Contact The Star

Outdoors In Montana

Local/State Info

Shouts of joy and excitement rang out within a few minutes of the start of the First Annual Fly Fishers of the Bitterroot Fishing Day. The Fly Fishers of the Bitterroot (FFB), through the generosity of Eileen and Wayne Stafford of Hamilton, arranged an opportunity for many clients of Ravalli Services to go fishing on July 19th. Seventeen clients arrived in Ravalli Services buses and in personal cars about 9 a.m. ready to fish for rainbow trout at the Staffords’ private pond on Skalkaho Road.

After a brief orientation and registration, fishing began. It was unclear who did the most shouting and cheering when a fish was hooked -- the clients, the caregivers, or FFB members -- let alone the cacophony heard when one was landed. One monster trout measuring over 23 inches was landed after a brief, and highly vocal, struggle. All clients caught a fish, through the able and eager assistance of 22 members of FFB, a non-profit fishing club in the Bitterroot Valley.

Leon Powell helps a young fisherwoman land her first fish. Submitted photo.

The Blacksmith Brewery and Longhorn Trading Company in Stevensville will both be sponsoring benefits this weekend for the ‘Tough Enough to Wear Pink of Montana’ foundation. This is a national program developed for the rodeo contestant and fan. It began in 2006 during the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo as a means to raise awareness and funds for breast caner research. The idea quickly spread and today, many professional rodeos will have a day for the Tough Enough to Wear Pink foundation. On those days, the rodeo cowboys all wear pink, as does much of the crowd.

An organization in Missoula took the event a step farther last year at the Western Montana Fair and Rodeo. A Chicks and Chaps Women’s Rodeo Clinic was held during the day at the fair. About 170 women participated in the event, which featured one-on-one time with the cowboy contestants. The women learned how to rope, ride a mechanical bull, and learn about the rodeo stock. They then had a catered dinner and arena-side seats for the night rodeo. It was a huge success and raised over $20,000 for the Tough Enough To Wear Pink Foundation. That money stays in Montana and goes towards helping women with breast cancer screening and diagnosis, and money is also given to patients needing money for gas or lost wages, according to their website.

The Blacksmith Brewing Company will donate fifty cents of every beer sold on Friday to the Tough Enough campaign. On Saturday, some of the top cowboys who are participating in Chicks and Chaps will be on hand at the Brewery so fans can come on down and meet them. The Chicks and Chaps Clinic at the Missoula Fair will be August 14, but that event has sold out, according to chairman Shannon Hart. Last year, Bridger Chambers of Stevensville was one of the cowboys at the Chicks and Chaps event and he, along with Miles Suberg, will be on hand.

On Saturday, Longhorn Trading will have a dog show behind the store at the north end of Main Street. There will be a judged costume contest and then there will be dog races. The dogs will race against their own type, i.e. toys against toys, standards against standard sized dogs and the big dogs against each other. Longhorn Trading is a sponsor of Chicks and Chaps and Hart felt this would be a great way to get the word out about Tough Enough to Wear Pink in the Stevensville area. There will be a Calcutta prior to the dog races with the proceeds of that going to the Tough Enough to Wear Pink Foundation.

The Bitterroot Red Sox fell one game short of the championship title on Monday afternoon at the American Legion State Tournament in Three Forks over the weekend. After losing to Laurel on Saturday, the Red Sox had to battle their way back through the loser’s bracket to play the same Laurel team in the championship game.

They defeated Lethbridge on Sunday morning to earn a berth in the championship game where they met up with Laurel, again. The Red Sox came out on fire in the first game and quickly jumped out to a 4-0 lead. They built on that lead and went on to win, 13-4. Because the tournament is a true double elimination tournament, the Red Sox and Laurel team turned around and battled again, just about an hour after the first game. The heat took its toll on the boys from the ‘Root in the second game and they lost, 6-0.

“They just ran out of steam,” said Jesse Wilson, assistant manager for the Red Sox.

The Red Sox began the tournament with a win over the Billings Cardinals. Rodee Anderson had seven strikeouts and finished with two RBIs. Then it was on to Tri-County on Friday. The Red Sox had the run of the field in that game and came away with an 18-1 win.

They then advanced to the Saturday game against Laurel. The Red Sox and Laurel were tied at the end of the fifth inning but then Laurel got hot and scored eight more runs and took the 9-3 win.

That loss set up the Sunday morning game against Lethbridge. Wes Sherman socked a solo home run in the third inning that was the only run of the game. The Red Sox defense kept the Canadian team off of home plate and the Red Sox were in the championships.