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Wednesday, January 7, 2009 Valley News at a GlanceClothes Closet updateBitterroot Bestsellers 2008 - By Russ LawrenceChild Care Resources offers workshopsCoreen Kelly's equine eyes - By Gretchen L. LangtonLocal woman to attend Inaugural Balls as VIPGroups urge Ag Secretary nominee to halt mass killing of wildlifeGlumac wins Stevensville geography, advancesBirthsObituariesClothes Closet updateThe phone number for Gail Fisher, Stevensville Clothes Closet Manager, was incorrectly listed in a recent article. Her correct number is 550-3467. The Clothes Closet free store, located at 387 ALC Way, southeast of the Stevensville Schools and north off Middle Burnt Fork Rd., is open Wednesday and Saturday afternoons, 1 to 4 p.m. for clients and donation drop-off. Although clothes are free, monetary donations, however small, are encouraged to help pay utility bills and buy needed supplies. Items needed at this time are dishes, utensils, silverware, pots and pans, towels, blankets, sheets and kitchen linens, boots, gloves, warm hats and coats. To volunteer to work during open hours call Shelli Fournier, 360-2625. To volunteer to work on sorting clothes Monday or Thursday at 6:30 p.m. call Sparky Praaft, 777-2344. Monetary donations may be mailed to Ellyn Jones, Board Treasurer, at 1384 Meridian Rd., Victor MT 59875. Bitterroot Bestsellers 2008 - By Russ LawrenceChapter One Book Store reports a more varied list of bestsellers for 2008 than in years past, with plenty of regional titles as usual, but more representation from other categories than in years past. At the top of the list is Stephenie Meyer, whose tales of teenage-vampire-romantic-angst hold four of the top spots. “Breaking Dawn,” the final installment in the series sits atop the list at number one, with “Twilight,” “Eclipse,” and “New Moon” in close succession. Chapter One reports many mothers and daughters reading the books together, a charming thought! Eckhart Tolle’s “A New Earth—Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose” was boosted by an endorsement from Oprah Winfrey’s book club on the air. Hundreds of readers have responded to his message of peace and healing. In the next slot is the Bitterroot’s Mario Locatelli, author of the eponymous “The Mountain Goat Chronicles.” Locatelli, as you may guess, is a local mountaineer or some repute, who has climbed most local peaks, as well as becoming the oldest successful climber of Denali. He also organized the grueling “Mountain Goat Marathons,” cross-country hikes that benefitted local causes. His tale of immigrating from Italy and finally settling here is as adventurous as his mountaineering exploits. Montana fantasy author Christopher Paolini hit nationwide bestseller lists once againg with his third book, “Brisingr,” and resides in third place locally. Another Montana author with not just nationwide but international fame is Greg Mortenson, another mountaineer who turned to building schools for remote villages in Pakistan and elsewhere, as chronicled in “Three Cups of Tea” by Mortenson and author David Relin. Inspirational in a different sense is “The Shack,” by William Young, addressing difficult questions about God, in an accessible novel. Two hiking guides occupy the next spot, Mort Arkava’s “Hiking the Bitterroots” and Scott Steinberg’s “Hiking the Selway-Bitterroot.” Both have their strengths, but whichever one inspires you to get out and see some country is the right one for you! My own book, “Montana’s Bitterroot Valley,” slips several notches from its usual perch, but still speaks to valley newcomers and tourists with its history, natural history, beautiful scenic photos by Harry June, and historic black-and-white photos. Ivan Doig is a perennial favorite, and his new novel, “The Eleventh Man,” has been popular. Set during World War II, much of the action takes place at an airfield near Great Falls, but it takes in the action in every theater of conflict in those years. “Indian Creek Chronicles” is another sure-fire Bitterroot Bestseller, Pete Fromm’s true tale of a winter spent in the Selway-Bitterroot. Rounding out the list, we have “The Thirteenth Tale,” a literary novel by Diane Setterfield; “Eat, Pray, Love,” the popular memoir by Elizabeth Gilbert; “Tales of Beedle The Bard,” just published in early December but still making a strong showing, by “Harry Potter” author Jo Rowling; “Out Stealing Horses,” by Norwegian author Per Petterson; “The Whistling Season,” another entry from Ivan Doig; and “Gallop!,” a clever animation book for children by Rufus Seder.
