I'm counting the dots as Doris looks through her green metal recipe box for her mother's pancake recipe. The dots are actually little red push-pins on a map of the world. Each pin represents a place that Doris has visited, 125 pins in all. Very few Americans, let alone Montanans, let alone those from Victor, have traveled as extensively as Doris has. But she is modest about these experiences and when I ask her what her favorite trip was, she sagely tells me that it was whichever journey she was on at that moment. In her youth, she probably had no idea how many places she would get to see, although the seeds were planted early since geography was always her favorite subject in school.

Doris was born in Red Lodge, Montana, in 1919, one of six children, to Walter and Sarah McGillen. She remembers the long trip, from Red Lodge to Butte in 1929, when the family moved there so her father could work for the Anaconda Mining Company. His father, Anthony McGillen, had arrived in the Bitterroot Valley with his wife Nancy Chaffin; they came by covered wagon from Kentucky and lived briefly on land that later became part of the Daily Mansion property. But Doris' grandfather was a Welshman with mining in his blood, so he moved the family to Red Lodge where he could ply his skills as a miner. Then Doris' father moved his family to yet another mining town, Butte. Doris recalls that in order to employ more workers, the Company worked the men two weeks on and two weeks off. They were paid $25 a week to work in the pit. Doris remembers her own job at Symon's Department Store where she made $2.10 per day. There were a group of neighborhood teens, Doris among them, who liked to take picnics to the woods outside of town. "The girls brought the food, the boys brought the beer." It was on one of these outings that Doris met the man she would spend 62 years of her life with, most of it in Victor. They were married at the Methodist Church in Butte on June 22, 1941.

Don also worked as a miner, like Doris' father and his father before him, until the doctor told him that he could "keep working in the mine and make out his will, or find a healthier line of work." It was then that Doris and Don moved to the Bitterroot and settled in Victor. They liked Victor's small, homey feeling. Doris says they used their war bonds to buy their Main Street home. "We paid $1200 for this house," she tells me. Don was a mail carrier for 27 years and when he started delivering the mail, there were 127 people total on the route, recalls Doris. She knew his route well since she delivered the mail when he wasn't able to.

She relays two of Don's funnier mail moments to me, both involving contact with animals. What else could be expected on Rural Route One in a sparsely populated valley where there were way more four-legged creatures than two-legged ones? Once he saw a woman trying to scare a bull away from her front door with a broom, to no avail. Don hopped out and offered his assistance. He lit the broom on fire and the bull took off, but the woman was more angry than grateful, as her best broom had just gone up in flames. Doris has pure mirth in her voice as she tells me that this "tickled Don so much he went out and bought her a new broom." Another time, Don went to check on a woman who always met him at the mailbox but who had been absent for several days. It turns out she was trapped inside her house by a bear eating apples on her front porch. "Don had to go find a neighbor with a gun to scare away the bear." These stories are a few of the charming jewels in Hewitt family history.

Doris and Don raised five children in Victor: Donna, Marion, Rob, Tom, and Pat. There are five grandchildren and six great grandchildren. It wasn't until Pat, the last one, was out of the house that Doris decided to succumb to her travel bug. She went first to England in 1982 where she remembers seeing the plays "Oliver" and "Annie" in London. This sealed it; for the last 25 years, Doris has been seeing the world two weeks at a time. She's seen the Pantheon in Greece, been pick-pocketed by kissing child gypsies in Paris, walked through the Alps in Switzerland, flown over the grasslands of Africa in a hot air balloon, been lost in an open-air market in Germany, squatted over countless holes in the floor in China, stood before the Taj Mahal in India, crossed Canada by train, toured Moscow, visited Peru, Romania, Hungary, Austria. Doris has seen the imprinted shadow left by a victim of the nuclear bombing of Nagasaki on the steps of the only building to survive the blast. In Austria, she recalls the bridge where the Arch Duke was shot, thus beginning WWI. The best food she ate abroad was in Africa: fresh fish. But in India, Doris lost five pounds because the curry sauces were too spicy and she had to go hungry.

When Tom Hewitt, Doris' second to youngest child and arguably one of the most famous people to have ever come from Victor, invited his mom to visit Japan for Toga's International Theater Festival at which he was performing, she met a modern dance group that was coming to Montana. Doris coincidentally had tickets to this upcoming performance and was able to see them in both Japan and then in Missoula.

