2023 has been a year filled with ups and downs. The Star gained a new editor, the town of Stevensville got a new mayor and Hamilton got a new fire hall. Editor John Dowd picked the stories below as the ones that stood out to him. Below are 12 stories from throughout 2023 that capture each month. Each story is a snippet of the full articles which can be found on this website. We hope everyone has a happy new year.
Jan. 18
Local cat rescue offers option
by Victoria Howell
The Bitter Root Humane Association announced last week that it was temporarily suspending acceptance of cats and kittens at the Hamilton shelter. For people that have cats and kittens they can no longer keep, there is another option.
Heidi’s Kittens, an informal rescue operating out of a home in Stevensville, has been accepting cats and kittens for the last year and a half. Heidi Schnarr, with some help from volunteers, cares for the surrendered animals, nurses them back to health if needed, gets them spayed or neutered, and finds them suitable homes. She said that she has been averaging about one adoption per day, and placed over 200 cats in their forever homes in 2022.
“I’m not a shelter,” says Schnarr. “This is a foster-based rescue.” She says her operation is associated with All Hearts Rescue of Polson. “All Hearts mostly does dogs, and I only do cats. Diane Parker [the owner of All Hearts] inspired me on this journey when I started pulling cats out of shelters.”
Anyone interested in adopting can find more information on the website: heidiskittens.com. If people are interested in fostering, Schnarr said it’s best if they have a place to separate the cat for about two weeks to avoid any transmission of disease.
Heidi’s Kittens also takes donations of cat food and cat litter. To make a donation, email heidischnarr@gmail.com
When Schnarr heard that the Bitter Root Humane Shelter closed their doors to cats and kittens, she said she left her phone number with them. “I am interested in furthering a partnership with them,” said Schnarr. “I look forward to working cooperatively with all other rescues and local shelters. We’re not in competition. We all have the same goal.”
February 22
Reopening the Roxy
by Nathan Boddy
With a little luck and some community participation, Hamilton could once again see the silver screen come to life in the downtown Roxy Theater. The longstanding theater opened in July of 1935 and had an impressive run before going dim in 2012. The current owners, Matthew Powell and Jaylyn Jackson, would like to see it spring back into action. After reviewing the extensive costs for rehabilitating the theater, as well as the community interest in the business, the pair chose to use the Kickstarter platform to crowdsource the project.
“I think it’s important for people to know that Kickstarter is an all-or-nothing funding platform,” says Jackson in referring to the Kickstarter platform which allows people to pledge money toward the project, but won’t charge them anything unless the entire fundraising goal has been met.
Matthew Powell echoes that point since it is a crucial part of the fundraising platform. “Either (donors) get their movie theater, or they don’t get charged,” he said.
Visit the ‘Bring Back the Roxy Theater’ Kickstarter page at: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1406389045/bring-back-the-roxy-theatre, or the Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/HamiltonsRoxyTheater/.
March 15
Bitterroot Health breaks ground in Darby
by John Dowd
Bitterroot Health broke ground last Wednesday for a new planned healthcare facility in Darby. The facility will be called the Darby Scripps Clinic, and according to Bitterroot Health CEO, John Bishop, the facility will be over 7,000 square feet. The facility project took two years to plan and will include space for walk-in service, limited emergency services, an X-ray suite, primary care facilities, home for the ambulance, rehabilitation services and crew and a future pharmacy. The latter will come after the building is operational. The facility will also be taking on a new doctor, Carlee Kalbfleisch, MD. In total, it will cost over $6 million and is planned to reach completion by late 2023. Bishop spoke at the groundbreaking ceremony about the goals of Bitterroot Health, and said though they are headquartered in Hamilton, “the valley as a whole is primarily what our mission is.”
Bishop said this after the ceremony: “Since our start and our early roots in Hamilton, we have adhered to our mission of providing care for all in the Bitterroot Valley. As we’ve grown, we’ve added new care options and specialties, and have added services to other areas in Ravalli County. Now, we’re excited to bring expanded health care options to the people of Darby. To be able to fulfill our mission by bringing more care services to this remarkable community is rewarding.”
