Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Valley News at a Glance

Mountain snowpack improves

Destination Imagination launches in Victor By Gretchen L. Langton

Spotlight on Victor By Louise Langton

Softball player seeking donations

McKillop celebrates 95th birthday

Mountain snowpack improves

"February has been the best snowfall month so far this winter," said Roy Kaiser, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) water supply specialist. "Mountain snowpack statewide increased seven percent over the course of the month."

Comparing the snow water equivalent that accumulated during the month of February to the seasonal snow water equivalent peak illustrates this fact. For example, in the Columbia River basin, the accumulated snow water equivalent was 118 percent of the average seasonal peak. In the St. Mary, it was 100 percent of average, the Missouri was 131 percent of average, and the Yellowstone was 113 percent of average.

In addition, February mountain precipitation was 105 percent of average and water year precipitation was 101 percent of average. February mountain precipitation in the Columbia River basin was 93 percent of average, Missouri was 118 percent of average, St. Mary was 73 percent of average, and Yellowstone was 111 percent of average.

March 1 is more than three quarters of the way through the main snowfall period. There are normally about four to six weeks remaining until the seasonal snowpack peak is reached. On March 1, accumulated snow water equivalent west of the Continental Divide was 90 percent of average and east of the Divide was 84 percent of average.

"March is a critical snowfall month. Having an average to above average March snowfall will build on a very good February and continue to bring snowpacks closer to average," said Kaiser.

Statewide, mountain snow water equivalent was 87 percent of average and 84 percent of last year at this time. West of the Continental Divide, snowpack was 90 percent of average and 87 percent of last year and east of the Continental Divide, snowpack was 84 percent of average and 85 percent of last year.

The Columbia River Basin snowpack was 90 percent of average on March 1, and the Bitterroot River Basin snowpack was 85 percent of average.

Streamflows across Montana are forecast to average 73 to 87 percent of normal. West of the Continental Divide, streamflows are forecast to average 83 to 93 percent of normal and east of the Continental Divide, streamflows are forecast to average 66 to 83 percent of normal.

Montana Destination Imagination (MT DI) held its Southwest Regional Showcase at the Victor School on February 24. In attendance were nine teams: three from Corvallis, three from Victor, two from Darby and one from Frenchtown. With these teams, the Brainy-Axe, the Super-Brains, and the Maniac Braniacs, you might guess that in this crowd it's actually cool to be smart. But being smart isn't the only criterion; it doesn't hurt to be funny or dramatic or creative or cooperative or all of the above. MT DI encourages kids to brainstorm, to research, to work as a team, to do research and to become adept time managers. There are six challenges to choose from with catchy titles ‹ CSI:DI, Card-DI-ology, Switching TraDItions, Round About Courage, Make It New It's Up To You, and DIrect Flight. Five to seven students, kindergarten through middle school, pick a challenge based on their mutual interests.

Each team has one or more assisting adults called "team managers." The Corvallis team I interviewed has two managers, Patti Healy and Holly Arnlund, both parents of team members. Healy and Arnlund gather supplies, explain how creative problem solving works, and facilitate practice challenges for the team. The rest is up to the kids. They have been practicing once a week since December and it shows. Although they are visibly a touch jittery to be performing in front of the thirty or so people watching from folding chairs in front of them, they each know their roles.

When I ask four-year-old Brian Healy what his job is, he proudly professes that he holds the spare paper airplane his team has constructed for the competition. Primary Team, as they call themselves, has chosen Challenge A: DIrect Flight and they had to "design and construct one or more aircraft that will fly to one of several Landing Zones." One of the airplanes was constructed from a single piece of paper at the tournament during their timed performance. They also had to create a skit that "will bring together all the elements of the team's presentation." Primary Team's invention incorporates duct tape (of course - how did we ever live without it), a long wooden dowel, a piece of yellow nylon rope and what looks like one of those sucker-type dart gun toys (but instead of the suction cup, the paper airplanes are attached so that they may be launched.) Eric Healy, age ten, mans the contraption holding the nylon rope close to his face like he is drawing back a bow, while Joel Haas (he's six) steadies the dowel from below. Seven-year-old Alex Healy and Griffin Arnlund, age nine, help to retrieve launched crafts and assist in explaining to the swarming judges about design; Alex also reads a story about Charles Lindbergh that the team put together. It's hard enough to get four, ten, seven, nine, and six-year-olds to do anything together, but it must be even harder when three of them are related.

There is a point system and each challenge has different criteria. Patti Healy explains that two of the things her team was judged on were how long their craft was aloft and whether their tasks were completed in a timely fashion. The judges are also very interested in how the team functions together as a unit. These volunteer officiators remain silent to the audience throughout and look as if they take their roles very seriously, scribbling on their clipboards. They watch as the kids perform, then also question the kids on a more individual level about their processes. These volunteers also facilitate the Instant Challenges, one of the most ambitious "cooperation building" elements of this event.

