. While were extremely lucky the
humidity is not as bad here as it is on
the East Coast or in the Southeast, the
last thing a home chef wants to do is to
heat up the kitchen with a dish that
requires being cooked in the oven for
an hour or more in August.

This recipe will spare you making a

sauna out of your kitchen because the
dish is cooked in a slow cooker.
Your Best Times recipe contributor
is part of a loose-knit group of cyclists
who pedal around the northern parts
of Park County every summer. We
usually bike for 15 to 20 miles in the
morning and then we stop at a watering hole where we order Bloody Marys
around noon.
None of us is a nutritionist, so we
dont know if we lose weight thanks to
the exercise or we gain weight thanks
to the cocktails. All that pedaling sure
makes us thirsty, though.

With Jim Durfey

Many bars pride

themselves on
serving the best
Bloody Mary in
town. With the
recipe below,
youll be able to
concoct a Bloody
Mary that rivals
the best ones
served at any bar in Montana.
Your grandkids will relish the frozen
banana treats made from the recipe
below. Dont tell them they are a very
healthy snack or you might ruin it for
them.

Slow cooker sweet and sour chicken

1 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed

16 oz. can pineapple chunks in light syrup, drained,
liquid reserved
14 oz. can nonfat chicken broth
1/4 c. vinegar
3 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tbsp. minced garlic
2 tsp. soy sauce
5 shakes hot sauce, or to taste
1 large green bell pepper, seeded, sliced
3 tbsp. cornstarch
1/4 c. cold water

Spray slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray.

Place cubed chicken breasts in slow cooker.
In small saucepan, combine pineapple syrup, vinegar, brown sugar, minced garlic and
soy sauce. Stir well and cook over medium heat. Stir until brown sugar dissolves.
Pour pineapple mixture over chicken in slow cooker.
Cover slow cooker and cook on high heat setting for one hour.
Stir in pineapple chunks and sliced green bell pepper.
Cover and cook on low-heat setting for seven to eight hours.
In small mixing bowl, combine cornstarch and water.
Mix until smooth. Add mixture in slow cooker and
stir well to combine. Cover and cook 30 minutes more. Serve over rice.

Bloody mary

2 parts vodka
Stir first eight ingredients in mixing glass.
3 parts tomato juice
Pour into chilled glass, rimmed with coarse
part Worcestershire sauce
ground pepper and filled with ice cubes.
part lemon juice
Garnish with bacon and your choice of vegetables.
2 dashes hot sauce
1 tsp. horseradish
1 pinch ground black pepper
1 pinch salt
1 slice crispy bacon for garnish
Additional items for garnish: celery stick, stuffed green olives, pickled asparagus spears, pickled okra,
pepperoncinis and cocktail onions
Course ground black pepper for glass rim

Healthy frozen fruit snacks

1 c. almond milk - 2 bananas

c. frozen strawberries (could use fresh as well)
2 tbsp. cocoa powder - 2 tsp. honey

August 2016

16

Put all ingredients in blender and process until smooth. Pour into large muffin tins.
Place in freezer for one hour. Put popsicle sticks in center of each muffin tin. Freeze for
three more hours. Place bottom of tin in hot water for several moments to free snacks
from tin.

Senior Olympics, from Page 9

I train in secret sometimes on the farm. I dont want people

driving by seeing me, wondering what Im doing out in a hay
field throwing a javelin, chuckled Page.
I was out throwing a discus in a field where buffalo were,
and it landed in a big ol buffalo pie, so I had to bring it inside
and clean it. But thats one of the hazards of training on a
farm, said Page, a state champ in javelin, shot and discus in
high school who competed in track and basketball during her
three years of college in Kalispell and Dillon.
Track was such a big part of my life growing up. Once I got
throwing again, it was intriguing to see that I could still throw
pretty well, recalled Page of her reintroduction to throwing
events six years ago when she began preparing for her first
Montana Senior Olympics at the suggestion of a neighbor.
It was the first time Id picked up a javelin, shot put and
discus since 1972, when I was in college, remembered Page of
her efforts to get reacquainted with the sports.
But it came back to me right away for some reason. I didnt
quite have the muscle I used to, but how to throw came right
back to me, said Page, who has followed her neighbors lead
and urges others to get involved in the Senior Olympics.
Now, I tell people all the time to go there to compete. Im
going to keep spreading the word about the Senior Olympics.
Its a good experience. Im going to tell everybody I can, said
Page, noting that the 2017 Montana Summer Senior Olympics
will take place in Kalispell and Polson.
I think the best form of advertising for the Montana Senior
Olympics is to come back next year and bring a friend, said
Newman.
It isnt limited to just Montana residents, noted Hansen,