The project also saved money due to funding and acquiring materials and planning in conjunction with the new Stevensville Bitterroot Health care facility, which is nearly finished. According to Duce, “the biggest thing we are excited about in Darby are the pharmacy services that will come with it.” She explained that it will start small but will have room to grow and will greatly benefit the community’s needs.
According to a Bitterroot Health press release after the event, “In attendance were Bitterroot Health CEO John Bishop, Bitterroot Health Foundation Board President Tom Grymes, current Bitterroot Health Darby physician Maria Hipp and her staff, members of the Bitterroot Health Board, Bitterroot Health leadership, members from the Bitterroot Chamber of Commerce, Darby Mayor Nancy McKinney, Darby Fire Chief Duane Horvath, Darby Marshalls TJ Gibson and Larry Rose, Darby School Superintendent Tony Biesiot, and representatives from Neenan Architects who are designing and building the new facility.”
Update: The expansive 7,000 square foot facility was finished later in the year, and saw its first patients on Dec. 27.
April 5
‘Ride with Mary’
by John Dowd
Small town communities are known for coming together to help each other, and Stevensville residents are exemplifying that through “Ride with Mary.” The fundraiser and community event is being hosted by a group of close friends and family members of Mary Meyer, who has been diagnosed with stage three invasive breast cancer. The fundraiser will be held at the St. Mary’s Family Center, in Stevensville, starting at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 15. The event is open to the public and will feature a dinner by donation, serving chili and a potato bar. There will also be a live auction starting at about 6:30 p.m. with over 30 items. During the event there will be a silent auction with at least 125 items. In total, according to Meyer’s friend, Lacey Sutherlin, who is helping to put the event on, there will be nearly 200 items auctioned at the event. “The donations are very humbling,” added Sutherlin. Live music will be performed by Jodi Johnston and Stevensville local Shane Clouse. There will also be a cash bar provided by the Tin Can.
Update: The fundraiser raised over $100,000 for Meyer’s treatment and related expenses. Sadly, Meyer died in November.
May 10
No levies pass
by John Dowd
“There are a lot of factors involved. I’m sure all of us would like to pay less taxes,” said Todd Fisk, Superintendent for Florence-Carlton District, responding to the recent election results. After a county-wide election period, where nearly every school in the county posited operational levies, there was a similar county-wide thumbs down of those levies. Not a single one passed and the lowest percentage of any was 60% against. Fisk, among others, expressed his disappointment. “It’s evident that things are tight,” added Fisk, speaking to the apparent financial situation of Ravalli County residents, and the nation as a whole.
With funding from programs enacted to aid schools during the COVID-19 pandemic waning and timing out, schools across the county and the country are reaching out to their communities to aid in the funding of their basic operations. Fisk explained that there is now a disparity in funding due to the increased costs from inflation, and so schools are stretched thin. According to him, schools generally have access to three pots of money that allow them the funding to run. These include federal, state and local funding sources, and with neither of the prior two cutting it anymore, the last is the one they need to ask for.
“I certainly appreciate the vision they are looking at,” said Eric Larson, Stevensville High School Principal, on the decision of the Stevensville District Board to not run a levy. He said that schools are the “stewards” of any funding they receive from the local community, and have a responsibility to use it wisely. However, he also said that he understands where other districts are coming from in asking for a levy now. He said that many of the county schools, including Stevensville, may inevitably need to come down to staff cuts over the next couple years, in order to combat inflation and to be able to continue to operate.
June 7
Street walkabout
by Nathan Boddy
A group comprised of city officials, citizens and policy makers met on the sidewalks of Hamilton’s State Street on Thursday, June 1, to discuss the function of the thoroughfare. City planning staffers, Matthew Rohrbach and Mark Rud hosted Matt Madsen and Rebecca Gleason of the Western Transportation Institute of Montana State University to join them, and the public, for a ‘walk audit’ of State Street, which was among several public corridors of concern during Hamilton’s recent comprehensive plan update. State Street, which often acts as a bypass of Main Street, also houses the current Fire Station, the Hamilton Middle School, Library and sees significant foot and bike traffic of people going to and from downtown.
The Western Transportation Institute (WTI) had been in contact with the City of Hamilton, as well as Bike Walk Bitterroot, on account of planning and advocacy efforts made within the city. WTI generally works with rural and tribal communities on transportation issues such as mobility, infrastructure, traffic calming and safety. Matt Madsen described how WTI uses its grant money to bring WTI expertise into a community to begin a public process of identifying potential problems and making decisions about how to solve them.
