Coordinator of the Ravalli County Youth Suicide Prevention Alliance, Brian Cherry, thinks that most people would be shocked to learn that Montana has the highest suicide rate of any state in the nation and that Ravalli County is among the highest in the state. Since the year 2000, sixty residents of the county have committed suicide, according to Cherry. That’s an astounding number, and, for Cherry, an unacceptable state of affairs.

“The Ravalli County Youth Suicide Prevention Alliance is our community’s response to the recognition of both this troubling fact and the empowering insight that suicide is also the most preventable form of death,” said Cherry. “Our understanding is that anyone can prevent a suicide and our mission is to offer everyone in our community the tools necessary to do so.”

To that end the Alliance offers a wide range of services, free of charge, to interested community members or groups. QPR (Question, Persuade, and Refer) Suicide Prevention Training corrects myths and misconceptions related to suicide, teaches participants to identify suicide risk factors and warning signs, and prepares individuals to “ask a question to save a life.”

“Our Suicide Loss Support group meets twice monthly to allow those bereaved by suicide to benefit from the supportive presence and experience of others who have been affected by this unique form of loss,” said Cherry.

The Alliance provides mental health screenings to schools and workplaces to assist in the early identification of the mental illnesses that are present in most individuals who attempt suicide. Workplace and organizational prevention, intervention, and postvention planning is available as are speakers focusing on situation-specific mental health related issues. The Alliance is also working to develop a comprehensive referral resource list.

Cherry said that funding for the local Alliance has come through the federal Garret Lee Smith Memorial Act. Under that Act the federal government grants money to states and counties for suicide prevention efforts and education.

This September 7th through the 13th is National Suicide Prevention Week and across the country suicide prevention efforts will be highlighted on billboards with artwork designed by local youth in the Victor area involved in the Ravalli County Youth Suicide Prevention Alliance.

If you would like more information about the Alliance and its work call Brian Cherry at 360-2708 or e-mail him at HYPERLINK "mailto:bccherry@gmail.com" bccherry@gmail.com

Retired Extension Agent being honored at Fair - By Jean Schurman

Even though he has been in the Bitterroot Valley 36 years and had a very, very active part in the Ravalli County Fair, on Wednesday, Rob Johnson will be a part of something he’s never even seen here. On Wednesday, Johnson will be right behind the color guard in the place of honor, as the Grand Marshal for the Fair Parade. Johnson retired last spring after 36 years as one of Ravalli County’s Extension Agents. In all those years, he never saw the parade that marks the beginning of the fair. Instead, he was in the beef barn or the sheep barn, overseeing the 4H shows that are such an important part of the fair.

He came to the Bitterroot in July of 1972 and took over a 4H program that was in a bit of turmoil. With his quiet demeanor and willingness to listen to all sides of the issue, he quietly but efficiently moved the 4H program to one of the top programs in the state.

Through the years, Johnson has seen many changes in the 4H program. When he first arrived, the Bitterroot was still very much an agrarian community and most of the kids in 4H had grown up on farms and ranches.

“They knew a little about everything,” he said.

The Fair reflected this, with high numbers in the large animal projects and not even some of the small animal projects there are today.

“We built a milking stall because there were so many dairy cows here at the fair,” he said. “And almost all of the horse projects were devoted to training colts, not horsemanship.”

But the valley was changing and it wasn’t too long after he arrived in 1972 that there were more kids involved in horsemanship and small animals were wiggling their way onto the fairgrounds. One thing that wasn’t changing, though, was the large number of youngsters taking part in the program.

As with any organization made up of volunteers, there are many different ideas on how to achieve a goal. Johnson has always been the advocate for the kids in the program and maintains “you have to work things out with the folks you are working with.”

When he first began, there were upwards of 28 to 30 4H clubs in the county with numerous adult leaders. He says the number of clubs is now down in the low 20’s and there are fewer leaders to help with the projects. Added to that, there are many more projects today, so finding a leader to help with a particular project can be troublesome.

“But there are folks that really get in there and go to bat for the kids,” he said. “I like to see that.”

The 4H motto is ‘Learn by Doing’ and Johnson has followed this creed throughout his life. Growing up in northeastern Montana near the small town of Savage, he was a 4H member who at one time even raised three different steers to see which one would be the best. Although he doesn’t remember the outcome, he does remember the learning process.

The Johnsons raised sugar beets, corn for silage and hay on their irrigated farm. They also had a small cattle herd that grazed on the rangeland. Because of severe allergies, Johnson’s father encouraged him to go into something other than staying on the farm, so Johnson attended school at Montana State University in Bozeman.

