The spring open burning season will run from March 1 to April 30. Burners must call the Ventilation Hotline daily at 751-8144 or check online at www.flatheadhealth.org before burning. The hotline and the Web site are updated daily before 8:30 a.m. Weekend information will be available on the hotline by 5 p.m. on Fridays. Prohibited materials include all man-made materials, treated materials, wood and wood by-product trade wastes. Construction debris is considered a trade waste. Campfires and warming fires are restricted to less than three feet in diameter and consist of materials less than three inches in diameter.
Category: News
Thanksgiving at the hall was rich in community spirit
NFLA Vice President Donna Harrison recently attended Thanksgiving at the hall and sent in the following story…
Numbers were small, but community spirits high on a snowy Thanksgiving Day. The challenge of an icy, rutty parking lot was met with neighborly good
cheer as vehicles were pushed in to parking spaces. The Hall was warm and lovingly decorated by volunteers who arrived early to make it a welcoming place.
Three turkeys and a beautiful ham donated by Steve and Christina Berg were prepared in the homes of several generous folks. These and delicious dressings, scrumptious mashed potatoes and gravy, tasty casseroles, and salads awaited the line of diners. Of course, the beautiful table of pies
and cakes and other goodies tempted everyone and caused many to overeat (including me). The smaller crowd made visiting easier, and lots of folks caught up with neighbors while enjoying food and fellowship in our unique North Fork way.
Thanks to everyone for a wonderful time.
Thank you Donna for sending in the story. Don’t forget, if you have something to contribute to the website, don’t hesitate to send it in using the NFLA contact page.
Treasurer has a new email address
NFLA’s Treasurer Bonny Ogle has a new email address. Please change your address book for Bonny’s email to nflatreasurer@gmail.com. And thank you Bonny for all your hard work!
Backwoods Booklovers looking for suggestions
Although the snow is flying, it’s not too soon to be planning for next summer. The Backwoods Booklovers are soliciting suggestions for 2014 books. Two fiction and two non-fiction books are included in the schedule. Please send your suggestions, with a review if you have read the book, to Gerry Stearns at gsmontana@hotmail.com. If you don’t have suggestions but would like to have a say in what books are read, please send your e-mail address and note to Gerry.
New North Fork short stories
Two new North Fork short stories by Esther Chrisman have been added to the North Fork History Project page. The first, called The Bart Monahan Homestead, tells about Esther’s first home on the North Fork. The second, called Our Friend Tom, is about Tom Reynolds. Check them both out under the North Fork Short Stories on the North Fork History Project page.
New Sign on Sondreson Community Hall
The NFLA board has been discussing a new sign for Sondreson Hall for over a year. While visiting the North Fork, Paul Genovese became interested in what was happening up here. He checked out the NFLA website and listened to the oral history interviews posted by the North Fork History Project. After that, he started reading the board minutes where he discovered that we were interested in a sign for the Hall. He contacted me because I was still the NFLA President at the time and we talked about the sign design that the board had in mind. Using a computer-controlled plasma cutting machine he cut the design out of a steel plate with a rustic finish. When the sign was finished, he drove up to the Community Hall and mounted it. Many thanks to Paul for his initiative, creativity, time, materials, and interest in the North Fork Community.
NFLA annual food drive results
The annual NFLA food drive was started again this summer during the NFLA’s
August business meeting. Throughout the late summer and early fall, food was
donated by members of the North Fork community and collected at the Community
Hall. At the beginning of October, Tom Edwards gathered these donations and
delivered them to the Columbia Falls Food bank. The 2013 donations included
38 lbs. of food. Estimating $1.50 per pound, the total for food was $57.00.
There were additional donations in checks for $75.00. That makes the grand
total for this year $132.00. We want to thank everyone who donated an
participated in this years food drive effort.
Hunting season is here
Hunting season is already underway for bow, moose, and bear hunters, and rifle season for deer and elk opens on Oct. 25th running through Dec. 1. That means there will soon be a lot of hunters on the North Fork, including local residents, folks from around the state, and out of state hunters.
We recommend contacting the North Fork Patrol for advice on the best ways to mark your property against trespassing (see the Contact page for more information on the North Fork Patrol).
Be sure to always wear orange when you go out hiking, even if you don’t plan to leave the main road. And it’s a good idea to get an orange vest for your dogs, too! (Just make sure the girth is snug and doesn’t ride too far back on male dogs – we know of a certain dog who has had some trouble peeing in his orange suit…)
For you hunters, please be considerate of others in the woods, pay attention to private property signage, and don’t leave gut piles or other attractants where they could attract bears and endanger your neighbors. If you are in any doubt about the rules, check out FWP’s Hunter Page on their website.
Stay safe, everybody!
Maintenance Committee update – new porch on the back of Sondreson Hall
Lynn Ogle, Gary McDonough and Allen Chrisman replaced the back porch at Sondreson Community Hall on Wednesday September 11, 2013. The decking on the existing porch had rotted. The porch was replaced with pressure treated 4×4 stringers and 2×6 decking, and placed on concrete pads to prevent ground contact and rot. Thanks to Lynn for picking up the materials in town, and to Lynn and Gary for providing the tools and expertise necessary to complete the project. We were one board short – but found a scrap to finish out the project for the time being.
Tuchuck Trail Report
An MCC (Montana Conservation Corp) Trail Crew will be working on the higher section of Tuchuck on September 9-16. Even though they have received only 50% of the RAC grant funding for this project due to sequestration, they will try to get as much done as possible in a week. This is great news because the switchbacks going up to Tuchuck Peak are in terrible condition.