who last month at the Montana Senior Olympics banquet in

Helena made friends with a man who travels from West Virginia to compete in swimming at the Montana Senior Olympics.
He ties it into his summer vacation. He and I have been corresponding since we met. He is going to come out this fall and
stay at our place, climb some mountains with me, added Hansen, an avid climber.
I am just so thankful that I am able to do these things, said
Hansen, who is considering traveling to Alabama next year to
participate in the national Senior Olympics.
Its just so rewarding. By training for and competing, people can get into better physical and mental condition, continued Hansen, who in Helena also had an impressive support
group.
I had the best cheering section my wife and daughter on
one side of the stadium and two grandkids on the other side. It
was pretty obvious early on I wasnt going to beat the national
champ. But my grandkids kept shouting, Go, Grandpa! And
then bystanders started shouting it with them. I had some good
cheerleaders up there, smiled Hansen.
Thats what the Senior Olympics is all about its the
journey getting there. Its not about trying to win a medal and
outdo others, insisted Hansen.
Its such a friendly competition. Youre not just out there
trying to be the best thats not the main goal. You do your
best, and whoever wins, thats fine. The great prize, concluded
Hansen, is just to be able to go there and take part.

M.P. Regan is a reporter at the Dillon Tribune. Reach him at

(406) 683-2331.

Jody invites you in to

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I pay top dollar for nice clean

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406-672-5550

Auto Connection can locate any type of vehicle you are looking for!
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August 2016

17

Travel, from Page 15

Colosseum; and Counterfeiters Cave and Robbers Cave, both
used as hide-outs by 1830s bad guys. Native Americans explored
the area, Daniel Boone fur trapped here and a wealthy Kansas
businessman built a European-style stone castle on its grounds.
Trek the trails and boardwalks to see the parks caves, sinkholes
and castle remains.

SUPERB STOP-BYS

Let yourself be lured away from the lake at least briefly

for these roadworthy stops.
Its easy to get caught up in the savings-and-specials frenzy at
the Osage Beach Premium Outlets, but great bargains really can
be found. This is one of the largest outlet shopping centers in the
U.S., so everyones favorites are among the more than 110 topname manufacturer outlets represented.
With a sweeping garden-and-gazebo view against a forested
backdrop, the Seven Springs Winery and Vineyards makes for a
gorgeous afternoon interlude. Order crusty French baguette to
dunk into a piquant blend of Parmesan cracked black pepper
olive oil and sweet-cream butter a perfect accompaniment to
any of Seven Springs delicious wines.
Osage Beach has the wonderful, independently-owned Stonecrest Book & Toy shop. Stocked with giant stuffed animals, puzzles, games, childrens activities and an excellent mix of new and
used books, the place is bright and clean, with none of the mustiness usually associated with used books. Trade in the book you
finished lakeside and youll get a credit toward a used book.
Beloved by locals and visitors alike is Randys Frozen Custard,
home of the famous Turtle Concrete, a gooey-delicious melange
of hot fudge, caramel fudge and pecan halves over thick ice
cream. And no one should miss the kitschy fun of Ozarkland with
its countless souvenir tchotchkes and delicious fudge. (If you buy
four squares, you get two squares free and its worth every
penny, and calorie.)

PLANNING YOUR TRAVELS

Lake of the Ozarks Convention & Visitors Bureau, www.FunLake.come.

With some 200 restaurants in the Lake of the Ozarks area, families find plenty of palette-pleasing dining opportunities many
of them situated, where else? on the lake. The casual Shorty
Pants brings authentic Creole cuisine, served at the waters edge,
to the table. The more upscale Baxters offers lakeside views and
a huge variety of entrees, including hand-cut premium steaks plus
soups made in-house. Locals love Tonka Hills Restaurant for its
comfy dive-vibe and true-to-its roots Ozark family dining menu.
Holiday Shores Resort, www.HolidayShoresResort.com, 800639-4207. Roomy condos with furnished kitchens, private lakeview decks, Wi-Fi, fireplaces; boat slips, game room, fire pit area,
outdoor swimming pool; paddle boats and boat rentals.
Tan-Tar-A Resort Golf Club, Marina and Indoor Waterpark,
www.Tan-Tar-A.com, 800-826-8272. Variety of accommodations;
onsite waterpark, marina, golf, dining; Windjammer Spa and
Salon.