Doris took many trips with organized tour groups, often unfamiliar with other tour members. It wasn't until Don and Doris' fiftieth wedding anniversary that Don, too, caught the travel bug. They took a small ship through the Inland Passage, stopping at many of Alaska's breathtaking ports. Don and Doris got to see Norway, Canada, Baja, and Nova Scotia together. He died three years ago, and although his passing has left a massive hole in Doris' life, she has still managed to take a few trips. Her most recent trip was last year to Ireland; she went with her daughter Marion. "We drove all over the country," Doris says with a wistful satisfaction as if she has left me for a moment and returned to the Kelly green countryside.

When I ask her if German beer is better than Irish beer, she assures me that her research shows Irish beer is superior to German beer.

When I ask her if there was any place she could have stayed indefinitely, she says without hesitation, "No. I love Victor. This is home." Doris has been able to combine her love of travel with her love of community in Victor. For all the years her kids were in schools she volunteered at the Victor Grade School (where she also substituted) helping kids to read, but after her travel years, she began to have the kids come to her. Many a Victor second-grader has toured through Doris' home to view her wide variety of keepsakes from all over the world: wooden figures, small paintings by street vendors, and even a Russian broom adorn her living and dining rooms. These modest treasures are displayed for the children with their origin country names written on pieces of paper next to them. "Getting all of this organized is so much work," she confides.

When I ask Doris if there is any place she wished to visit but didn't, she tells me she wanted to see Egypt and the Pyramids but never managed to get there. She assures me that her trip to Ireland was her last, but I won't hold my breath. I have a feeling she could be talked into some more travel. Doris does meet her family on the Oregon Coast regularly for family get-togethers. What she is enjoying now is being at home, with her daughter Donna (who helps her out), and catching the latest play at the university's theater, and eating at the Victor Senior Center, where she gets to see people she has known for at least half of her lifetime. If she has a wish for the future of Victor it is to see a return of the sense of community that influenced her to settle there in 1944. It was for community events that Doris first shared her mother's pancake recipe, which is why the recipe begins with 16 cups of flour, 14 cups of buttermilk, and 16 eggs, and so on; this version makes 128 cakes. She was nice enough to share the scaled down recipe for readers to try. All this can be mixed together and doesn't require any particular order: 2 cups flour, 2 Tbs. sugar, 2 tsp. baking powder, 1�2 tsp. baking soda, 1�2 Tbs. salt, 1-3�4 cups buttermilk, 3 Tbs. melted butter, 2 eggs. Bon appetite!

Local Angus breeder recognized

Cara P. and Thomas W. Ayres, Stevensville, own one bull listed in the 2007 Spring Sire Evaluation Report published by the American Angus Association in Saint Joseph, Missouri. Issued in both the spring and fall, the new report features the latest performance information available on 5,178 sires, and is currently accessible at www.angussiresearch.com.

"The report provides both Angus breeders and commercial cattle producers using Angus genetics with accurate, predictable selection tools for improving their herd," says Bill Bowman, American Angus Association director of performance programs. Expected Progeny Differences (EPDs) are generated from the performance database of the American Angus Association, which includes information submitted by nearly 10,000 Angus breeders this past year through the Association�s Beef Improvement Records (BIR) program.

EPDs are available for 17 traits. Decision tools available also include seven value indexes in the suite of bio-economic indexes designed to assist commercial producers in simplifying the genetic selection process. The semi-annual analysis for the Sire Evaluation Report contains more than 15 million measures used to generate genetic predictions for the Angus breed.

'Learn by Doing' photo contest

Montana kids up to the age of 18 can enter the second annual "Learn by Doing" photo contest, sponsored by Montana State University Extension's 4-H Youth Development program. Youth are encouraged to enter, whether or not they're in a 4-H club. Deadline is May 1, 2007.

The Montana 4-H Center for Youth Development at MSU awards one $100 prize and two $50 prizes for photos that best show "learning by doing" in 4-H. Young people can enter photos of themselves, their friends and their mentors (teens, parents, leaders and other 4-H volunteers) as long as the photo illustrates hands-on learning through 4-H. Subjects such as 4-H projects, 4-H after-school programs, 4-H camp activities and 4-H volunteer work are possibilities.