Like many college students, Johnson went to school believing he would do one thing and ended up, after seven years, doing another. He went to work for the Extension Service and found he liked the work. Eventually he attended grad school in Nebraska and then went to work as an extension agent. He worked in offices in Mineral County and Yellowstone County before coming to Ravalli County.

When Rob and his wife, Joan, moved to the valley, they decided they were done moving and settled in for the long haul. They raised their three kids here and after the kids were out of the nest, Joan went back to school at the University of Montana and became a social worker.

“We liked it here,” he said. “And we became a part of the valley.”

Extension work is not just 4H, though. Johnson has been involved in the education of the Bitterroot in many ways. He says that he is especially proud of a few newer programs that not only help the agricultural community of the Bitterroot but the entire valley.

He was one of the founders of the Bitterroot Land Trust. He worked with Steve Powell and Chris Miller to get the program off the ground, because he thought the program would be a help to some farmers and ranchers and give them another option.

“I saw some benefit in having an organization that deals with conservation easements.”

Another group along those same lines that Johnson has been involved with is the Ravalli County Right to Farm and Ranch Board. He says it’s been a team effort with capable people trying to encourage agriculture and also preserve that way of life here in the valley.

A group of what he affectionately called ‘grandmas’ started the Bitterroot Water Forum but it didn’t take Johnson long to understand what a beneficial force it could be. The group deals with water quality and quantity.

“Irrigation is so big here in the Bitterroot and fishing is big here, too. We want to help people understand that it really is all related, both the quality and the quantity.”

This symbiotic approach to the valley is evident in another group Johnson is involved in, the Open Lands Board. “We are working to preserve working farms and ranches. This will not only preserve agriculture but habitat and will have a lot to do with maintaining water quality.”

“One guy’s sediment is another guy’s horse trail,” he says as he sums up his involvement with these groups. “I just want to help people see that.”

Even though he is retired, Johnson will still be involved in the Ravalli County Fair. There are a few open classes that he will judge and of course he will be there for the Market Animal Sale on Saturday morning. A week from Friday, he will be at Hamilton Packing for the carcass evaluation because this is really what the market animal project is all about.

He will have some time to do new things at the fair this year, too. A member of Kiwanis for many years, he has always had an ‘excused absence’ from working at the Kiwanis kabob booth. Not so this year. He’ll be right there, putting in his shift.

Johnson will be recognized at the Livestock Sale on Saturday morning for his many years of service to the agricultural and 4H communities. But as he has throughout his career, he’ll quickly refocus on the young member selling her animal for the first time, or an old member that remembers the young extension agent stepping into the fire for Ravalli County 4H. He’s seen a lot through the years but his compassion and his desire to see the very best in everyone has never faltered.

Montana employers now hiring – Jobs Network revamps site

Montana Jobs Network, the nonprofit charitable organization which provides job matching services for Montanans, has launched its Montana Jobs Network Career Portal (www.montana-jobs.org). The eight-year-old organization has divided its legacy all-in-one Internet portal (www.montana-jobs.net) into what will become two distinct destinations for Montana employers and job seekers.

Montana Jobs Network Executive Director Julie Foster said, “It has been quite a challenge and long over-due. The legacy website application had fallen into disrepair and manual intervention for user revisions to job postings and resumes had become necessary. The community programs and informational aspect of the online application also suffered from an overcrowded interface that led to user confusion in navigating the website.”

The all-new Montana Jobs Network Career Portal has been redesigned so that the user’s focus becomes specific to job matching services.

“Providing less confusion within the application interface and an enhanced focus on ease of use and efficiencies will provide a higher degree of creditable search returns for users,” said Foster. “Should an employer have specific need of finding a candidate with special skills, education, certifications or languages as an example, they can easily bring forward search returns of potential applicants for employment consideration.”

The debut of the new website has already led to the registration of several Montanans living out of state that have the desire to return to Montana.

“We have always placed an emphasis on returning expatriated Montanans,” said Foster. “Come Home Montana™ has been one of our most successful programs and has garnered enthusiasm and direct community participation across the state. It is our intent to revitalize this program and others with the planned redesign of the Community Portal, scheduled for public release early in 2009.”

The Career Portal advertises many highly skilled and professional positions. Likewise there are career job seekers with very impressive resumes.

“We have many highly credentialed people looking for career positions in Montana,” said Foster. “Global interest is also seen in resumes posted by European professionals who are looking for opportunities here. We are very hands on will go the extra mile to introduce job matching opportunities to employers and job seekers.”