Bitterroot Bestsellers 2008 1. Stephenie Meyer:
Breaking Dawn
2. A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle Child Care Resources offers workshopsChild Care Resources offers many workshops to child care providers in Ravalli, Missoula, and Mineral County. Workshops include a wide variety of topics, including CPR, positive guidance, tax issues, and art. Please visit our website at www.childcareresources.org to see what workshops we have in the near future, or contact us at 728-6446 for dates and fees. Coreen Kelly's equine eyes - By Gretchen L. LangtonCoreen Kelly bought her first horse for "fifty dollars in pennies" when she was ten years old. It was a Morgan/Walker/Pinto mix. "I trained him myself and I broke him myself," jokes Coreen about how she fell short of her training goals with Traveler, named after Robert E. Lee’s horse. Coreen grew up in Richmond, Washington, then moved to Livingston, Montana where she met her husband Paul Houts. In 1986, she and Paul came to the Bitterroot. Though she has had horses her whole life, Coreen didn’t really consider combining her working life as a massage therapist with her horse hobby until she met Major. "I bought two two-year-old Morgans in 1997, a gelding and a filly. The gelding, Major, was not touchable. He was disconnected physically and emotionally. He wasn’t abused, just fearful… to the point of being dangerous. If you tried to touch him on the withers, he would explode backwards." She thought perhaps some of her massage techniques might enable her "to at least groom him." So she went to work on Major and was able to make him touchable and even ride-able. In 2000, Coreen went to Virginia to train for a horse massage certification. Since then, she has worked on horses around the Bitterroot with great success. Take Dusty. A beautiful Grullo Roan, Dusty reared up in the barn and was found unconscious by his owners in August of this year. "He was diagnosed with trauma induced wobbles, he had trouble standing, he couldn’t track, he dragged his right front and hind legs. The vet recommended that he be put down." Instead the owners called Coreen who immediately began working on him with the help of Linda Dworak, DVM. "He wouldn’t lay down or roll over either—he does now. After three weeks of daily treatments, there was no more staggering. He’s eighty percent better than he was in August." Though she rarely accepts equine patients now, focusing more on training practitioners, she has agreed to show me how horse massage is performed. As she works on my twenty-nine-year-old Quarter Horse mare that is all stoved up in her left front shoulder, I can see that her touch has a profound effect. Shadow drops her head and her eyes soften; she visibly relaxes issuing a combination grunt/snort, the horse version of, "Ahhhhh." "That’s what we are looking for," Coreen tells me as she deftly runs her palms along Shadow’s left rhomboid. During the next two hours in the bitter wind with my teeth chattering, I am fascinated to watch how she interacts with her equine client who does not need holding even though we stand in the open pasture. "The benefits of massage are really the same for horses as they are for people. And even more so for horses because massage can be used for training to open up deeper lines of communication," Coreen explains. This is not the typical eye contact communication that our ocular culture is used to. "I am legally blind which makes my work unique." Coreen has retinitis pigmentosa, a rare, inherited, degenerative disease causing her field of vision to slowly narrow. Most cases result in total blindness. But Coreen has taken what would be for some a paralyzing stigma and turned it into an asset to her profession. "I see through touch and I help my students see through touch. This takes it beyond the physical into the metaphysical—that’s the horse’s language… to feel through touch and energy." When she and her mentor went to study at the Beijing Massage Hospital in 2000, the number of blind practitioners training at the school pleasantly surprised Coreen. "There are so many of them that there is Braille in the sidewalks so that they can find their way around. At the school practitioners work on 500 patients a day." Coreen’s special circumstance combined with her experience in China is inspiring her to add special coaching for students with disabilities who wish to take her courses. The Level One intensive is just that, intense. "It’s really about finding out who you are—becoming a good leader by setting boundaries," Coreen says about the five, ten to twelve hour days it takes to complete this initial certification course. She conducts eight Level One intensives per year at her facility in Corvallis. She also offers a Level Two intensive (Equine Reiki and Occupressure) twice a year, a Level Three (Beyond Equine Reiki) once a year, and additional home study accreditation courses