july 2014 montana best times

Stroke was ‘a blessing in disguise’

From candles to modern power

Ornithologist tests an anti-bear technique

Reins, stagecoaches and wagons

A Monthly Publication for Folks 50 and BetterMO

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AN

A July 2014

July 2014 — 2

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Bookshelf .................................................Page 3Opinion ....................................................Page 4 Savvy Senior ............................................Page 5Big Sky Birding .......................................Page 14

Volunteering .............................................Page 19On the Menu ............................................0Calendar ...................................................Page 21Strange But True ......................................Page 22

INSIDE

News Lite

Skyscraper game of Tetris breaks world record PHILADELPHIA (AP) — All the pieces have fallen into place

for the designer of a giant Tetris game.Drexel University professor Frank Lee has earned the Guin-

ness World Record for largest architectural video game display. Again.

Lee and two colleagues created a computer program to play the classic shape-fitting puzzle on two sides of a 29-story skyscraper in Philadelphia.

They used hundreds of lights embedded in the glass facades of the Cira Centre. All told, the “screens” totaled nearly 120,000 square feet (11,000 square meters).

Dozens of Tetris enthusiasts played the supersized version in April using a joystick from about a mile away.

The record announced June 24 beat the previous one also set by Lee. Last year, he recreated the classic Atari game Pong on a single side of the same building.

Man admires Alaska State Troopers, turns himself in on warrants

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Acting courteous, even when arresting someone, has paid dividends for the Alaska State Troop-ers.

KTVA reports a 49-year-old Anchorage man wanted on several felony warrants decided to turn himself in to troopers after watch-ing an episode of the reality show “Alaska State Troopers” on the National Geographic Channel.

Brian John Fahey approached two troopers in the parking lot of the Anchorage headquarters.

According to troopers, Fahey said he believed they “were more professional and courteous to the people they arrested than other law enforcement personnel he had dealt with.”

Fahey has outstanding warrants for felony escape from an Anchorage halfway house and for failure to appear on original counts, including forgery and theft.

� By Montana Best Times Staff

Montana was built largely on the rail-road, and is a state with large numbers of railroad buffs, so it’s hard not to yield to the temptation to feature a book that cov-ers an important time in the railroad histo-ry of the West.

Enter “The Moffat Line: David Moffat’s Railroad Over & Under the Continental Divide,” by John A Sells.

The late 1800s and early 1900s in Unit-ed States history was one the most influ-ential time periods in the advancement of our modern-day transit system, a news release on the book, published by iUni-verse, says. Railroads opened up a whole new world for travel and economic devel-opment in a previously uncharted territo-ry.

“By the latter part of the nineteenth cen-tury, the railroad was king,” the book jacket for “The Moffat Line” reads. “… Despite high operating costs and fierce competition, the search for better and more profitable

routes was constant. David Moffat … dreamed of a direct route across the Rocky Mountains … There was, however, one major obstacle standing in his way — the 13,660-foot Continental Divide.

“‘The Moffat Line’ tells the story of David Moffat and the impossible dream that led to the 1927 completion of the Moffat Tunnel.”

Sells book details Moffat’s life and the incredible hardships he faced trying to accomplish a dream, the news release says.

“The story is also about the men who drove the trains and built and operated the railroad under incredible weather and equipment challenges — day and night,”

Sells states in the release.“The Moffat Line” is an educational,

easy read and includes a section of authen-tic pictures the history buff in us all will enjoy. At only 129 pages long, it’s a quick read, too.

Sells has had an avid interest in the his-tory of the American West for as long as he can remember.

He is also the author of “Stagecoaches Across the American West 1850-1920.” He and his wife have four grown children and enjoy traveling throughout the West. He currently lives in Colorado.

“The Moffat Line” is available at Ama-zon, Barnes and Noble and iUniverse online bookstores.

Bookshelf

July 2014 — 3

“The Moffat Line: David Moffat’s Railroad Over & Under the Continental Divide”By John A. SellsiUniverse 2011 • Paperback 129 pages • 6” x 9” $13.95 • ISBN: 978-1-4620-2654-8

Conquering the Continental Divide — a look at one of the most influential men in railroad history

July 2014 — 4

Opinion

The ‘good old days’ before electricity weren’t so great

A Monthly Publication for Folks 50 and BetterMO

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Dwight Harriman, Editor • Tom Parisella, Designer

P.O. Box 2000, 401 S. Main St., Livingston MT 59047Tel. (406) 222-2000 or toll-free (800) 345-8412 • Fax: (406) 222-8580 E-mail: [email protected] • Subscription rate: $25/yr. Published monthly by Yellowstone Newspapers, Livingston, Montana

Quick, a show of hands:How many Montanans reading this remember when electrical

supply to homes was a little sketchy? How many remember when there was no electricity at all? When you had to use gas-powered lanterns? Kerosene lanterns? Or, the big one: candles?

A story on Page 10 in this issue of Montana Best Times, “From candles to modern power: Electricity through the generations,” by reporter David Larsen, details a power trip back through time for folks in Big Horn County. Many them did indeed use candles before the Rural Electrification Act of 1935 brought power lines that changed their lives, and the lives of all rural Montanans, back in the ’30s.

There are two types of people in the world: Those who take electricity for granted (most of us) and those who don’t. Older Montanans fall into that latter group. They remember the bad old days before electricity, when you had to pump gas lanterns to keep them going, and keep kerosene lanterns filled and the glass clear of smoky smudge. We tend to romanticize those days as being closer to nature and the earth, but I’m guessing they didn’t find too much romance in it. It was a lot of work, and the light wasn’t that great, either. The coming of electricity not only vastly improved lighting, even more importantly, it allowed for electri-cal appliances that made life a whole lot easier, especially for women, who bore the brunt of household labor.

There’s one drawback to modern electricity: We are all one cat-

astrophic power grid failure away from the Stone Age, back to the days of using pitch pine for light and hauling water from the creek. Few of us are really prepared if something happens to the power supply. We’re not thinking of it now in the heat of summer, but long-term power failures can be especially dangerous in win-ter if your home has electric heat or a gas furnace (which won’t run without the electrical components that regulate them).

So take a hint from the old-timers in Big Horn County: Don’t take electricity for granted. And have a plan to get you through a long spell without it.

