Trego's Mountain Ear

"Serving North Lincoln County"

Tag: 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.

  • Light Breeze . . . Vane sets to wind, sock begins to fill

    I’ve been asked several times to put the story of the 1988 member uprising that replaced the Lincoln Electric Board on paper.  I suppose it should be written down – few electric cooperatives have had successful member uprisings, and, of the most active members of CREAM (Concerned REA Members), only Craig Eaton and I are still around to tell the tale.  Kenny Gwynn, Al Luciano, Duke Baney have long since passed on, but this is their story just as well.

    And I am not going to identify the inside source.  Promised to keep the secret over 30 years ago, and the promise is still good.  Not going to tell you if our source – the other side used the word snitch – is male or female, alive or dead. 

    I wasn’t involved at the beginning.  We started watching the board meetings in June or July, when Craig had commented on nepotism in LEC hiring.  The June 27, 1988 issue of the Mountain Ear headlines “Lincoln Electric Has New Nepotism Policy.”  “The new policy prohibits hiring of relatives (of management and supervisory employees) of the third degree and closer.”  July 25 included, “The board discussed proposed policy #700.  Policy #700 will require the public to be on the agenda before being heard.  The policy seems to be in response to Craig Eaton’s appearance before the board last May.”  September 5 headlined “REA Manager to Retire” and described how the manager would stay in Eureka for two years after retirement, as a consultant, with no managerial responsibilities or duties, receiving his regular salary as fixed in June 11, 1989.

    In retrospect, it’s obvious things were heating up, and we were reporting them.  In the September 19 issue, I commented that I had 3 months off because of a broken back.  On September 26th we wrote:

    “We’ve been attending Lincoln Electric co-op meetings for about 3 months now–since Craig Eaton told of nepotism in REA hiring. 
    By and large, we hadn’t seen a need to cover these meetings before.  I turn the switch, and my lights, computer, whatever go on.  Trego has better electric service than anywhere else I’ve lived or worked–and considering the places I’ve packed a computer into as a consultant, that says a lot.
    Unfortunately, several of the trustees, along with Craig Eaton, have brought us to the realization that you can’t judge every aspect of your electric co-op by pulling a light switch in the morning.
    There’s a story to be told, and some accusations to be investigated.  We’ll be running a series of articles on the REA covering the accusations and making our own conclusions.  The Mountain Ear is too small a publication to cover all this in a single issue, and advertising is the tail that wags the dog–we can’t afford the single issue approach.
    Besides, with this much controversy, we’ll get even better readership during the next couple of months.   

  • Patches Pictures

    Patches Pictures

    (Ѝâ@½è’

  • Ballot Problems- Again

    It’s not every day that Lincoln County makes the news outside of our state. Our recent primary election did just that due to an error in ballot size, resulting in a hand-count that delayed results.

    Montana gained a new seat in the house of representatives- and the race to determine the republican nominee for that new seat was a tight one. Tight enough that Ryan Zinke and Al Olszewski had to wait until Lincoln County’s results were counted in order to know who had one (Zinke).

    This isn’t exactly the first time we’ve had trouble with the ballots in Lincoln County, though admittedly the last time didn’t leave such widespread headlines. Last year Trego residents incorrectly received ballots for the Eureka Elementary School Board Election, which complicated the counting a bit. Before that, during the last presidential election, an entire box of ballots was left in north county and not counted until days later (County Clerk Robin Benson, running unopposed for reappointment this November, described this as impeccable). Of course, we have been replacing our election administrator, so the trend belongs to the county and not the person. Still, this doesn’t exactly inspire faith for November.

    I’ve been complaining about the number of elections by acclamation in our county, but I think I have a new request. In addition to actually having an election, I’d like to have one where only the results made headlines. Hopefully November’s election runs more smoothly.

  • Part-Time Social Studies Position Available at Trego School

    Trego School is looking for a part-time social studies teacher.

    Who Qualifies? Anyone licensed in the state of Montana to teach social studies for grades 5-8. That is, anyone with an elementary k-8 endorsement, or an appropriate secondary 5-12 license.

    Part-time? Yes. Trego School is looking for someone (or several someones) to teach four hours of social studies one day a week for at least one thirteen week trimester. Fifty-two hours. With three trimesters, this position could be filled with as many as three teachers or as few as one.

    Why Work Part-Time? There are plenty of reasons people choose to work part-time. Part-time employment is a good answer for anyone with a reason to stay home most of the time. It has the benefit of allowing time in the rest of the week for errands and appointments. And, for those that are unable to work full-time for health reasons, part-time employment can be an answer.