Author and travel and lifestyle writer Kathy Witt feels you
should never get to the end of your bucket list; theres just too
much to see and do in the world. Contact her at KathyWitt24@
gmail.com, @KathyWitt.
August 2016

18

July 8

2-Day Folk Music Festival in the nations largest

National Historic Landmark District, Butte, MT. $215/
ppd.

July 20 6-Day Iceland Land of Fire and Ice. A unique

destination of pristine nature, geothermal pools,
waterfalls vibrant culture deeply rooted in ancient
heritage. $2999/ppd., including RT air from Billings.
Call for availability.
Aug. 5

9-Day Nova Scotia & Canada Maritime, featuring

Halifax, the Cabot Trail and Prince Edward Island.
$3248/ppd, including RT air from Billings. Call for
availability.

Aug. 23 2-Day Medora Musical, Pitchfork Steak Fondue

Dinner, Tour the Chateau de Mores, and more
$346/ppd..
Sept. 27 4-Day Annual Norsk Hostfest Festival, Minot, ND.
Guess whos back? Yes, Daniel ODonnell & Mary
Duff; 2006 Top Female Vocalist, Singer & Songwriter
Sara Evans; daily unlimited entertainment by wellknown artists and groups; tours and more $899/
ppd; add $349 for single.
Oct. 10 3-Day Deadwood Getaway - Fall Trip. $158/ppd..
This popular trip will soon sell out. Reserve your seat
early!
Nov. 14 5-Day Branson Musical Tour. Branson is undoubtedly
known for its hospitality, friendliness and amazing
world-class shows, including the much awaited
return of Daniel ODonnell; Jerusalem with Dudu
Fisher (known for his stirring performance as Jean
Valjean in the hot Broadway Musical, Les Miserable);
Showboat Branson Belle; and more. $1,728/ppd,
including RT air from Billings.
Dec. 3

8-Day Christmas Market Cruise on the Danube.

Germany and Austria. Join-in the festive atmosphere
and Christmas markets in Nuremberg, Regensburg,
Passau, Linz and Vienna. Starting at $3684/ppd.,
including RT air from Billings and port charges.

For additional tours, please call Lily Moore at:

(406) 256-1492 or email her at lily@gdplanners.com.
You may also visit company website: www.gdplanners.com

 Monday, August 1
Leisure and Luxury in the Age of Nero: The Villas of
Oplantis near Pompeii, through Dec. 31, Museum of the
Rockies, Bozeman
Glendive Dinosaur and Fossil Museum, through October,
Glendive
The Art of Tom L. Roberts and 1916: 100 Years ago in
Park County, through Sept. 30, Yellowstone Gateway Museum
of Park County, Livingston
 Tuesday, August 2
Bogert Park Farmers Market, Tuesdays through Sept. 27,
Bogert Park, Bozeman
 Wednesday, August 3
WSE Livingston Farmers Market, Wednesdays through Sept.
21, Miles Park, Livingston
 Thursday, August 4
International Fly Fishing Fair, through Aug. 6, Park High
School, Livingston
The Livingston Hoot, 6 p.m., Main Street, Livingston
 Friday, August 5
Dulcimer workshop with Mike Anderson, through Aug. 7,
Carnegie Library, Big Timber
Root Beer Float Social and concert with Mike Anderson,
6-6:30 p.m., Carnegie Library, Big Timber
Sweet Pea Festival, through Aug. 7, Lindley Park, Bozeman
Fiddlers Picnic, through Aug. 7, 1 mile south on Hwy. 89,
Livingston
Music at Pine Creek, through Aug. 28, Pine Creek Lodge,
Livingston
 Saturday, August 6
Gallatin Valley Farmers Market, Saturdays through Sept. 10,
Gallatin Valley Fairgrounds, Bozeman
Charlie Russell Chew Choo Dinner Train, 4:30 p.m.,
Hanover Boarding Station, Lewistown
Crow Scout Party tee-pee camping on the Crow Reservation, through Sept., Lodge Grass
Climb to Conquer Cancer, Red Lodge Mountain Resort, Red
Lodge
 Friday, August 12
Big Sky Classical Music Festival, through Aug. 14, Town
Center, Big Sky

Rock the Block with Kactus Jack, 6-10 p.m., Laurel Town
Square, Laurel
Charlie Russell Chew Choo Dinner Train, 4:30 p.m.,
Hanover Boarding Station, Lewistown
Barn Dance, Music Ranch Montana, Fridays through Aug.
26, Livingston
Rockin the Rivers, through Aug. 14, Hwy. 287, Three Forks