Photos are judged on how well they express the 4-H "Learn by Doing" theme and on overall photographic quality. Those that show youth with adult or teen mentors are given preference, because of the key role that guidance plays in helping 4-H kids explore new challenges.

With photographer and model approval, photos are retained for use in the 4-H Clover project selection guide and other MSU Extension 4-H publicity materials.

Adults and MSU Extension employees and their families are not eligible for prizes, but are encouraged to donate a photo to help publicize the youth development and outreach activities of Montana 4-H.

For more information or entry instructions, contact the MSU Extension office nearest you or call the Montana 4-H Center for Youth Development at (406) 994-3501. Entry instructions and forms are also available under "hot topics" at http://www.msuextension.org.

Junior Duck Stamp Contest winners announced

On Friday, March 23, 432 student art entries, depicting a variety of waterfowl species, were judged at Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge. Five impartial judges selected the entry of Sierra McCartney of Whitefish as the �Best of Show.� This entry will be forwarded to Washington, D.C. for further competition to determine the national winner, which will be printed as the official 2007 Junior Duck Stamp.

The Junior Duck Stamp Contest is a dynamic, active, art and science program designed to teach wetlands habitat and waterfowl conservation to students in kindergarten through high school. The program guides students, using scientific and wildlife observation principles, to communicate visually what they have learned through an entry into the Junior Duck Stamp art contest. This non-traditional pairing of subjects brings new interest to both the sciences and the arts. It crosses cultural, ethnic, social, and geographic boundaries to teach greater awareness of our nation�s natural resources.

Students achieving first place designation included: Rachel Agosto, Stevensville; Tallie Berry, Sheridan; Miriam Cross, Billings; Haley Eakin, Helena; Emily Fitterman, Glendive; Shalani Gentry, Crow Agency; Adam Grensten, Lewistown: Jack Johnson, Missoula; Julia Kay, Lolo; Katie Melvin, Circle; and Morgan Russell, Custer.

Students placing second were: Chase Alfred, Stevensville; Elizabeth Byron, Hardin; Robin Byron, Hardin; Matthew Cornelia, Circle; Nathan Doll, Stevensville; Emily Hanson, Stevensville; Mackenzie Maki, Miles City; Sean Mallow, Stevensville; Morgan Munson, Stevensville; Jacob Smith, Broadus; Chris Sukut, Livingston; and Tristan Tahta, Missoula.

Student entries judged third place were: Anya Cornforth, Bozeman; Tilly Eggers, Stevensville; Nikisa Gentry, Crow Agency; Andrew Guttenberg, Bozeman; Kandace Kiosse, Miles City; Phillip Ley, Havre; Ray Philpott, Noxon; Michael Raveling, Hamilton; Rachael Stettler, Heron; Nikolas Tavares-Clark, Stevensville; Anica Wagner, Circle; Darren, Wood, Boulder.

The top five Montana cities sorted by number of entries (ascending order) were Plains, Great Falls, Circle, Bozeman and Stevensville. Public schools accounted for 84% of the entries followed by home schools (5%), private schools (6%) and art studios (6%). The top five favorite waterfowl species drawn, by percentage, included: 4% Hooded Merganser; 4% Trumpeter Swan; 8% Canada Goose; 11% Wood Duck; and 24% Mallard. Colored pencils were used by 42% of the entrants. Twelve percent used acrylic, 7% oil pastel and 4% paper collage.

The entries submitted this year were of high quality which made judging difficult. All participants, family and the general public are invited to attend the Montana Jr. Duck Stamp Award Ceremony on June 23 at Lee Metcalf NWR during the Bitterroot Birding & Nature Festival. Call Bob Danley at 777-5552, ext. 203 for more information.

Births

Births at Marcus Daly Hospital, Hamilton

3-14-07
Girl, 6 lbs., 15 oz., 19-1/2 inches, to Rich Eakle and Dayna Edmondson, Hamilton

3-15-07
Boy, 6 lbs., 11 oz., 19-1/2 inches, to Yimu Li and Zhaohui Du, Hamilton

3-19-07
Girl, 6 lbs., 10 oz., 19 inches, to Doug and Karen Nelson, Corvallis

3-20-07
Boy, 7 lbs., 5 oz., 19-1/2 inches, to Charles and Lynn Nead, Hamilton
Boy, 7 lbs., 2 oz., 20-1/2 inches, to Chris and Kristin Kanenwisher, Hamilton

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