It might even involve a few candles.— Dwight Harriman,

Montana Best Times Editor

Dear Savvy Senior, What are the cheapest cell phone options available today to

seniors living on a shoestring budget? I only need it for occasional calls.

— Seldom Calling Senior

Dear Seldom, For financially challenged seniors who only want a cell phone

for emergency purposes or occasional calls, there are a number of inexpensive no contract plans you can get. Or, depending on your income level, there are also free cell phones and monthly airtime minutes you may qualify for. Here’s where to find some of the cheapest deals. »No-Contract Phones One way infrequent cell phone users can save money is with a

prepaid cell phone — also known as pay-as-you-go phones. With a prepaid phone there’s no contract, no fixed monthly bills, no credit checks and no hidden costs that come with traditional cell phone plans. With this type of service, you buy a special prepaid phone then pre-purchase a certain amount of minutes (for talk or text) that must be used within a specified period of time. While most major carriers like AT&T and Verizon offer inex-

pensive prepaid plans, as do independents like Net10, Cricket and Virgin Mobile, some of the best deals are offered by TracFone (tracfone.com, 800-867-7183) and T-Mobile (t-mobile.com, 800-866-2453). TracFone has phones that start as low as $10 and call plans that

cost under $7 per month. And T-Mobile has a super-cheap 30-minute plan for $10, and minutes don’t expire for 90 days. That averages out to $3.33 per month. If you need more talk time, they also offer an annual plan where $100 gets you 1,000 minutes that are good for a full year. T-Mobile does, however, charge a one-time activation of $35. Or, it you would rather have a no-contract senior-friendly phone

with big buttons and simplified features, the Doro PhoneEasy 618 sold through Consumer Cellular (consumercellular.com, 888-345-5509) is probably your cheapest option. It costs $60 for the

phone, plus a one-time $35 activation fee, and calling plans that start at $10 per month. »Free Cell Phones If your income is low enough, you also need to check into the

Lifeline Assistance Program. This is a government-sponsored program that subsidizes wireless (and landline) companies who in turn provide free cellphones and around 250 minutes of free monthly airtime and texts to low-income Americans. (Some pro-grams in some states provide more minutes, some less, and some charge a small monthly fee.) There are currently around 15 million Americans who have a

free cell phone through the Lifeline program, but millions more are eligible. The free phones and minutes are provided by a number of

national prepaid wireless companies like Safelink and Assurance Wireless, along with a host of other regional carriers throughout the country. Many states have more than one wireless company that pro-

vides the free phones and minutes. If you are eligible, the free cell phone you’ll receive is a basic phone that also offers text messaging, voice mail, call waiting and caller ID. To qualify, you’ll need to show that you’re receiving certain

types of government benefits, such as Medicaid, Food Stamps, SSI, home energy assistance or public housing assistance. Or, that your household income is at or below 135 or 150 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines – it varies by state. The 135 percent poverty level is currently $15,754 for singles and $21,235 for couples. The 150 percent level is $17,505/singles, $23,595/cou-ples. To find out if you’re eligible, or to locate the wireless compa-

nies that provide Lifeline government cell phones in your state, visit lifelinesupport.org. You can also learn more at freegovern-mentcellphones.net.

Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org.

Jim Miller, creator of the syndicated “Savvy Senior” information column, is a longtime advocate of senior issues. He has been featured in Time magazine; is author of “The Savvy Senior: The Ultimate Guide to Health, Family and Finances for Senior Citizens”; and is a regular contributor to the NBC “Today” show.

July 2014 — 5

Low-Cost and Free Cell Phone Options for Seniors

� By Alastair Baker Montana Best Times

RED LODGE — Bill Barnes is one of the nicest persons you could meet: charm-ing, self-effacing, engaging and possessing a sense of humor to brighten anyone’s day, perhaps a strong enough personality to change a winter’s day into summer.

Bill, now in his 70s, is also someone who carries with him a kind heart and is presently helping to promote the Climb to Conquer Cancer event at Red Lodge Mountain on Aug. 2.

The annual event, sponsored by the American Cancer Society, has raised thou-sands through fundraisers for research into battling the disease.

But Bill admits he wasn’t always so thoughtful … not until a life-threatening stroke at 48 years old in 1991 changed his life forever, or for better, if he has any say in the event.

“My stroke was a blessing in disguise,” he mused.

Material success, then …Bill’s stroke came at a time when he

was a managing director and running a successful marketing agency with friend and colleague Tony Hobson called Hob-son, Barnes & Associates, Inc. of Atlanta, Ga. It was one of America’s top 10 firms. The client list included The Stroh Brew-ery Company, Eastern Airlines, Tropicana and Riviera Hotels, Six Flags Corpora-tion, McDonald’s Corp., Delta Airlines, General Motors, Chrysler and Exxon, to name a few. Events promoted by them were massive, from Stroh’s Run for Lib-erty, to Schlitz Country Stage at the Texas State Fair, to Raleigh Truck Pulls and Rodeos.

The company raised millions of spon-sorship dollars.

So successful were they that a European company offered millions to buy them out so it could gain a foothold in the American market.

Money was Bill’s whole life.

“I’d go to events and size any one up to see how much I could make from them,” he recalled.

Then, as the buyout was nearing conclu-sion, a fiercely debilitating stroke hit him, causing paralysis of his right side and abruptly cutting off his speech.

Blessing in disguiseIt was the end of that lifestyle as he

knew it. As he slowly recovered from the stroke, regaining his speech and learning to walk again — although to this day he is completely numb down his right side — he began to piece together a future that offered more than the promise of money.

“It allowed me to stop and smell the ros-es,” he said. “I truly believe that if I hadn’t had that stroke, I’d been dead now,” refer-encing his previous hectic, money-driven lifestyle.

He agrees that his change mimics that of Harrison Ford’s fictional portrayal of a stroke victim in the film “Regarding Henry,”

July 2014 — 6

‘My stroke was a blessing in disguise’Red Lodge man talks about how a health crisis changed his life

MT Best Times photo by Alastair BakerBill Barnes, one of the organizers for the American Cancer Society’s Climb to Conquer Cancer, tries his luck with a hula hoop at a recent fundraising event.

where Ford the executive goes from the top floor to the bottom, all the while his office and responsibilities getting smaller and less important.

“That’s exactly what happened,” said Bill. “I realized things had changed when I was able to go back to the company. People wouldn’t look at me.”