Much of the job matching that occurs through Montana Jobs Network is via a website application search engine. It is custom designed to filter resumes and isolate specific employer requirements within searches in order to identify qualifying job candidates.

Asked whether the Career Portal accepted advertising and job seeker registration for positions requiring lesser skill-sets and educational requirements, Foster said, “We are happy to accommodate everyone. Every job in Montana is vitally important and every employee is the blood that pumps the heart of our economy. Montana Jobs Network exists for everyone. We dedicate ourselves and our services to Montanans; those resident, expatriated and those new employers and job seekers who will come to contribute to our communities in the future.”

Montana Jobs Network has, in the nearly nine years since it was founded, provided its services free of cost for all users engaged in job matching. The Career Portal now requires fees for services provided to employers. A departure from years past, the service fees are being implemented to directly benefit users through the various programs and applications made available to them.

“The original application we developed years ago had the ability and it was our intent then to charge administrative fees to offset costs and help sustain our programs and applications,” said Foster. “However, our advisory group and a few influential Montana business enterprises thought we might do well to seek out private and publicly available funding to subsidize our services.

“Given this direction Montana Jobs Network has been providing all services without cost. It was also implied early on that we should in time wean ourselves from the dependency of discretionary funding sources and implement administrative fee based income to help sustain Montana Jobs Network.

“In past years we have had generous donations from First Interstate Bank and Davidson Companies. We have received in-kind contributions from RightNow Technologies and have had the benefit of grant funding provided through a USDA Rural Business Enterprise grant for development of (MBC101) Montana Business Culture Core Skills and Training. A grant received from the Qwest Foundation made it possible for the development and deployment of Come Home Montana™. These resources together with many other contributing businesses, organizations and individuals helped make our programs successful within communities across Montana.”

Organizations public and private such as the State of Montana Governor’s Office of Economic Development, Bear Paw Development Corp., Mid-Rivers Communications, Montana World Trade Center, Montana Chamber of Commerce, Montana Associated Technology Roundtables (MATR), Montana Economic Developers Association (MEDA), University of Montana Alumni Association, Montana State University Alumni Association Bozeman and many others, have all played important supporting roles leading to the success of Montana Jobs Network.

“The Mission of Montana Jobs Network is in part, to provide comprehensive and user friendly resources that will aid in the job selection, hiring, training and the subsequent retention of a highly qualified and desirable work force within Montana,” said Foster. “Secondary to that objective but no less important are the efforts made to assist in providing entrepreneurial opportunities within Montana and to stimulate and grow our economy.”

According to Foster, the administrative fees are now necessary to develop and maintain Montana Jobs Network applications and programs. All funds go to support and sustain the nonprofit charitable organization. Montana Jobs Network has no staff, advisory group members or officers that are compensated for their time and efforts.

The Montana Jobs Network Career Portal fees are tiered and Membership Privileges are $25 annually or $125 for a Lifetime Membership. Optionally there exists fee based services for employers to post jobs on the website and employer subscription fees for direct access to the Career Portal resume database.

Foster said, “The Montana Jobs Network Career Portal provides real benefits to the Montana employer and to job seekers everywhere. However, should an employer feel they have not realized any value in their membership, we are happy to refund their membership and any current service related fee paid. We will ask them why they were dissatisfied, but only so that we can improve or correct any aspect of our programs and services that may not be working as they should.”

Website tracking illustrates a very important set of metrics regarding employers’ needs in Montana. Within the last two weeks of July, 35% of employers visiting the Career Portal signed up for the opportunity of obtaining information from newly registered job seekers.

The Montana Jobs Network Career Portal can be found on the Internet at HYPERLINK "http://www.montana-jobs.org" www.montana-jobs.org. Foster invites anyone who has an interest in the Career Portal to make contact at her email address: HYPERLINK "mailto:jmfoster@montana-jobs.net" jmfoster@montana-jobs.net.

Green Home Living Design Contest

This Design Contest is open to Bitterroot owner builders, commercial builders, design professionals and students who have built, are building or designing a green home, commercial building, retrofit of an existing structure or a farm subdivision of ten or more houses on ten or more acres using sustainable means and materials.

A sustainably built structure adapts modern living to the model of natural systems creating a healthy legacy through sustainability, efficiency, resiliency and beauty.

Judging criteria

• Minimizes waste & embodied energy by efficiently using recycled and sustainably produced materials
• Conserves energy
• Uses renewable energy sources
• Uses local building materials and skills
• Recycles waste
• Builds with energy efficient, non-polluting techniques & equipment
• Preserves the local environment
• Minimizes toxic inputs
• Provides a healthy indoor environment

Green Home Living Design Contest opens Earth Day, April 22, 2008. Entry deadline is December 31, 2008.