 Saturday, August 13
Park County Days, Discover Yellowstones Gateways, Livingston
 Sunday, August 14
Family Fun Day, Montana Raptor Conservation Center, Bozeman
 Friday, August 19
Art Walk, 5:30-8 p.m., downtown Livingston
 Saturday, August 20
Gallatin Valley Swap Meet, 8 a.m.-2 p.m., Gallatin County
Fairgrounds, Bozeman
United in Lights Main Event, Park County Fairgrounds,
Livingston
 Sunday, August 21
16th Annual Cruisin on Main Car Show, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.,
Main Street, Bozeman
Bark in the Park, Sacajawea Park, Livingston
 Thursday, August 25
An Evening at the Arch: Yellowstone Celebrates the
National Park Service Centennial, 7 p.m., Gardiner
Picnic in the Park, (Evening at the Arch on Big Screen) Miles
Park, 7 p.m., Livingston
 Friday, August 26
Rock the Block with 2 Hard 2 Handle, 6-10 p.m., Laurel
Town Square, Laurel
 Saturday, August 27
Charlie Russell Chew Choo Dinner Train, 4:30 p.m.,
Hanover Boarding Station, Lewistown
Spotlight Gala, 6:30 p.m., Shane Lalani Center for the Arts,
Livingston
Music by the Caverns, Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park,
all day event, Whitehall
August 2016

19

RSVP

Below is a list of volunteer openings available through the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) in
communities across southern Montana. To learn more about RSVP, call (800) 424-8867 or TTY (800) 833-3722;
or log on to www. seniorcorps.org.

Custer & Rosebud counties

- CNADA: Needs a volunteer to answer

phones and other receptionist duties. You
choose the hours and days.
- Clinic Ambassador: Need volunteer to
greet patients and visitors, providing directions and more, two locations.
- Custer County Community Table: Volunteers needed to serve meals, wash dishes and greet the public at the Soup Kitchen.
- Custer County Food Bank: Volunteer
assistants needed 8 a.m-1:30 p.m., Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, to process donations, stock shelves and more.
- DAV van: Drivers needed to provide
transportation to veterans to medical
appointments.
- Eagles Manor: Volunteer exercise class
leader needed, 1-2 days a week, you pick
the days and the exercise for residents.
- OneHealth Clinic: Ambassador needed
for afternoon shifts.
- St. Vincent DePaul: Volunteers to
assist in several different capacities.
- VA Activities: Application packet
available at VA Activities Directors
Office.
- RSVP: Volunteers needed to help with
Grammas Ice Cream Shoppe during the
Eastern MT Fair, to prepare and serve dinner for 4-H members on August 9, Harvest for Seniors, and Adopt-A-Spot Clean
Up.
- WaterWorks Art Museum: Volunteer
receptionists needed, two-hour shifts Tuesdays-Sundays
If you are interested in these or other
volunteer opportunities please contact:
Betty Vail, RSVP Director; 210 Winchester
Ave. Suite 226; Miles City, MT 59301;
phone (406) 234-0505; email: rsvp05@
midrivers.com.

Fergus & Judith Basin counties

- American Reads: Tutors needed to

assist local elementary school students
with reading.
- American Red Cross: Seeking to build
a Fergus County Disaster Action Team to
assist during local emergencies.
- Art Center: In need of volunteers on
Saturdays.
- Boys and Girls Club: Seeking a seasonal volunteer to maintain their memorial
garden.
- Central Montana Youth Mentoring:
Seeking clerical support.
August 2016
20

- Chokecherry Festival: Shifts available

to sell raffle tickets at the RSVP booth, at
the Chamber of Commerce booth, and also
to assist at stations for the Fun Run.
- Community Cupboard (Food Bank):
Volunteers are needed to help any week
mornings as well as with deliveries.
- Council on Aging: Volunteers needed
to assist at the daily Grubstakes meal and
with clerical help during the busy lunch
hour.
- Library: Volunteer help always appreciated.
- ROWL (Recycle Our Waste Lewistown): Looking for volunteers to join
teams baling recyclables.
- Treasure Depot: Thrift store needs volunteers to sort, hang clothes and put other
items on display for sale, especially need
additional volunteers on Saturdays.
-Valle Vista: Multiple opportunities to
volunteer with the elderly residents.
- Office of Veterans Affairs: Seeking
clerical support.
- RSVP always has various needs for
your skills and volunteer services in our
community.
Contact: RSVP Volunteer Coordinator
Sara Wald, 404 W. Broadway, Wells Fargo
Bank building, (upstairs), Lewistown, MT
59457; phone (406) 535-0077; email: rsvplew@midrivers.com.