A new kind of marketingSo Bill moved on and chose to come to Red Lodge. He’d been

here before and decided that it was the perfect place to settle in.He begrudges nothing of his past and still recalls with fondness

those he worked with while at the marketing agency.Back to the present day, Bill finds himself once more in the

marketing harness of old — but this time he’s helping organize events and fundraisers for a charity, the Climb to Conquer Cancer event in August in Red Lodge. The Climb is a noncompetitive fundraiser wherein teams and individuals participate in a hike through the mountains.

Remarkably, Bill is getting on with things just as he did in the past and said he doesn’t find things “that different.”

“I’m enjoying it,” he said, with one of those summery smiles.

The Climb to Conquer Cancer event, set for Aug. 2 at Red Lodge Mountain, begins at 8:30 a.m. with a survivor breakfast, followed by the climb at 9:30 a.m., entertainment and food at the ski lodge at 11 a.m., and an award ceremonies at noon. For more information or to register, visit www.ClimbRL.org or call (406) 446-0402.

Alastair Baker may be reached at [email protected] or (406) 446-2222.

July 2014 — 7

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� By Sabrina Rocco The Bradenton Herald/MCT

LAKEWOOD RANCH, Fla. — Sy Bricker remembers sitting with his dad, watching him organize stamps at the kitchen table. All the careful ways he would touch them, cherish them.

Julius Bricker was a construction engineer in the Bronx, and at the end of a long day, he would play with stamps. This was his time, his relaxation.

Sy, only 4 years old, would get Dad’s garbage stamps, the ones that had little value.

The tradition between father and son remained intact — until 4 turned into 14 and there became better things for Sy to do.

Sy Bricker went to college, got married and had two sons. After countless Little League games and football

games, after the kids moved out and had kids of their own, Sy, now 70, found his way back to the kitchen table.

In fact, Sy’s own table is now covered in stamps. Over-flow from the million — literally 1 million — stamps that live in the back room of his Lakewood Ranch, Fla., home.

There are stamps everywhere. Stamps in big binders along the walls. Stamps in tiny books along the walls. Rolls and sheets of stamps covering desks. Three of them. Stamps on shelves. Stamps in filing cabinets. Stamps in the closet. Stamps on the floor.

“It just burgeoned into a disaster called my stamp room,” he smiles.

Sy, a retired middle-school social studies teacher, has the first stamp the government issued in 1847: a portrait of Benjamin Franklin, valued at $800.

Some collectors are topical, meaning they only collect stamps relating to birds or cars or flowers. Some are general

July 2014 — 8

Family’s stamp collecting transcends time

Photo by Paul Videla/Bradenton Herald/MCTSy Bricker uses a pair of stamp tongs to gingerly hold a 19th century Ben Franklin 1-cent definitive stamp. According to Bricker, these stamps were used to pay for postage, which was calculated on distance, as opposed to the flat rate first-class postage stamps of today. A 1-cent stamp such as this might have been good for a local delivery, perhaps 50 miles or so, but would never get your missive from Florida to California.

July 2014 — 9

— they collect everything. Sy, however, is a country-spe-cific collector, just like his father. He collects all United States stamps.

His favorite? A set from 1893 honoring the discovery of the new world. Pictures of Columbus and ships decorate the pretty postage.

But the Inverted Jenny is the apple of his eye. In 1932, the government misprinted the Jenny plane upside down, skyrocketing its value.

“A stamp I’ll never get,” he said.It’s valued from $225,000 to $1 million, depending on

the condition.So, exactly how much time does Sy spend poring over

his stamps each day? “According to my wife — too long.” Where other wives may roll their eyes, however, Lucy

Bricker embraces her husband’s hobby. She helps orga-nize stamps while watching her evening medical dramas and game shows.

“It stops me from eating,” she says with a smirk.Lucy, 69, drives her husband to stamp shows all over

the country 18 times a year. They can never fly. His col-lection is too large to ship.

As time goes on, and as collectors die out, people like Sy Bricker will become harder to find.

“The time crunch that an individual has today is differ-ent than it was,” Sy says. “It was about a simpler life 30 years ago.”

But Sy’s grandkids may prove him wrong.When Samantha and Macie, ages 7 and 8, come to visit,

they sit with Grandpa for hours organizing by subject or value. He pays them $5 each for helping.

A tiny, homemade box hangs from a string on Grand-pa’s stamp room door.

STAMP DROP OFF BOX is scrawled in blue marker.Sy always sticks a few of his garbage stamps inside, the

ones that have little value.

From top to bottom:One of the many bookcases full of binders containing organized stamps is shown here at Sy Bricker’s home

in Lakewood Ranch, Fla. Bricker has amassed a collection of U.S. stamps going as far back as the first

stamp the government issued in 1847.

Bricker leafs through a binder with some recent stamp acquisitions in the guest bedroom’s “spillover storage”

at his home.

This commemorative reproduction of a block of “Inverted Jenny” stamps is among Bricker’s collection

of U.S. stamps. For Bricker, obtaining an original Inverted Jenny would be the greatest, albeit

unattainable, prize as a serious collector of stamps.

A holographic image depicts a lunar landing in one of the more unusual stamps in Bricker’s collection — one

of a series of stamps issued in 2000 to commemorate space achievement and exploration.

Photos by Paul Videla/Bradenton Herald/MCT

� By David Larsen Montana Best Times

HARDIN — There are currently 1,344 miles of power lines in Big Horn County. Eighteen megawatts of electricity, equal to about 18,000 light bulbs, run through them to Crow Agency, Har-din, Lodge Grass, St. Xavier and Wyola. They also branch into Parkman, Wyo.

But before the start of Big Horn Electric in 1939, there was no central source of electricity in the county outside of batteries.

Lanterns and backup candlesErle Gross, a county resident who was born in Lodge Grass in

1931, still remembers the early days before there was electricity to homes and businesses in Hardin and the surrounding areas.

“We had white gas lanterns and kept candle backup if we lost the lanterns,” Gross said. “We had two in the house, one in the kitchen and one in the living room. They would usually last a month.”

They also had a Philco radio run with two wet batteries and five dry cells — a welcome addition to their rural home.

Bud’s Catering owner Bobby Hardt remembers when electrici-ty was first provided in Big Horn County.

“I remember that, in terms of our house we were living in,” Hardt said. “I was still pretty young and we were still using white lanterns. We then got electricity into the house. After that, we got a television set. It had a round screen and it was always a snow-white screen because of the bad reception. At least we now had electricity and television.”