Winners and awards will be announced Earth Day, April 22, 2009. Winners of each category will receive a $500 cash prize and free promotion at the next Green Home Living event. For a registration form or more information, please call Laura Craig at 961-0004.

Call for crafters

The Daly Mansion invites crafters to display and sell their hand crafted and home made goods in the historic Daly Mansion during their Holly Jolly Craft Show, November 8 and 9. The Daly Mansion offers a unique venue on all three floors of the Mansion and will be decorated for the holiday season. Holiday items are strongly encouraged but not required. There is a nominal booth fee of $55.00. Reservations are requested by September 8. For more information or to request a reservation application, contact April at 363-6004, ext. 3.

Stevensville FFA competes at Montana State Fair - By Brittany Hancock

On July 29 and 30, the Stevensville FFA chapter competed at the Montana State Fair in Great Falls. The chapter competed in Livestock Evaluation, Range, Soils, and Public Speaking events. Overall, the chapter placed 4th. The three teams also placed very well. Livestock was awarded 2nd place, and the team was composed of Brittany Hancock, Laura Frazee and Sterling Veltkamp. The Range team was awarded 6th place. The team was composed of Amy Nagel, Riley Leingang, Jon Conner, and Alex Lotan. The Soils team was also awarded 6th Place and that team was Amy Nagel, Riley Leingang, Jon Conner, Alex Lotan, and Sarah Ralls. The chapter also had one member in the New Horizons speaking contest, where Riley Leingang placed 2nd. The individuals that placed in Livestock were Laura Frazee in 5th, Sterling Veltkamp in 6th, and Brittany Hancock in 12th. In Range, Riley Leingang placed 10th and in Soils he placed 9th.

Local author releases new book of musings

Hamilton author Joan Sisson announces the publication of her most recent book, "Smiles", a 102-page illustrated collection of short stories and musings, fact and fiction, published in cooperation with Stoneydale Press of Stevensville.

"Smiles is designed as 'short reads while waiting' and Montanans can easily relate to many of the musings in the book, but particularly one titled 'Snow'," according to publisher Dale Burk.

Joan, a widely-published author, and her husband, Dave, a retired chemist, moved to Hamilton in the summer of 2004, to be near their daughter, Becky Laugel, and her family, in Hamilton.

This is Joan's seventh book. She has written stories for teens, “Echo Valley” (1984), “Green Eyes at Echo Valley” (1986) and “Dan” (2007); the first two are now in second printings. All three are available from Xlibris or through many bookstores, including Borders or Barnes and Noble. Two of her books for young children, “Marigold” (1988) and “One Little Heifer” (1993), are available from the author. She has also compiled her father's autobiography, “A Life in Each Decade of the 20th Century,” 312 pages, a book of interest to both historians and genealogists for its eye-witness accounts.

Her new book, “Smiles,” retails for $10 and is available at many bookstores, or direct from the author for $10 plus $3 postage at 113 Silverberry St., Hamilton MT 59840-3631, or from Stoneydale Press, 523 Main Street, Stevensville MT 59870-2839.

Stevi kids do well at Western Montana Fair

Lila Severson of Stevensville was awarded Grand Champion Market Steer at the Western Montana Fair held August 5-9 in Missoula. Boone Chambers, Laura Frazee, Melissa McFadgen and Isaac Hunter received Purple Ribbons for their Market Steers. Sherry Walters received a Blue Ribbon for her Market Steer.

Llama sanctuary in need of donations

Safe Haven Llama and Alpaca Sanctuary is in need of donations to help with the purchase of hay and feed. It is a non-profit corporation and any charitable contributions and gifts are tax-deductible. The cost of hay for the 2008-09 season is $200 per ton plus $20 per ton delivery. The sanctuary is in need of 10 tons. For a donation of $50 or more you will receive a dog/cat pet pillow bed stuffed with llama/alpaca fiber. To donate hay call Char at 961-4027 or to make a contribution send to Safe Haven, 780 Old Corvallis Road, Corvallis MT 59828.

Apples needed

The McIntosh Apple Day Festival is Saturday, Oct. 4th. The Ravalli County Museum needs apples to use in the apple cider and apple butter for the event, so if your apple trees are ready for picking before September 27th please contact us. Call the Museum at 363-3338 and we will get a crew of volunteers out to pick your apples.

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