“A lot of Montana towns have main streets that are also highways,” he said, indicating that conflicts around transportation issues are a common theme. “With this grant money we were looking for other communities to partner with.”
Madsen described the walk audit as a first step in the process of addressing transportation issues in an area.
“We really come into the community and start to hear from people,” he said. He also added that data collection and community engagement come long before any recommendations about infrastructure alterations.
July 12
Iconic Stevi feed mill revamped
by Sean Malcom
Located at 407 Main Street, the Stevensville Feed Mill has long been a historical icon in the Bitterroot Valley. The 105-year-old architectural marvel has served the town of Stevensville as a feed mill, agricultural supply store, gas station and more recently as an antique store.
As with any building of that age, dilapidation is inevitable. However, local business owners and community members, Michael and Karen Burgess and their son Nicholas, have managed to salvage the 16,000 square foot, century-old building and provide the town of Stevensville with new commercial business space, apartments, a full-service fitness center as well as an 1100 square foot community center.
The Feed Mill was originally built in 1918 when orchard production and cultivation were booming in the valley. By the 1930s, the then-named Stevensville Feed and Fuel doubled in size and began selling agricultural implements as well as storing and delivering coal throughout the town of Stevensville. The 1940s and ‘50s saw a modern grain elevator, an addition of a pellet mill, steam rollers and an exclusive franchise on Purina products.
“We, as the Burgess family, are really proud that we didn’t have to tear this place down,” Nicholas said. “We were really excited about the historical value of the building. We wanted to keep it the big central part of Stevensville.”
“We want to thank the community for putting up with all of this,” Karen said. “With all the caution tape and construction noise, we just want to say thank you and show the community the final product.”
August 16
Joanne Moore – she’s making pies
by John Dowd
When it comes to expertise in pie making in the Bitterroot, few can dispute the reigning champion. If practice makes perfect, then the closest pies to perfection must be those made by Joanne Mikesell Moore. She has been making pies for Glen’s Cafe for over 30 years. That is averaging eight pies a day, 56 a week, 224 pies a month and 2,688 pies per year. In her lifetime, Moore has made roughly 80,688 pies, and she says she has not missed many days.
Moore has tried her hand at nearly every kind of pie imaginable, including coconut cream, cherry, peach, strawberry, huckleberry, minced-meat, mixed berry, sour cream raisin, chocolate, banana cream, pumpkin, blackberry and many more. Currently, the staples at Glen’s Cafe include apple, rhubarb, blueberry, raspberry and blackberry.
“You gotta use what you can get,” said Moore. All her pies are hand made from scratch. That means with no canned filling, all hand made crust and the fruit has all been picked locally, or bought fresh. She said she will use, “whatever I can figure out how to make a pie with,” and has tried just about everything.
She may be slowing down, but Moore says she does not plan on stopping anytime soon. Though her family tells her to look into enjoying retirement, her answer is that “the pies won’t make themselves!”
Photo caption:
Joanne Moore sits in the corner of Glen’s Cafe behind some of her homemade pies. She has been making pies for over 30 years, and they have made the cafe famous. Photo by John Dowd.
September 13
107 years old and still mowing the lawn
by John Dowd
“We were so poor, and always worked so hard. Maybe that’s why God forgot about me,” said Donna Gandara with a laugh. Last Thursday she turned 107 years old, and her family believes her astounding longevity is due to four things: her positive attitude, her genetics, her very active lifestyle and her faith.
Gandara was born in 1916 in El Granjenal, in Michoacán, Mexico. Her father owned a shop that sold things like cigarettes. They lived there during the violent years of the Mexican revolution, which started in 1910 and ran until around 1920. The conflict was a prolonged period of rapid regime changes, after which the Mexican government was transformed into a strong central government which was given far more power than it had originally. The civil war would cause the deaths of over two million combatants.
During the conflict, several revolutionaries came into Gandara’s father’s store and took what they wanted. When her father asked for payment, they threatened his life. After that, he decided to leave and take his family to America. They came and went for several years, spending many of their first years in New Mexico, where he worked as a cowboy. Eventually, they would find their way to California and then to take their chances in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana. This was when the valley sugar beet boom was just getting off the ground.