Gallatin County

- American Cancer Society-Road to

Recovery: Drivers needed for patients
receiving treatments from their home to
the hospital.
- American Red Cross Blood Drive:
Three volunteer opportunities available:
Blood Drive Ambassador needed to welcome, greet, thank and provide overview
for blood donors; Team Leader Volunteers
needed to recruit, train and schedule
Donor Ambassadors and Couriers; Community Outreach Specialist to seek out
locations to set up sign up tables for prospective volunteers and/or blood donors.
Excellent customer service skills needed,
training will be provided, flexible schedule.
- Befrienders: Befriend a senior; visit on
a regular weekly basis.
- Belgrade Senior Center: Meals on
Wheels needs regular and substitute drivers MondayFriday, to deliver meals to
seniors before noon.
- Big Brothers Big Sisters: Be a positive

role model for only a few hours each week.

- Bozeman and Belgrade Sacks Thrift
Stores: Need volunteers 2-3 hour shifts on
any day,Monday-Saturday 9:30 a.m.-6
p.m.
- Bozeman Deaconess Hospital: Volunteers needed for the information desks in
the Atrium and the Perk,8 a.m.-noon and
noon-4 p.m.; volunteer to escort patients
through the hospital, must be able to be on
your feet for long periods; volunteer needed at the Care Boutique in the Cancer
Center to help customers and to keep merchandise in order.
- Bozeman Senior Center Foot Clinic:
Retired or nearly retired nurses are urgently needed, 2 days a month, either 4 or 8
hour shifts.
- Bozeman Symphony: Volunteers to
greet patrons, check tickets and hand out
programs; ushers to guide patrons to their
seats; someone to set up the Underwriter
Room, and treats for the musicians are
needed.
- Bozeman Symphony Sunday Matinees:Need volunteer head of concessions
to set up and tear down concessions areas
and keep them clean during the concert,
must be able to stand for long times and
able to lift no more than 50 lbs.
- Cancer Support Community: Volunteer
receptionist needed for the last two Tuesdays of the month from 10 a.m.-1 p.m.;
position would be shared with another volunteer so there could be flexibility of
schedule.
- Galavan: Volunteers needed to make
reminder calls and to confirm rides for the
following day; also need a volunteer for
morning dispatch to receive phone calls/
messages and relay information from clients to staff as required; drivers neededMonday-Friday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.CDL
required and Galavan will assist you in
obtaining one. Volunteers also needed to
make reminder calls and confirm rides for
the following day.
- Gallatin Rest Home: Volunteers wanted for visiting the residents, sharing your
knowledge of a craft, playing cards or
reading to a resident.
- Gallatin Valley Food Bank: Volunteers
needed to deliver commodities to seniors
in their homes once a month. Deliveries in
Belgrade are especially needed.
- HRDC Housing Department Ready to
Rent: Curriculum for families and individuals who have rental barriers such as lack

of poor rental history, property upkeep,

renter responsibilities, landlord/tenant
communication and financial priorities.
- Habitat for Humanity Restore: Belgrade store needs volunteers for general
help, sorting donations and assisting customers.
- Heart of The Valley: Compassionate
volunteers especially needed to love, play
with and cuddle cats.
- Help Center: Computer literate volunteer interested in entering data into a social
services database; volunteers also needed
to make phone calls to different agencies/
programs to make sure database is up to
date and make safety calls to home bound
seniors.
- Jessie Wilber Gallery at The Emerson:
Volunteers needed on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays to greet people at the
main desk, answer questions and keep
track of the number of visitors.
- Museum of the Rockies: Variety of
opportunities available such as helping in
the gift shop and more.
- RSVP Handcrafters: Volunteers to
quilt, knit, crochet and embroider hats for
chemo patients, baby blankets and other
handmade goods once a week (can work
from home); also need volunteers to tie
and finish quilts. *Donations of baby yarn
needed for the quilting, knitting and crocheting projects and can be dropped off at
the RSVP office upstairs in the Senior
Center.
- Sacks Thrift, of Help Center: Volunteers needed in Belgrade and Bozeman to
help sort merchandise, with retail sales,
assisting customers and displaying merchandise. 50 percent in store discount with
certain amount of volunteer hours.
- Seniors: You may qualify for $192$600 a years for grocery and food assistance.
-Three Forks Food Bank:Volunteer
needed on Mondays and/orThursdaysto
help with administrative duties, including
answer phones and questions, some paper
and computer work. They will train.
- VITA: Volunteer at the Community
Caf to serve as the first point of contact
for customers, set a friendly and welcoming atmosphere, monitor site traffic and
sign in procedure, Monday, Wednesday
and Friday afternoons noon-3 p.m.
- Warming Center: Volunteers needed
for a variety of different shifts, 7 p.m.-7
a.m.; training held every Tuesday at the
Warming Center.Please call for more
information.
- Your unique skills and interests are
needed, without making a long-term com-