Electricity comesWhat brought about the change was the Rural Electrification

Administration, which funds the Big Horn County Electric Cor-porations. The REA was founded during the Great Depression under the administration of President Franklin Roosevelt.

The president believed that if private enterprise could not sup-ply electric power to people, then it was the duty of the govern-ment. This position was contested in the majority of court cases involving the government-run power company, the Tennessee Valley Authority, during the 1930s.

Many power companies during this period went out of business or were bought up after they were unable to financially compete with the U.S. government.

However, Big Horn Electric, with federal backing from the Rural Electrification Administration, was able to secure 2-percent loans to install poles and wire to provide electricity for rural resi-dents.

Making it all workCasey Munter, the general manager for Big Horn County Elec-

tric, has worked at the utility company for 43 years. In 1971, he was hired to trim and cut trees for the right of ways (ROWs) to put in the power lines for new construction.

“Back then, I needed a job and thought that it would be a good place to work,” he said. “I did start out in the field cutting limbs and branches.”

He later moved up the ladder and then started to negotiate the ROWs with the various land owners when new lines were being put into place. He became a ground man for the lines, a lineman, lineman supervisor, and then an engineer to operate with the managers. He took over as general manager eight years ago.

“I enjoy working with people and interacting with the public,” Munter said. “It’s a great place to work.”

Munter oversees a vast array of company activities to keep the lights on for everyone’s home and business. There are 17 full-

July 2014 — 10

From candles to modern power:

Electricity through the generations

Casey Munter, general manager for Big Horn Electric, stands in front of a set of transformers outside of his company. Big Horn Electric provides power to 2,400 sites across Big Horn County, which has a total area of 5,015 square miles and is only 10 percent smaller than the state of Connecticut.MT Best Times photo by Andrew Turck

time employees working for him at the company. The business is struc-tured as a nonprofit and supplies low-cost electrical services to its 2,400 members.

“We are going to stay away from expensive electrical sources like solar, wind and geothermal,” he said. “They are just too much money for our customers to pay.”

Power grid substations are main-tained and operated at Hardin, Soap Creek and Lodge Grass. There are also feeders coming and going out from what was Montana Power, and also a remote coming into Busby.

An occasional disaster can happen and the governor of Montana might get involved, along with FEMA, said Munter.

“Ice storms are the worst problem for Big Horn Electric, because ice buildup can take lines down and knock power out for days for homes and business,” he said. “That is why it is critical to have a fast response time so that people in the service area are not off their power source.”

Keeping the lights onDisaster and Emergency Services Coordinator Ed Auker said in

a December 2013 interview that ever since people had switched from the kerosene lamps of his grandmother’s days to propane or

electricity, they had become more dependent on power compa-nies.

He remembered a point in recent years when power company employees worked through minus 30-degree temperatures and poor visibility to find a break in electrical wiring.

“Thank God, those guys work their butts off,” Auker said. “They work in the most unbelievable conditions to try to restore power to folks.”

David Larsen may be reached at [email protected] or (406) 665-1008.

July 2014 — 11

The first pole for the Rural Elec-trification Administration is placed in Big Horn County sometime in ear-ly 1942. The REA was found-ed during the Great Depres-sion to bring electricity to rural areas of the U.S. Photo courtesy of Emma Jean (Meh-ling) Stevenson

Central Montana Fair - July 23-26in Lewistown at the Fergus County Fairgrounds

Fun for the entire family!

This year’s highlights:- Free Entertainment -

• Rusty Z-Comedy Hypnotist• Keith Raymond-Magician

• Cale Moon-Musician • Montana Clown Works

• Cowboy Mounted Shooting

For tickets and more information, check out our website:

centralmontanafair.org or call 406-535-8841- Reserved seating tickets only -

• Musical Shows and Concerts

• PRCA Rodeo Wednesday and Thursday, July 23 & 24

• Night Show with Tracy Lawrence Featuring JT Hodges Friday, July 25

• BGM Racing and Demolition Derby Saturday, July 26 - fair favorites!

• Carnival Rides and Games• Exhibits/Pre-Fair Horse Shows

• 4-H Livestock Judging and Sale

SPONSORS:Ram Truck, Faye Ranches and Snowy Mountain Motors: Rodeo sponsors

Lewistown Propane and Fertilizer: Night show sponsorO’Reilly Auto Parts: Motor sponsor

� By Amorette Allison Montana Best Times

MILES CITY — What used to be a necessity are now a luxury. The great draft horses that once worked farms and pulled wagons are now mostly relegated to parades.

But parades — specifically the Miles City Bucking Horse Sale Parade, held in May — offer a great opportunity to learn about the role draft horses, as well as coaches and wagons played in the history of Montana.

Don Cain, 85, of Volburg, still keeps a team of Percherons named Dolly and Molly. For the Miles City Bucking Horse Sale Parade, Cain hitched up his horses to a stagecoach that belongs to the Range Riders Museum. The coach used to make the run from Miles City to Deadwood, S.D., back in the late 19th century, starting in 1880.

Cain, by the way, is no stranger to the conveyances of old — he has participat-ed in many wagon train events, and will take part in other parades this summer. He was joined in the May Bucking Horse Sale Parade by his 83-year-old sister Helen Cain Cossitt, who celebrated her birthday by riding “shotgun,” as inside, two friends of Helen’s — Hazel Bush-man and Elaine Perkins — rode the parade route.

Something new was learned recently about the coach Cain was driving.

Range Riders Curator Bunny Miller found out it technically isn’t a stagecoach. A true “stagecoach” was defined as seat-ing six passengers and being pulled by six horses. The biggest Concord stagecoaches could carry nine inside and more on the roof.

The Miles City-Deadwood run convey-ance is actually a “mud coach,” so called

because it was lighter and went through the mud more easily. It was also known as a “celerity wagon.” These were used on the roughest roads in the East but were basic transport in the wilder parts of the West. They were also cheaper to build,

July 2014 — 12

Reins, stagecoaches and wagonsTransportation means of days gone by featured at

Bucking Horse Sale Parade and Range Riders Museum

Photos by Sharon Moore/courtesy of Miles City StarAbove and on the cover: Don Cain sits in the stage coach driver’s seat as unidentified members of the Amish community help him get the horses hitched up properly before the Miles City Bucking Horse Sale Parade on May 17.