Instant Challenges offer each team six to eight minutes to solve a problem, of which they have no prior knowledge, and which may or may not include props. Patti Healy tells me that this may demand that the team construct a particular item, like a bridge, with a number of random objects or complete a particular task (perform an instructive play). Hey, didn't MacGyver do this first? All he needed was a chewing gum wrapper (the foil variety only), the gum itself (briefly chewed for the occasion), a paper clip, and a rubber band‹he could escape any calamity with ease. So imagine if MacGyver had a team of equally crafty pocket garbage collectors. Unstoppable.

All teams which participated in Destination Imagination receive a certificate and get to advance to the state level if they so choose, which Heather Geiger (DI's state director) tells me is in Manhattan, Montana, on March 24. Geiger says that there are fifty-five teams statewide (600 students from forty schools) that participate. DI's website proclaims this program as the largest creative problem solving organization in the world. And the program is worldwide; fourteen countries send teams to the DI Global Finals, where the top performers from around the world come to display their wares and their wherewithal. For more information, visit www.destinationimagination.org.

OK, I can just hear you saying, "And what about this event is really newsworthy?" Hey, how about a little love for the kids who aren't playing basketball? "Watch out," my inner voice says. Somebody's mad mommy will be writing a letter before she's done reading this ‹ accusing me of denigrating athletes as unintelligent. For the record, this is not what I am saying. It is likely that there were athletes who participated in Destination Imagination, but today, at this particular event, brawn takes a back seat. What I am saying is that we need more events like this, where kids are learning skills they can use when they are no longer able to push pumpkin. Yeah, like how to make a paper airplane and launch it across the multi-purpose room? No, actually I was thinking of the problem solving aspect, the MacGyver Effect. I was thinking that teaching kids to embrace the very notion of problem solving can't be a bad idea, can be fun, and could save your life if you are ever chased by pock-faced thugs and locked in a room with 200 tons of TNT. Imagine if the point of basketball was first to find the hoop which was hidden somewhere on the school grounds, using clues that had also been slightly obfuscated (a word I didn't learn while playing P-I-G) and then build a launching mechanism that could propel the ball through the net, and all they have to use is a piece of rope, a mirror, a slinky, and their minds. Ah, the possibilities.

Spotlight on Victor By Louise Langton

Stella Powell and her daughter Cindy came to visit longtime friends in Victor last week. They enjoyed lunch at the Victor Senior Center. Stella now lives in a nursing home in Washington state near her daughter. Sandy Thornbrugh visited her favorite vacation spot in Scotland. She loves the Scottish people.

Alycia Sims, a sixth grader at Stevensville Elementary School, is raising money to help her team with costs of traveling to tournaments as part of the 12 U Montana Bandits Softball Team. The fast pitch team will be attending tournaments in Montana, Idaho and Washington. All donations are accepted, but any donations over $100 will get your business name on the official team banner. Send your donations to Alycia Sims, P.O. Box 27, Stevensville MT 59870 or for more information call Jason Leishman, 626-0505, Jim Huguet, 728-0808, Dennis Meuchel, 542-0786 or Randy Block, 626-4441.

Mable McKillop was the honored guest at a surprise party for her 95th birthday on February 10, 2007 at the Sundance Cafe in Hamilton. The party was organized by Ellen Schilke and Jewell Steele, longtime friends of Mable's. Their friendship dates back to when they all worked at the telephone company.

Mable started working at the phone company in 1933, when the office was on S. 2nd in Hamilton, about where Place to Ponder is now. At that time the hospital was upstairs. Later the telephone office was moved to 345 W. Main St. The building is now a law office.

In the early days, there was a light on a pole on Main Street, which the operators would turn on if the police were needed. The police would call in from the nearest telephone to find out what the emergency was. Fires were reported through the switchboard as well. There was black button on the north wall of the telephone office. The operator would pass the word down the board telling them were the fire was. Pressing the button would set off the fire alarm.

In June 1965 when the office went dial, there were seven switchboards and many 8-party lines. There were many changes over the years. For a long time, calls from Hamilton to Darby, Victor, Stevensville and Florence were long distance. The charge was 25 cents for three minutes. In addition to Hamilton, there were offices in Darby and Stevensville. Darby went dial in 1955, Stevensville in 1960. After the switchboard jobs were eliminated, Mable took a job cleaning phone booths until her retirement in 1968.

In addition to Ellen and Jewell, other women invited to the party were Glorian Ainsworth, Dorothy Covert, Dorothy Parpolio, Barbara Brown, Shirley Brown, Phyllis Busenbark, Donna Copeland, Sharon Chaffin, Betty Cleveland, Dovie Duus, Joan Garrod, Helen Greenfield, Alberta Henderson, Jeanie Hoerner, Betty Kester, Bunny Johnson, Noreen Johnson, Grace Maki, Barbara Miller, Loretta Ortiz, Judy Owings, Jean Paddock, Pat Philips, Donna Roth, Joan Sayler, Andy Shook, Ruby Stewart, Carol Taulman, Muriel Treece and Zoe Ann Wetzsteon.