mitment, in a variety of ongoing, special,

one-time events.
Contact: Debi Casagranda, RSVP Program Coordinator, 807 N. Tracy, Bozeman, MT 59715; phone (406) 587-5444;
fax (406) 582 8499; email: dcasagranda@
thehrdc.org

Musselshell, Golden Valley and

Petroleum counties

- Central Grade School: Needs volunteer

tutors to encourage children with their
reading skills in the America Reads program. Also volunteers needed to assist
younger students with lunch, clear tables
and serve from the salad bar.
- Food Bank: Distribute food commodities to seniors and others in the community; help unload the truck as needed.
- 4-H Fair: Volunteers needed to sit at
the table in the art building.
- Nursing Home: Piano players and
singers needed on Fridays to entertain residents, also assistant needed in activities
for residents to enrich supported lifestyle.
- RIDE: Volunteers needed for selling
tickets at the night shows.
- Senior Bus: Volunteers to pick up folks
who are unable to drive themselves.
- Senior Center: Volunteers are needed
to provide meals, clean up in the dining
room and/or keep records; meal provided.
- RSVP offers maximum flexibility and
choice to its volunteers as it matches the
personal interests and skills of older
Americans with opportunities to serve
their communities. You choose how and
where to serve. Volunteering is an opportunity to learn new skills, make friends
and connect with your community.
Contact: Shelley Halvorson, South Central MT RSVP, 315 1/2 Main St., Ste. #1,
Roundup, MT 59072; phone (406) 3231403; fax (406) 323-4403; email:
rdprsvp2@midrivers.com ; Facebook:
South Central MT RSVP.

Park County

- Big Brothers Big Sisters: Volunteers

needed as positive role models to children,
only a few hours a week.
- Chamber of Commerce: Volunteer
needed to help stuff visitor packets on an
ongoing basis, Tuesdays and Wednesdays
for a couple of hours each day. Also, volunteers needed for the NPS Centennial
Park County Days, Aug. 14-21 at various
locations in town; each day has a different
event.
- Food Pantry: Volunteers needed to
help on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
- Fix-It- Brigade: Volunteers of all ages

and skill levels needed to help with small

home repairs such as mending a fence, or
something as simple as changing light
bulbs. You will be helping seniors or veterans for a 2-hour or less task, on your
time schedule.
- Handcrafters: Join this group on
Thursdays 1-2 p.m. in making crocheted
or knitted caps and scarves for children at
Head Start. Also making gifts for the prenatal classes and baby hats and afghans for
the hospital newborns. Sewers needed to
make simple pillowcases for soldiers overseas.
- Livingston Depot Center: Looking for
volunteers through Mid-September as gifts
shop attendants, maintenance helper, and
off-season office assistants; schedules vary
and training is provided.
- Livingstons Fly Fishing Fair: Volunteers needed to help in several areas,
August 2-6 at Park High School.
- Loaves and Fishes: Volunteers needed
to prepare a dinner meal.
- Mainstreeter Store: Needs someone
who enjoys working with the public. Help
greet customers, label and hang clothes
and accept donations. Volunteer 4 hours a
week and get 50 percent off your purchases.
- Senior Center: Volunteers needed to
cut unsold clothing into rags Thursdays, 1
p.m.
- Senior Center Foot Clinic: Volunteers
and nurses needed twice a month to help
the seniors with foot care.
- Spay and Neuter Clinic: Needs strong
volunteers on Wednesdays, this summer at
the Farmers Market to set up and take
down the wooden booth lemonade stand.
- Stafford Animal Shelter: Gentle compassionate volunteers to socialize and play
with the kittens and cats and walk the
dogs. 1-hour safety training provided.
- Transportation: Drivers needed to help
patients keep their doctor appointments in
Livingston and/or in Bozeman. Gas reimbursement may be provided.
- Yellowstone Gateway Museum: Volunteer needed to man the front desk and help
catalog and label items.
- RSVP: Has many one-time events,
including mailings and fundraising events
this summer that require volunteers, such
as at the Hoot. Your unique skills and
interests are needed, without making a
long-term commitment, in a variety of ongoing and special one-time events.
Contact: Deb Downs, Program Coordinator, 111 So. 2nd St., Livingston, MT
59047; phone (406) 222-2281; email: debdowns@rsvpmt.org
August 2016
21

By Bill Sones and Rich Sones, Ph.D.