About draft horsesDepending on its size and level of

activity, the average draft horse every day eats about a bale of hay, and two gallons of a corn, soybean and molasses mix. It also drinks roughly 10 gallons of water per day, depending how hot the weather is and how much the horse works. Draft horses weigh about 2,000

pounds, as opposed to 1,000 pounds for a quarter horse.

partly because they didn’t have springs to make the ride more comfortable.

Mud coaches seated four and were pulled by four horses. How-ever, for the Bucking Horse Sale parade, since the wagon wasn’t fully loaded, two draft horses did the job.

No matter what kind of coach was in use, the average speed was between 5 and 12 mph. Traveling slower uphill and in rough country plus stopping to change horses and let passengers take a break meant that traveling 100 miles a day was considered a good day.

Jerry Holman, of Terry, has a team of bays he used to pull a different wagon in the May parade. The small covered wagon is, much like the Deadwood coach, a smaller version of the big Con-estogas that once crossed the plains. This was the sort of day-to-day work wagon that often made the trip to town for supplies.

Hitching up a team of draft horses is becoming a lost art. Fortu-nately for Cain, some members of the Amish community were in town the day of the Bucking Horse Sale Parade, eating breakfast at the Range Riders Museum. It is to this community that Don goes to get his large horses shod. Some of the Amish came over and helped hitch and groom the horses. At first glance, it looked as if the scene were from another century.

Fortunately for travelers, the days of going by stagecoach or wagon are over. The Omaha Herald in 1877 said about travel by stagecoach, “Don’t imagine for a moment you are going on a pic-nic. Expect annoyance, discomfort and some hardships. If you are disappointed, thank heaven.”

Today the rides are for fun, and the great draft horses are just a hobby.

Amorette F. Allison may be reached at [email protected] or (406) 234-0450.

July 2014 — 13

Freight wagons that hauled supplies long ago are pictured in the Range Riders Museum.

This covered wagon pictured at the Range Riders Museum is a smaller version of the big Conestogas that once crossed the Great Plains. This wagon also took part in the Bucking Horse Sale Parade held in May.

Rent Based on Income, HUD 202 PRACLive On-Site Community AdministratorFree Laundry • On-Site ParkingMailboxes on PremisesElectric, Gas, Water, Sewer, & Trash Included in Rent

Community Room Available for Social Gatherings & Meetings

Accepting Applications for Independent Seniors

Great News for Seniors 62 yrs of Age & Older!COMFORTABLE & AFFORDABLE APARTMENTS

Call (406) 248-9117 • 1439 Main Street • Billings, MT

EDITOR’S NOTE: Montana Best Times has been featuring some of the fascinat-ing adventures Terry McEneaney had when he was Yellow-stone National Park’s ornithologist. Fol-lowing is another

excerpt from a new book he is writing, “Lucky Feathers: Adventures and Experi-ences of a Yellowstone Ornithologist.”

Having worked alone most of my field career as a Yellowstone ornithologist, I developed all types of techniques for warding off bears.

My two best techniques for staying safe from bears in the Yellowstone back-country while studying birds involved clapping my hands and yelling when in dense vegetation when I did not feel com-fortable with the surroundings. My phi-losophy on bear spray was always carry it as a backup but never rely on it, for the best way to survive bears in the back-country is to always stay alert and never surprise a bear. The element of surprise is what gets most people in trouble. These were my tried and true, go-to techniques to stay safe in grizzly country, and they worked for me.

But one year I had a brilliant idea: Why yell and holler in the backcountry to let bears know you are coming? Why not try a new technique?

So, I bought a loud referee whistle and went for an extended trip censusing birds in the Yellowstone backcountry with this whistle hanging around my neck. I asked

several bear people whether this tech-nique had ever been tried and all agreed at the time that it had not, so I was bound and determined to give this revolutionary idea a field trial and save my voice.

I never had the opportunity to test out the whistle until early one morning in a late July, when I saw a boar grizzly walk-ing parallel with me on the other side of the Yellowstone River in the Thorofare area 10 miles south of Yellowstone Lake. I estimated the bear weighed approxi-mately 500 pounds.

As the bear and I rambled parallel to one another, both heading south along the river, we got the attention of a herd of a dozen-and-a-half elk standing on a gravel bar. The elk remained motionless, mainly attentively watching the walking behav-ior of the bear on the riverbank.

Since the bear hadn’t seen me, and we were separated by a 100-meter-wide flowing river, and the grizzly was inter-ested in chasing the elk on the gravel bar, it looked like the perfect place to try out my new bear safety technique. So I pulled out the sports whistle and started blowing loudly on it, to the point I made three loud whistles lasting two seconds each in length.

All of a sudden the bear ceased its interest in the elk and looked up the high bluff to the sound of the loud whistles, and at me. Then it bolted the riverbank and headed straight across the Yellow-stone River right at me. I then realized what went wrong: The whistles sounded to the bear like a yellow-bellied marmot, and that was why it was running my direction.

July 2014 — 14

Terry McEneaney is ornithologist emeritus for Yellowstone National Park, and is the author of three books: “Birding Montana,” “Birds of Yellowstone,” and “The Uncommon Loon.” He has been watching birds for 50 years and is one of Montana’s most experienced birders.

Testing a New Technique for Warding Off Bears in the Backcountry

BirdingBig Sky

Photo courtesy of Terry McEneaneyOrnithologist Terry McEneaney is pictured in the Thorofare area of Yellowstone National Park, where he had a unique encounter with a grizzly bear.

July 2014 — 15

I quit blowing the whistle and tried to figure out how to stop the charging griz-zly and get out of the situation. When the bear got to my side of the river and 100 meters away, I decided to go back to my old reliable safety techniques. I got out the bear spray and yelled at the top of my lungs at the grizzly, and sure enough, it

realized I was not a marmot and stopped and ran the other way.

I laughed for much of the day about how the whistle technique went so wrong. But for me, it was a good out-come and a very funny experience. To this day, when I walk by that place of the upper Yellowstone River in the Thoro-

fare, I am reminded of my experience. So, the take-home message is this:

Never try employing a sports whistle in bear country. And lastly, forget about testing new techniques for warding off bears in the backcountry. Leave it to someone else and go back to what you do best — studying birds in the field.