There was a processing facility in Missoula, and many farmers and ranch hands started producing the crop. According to Gandara’s daughter, Dolores Gandara, most of the valley was used at that time for the sugar beets and her grandfather was very good at growing them.
She explained that when her grandfather discovered Montana, he said it needed to be his home for the rest of his life. According to Donna, “He always said this must be God’s country. He said, he will be living here forever.”
Most of all, Dolores explained that her mother has always had her faith. “She’s been a good Catholic all her life.” Donna said her life has been beautiful and she remembered, after speaking so much about her life during this interview, that she really did have a good childhood and they had fun while they did everything. To her, the long life has been a blessing, that seems earned by every one of those steps she took and by the hard work she did for her family, every single day.
October 11
DEQ wants Darby to comply with wastewater treatment requirements
by Michael Howell
The Town of Darby has received notice from the Department of Environmental Quality enforcement division that it is in violation of the Montana Water Quality Act at its wastewater treatment facility by failing to comply with the conditions and limitations of its wastewater discharge permit. According to the Notice of Violation and Consent Order signed by Mayor Nancy McKinney, Darby has reported 28 effluent limit exceedances since 2020, twenty-one of which are considered “significant non-compliance.”
Darby owns and operates a three-celled lagoon system equipped with solar bee mixers in each cell. The lagoons, located northeast of Darby, were constructed in the 1960s and upgraded to the current three cell lagoon system in 1979 and are operated as a batch discharging facility adjacent to the Bitterroot River.
According to the Consent Order, the facility exceeded the Carbinacious Biological Oxygen Demand 5-day (CBOD) a total of 16 times.
Mayor McKinney said that the Town has been working for the last five years on a sewer improvement project that will address all the problems related to DEQ’s permitting concerns. She said the Town expects the project to go out to bid in late winter or early spring next year.
“Part of our compliance plan,” she said, “will involve setting some specific dates within certain months where certain milestones will be met. That will help the Town and our engineer get the project completed and eliminate the issues that we are having.”
She said the Town’s engineering company, Triple Tree Engineering, has been successful in getting $3 million in grants from ARPA and DNRC for the project. She said the project will address DEQ’s concerns at the lagoon but will also include inspection of the sewer’s forced main line, which she doesn’t believe has ever been inspected, installing a new lift station and fixing some filtration problems throughout the system.
McKinney said the lagoon work would involve removal of sludge and replacement of some valves and that she expects to have the plan for DEQ done by the November 24 deadline.
November 8
Doc’s story – a life of service
by John Dowd
Fortunately, military service in this country is often looked at in a favorable light. Though not always, servicemen and women are recognized for their heroism and bravery in the face of elements that could very likely end their lives. However, there are many elements of service that go unrecognized and untold, stories that shape the rest of soldiers’ lives, both by what they did and what they saw.
Many people in the Bitterroot Valley are familiar with Brothers Mortuary and Crematory. However, the story of the man behind the business, and what led him to it, are less known.
Ron Brothers opened the mortuary in 2007, after he purchased the business from the former owners. It was originally called Dowling Funeral Home, and the business had been around since 1916. For ten years prior, Brothers managed the funeral home, and it felt like a good fit to take over the business after the former owners were gaining in their age. After he bought it, Brothers changed the name of the business to Brothers Mortuary and Crematory. It has been operating ever since, but the reason Brothers opened it likely came from his experience in the military.
Originally from Kalispell, he said that he was “gung ho” to join the service, and did so “right out of high school,” because it would pay for his further education. He served between 1986 and 1991 as a Navy Corpsman who trained with and provided direct medical support to Marine Expeditionary units.
Brothers expressed that addressing grief is a huge challenge for many returning veterans. “I am trying to normalize where people can talk about it and not resort to self harm,” stated Brothers. According to him, many veterans find it difficult to speak in a setting where they feel understood. Many who have not served are understandably less able to relate to the troubling experiences soldiers have than fellow veterans. He also believes that many veterans do not want to sound like they are bragging about the experiences they have had, and can feel embarrassed about expressing emotion over what they have seen. “It never goes away, but we can lessen the effects and learn to manage them,” said Brothers.