Send STRANGE questions to brothers Bill and Rich at strangetrue@cs.com

Droppings on your roof

from outer space

Q. Theyre nowhere near the category of bird poop or

raindrops or hail pellets, but they just might be dropping onto
your roof sometime soon. Got a guess what these are?
A. Theyre small pieces of outer space micrometeorites that
have made their way Earthward and found a new home of sorts
often in the ocean, at times on city or suburban rooftops, says
Jennifer Hackett in Scientific American magazine. When it
rains, this rooftop debris can be swept into gutters. Taken all
together, NASA estimates that maybe 100 tons of space dust,
gravel and rock of various sizes hit our planet every day.
(Massive meteorites are mercifully quite rare.)
According to civilian astronaut and meteorite-hunter Richard
Garriott, a marble-sized micrometeorite can be picked up about
every square kilometer across Earths surface; at the size of a
grain of rice, theyre incredibly common. Garriott uses a strong
magnet to locate the nickel- and iron-laden rocks, perhaps where
a gutter downspout terminates. Of course, not everything the
magnet attracts will come from space. But micrometeorites are
distinctively spherical in shape with a telltale coating of glass created under fusion, which can readily be confirmed with a microscope.
Citizen scientists have already submitted more than 3,000 photographs of candidate space rocks to Project Stardust, hoping for
a celestial find. Interested in joining the search?
Q. Have you ever noticed a two-digit number embossed into
the bottom of a pop or beer can? Its shallow and hard to
read, but its there if you look closely. Whats it for?
A. A typical can production line runs 24/7 at a rate of 30 cans
per second, so a factory with multiple lines produces tens of
millions of them per day. Each container starts life as a small disk
of aluminum and is formed (punched and ironed) into the
shape of a can (sans top) by a machine called a body maker.
Since there may be a dozen or more of these body makers on the
floor, each has a unique ID number that gets embossed into the
bottom of the cans it forms vital in quality assurance.
Typically, a few cans per thousand end up with defects such as
dents or coating voids that may cause leakage or product
spoilage. So the body maker ID tells the quality assurance folks
which machine needs repair. (Look for a molding machine ID on
the bottoms of glass bottles.)
Reassuringly, every metal, glass and plastic container we use is
thoroughly inspected by sophisticated high-speed computer
vision equipment. Nowadays the body maker and mold IDs are
generally read by machine, not humans, and factory personnel are
alerted when defects correlate with the forming process.
Q. In pre-literate times, practiced balladeers had the ability
August 2016

22

to remember whole sagas at a sitting. Are you one of those

rare birds out there today that knows by heart the entire
880,000-word output of William Shakespeare?
A. To put that into perspective, the Bible at around 750,000
words started life as an oral tradition, answers John Wood of
Derbyshire, UK, in New Scientist magazine. Memorizing
such a large body of work requires interest, practice and time.
George Fox (1624-1691), founder of the Quakers, reportedly
could recite the Bible in its entirety.
I expect some members of the Royal Shakespeare Company
will know many if not all of the Bards works by heart, Wood
says. But with continued technological progress and with our
smartphones and computers to access all the knowledge in the
cloud, these feats of memory will become rarer and less believable.
Q. Humans have been cultivating the stuff for at least 6,000
years and possibly twice that long, making it one of our
earliest crops. Many today know it by one of its nicknames
pot, weed, Mary Jane, sticky-icky. Can you say what its more
scientific name is?
A. The psychotropic plant is technically cannabis, and until
about a hundred years ago, thats what Americans called it, says
Gemma Tarlach in Discover magazine. Now its commonly
known as marijuana. According to research, the first evidence
of the plants cultivation comes from East Asia, where the stems
were used for fibers and the fruits eaten. The worlds oldest
pharmacopoeia compiled from Chinese oral tradition and dating
back to 2700 B.C. mentioned cannabis, which was said to
relieve conditions ranging from constipation to malaria, though
its hallucinogenic qualities were also noted. Other early cultures
mentioning the plant include India, where it was considered a
sacred plant; and the Talmud, Judaisms key ancient text.
In recent years, research into the various properties of cannabis
has increased. For example, a 2014 study failed to confirm any
association between recreational marijuana use and junk food
cravings (the munchies). In fact, long-term ingestion caused
mice to eat less and lose weight, but, as Tarlach adds, thats in a
lab setting without access to Doritos or doughnuts.
Q. Why cry?
A. Crying actually encompasses two very different processes:
vocal wailing and tearing, says Sonia van Gilder Cooke in New
Scientist magazine. Human babies are great at wailing because
its a very effective way of grabbing the attention of caregivers.
Yet interestingly, for the first couple of weeks human babies dont
shed tears because their tear glands havent yet developed. Over
time, a babys crying becomes less vocal and more tearful,