in first aide, anatomy, kinesiology, and physiology. The flags that fly over Coreen’s barn represent all the different countries from which her students originate. Switzerland, Denmark, Germany, England, Australia, Ireland, Wales, and Canada are all there. One of her students from Ireland asked her to conduct a training there which she did "in Midlands County, Offaly." She hopes to go back to conduct a Level Two training there soon. "What is it about teaching horse massage that you like," I ask. She initially replies, "To see the changes in the students. They are mostly women who are fairly timid. By the time we are done they are more confident, which enables them to give the animals they treat more emotional support, which in turn makes the horses more confident. It’s a metamorphosis. I love to get letters and phone calls from students who tell me they had life changing experiences. I am not the cause—I facilitate it. It’s the horses that help the students to become self-empowered.” Coreen uses her seven steeds as the training horses. Later, Coreen calls me back to say one more thing that she loves about her job. She is devoted to helping her students "develop a knowledge and hunger for good horsemanship." This is not the first time horsemanship has come up in our conversations. Coreen is on a lifelong quest to achieve "good horsemanship." While she teaches "good horsemanship," she is far from pretending to have mastered this herself and is regularly working with trainers who she feels have these skills. "Ty Heth is a trainer who teaches in the traditional vaquero style. He trains his horses so that they are always seeking a release. His horses are content and happy. He is a real working cowboy." She works with Ty once a week and doesn’t hesitate to admit, "learning good horsemanship is a lifetime study." She also doesn’t hesitate to thank those veterinarians and trainers that she leans on for advice and consultations: Dick Richardson, Shawn Gleason, Jack Ward, Linda Dworak, Ben Quinters, Chris Bohenek, and Kathy Valentine. I ask sixty-year-old Coreen how long she intends on keeping her grueling training schedule and she replies without hesitation, "‘Til I can’t."
If you are interested in finding out more about what Coreen Kelly does or if you are wanting to register for one of her intensives or home studies, check out her web site: equinetouchmontana.com. Or call her at 961-5407. Local woman to attend Inaugural Balls as VIPHamilton resident Janet Ray Bierer, Ms. North America Galaxy 2009, will be attending the President’s Inaugural Ball and the Veteran's Inaugural Ball on January 20th in Washington DC. Her trip to Washington DC will begin when she flies out of Missoula on January 16 for an all-expense-paid trip to make appearances in our nations capital to represent Montana and North America at the inauguration of our 44th President. She will be staying at the Ritz Carlton, due to the generosity of sponsors in the DC area, including friends of former President Bill Clinton. Her appearances will include visits to veterans at the Walter Reed Army Hospital, and the Bethesda Naval Hospital. An appearance on Good Morning America is also in the works. Her ball gown was graciously donated by Wanda Sumners at Simply Elegant in Hamilton. Other appearances include visits with radio and TV stations, and a meeting with the Congressional Education Foundation which is sponsoring her travel. Bierer will begin her visit in DC with a meeting with the PR Firm Burson-Marsteller, LLC, who will be arranging her appearances for the week, including selection of outfits, and scripts for her speaking engagements. Sunday night she will attend a Gala Night; tickets are $125 each, and Janet's have been paid for by an anonymous sponsor. Her tickets to the Inaugural Balls have been comp'ed and she has VIP passes to all of the Inaugural Ball events, and will be seated near the stage when President Obama makes a special appearance to thank our nations Veterans for their service. Janet was selected for this honor because of her placement in the 2008 Ms. Galaxy International pageant last August in Orlando. She was selected as an Overall Interview winner out of the 62 contestants who shared the stage, as well as placing in the Top 5 while representing her Ms. Montana title. Because of her placement, and consistent high scores, she has also been asked to return to re-compete this July in Tampa for the 2009 title of Ms. Galaxy International and has been awarded the title of Ms. North America. Bierer will be just one of 150 VIP's invited to the Veterans Inaugural Ball. She will also be a VIP in the reception line of the President’s Inaugural Ball and the sit-down dinner. Janet has also been selected to be a state level spokesperson for the Congressional Education Foundation to appear in radio, TV and other media with her "Support Our Troops" message. Bierer will also