Trego's Mountain Ear

"Serving North Lincoln County"

Tag: Reading

  • Second-hand Information

    Most of my information, my knowledge, is second hand. I know Venezuela exists because I have been there – but my knowledge of Viet Nam comes from other people, their spoken stories and written ones. The world is too big to have a preponderance of experience.

    I’m looking at the photographs and videos posted on the internet about the flooding in south Lincoln County. My first-hand information is from floods down Libby way in the 70’s and 80’s when I worked for the Soil Conservation Service. My second-hand information is from people taking pictures with cell phones and drones yesterday and today. It’s a lot more relevant than my first-hand information. The change in technology though – that is impressive. I recall driving down to Libby with my 35mm camera, and vividly recall calling Oly Euland at the state, to fund a flight to get photos of the flood before it receded, the weather turned cold again, and snow covered all the damage.

    My first-hand knowledge won’t do anyone any good. Although there may be a chuckle at the expense of a landowner on Callahan Creek, who saw my government truck as I was photographing the flood, came up to me, said something nice about the government doing well to get there so quickly, then cursed me when I responded to his question of “You have a check for me, right?” with “No.” It was interesting to meet a man who went so quickly from compliments to curses.

    For the folks who are looking at Lincoln County being declared an emergency – up a Trego, we’re a little damp, but fine. Down Libby way, they’re at about 2,100 feet above sea level. Troy is about 1900 feet. We’re at 3,100 feet. The general rule is that you lose 5.2 degrees Fahrenheit for every 1000 feet of elevation increase. (That’s second-hand information, too – someone better than I did the calculations) Troy (well, actually where the Kootenai leaves Montana for Idaho) is the lowest point in Montana. That low elevation makes Libby and Troy very susceptible to flooding during winter thaws. On the other hand, there’s a big advantage in having Libby Dam, where the Corps of Engineers can crank the flow down and minimize the Kootenai’s impact on the flooding.

  • Mobile Bookstore Donated Books to Trego School

    Trego Elementary school recently received a donation of books from Saint Rita’s Textual Apothecary. Trego School is continuing to expand its library- and its filing system.

    The school has been working to expand the library and replace the card catalog with a more modern system, in conjunction with the school’s reading program. They are still hoping to acquire more books for students of all ages.

    This week marks midterm of the fourth quarter- the last day of school (and end of the year picnic) will be on June 3rd.

    Our thanks to the mobile bookstore for helping to foster a love of reading in our community.

  • Reading will be taking off at Trego School

    Taking advantage of the tour offered during the school’s start of the year Community Barbecue, I had the chance to visit the library and hear about the programs and changes taking place.

    This is the first of the reading program displays. Students move through different levels as they read, ultimately hoping to achieve the status of “Flight Commander”

    As students read, they’ll reach new levels, and ultimately the final level of “Flight Commander”. Progress won’t be without material reward, however. Students will earn dollars for books, money they can use to order books of their choosing.

    Additionally, some supporting changes are happening in the library proper. The card catalog is out and modern bar code scanners are in! That’s right, Trego’s library is amid a massive digitization progress using the tiny cat program. When finished, each book will be viewable in an online catalog with its cover, summary, publication information, and even reviews! Each book (and movie!) will have its own bar code. The program comes with ridiculously cute little scanners for students to use when checking out their books.

    As the library has been systematically organized, each book gone through, the search has been turning up “Antiques”: children’s books so old that they predate the library of congress system. Eventually, some of those treasures will be making their way into a display case.

    While nothing I read as a child would qualify as an antique, it did get me thinking about old favorites. Before Nancy Drew, and even before The Magic Treehouse and The Boxcar Children, was If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. What were your favorites when you were young?