    Additionally, working for a partial school year leaves more time for travel, or to not travel. Don’t want to drive in the worst of winter? Don’t work that trimester!

    Would this still count for TRS? If you’ve already paid into Montana TRS, definitely! This would be an easy way to add some extra years (if not highly paid years, part-time being rather less income than full-time) to a retirement.

    Four hour blocks? Core classes, such as social studies, will be taught in four hour blocks, meaning the teacher will only be expected on campus once a week.

    Why teach on a block schedule? Having taught on both, I’ve personally found the block schedule to be superior. Transition times between classes present a major loss of instructional time. Additionally, short classes prevent students spending much time being deeply involved and engaged in activities. Longer classes allow for instruction and work-time both, which gives students the benefit of practice supported by their teacher.

    One of the major perks of a block schedule is the potential for lengthy activities. In a science classroom, this is typically labs. In a history class, it might well be field trips. Ultimately, the classroom we must prepare children for is the world. Four hours is plenty of time to visit old buildings, to learn the local parts of Montana History through experience instead of through pictures.

    What classes? A teacher could apply to teach each social studies class for the school year (three trimesters), or for only a single trimester (13 weeks). Montana divides its social studies standards into four categories: Civics and Government, Economics, Geography, and History. Classes could easily be fit into those categories (with care to include the relevant standards from other categories), but a Montana History Class could easily include elements of geography, civics and government as well as economics. The categories of social studies are highly interconnected, so there is considerable freedom for class design. In other words, teach the class you always wanted to teach. Share the topic you love.

    Interested? Contact Shari Puryer (clerk@tregoschool.org) for more details and to pick up a copy of the District Application.

  • Fewer Democrats than Hinsdale County

    I’m looking at my primary ballots.  Montana has an extremely civilized method of conducting primary elections without forcing people to register with one questionable party or the other.  It’s nice – in South Dakota, the most fervent Democrat I knew had been registered as a Republican for 40 years, just so he could vote in the primaries.  Here, in the privacy of my own home, I can pick the party I want, send it in, and never have to publicly endorse either party.

    My Democratic Party ballot includes the names of only three democrats – Monica Tranel, Tom Winter, and Cora Neumann.  They are democrats – Tranel lives in Missoula, Winter in Polson, and Neumann in Bozo.  In short, there are no Lincoln County democrats on the ballot in Lincoln County.  And I don’t have any particular preference for the other 3 – though wikipedia says Monica was an Olympic rower.  I’m not sure that overcomes the achievement of becoming an attorney.  I can think of a couple good reasons to keep attorneys out of the places where laws are made.  Similar arguments go for the clergy.

    I’ve checked the telephone book, and found no evidence of Alferd Packer in Lincoln County – but if memory serves (and it does) the 1883 sentencing quote seems relevant: “Alferd Packer, stand up you son of a bitch.  There were seven democrats in Hinsdale County, and you, you voracious man-eating son of a bitch, you ate five of them.  I sentence you to be hanged by the neck until you are dead, dead, dead.  You republican cannibal.  I would sentence you to hell itself but the statutes do not permit it.”  (You can check Alferd Packer out on line – I’m writing from memory because I’d rather print the legend – the actual sentence may have been a bit milder)  Here’s Alferd’s picture:

    So I look at the empty democratic primary ballot, with the thought that it is difficult to have a two-party system if one party doesn’t show up.  What societal trends have occurred that the metaphysical ghost of Alferd Packer has his imprint on our ballots?  Heck – Alferd left 2 democrats in Hinsdale County – the closest democrat on our ballot is in Polson. 

    The ballots show only a single choice in partisan candidates for local political offices.  If I want to make that choice, I can vote for either Brian Teske or Stuart Crismore to fill the blank spot as county commissioner from Libby.  Doubtless, both fine men.  Have to be.  It’s the only spot on the ballot where we actually have an election.  The other candidates will move unopposed into the offices in November.

    We need to stop Alferd Packer’s ghost.  Encourage your local democrats to come out of the closet.  I can remember one brave democrat at the county fair, trying to sell me a raffle ticket, with the argument, “Your side has been in power and caused all these problems. You should at least kick a dollar into helping us.”  I asked “Who are the libertarians who have been in power?” and he left.  I’m thinking that I should have kicked a couple dollars in just to encourage the dems to come out into the open – that blank ballot does show the death of a two-party system . . . and history gives me plenty of examples of single party systems.

    Let’s be kind to our local democrats, and see if we can stop the ghost of Alferd Packer from roving around Lincoln County.