More short stories from “Lucky Feathers: Adventures and Experiences of a Yellowstone Ornithologist,” will be featured in forthcoming issues of Montana Best Times. In the meantime, enjoy Montana birds! And the Best of Big Sky Birding to you!

Bird watching questions may be sent to Terry McEneaney by writing to 1215 Lolo St., Missoula, MT 59802; emailing [email protected]; or visiting www.yellowstonewildlifeguides.com or www.ravenidiot.com. If questions are mailed, include a phone number at which you can be reached.

By Montana Best Times Staff

It’s here again: the C.M. Russell Stampede. Except this year is special — it’s the 50th anniversary of the event.

This Stampede, set for Saturday, July 19 and Sunday, July 20 in Stanford, will feature all kinds of events:

• Saturday, July 19:- Free Stampede Music Fest, 3 p.m. (with special guest Thrill-

billies and the Urick family)- Kids’ Stickhorse Rodeo with Miss Rodeo Montana, 4 p.m.- Western Barbecue, 5-7 p.m.- Quickdraw and Auction, 5:30 p.m. (featuring 16 artists from

around Montana and the West)- Calcutta Steer Wrestlers, 6:30 p.m.• Sunday, July 20- JB Fit Club Bull Run and Bike, 7 a.m.- PRCA Rodeo with Kids Calf Scramble, 1:30 p.m.The rodeo premier events will include bareback riding, saddle

bronc riding, steer wrestling, team roping, tie-down roping, ladies barrel racing and bull riding.

The Stampede Started in 1964, and the first rodeo was pretty basic, according to a brochure on the event.

“Over the years, the C.M. Russell Stampede developed into a finely-tuned work of art,” the brochure states. “…

However, the philosophy has remained the same — hold events that provide quality family entertainment; and raise funds for many worthwhile causes in central Montana.”

For more information on the rodeo, call Mike Kirby at (406) 566-2422. For more information on the Quickdraw, call Steve Urick at (406) 566-2528.

Get ready for 50th anniversary of C.M. Russell Stampede

Zero fighter part back in HawaiiHONOLULU (AP) — A metal plate with the serial number of

a Japanese Zero fighter that crashed during the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor has returned to Hawaii.

The plane careened into palm trees and a group of artillerymen at the entrance of an ordnance machine shop on Fort Kame-hameha 73 years ago. The crash killed four men and the Japanese pilot.

The serial number “5289” was cut out of the plane’s aluminum fuselage. It was hidden in an envelope for decades until it was auctioned on eBay in March.

Honolulu attorney Damon Senaha bought the plate for $12,225 to donate to the National Park Service and the museum at the USS Arizona Memorial.

He turned it over on June 23, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported.

“I believe this belongs to the American people,” Senaha said. “This was an attack on this country, (and for it to remain in that envelope), where it’s hidden and people cannot appreciate just the profoundness of what happened in history and what really shaped Hawaii, would be unfortunate.”

Park officials called the serial number significant and very rare.“I think that’s the coolest piece of airplane wreckage I’ve seen

that we have, and I would love to have it publicly displayed,” said Scott Pawlowski, chief of cultural and natural resources for the park service. He called the donation “very generous.”

Thief steals Model A from churchgoer PRINEVILLE, Ore. (AP) — Central Oregon authorities say a

79-year-old man took a 1930 Ford Model A coupe to church on a recent Sunday to show it off.

But when he left it so he could get a bite of lunch, sheriff’s deputies say, it was stolen and crashed into the Crooked River south of Prineville.

Photos show the mangled vehicle in the river, but no estimate of the damage was immediately available.

KTVZ-TV reports that the man was fixing the car for a family that owned it.

Capt. Michael Boyd says 34-year-old Erik Blake Halpin, described as a transient, was accused of drunken driving and unauthorized use of a vehicle. He swam to shore and was arrested after he was treated at a Bend hospital.

News Lite

July 2014 — 16

Recumbent cyclists gather for Tater TOT Rally

� By Erica Curless The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Wash.)/MCT

To Ron Spiewak, it’s all about how he looks. That’s why it took some pride-swallowing for the veteran and one-time bike racer to embrace a three-wheeled bike that looks more like a recliner on wheels.

But today Spiewak, 65, of Spirit Lake, Idaho, knows he has a cool ride — one that he can pedal into old age without worry of losing balance and falling or stressing his neck, back and wrists. He brags about his trike at every opportunity and is excited to promote the Tater TOT (Tricycles Optional Tour) Rally — a gath-ering of hundreds of trikes and recumbent two-wheelers in Kel-logg, June 28-July 2.

In its eighth year, this loosely organized and free event draws

trike riders from across the country and Canada to ride the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes, the Hiawatha Trail and other routes throughout the historic mining area of North Idaho. One of the highlights is always a ride to the Enaville Resort Snake Pit in Kingston, which has reopened with new owners.

The kickoff is the welcome potluck and barbecue June 29 at 5 p.m. at the GuestHouse Inn on Bunker Avenue across from the gon-dola, which is the official gathering spot for the very unofficial event that boasts all fun and no rules, no tight schedules, no leaders and no fees. An online forum, a fact sheet website page and two Facebook pages are the only real organizing components for the event.

Wayne Leggett of Oxnard, Calif., attended what became the unplanned but inaugural Tater TOT when his wife and neighbors planned a trip to the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes and put out the word on an online message board for recumbent and trike riders.

Jesse Tinsley/Spokane Spokesman-Review/MCTDebbie Claire, left, and Ron Spiewak ride their three-wheel recumbent bikes down the Centennial Trail near the Washington-Idaho state line and the Spokane River, June 6.

July 2014 — 17

About 20 trikers rode together that July 2007. Even then, peo-ple did whatever they wanted and went wherever they wanted. Somehow it became an annual event. Leggett said it works because nobody has tried to make the gathering too official, for-mal or organized.

“It’s a very, very welcoming atmosphere,” Leggett said. “A lot of people who ride trikes are still in that evangelistic mode. Just ask my wife.”

Spiewak, somewhat of an evangelistic trike-pusher himself, agreed it’s the perfect opportunity for people to come learn more about trikes and why they are a fabulous option for anyone hav-ing aging problems — such as balance and joint pain — who wants to keep riding and recreating. All the trikes and recumbent bikes are on display during the Sunday potluck and many owners let people try out the rides and get the feel for a three-wheel, low-rider.