perhaps for sound evolutionary reasons: Wailing advertises vulnerability to everyone around, including predators. Thus, once a child
can move around, it is wiser to use the covert signal of tears.
Also, crying changes throughout our lives. Around adolescence, crying over physical pain is replaced with crying over
emotional pain. Many people also start to evidence moral crying, in reaction to acts of bravery, self-sacrifice, and altruism.

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Why we do this is still a mystery.

Another mystery is why we increasingly shed tears over things
that are positive. One theory is that tears of joy do not so much
reflect unalloyed happiness but are rather bittersweet, as events
like weddings and holidays remind us of the passage of time and
mortality. This may be why children usually do not cry out of
happiness; they dont yet make the association with sacrifice, loss
and impermanence.
Q. What does the sentence John stood before me mean
to you?
A. The 18th-century nursery rhyme Sing a Song of Sixpence
(about a pie full of blackbirds) ends with Wasnt that a dainty
dish to set before the king? Here the word before means in
front of. But in 21st-century English, this meaning of before
is nearly extinct. In his book, The Crucible of Language: How
Language and Mind Create Meaning, linguistics professor
Vyvyan Evans considers the sentence, John stood before me.
Informal experiments with native speakers suggest that what first
comes to mind is the idea of time, meaning John rose to standing
position prior to me; nowadays, the John is in front of me
interpretation seems to demand more effort. But the historical
evidence demonstrates that the earliest meaning associated with
before was the spatial meaning, rather than the temporal one
which has come to usurp it.

1320 28th Street West Billings, MT

406-652-4180 www.darnielle.com

Crossword

Across
1 Splitting target
5 Taqueria adjective
10 Heavy wind?
14 Splitting
16 Author Blyton
17 Degree seekers
18 Hendrix hairdo
19 Alert follower, perhaps
20 They may be spilled
22 Reason for many a
school absence
24 In __, I know not why I
am so sad: The Merchant
of Venice
25 90s Philippine president
Fidel
28 JAMA subscribers
30 It merged with SAG in
2012
32 Cals East of Eden
brother
33 1996 Richard Gere
thriller
35 Nigerian native
36 Some vents
37 GPS suggestion
38 Premium Scotch choice
40 Enthusiastic
41 Flummoxed
42 Blues with sticks: Abbr.

43 Performed, in
Shakespeare
44 __ scheme
46 The Other Side of Oz
autobiographer
48 Buddy
50 Sticks around
54 Eclectic magazine
55 Hardly a light six-pack?
57 Staple in
48-Down
58 NYC saloon featured in
a 2000 film
59 The Stans were among
them: Abbr.
60 Ministers
61 Chinese
menu possessive
Down
1 Essentials
2 Corner
3 Santa Ynez
Valley prefix
4 Badger State
City
5 Help, in Le
Havre
6 Percussion
staples
7 G-man

8 Union
requirement
9 Church areas
10 Detach, in a way
11 Free
12 Demographers concerns
13 Flaps
15 Highland attire
21 Barbecue supply
23 Like much property
25 Mrs. Gorbachev
26 Resolves, as a contract
dispute
27 Still runner

29 Detect vulnerability
31 Isnt for you?
33 Baltimore bard
34 Wall adornment
36 Beast of burden
39 Springs with steam
40 18th-dynasty Egyptian
pharaoh
43 Crowded
45 Make official
47 Goes through carefully
48 57-Across sellers
49 High wind?
51 Lines of thought?
52 Pull up stakes,
informally
53 Stone and others
56 Preserves, for keeps:
Abbr.

August 2016

23

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