participate in a fundraising dance in which "dances" will be auctioned off to raise money for veterans’ issues. While at the Veteran's Inaugural Ball, Janet is one of many VIP's who may be selected to model for artist Michael Israel while he creates a performance piece to be auctioned off during the event to benefit veterans. These paintings will be auctioned online all over the world. Groups urge Ag Secretary nominee to halt mass killing of wildlifeOrganizations say federal ‘lethal control’ of bears, cougars, coyotes, wolves is cruel and unnecessary On January 2, 115 conservation, animal protection, ranching, and faith-based organizations submitted a letter to Tom Vilsack, the Agriculture Secretary nominee, urging him to end the federal government’s systematic killing of wildlife, including wolves, coyotes, bears, cougars, and prairie dogs. Members of the coalition – comprised of Big Wildlife, Center for Biological Diversity, Creation Care Study Program, Christians for Environmental Stewardship, Humane Society of the United States, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, Sierra Club, and Ranchers for Rural Responsibility, among many others – said that each year the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services kills millions of wild animals, primarily on behalf of agribusiness. Coalition members said halting the agency's “lethal control” programs should be one of the nominee's first steps once he is confirmed as Secretary of Agriculture. According to these groups, USDA Wildlife Services, a secretive federal agency that has largely avoided public scrutiny, employs a variety of cruel and often haphazard and indiscriminate methods to kill wildlife. Animals are shot from airplanes and helicopters, poisoned, gassed in their dens, bludgeoned after capture in steel leghold traps, strangled in wire snares, and pursued with hounds or lured to bait stations and then shot. Other animals, even family dogs and cats, are unintentionally injured or killed by agency actions. In 2007 alone, Wildlife Services killed 2.4 million animals, including 121,565 carnivores. The agency reported it spent more than $100 million in 2007 to kill wildlife, most of which was funded by taxpayers. Among those animals killed in 2007: 90,262 coyotes, 2,277 gray foxes, 2,412 red foxes, 2,090 bobcats, 1,133 cats, 552 dogs, 577 badgers, and 340 gray wolves. “Wildlife Services has much blood on its hands. The agency is committing crimes against animals that make Michael Vick’s Bad Newz Kennels look like doggy day care,” said Brian Vincent, communications director for the wildlife protection group Big Wildlife. “Most Americans have no idea their tax dollars are used to brutalize countless bears, cougars, wolves, and coyotes.” According to Vincent, Wildlife Services kills carnivores and smaller animals such as prairie dogs to appease the livestock industry and kills a myriad of other animals such as blackbirds on behalf of other agribusiness enterprises. This winter, Wildlife Services killed all 27 wolves of a pack near Kalispell, Montana. In 2008, the agency wiped out seven wolf packs, pups and all, in the Big Sky state. In Oregon, Wildlife Services is coordinating with state officials to kill nearly 2,000 cougars. In New Mexico and Arizona over the past 10 years, Wildlife Services has killed and removed far more than the 50 or so remaining endangered Mexican gray wolves in the wild. The agency has perpetuated hostility towards many carnivore species, especially coyotes, by characterizing them as vermin or nuisance animals. Each year, the agency kills tens of thousands of coyotes. “‘Wildlife Services’ ” is a perfectly Orwellian name for an agency that serves wildlife with cyanide baits, lead bullets, and steel leghold traps,” said Michael Robinson, conservation advocate for the Center for Biological Diversity in Silver City, N.M. Robinson is the author of a detailed history of the agency titled “Predatory Bureaucracy: The Extermination of Wolves and the Transformation of the West” (University Press of Colorado, 2005). Robinson’s book recounts that Wildlife Services was founded in 1885 under a different name, and began its wildlife extermination program in 1915. In 1928, responding to criticism from wildlife biologists, the agency pledged not to exterminate any species and stopped using the word “exterminate,” substituting it with “control.” However, in 1945 the agency killed the last gray wolf in the western United States, in southern Colorado. In the 1960s, after Wildlife Services officials told Congress the agency would not exterminate wildlife, it wiped out red wolves from the southeastern United States, California condors in their namesake state, and blackfooted ferrets on the Great Plains, as well as the Mexican gray wolf in the Republic of Mexico, having gained permission from Mexican authorities. The last survivors of each of these species