He also said that, in his proclivity for kindness to others, Brothers has also found a proclivity for embalming and what it can do for those left behind by ones who have passed. He said that the process helps bring families peace.
“It gives someone the ability to have a final look at somebody before they are buried. Some people really need that,” said Brothers.
After his experience in the military, he said seeing the deceased has been less of a shock for him then it might have been for someone else. “It prepares you for a lot,” said Brothers about military service.
Brothers said much of his job as a mortician is caretaking of the body and doing so in a respectful manner that the families can trust.
“Seeing the family taken care of so well,” said Brothers, is what his job is all about.
Having stayed in Montana and doing the job he does, Brothers said he is very fulfilled. He especially enjoys “the individualism of the people,’’ and how everyone is so unique. His career has allowed him to meet many really nice people, which he attributes to “that Montana aesthetic, it brings the best out in them.”
Parties interested in reaching out to Brothers at Brothers Mortuary and Crematory, in Hamilton, can call (406) 363-1111.
December 20
River’s Mist closing its doors
by John Dowd
One of the mainstays on Stevensville’s main street, the owner of which has been a part of Stevensville’s business community for over 30 years, will soon be shutting its doors. River’s Mist Gallery and Gifts will be closing after December 29, and as it goes, owner Gretchen Spiess believes it is indicative of the end of an era. She is one of the last longstanding business owners on Main Street. Now, only Lutzenhiser Jewelry and Potton Insurance remain, along with the story of how River’s Mist came about.
As Spiess tells the story, it all started when her father bought her the run-down movie theater next door to the space that would become River’s Mist. Spiess was a costume designer in Hollywood, and has always had a passion for the arts, especially theater. She has been working on costumes and clothes for over 50 years. She worked on a number of films and television shows, but confessed she loved TV more. To her, it was a much faster pace, and she loved the challenge.
When she found herself in Stevensville among family, she discovered that the challenge of bringing back an old movie theater and repurposing it as a community drama theater was just her speed as well. One of the issues the theater faced was a lack of storage space for costumes, props and adequate dressing room. To remedy that, they purchased the building next door that had plenty of room to fit everything. Eventually, that next-door space would become the River’s Mist gallery.
She eventually married Michael Rees. Together for over 30 years, Spiess and Rees have had interesting histories with the town, but recently a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s came crashing through their lives. Rees, a hot air balloon pilot for 40 years and a talented artist and photographer, was diagnosed with the illness. Spiess said that she has been dealing with Rees’s care for some time, and it has started getting to the point where it is becoming too much for her to continue to run the gallery.
“He was just one of those renaissance guys,” said Spiess about her husband. However, she realized that she couldn’t leave him alone any longer, especially after a couple calls at work where he was unable to convey that he had injured himself. “This has been coming for over a year,” said Spiess. “I need to be there for my husband.”
As River’s Mist prepares to close, a new business will take its place, hoping to continue it as a gallery. It will be called “Jake’s Studio,” and Spiess explained there is a cute story behind the name. According to Spiess, the new owner, Karen Lottermoser, grew up with a beloved donkey. Apparently, the animal was “something special,” and it became a tradition in Lottermoser’s family to name nice things after that donkey, whose name was Jake. The new studio logo will feature a picture of Jake, the donkey.
Jake’s Studio will open in early February. Lottermoser is working to keep many of the same artists, but wants to turn part of the studio into her own space for her leather work. In fact, she has for a long time been one of the artists featured at River’s Mist. According to Spiess, even if artists do not want to continue in the space, there are now other places for them to go.
Friends and family of Spiess tell how she has had a profound and deep effect on the community of Stevensville. Many may be worried about what will become of her efforts in the community in the future, as she turns her efforts more to home. As she looks back on her legacy, Spiess sadly explained that she will be stepping down from many other projects. However, she intends to continue her work with the Scarecrow Festival, and will maintain ownership of the former River’s Mist building. “I’m not willing to give up my grasp on Main Street just yet!” said Spiess with a laugh.
River’s Mist Gallery and Gifts is located in downtown Stevensville at 317 Main St, Stevensville.
Update: River’s Mist is now closed for good.