Trego's Mountain Ear

"Serving North Lincoln County"

Tag: Eureka Montana

  • Rendezvous Again

    Since it’s that time of the year again- it also seems time to revisit what we’ve said about the origins of the word.

    Origins of the Word Rendezvous

    One of the reasons that English is described as difficult to learn is the number of words- over 170,000! Of those, the majority are loan-words, words taken from other languages.

    The word Rendezvous is one such word. It was appropriated from the French, around 1600 (during a brief period in which Britain and France were not at war- as a result of competition with Spain). The original usage appears to be a verb: rendez vous meaning present yourselves. This then becomes the noun describing the place of meeting we are accustomed to.

    English has borrowed from different languages at different times. At the time Rendezvous joined the English vocabulary, a significant number of the new words were coming from French.

    About two centuries after Rendezvous was appropriated from the French, William Ashley held the first trappers’ Rendezvous. These lasted for only fifteen years. Some of them were so large as to create temporary towns. Other gatherings in the same time period are occasionally given the same name. Our local Rendezvous has outlasted the original.

  • Origins of the Word Rendezvous

    One of the reasons that English is described as difficult to learn is the number of words- over 170,000! Of those, the majority are loan-words, words taken from other languages.

    The word Rendezvous is one such word. It was appropriated from the French, around 1600 (during a brief period in which Britain and France were not at war- as a result of competition with Spain). The original usage appears to be a verb: rendez vous meaning present yourselves. This then becomes the noun describing the place of meeting we are accustomed to.

    English has borrowed from different languages at different times. At the time Rendezvous joined the English vocabulary, a significant number of the new words were coming from French.

    About two centuries after Rendezvous was appropriated from the French, William Ashley held the first trappers’ Rendezvous. These lasted for only fifteen years. Some of them were so large as to create temporary towns. Other gatherings in the same time period are occasionally given the same name.. Our local Rendezvous has outlasted the original.

  • Scraps and Threads Celebrates Another Successful Quilt Show

    Scraps and Threads Celebrates Another Successful Quilt Show

    Held in conjunction with Rendezvous, Scraps and Threads Quilt Guild annual quilt show was well attended. This year the quilt show’s theme was Montana Silhouettes. The fair barn was decorated with silhouettes mostly representing Montana’s wildlife and included live wildlife (a fat mouse) scuttling in the facilities’ bathrooms. With over 100 quilted items on display, there was a variety of techniques and a lot of talent on display. Mel Casey and Shawnna Casazza tied for best theme quilts.  Delora Gauger won the People’s Choice award and 1st place in the large quilts category.  Delora’s extraordinary star quilt required 8 years to complete.

    In the adjacent fair barn was a craft show with a mixture of crafts, art work, antiques, plants, clothing and baked goods. Coffee and seating encouraged shoppers to linger and visit. Based on the empty tables and various shopping bags, much retail therapy occurred. -Patches

    a row of quilts
    Scraps and Threads 2022 raffle quilt
    Uncommon Threads 2022 raffle quilt
    Mel Casey’s award winning theme quilt
    Christine Wagner’s Award Winning Quilt
    Shawnna Casazza’s award winning theme quilt
    Washi eggs
    Retail Therapy for Quilters
    Delora Gauger’s award winning quilt
    Sandi Mason’s award winning quilt
    award winning miniature quilts

  • Thursday Held Shakespeare in the Park

    Thursday marked another season’s Shakespeare in the Park at the Historical Village.

    This year’s visit offered Cymbeline. Cymbeline isn’t the only play available- which play is offered varies by location- the better known play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, will be occurring in Libby this week.

    While Shakespeare in the Park makes due with a much smaller cast than the original plays seem to call for, it stays true to the original spirit. Some adjustments are made; minor characters are consolidated, and names are changed to account for actresses stepping into traditionally male parts.

    But the spirit remains, the jokes are made accessible despite the language barrier that Shakespeare presents, and the plays are as enjoyable by the general public as ever.

    We’d like to thank Montana Shakespeare in the Parks for the lovely performance, and Sunburst Arts & Education for their part in making it possible.

  • Fiberfest

    Fiberfest

    There are volumes written on what I don’t know about wool fiber and the process of turning fleece into yarn. Present was fiber from sheep, angora rabbits, and alpacas. Being a crafter that neither knits, crochets, or felts, I was dazzled by all the pretty yarns. There was an array of unprocessed wool fleece to completed wool garments with many examples of batts and yarn in between. Several booths featured someone spinning yarn as well as spinning wheels for sale. Outside the buildings was a petting zoo. In the youth building was a quilt show sponsored by the mini-makers.

    • dyed batts
    • Tracy Marvel of Woolin Rouge, purveyor and designer of wool quilt kits.

    Montana State University (MSU) representatives were available to evaluate wool quality.  They used an instrument imported from Australia. Accordingly, management recommendations are made based on the desired market.

    The enthusiasm of the fiber crafters was very evident.  They find using the spinning wheel very relaxing. I enjoyed visiting with them. I am not a convert, YET. -Patches

  • Measuring Migration

    When you work with Census data, migration numbers can be very precise – but the 10 years between each Census often make the data obsolete.  As demographers, we had to find ways to work around that – and U-Haul had the websites that let me better understand and explain migration.

    For example, if I price renting a 15’ truck in Bakersfield, California, heading to Eureka, Montana, I get a price quote of $5,173 today.  On the other hand, it costs $1,109 to rent the same truck in Eureka and drive it to Bakersfield.

    If I want to see beautiful Bend, Oregon in the rear view mirror of my 15’ rental truck, the website tells me the trip to Eureka, MT is $3,052.  Renting the same truck in Eureka, to go to Bend is only $654.

    I didn’t learn to abuse U-Haul’s website in a classroom – I got the general idea while riding a bus seated alongside a very successful retarded guy.  He made a living riding the bus – back then there was a pass that was good for six months travel in country – and then driving a car or small truck back to Denver.  He may not have completed high school – but he gave me the foundation of a method to quantify migration.  Obviously, Bakersfield and Bend have more people trying to leave, and Eureka has more inmigration. 

    If we look at the trip from Minneapolis to Eureka, it’s $1,703.  Eureka to Minneapolis is $1,362.  Park City, Utah showed up as $990 to Eureka, while Eureka to Park City was $495. 

    It provides a better feel for migration in central locations like Park City – where you can go in any direction.  You can’t go north from Eureka in this time of Covid – and you can’t drive west from California.  Still, it gives data in something resembling a ratio – the challenge the rental truck industry has is getting the trucks from destination locations (inmigration) back to the places they came from (outmigration) without hiring my friend with the Greyhound pass.

    TaxFoundation.org gives last year’s data, and it is massaged and compiled from more moving companies.  Guess what?  The top destination state (inmigration) is Idaho – and Idaho has a lot of similarities to western Montana.  Oregon was a destination state – and still needs the rental trucks from Eureka to keep things going.  I think the last person renting a truck to leave New Jersey might want to turn the lights off as he or she pays the last toll to drive out.

    I’ve rented U-Haul trucks a couple of times – but the company has provided me a lot of comparative data on migration during my career.  It’s still science, and it’s still numbers driven.