were captured, bred in captivity and subsequently reintroduced to save the species from extinction. Members of the conservation and animal-protection group coalition that sent the letter to Vilsack said that Wildlife Services’ killing program ignores the importance of carnivores. As “keystone species," carnivores play a pivotal role in sustaining ecological integrity and preserving species’ diversity. For example, large carnivores regulate deer and elk numbers, as well as smaller mammal populations. Wolf reintroduction in Yellowstone National Park has benefited bears, foxes, beavers and songbirds, among other animals. Conversely, ongoing Wildlife Services persecution of wolves continues to harm these and other wildlife species in the vast swaths of the West where wolves have not been permitted to recolonize. Many non-lethal solutions are less expensive and more effective at reducing conflicts than killing, coalition members said. Ranchers who use guard dogs, llamas, burros, or who mix cattle and sheep report fewer or no predation problems. Nighttime penning, penning during lambing and calving season, and removing livestock carcasses from pastures also reduce conflicts. In addition, strobes and sirens are effective for preventing predation. Members of the groups said that monies spent on killing wildlife would be better used to educate and aid ranchers, farmers, and others to upgrade their fencing or assist them with utilizing non-lethal techniques. Eliminating subsidized domestic-animal grazing on public lands would sharply reduce encounters with carnivores, they said. "Wildlife Services is the 'Grim Reaper' of the federal government. The main 'services' the agency provides wildlife are pain, suffering, and death," said Vincent. BirthsBirths at Marcus Daly Hospital, Hamilton 12-25-08 Boy, 6 lbs., 9 oz., 19 inches, to Tanya and Kevin Neidhardt, Darby 12-30-08 Boy, 5 lbs., 15 oz., 19-1/2 inches, to Shawnie Stoker and Lyman Jessop, Pinesdale ObituariesErling Anderson Erling Anderson, 91, died on Monday, December 29, 2008 of complications from dementia at Valley View Nursing Home in Hamilton, having lived a long, vigorous and active life. Erling was born on June 25, 1917 in Minneapolis, Minnesota and was raised on the farm near Clear Lake, South Dakota by parents Ed and Kaia Anderson, who immigrated from Norway. He lived his school-age and young adult years during the Depression. In his early twenties, he worked for the Civilian Conservation Corp as a carpenter in the Black Hills of South Dakota building park structures that are still there today. Erling joined the Army in 1940 and served that year in various protective forces stationed on the west coast. A few weeks before he was due to be discharged, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and he was in for the duration. He served as a tank mechanic in Headquarters Co. 899th Tank Destroyer Battalion. He saw action in the North African and Italian theaters, was part of the D-Day invasion force at Normandy, followed Allied Forces across France and into Germany, and helped liberate the Dachau concentration camp. He was awarded the Bronze Star. Upon returning home to South Dakota, he became a lifetime member of the American Legion and was part of a group that performed 21-gun salutes for veteran funerals. Erling met Mary Elaine Nicola in 1946 and they were married in October of that year. They farmed near Clear Lake and had three daughters and a son. In 1960 Erling moved the family to Palo Alto, California, for a life of new opportunities. He worked for the Palo Alto School District in their maintenance/construction department, and took extra work doing landscape maintenance. A second son was born in 1966. Erling and Mary Elaine were active in the Lutheran church and the local Sons of Norway. He taught himself furniture-making and produced numerous family heirlooms, as well as cabinets for the church and other charitable efforts. Erling retired in 1987 and in 1991 moved to Ione, California to be closer to a daughter and grandchildren. Mary Elaine died in 1999. In 2003, Erling moved to an assisted living community in Stevensville to be near his son and daughter, and to return to the small town setting of his younger days. He later transitioned to the nursing home in Hamilton. Erling is survived by daughters: Cheryl Lind and partner Larry Wade of Novato, CA, Kaye Powers of Ione, CA and Laurie Anderson and husband Brian Lawless Anderson of Hamilton; sons: Milo and wife Patty Anderson of Wenatchee, WA and David Anderson and wife Karen Powers of Stevensville; three grandchildren: Ryan Lind of Fairfield, CA, Dane Powers of Ruebens, ID and Alisa Powers of Ione, CA. Cremation has taken place and he will be interred with his wife. The funeral date has not been set. The Whitesitt Funeral Home in Stevensville is in charge of arrangements. |
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