Aches and pains are how Spiewak, a mostly retired house builder, got into trikes. Well, actually, it was his wife who broke her elbow after a fall from her road bike and decided she needed to embrace a new kind of bike riding. Like many baby boomers, Debbie Claire, 60, had no problem transitioning to a trike. She didn’t have to get over the “geek factor,” like her husband.

“I’m the one that wanted to get one first,” Claire said. “I’m a nurse. I know not to let myself fall apart. I know when I’m 80, I can ride this trike.”

Leggett said his friend has poor eyesight from diabetes and uses a trike for transportation. She recently bought a trike with a motor assist that allows her to do an entire Meals on Wheels route on her trike.

The trikes have reclining bucket seats that keep the neck upright and the back in alignment with the rider’s weight evenly

distributed. There is one wheel behind and two wheels in front. The pedals are on an adjustable boom out front and the steering, shifter and brake are controlled by handles at the side of the seat. Most have disc brakes and shocks. Because of the small frontal area, trikes are aerodynamic and fast with almost a go-kart feel.

With the three wheels and low seat, the trikes are stable and nearly impossible to tip or fall off of.

Claire said the only caution is that they are low to the ground — tire level to a car — making the trikes difficult to see in traffic. That’s why most trike riders fly tall colorful safety flags and pre-fer carless routes. To help, Claire made sure their trikes were painted striking colors. Her’s hot pink. Spiewak’s bright yellow.

“It seems like it’s a certain age group that is gravitating to the trikes,” said Debbie Domy, who owns Excelsior Cycle in Kel-logg, Idaho. “When you have aches and pains, people think about comfort more.”

The shop sells Catrikes, usually just a handful a year, including to people who come to the Tater TOT Rally. She said the rally is great for the local economy and promoting the area and its trails.

“They really like having the long, paved trails that are smooth and away from the traffic,” she said.

Claire and Spiewak said the scenery is another draw, especially the mountains, the lakes and the wildlife.

“It’s the most awesome environment,” Claire said. “People are just waiting for a moose to pop up on the trail.”

The comments and photos on the online forum and Facebook pages are testimony to riders’ enjoyment of the week.

“It was a long ride from Iowa, but the people there, and the trails with all their splendor, made it very fun and worthwhile,” wrote tpy2012 on the BentRider Online Forum the last day of the ride in 2013.

Jesse Tinsley/Spokane Spokesman-Review/MCTAnother shot of Claire, left, and Spiewak riding their three-wheel recumbent bikes down the Centennial Trail near the Washington-Idaho state line. They will take part in a large bike rally for three-wheel bikes in Kellogg, Idaho, later this month.

July 2014 — 18

Boomer health

� By Erica Curless The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Wash.)/MCT

Sherrie Martin finally found an outlet for her unique array of talents — physical comedy.

It’s the perfect way for a 55-year old woman to combine fife playing, handstands and baton twirling. Now if she could only figure out how to incorporate synchronized swimming.

Martin owns Spokane Aerial Performance Arts in Spokane, Wash., and happened upon her talent for comedy while in Ireland last year to learn how to rig aerial silks to the ceiling in her gym. While at the Irish Aerial Dance Festival in Letterkenny, County Donegal, Martin and her husband signed up for a comedy class on a whim.

After getting laughs for just doing a handstand — an easy move for a lifelong gymnast — Martin was hooked. It was an amazing and freeing feeling for a serious woman who is strict and demand-ing — traits that come from coaching athletes and pushing her own fitness. Nobody has ever categorized her as “funny.” Yet she’s quick to point out Lucille Ball never thought of herself as funny either.

Now she’s creating comedy routines to perform at this year’s Irish Aerial Dance Festival in Letterkenny. She’s working with a comedy coach based in Montreal — the home of Cirque du Soleil.

The Martins enjoyed the Irish festival so much last year they invited 14 students from their aerial silk classes to the festival.

Martin also hopes to perform her acts in Spokane.In one shtick, Martin is a prissy baton twirler cart-wheeling and

rolling to marching band music. She accidently throws the baton off stage. In a crunch, she goes through a gardener’s garbage can looking for something to twirl: a rack, a shovel, garden gloves, socks, a small stash of booze. Her body language and movements convey her disgust and frustration.

“It makes me so happy,” Martin said. “I just can’t stand it. The whole world just goes away.”

As an adult, she never thought she would be using her years of Saturday baton lessons and skills learned in the Spokane Percus-sionauts, a now-defunct drum and bugle corps comprised of area schools’ musicians.

“I guess my weird skills are serving me well now,” Martin said.

Tyler Tjomsland/Spokesman-Review/MCTPeggy Sue Moran, 56, performs an aerial silk move as Donna DeVerniero, 62, left, watches with Megan Rounds, also 62, at Spokane Aerial Performance Arts in Spokane, Wash., in March. In the background, Kristi McKenna, 52, practices her exercises.

Aerial fitness instructor finds her funny bone

July 2014 — 19

Gallatin County- American Cancer Society-Road to

Recovery: Drivers needed for patients receiving treatments from their home to the hospital. - American Red Cross Blood Drive: Two

volunteer opportunities available: an ambassador needed to welcome, greet, thank and provide overview for blood donors; and phone team volunteers needed to remind, recruit or thank blood donors. Excellent customer service skills needed, training will be provided, flexible schedule. - Befrienders: Befriend a senior; visit on a

regular weekly basis.- Belgrade Senior Center: Meals on

Wheels needs regular and substitute driv-ers, Monday-Friday, to deliver meals to seniors.- Big Brothers Big Sisters: Be a positive

role model for only a few hours each week. - Bozeman and Belgrade Sacks Thrift

Stores: Need volunteers 2-3 hour shifts on any day, Monday-Saturday, 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m.- Bozeman Deaconess Hospital: Volun-

teers needed for the information desks, 8 a.m.-noon, noon- 4 p.m., variety of other positions need filled as well.- Bozeman Senior Center Foot Clinic:

Retired or nearly retired nurses are urgently needed, 2 days a month, either 4- or 8-hour shifts.- Child Care Connections: Front desk help

needed Thursdays, noon-1 p.m., to greet clients, answer phones and general recep-tion duties.- Children’s Museum of Bozeman: Wel-

come desk volunteer(s) needed for 2-hour shifts, Mondays-Saturdays.- The Emerson Cultural Center: Volunteers

needed for front office, greeter/reception, Monday-Friday 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.- Galavan: Volunteer drivers needed Mon-

day-Friday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. CDL required and Galavan will assist you in obtaining one.- Gallatin County 911 Communications:

Office help needed 1 1/2-2 hours one day a week on your schedule.- Gallatin County Election Office: Seeking

judges for the Nov. 4 elections. ($8 per hour) Training provided. - Gallatin Rest Home: Volunteers wanted

for visiting the residents, sharing your knowledge of a craft, playing cards or read-ing to a resident. - Gallatin Valley Food Bank: Volunteers

needed to deliver commodities to seniors in their homes once a month. Deliveries in Belgrade are especially needed.- Habitat for Humanity Restore: Belgrade

store needs volunteers for general help, sorting donations and assisting customers. - Heart of The Valley: Compassionate vol-

unteers especially needed to love, play with

and cuddle cats, do carpentry work, be an animal bank collector (asking local busi-nesses to display an animal bank for dona-tion collection) or birthday party leader.- Help Center Telecare: Volunteers needed

3-4 mornings a week 8:30-11 a.m. to make calls to homebound seniors, providing reas-surance, check on safety and well-being, and access to up-to-date referral informa-tion to vulnerable individuals.- Museum of the Rockies: Variety of

opportunities available.- RSVP Handcrafters: Volunteers to quilt,

knit, crochet and embroider hats for chemo patients, baby blankets and other handmade goods once a week (can work from home). Handcrafters are in need of 3-ply sports yarn, and baby yarn.- Senior Nutrition Volunteers: Volunteers

needed to help seniors with grocery shop-ping, meal and menu planning, and com-panionship, 1-2 hours a week, days and times are flexible.- Your unique skills and interests are need-

ed, without making a long-term commit-ment, in a variety of ongoing, special, one-time events.Contact: Deb Downs, RSVP Program

Coordinator, 807 N. Tracy, Bozeman, MT 59715; phone (406) 587-5444; fax (406) 582-8499; email: [email protected].

Park County- The Depot and Yellowstone Gateway

Museum: Volunteers needed during sum-mer season.- DES: Needs volunteers and coordinators

to help in “mapping your neighborhood” by noting resources and those with special needs in the event of possible emergencies.- Fly Fishing Federation: Volunteers need-

ed to help with mailings, children’s events, greeters, crafters, organizers, storytellers, and more, Aug. 5-9.- Livingston/Park County Library: After-

noon volunteers needed to help people find books.- Loaves and Fishes and/or Food Pantry:

Many volunteer opportunities available.- Western Sustainability: Needs volunteers

to help once a month signing up seniors for free Farmers Market produce.- Various other agencies are in need of

your unique skills and help in a variety of ongoing and one-time special events, including with mailings.Contact: Shannon Burke, RSVP Program

Coordinator, 206 So. Main St., Livingston, MT 59047; phone (406) 222-2281; email: [email protected].

Fergus & Judith Basin counties- Community Cupboard (Food Bank):

Needs volunteers to help any week morn-ings as well as with deliveries.- Council on Aging: Needs volunteers to

assist at the Senior (Grub Steaks) and other various programs.- Head Start and grade schools: Volunteers

needed to assist students.- Library and Art Center: Volunteer help

always appreciated. - ROWL (Recycle Our Waste Lewistown):

Recruiting volunteers for the 3rd Saturday of the month to help with greeting, traffic directing, sorting, baling and loading recy-clables working to keep plastic wastes from our landfills.- Treasure Depot: Needs volunteers at

their thrift stores.- Always have various needs for your

skills and volunteer services in our commu-nity. Contact: RSVP Volunteer Coordinator,

404 W. Broadway, Wells Fargo Bank build-ing, (upstairs), Lewistown, MT 59457; phone (406) 535-0077; email: [email protected].

Musselshell, Golden Valley & Petroleum counties- Food Bank: Distribute food commodities

to seniors and others in the community; help unload the truck as needed.- Meals on Wheels Program: Deliver

meals to the housebound in the community, just one day a week, an hour and a half, meal provided.- Nursing Home: Assist with activities for

residents to enrich supported lifestyle.- Senior Center: Volunteers are needed to

provide meals, clean up in the dining room and/or keep records; meal provided.- Museum: Volunteers are needed to greet

visitors and guides to show people around. - Senior Bus: Volunteers to pickup folks

whom are unable to drive themselves.- RSVP offers maximum flexibility and

choice to its volunteers as it matches the personal interests and skills of older Ameri-cans with opportunities to serve their com-munities. You choose how and where to serve. Volunteering is an opportunity to learn new skills, make friends and connect with your community.Contact: Volunteer coordinator Mollie

Omicioli, South Central MT RSVP, 315 1/2 Main St., Ste. #1, Roundup, MT 59072; phone (406) 323-1403; fax (406) 323-4403; email: [email protected]; Facebook: South Central MT RSVP.

Custer & Rosebud counties- Clinic Ambassador: New volunteer posi-

tion starting approximately July 1st.- Custer County Food Bank: Volunteers

needed for food distribution Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.- Historic Miles City Academy: Urgent

need for volunteers to assist in thrift store See RSVP, Page 20

Below is a list of volunteer openings available through the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) in communities across southern Montana. To learn more about RSVP, call (800) 424-8867 or TTY (800) 833-3722; or log on to www. seniorcorps.org.RSVP

When the people of an entire nation consider one type of food to be their “of-ficial” dish, it’s usually worth trying. That’s definitely true when it comes to the most popular food item in El Salva-dor, the pupusa. It gets its name from its resemblance to a caterpillar in a cocoon. The pupusa is a dough made with “masa harina,” or corn flour, that’s wrapped around a filling. The pupusa is flattened and then pan fried in oil. It looks like a thick pancake when it is cooked. My daughter-in-law served in the Peace Corps in El Salvador. She introduced me and my wife to the pupusa at a restaurant in Minneapolis called Pupuseria. It was love at first bite. There is a challenge when it comes to making pupusas at

home. It’s very hard to keep the cheese from leaking out as the pupusa cooks. But that’s not a bad thing. The ones we enjoyed at the restaurant also had “leaked.” The cheese and refried bean mixture that escaped from its “cocoon” had an interesting texture and a fantastic flavor. It was similar to the crispy cheese that leaks from a grilled cheese sandwich and takes on a nutty flavor and a texture that is not very cheese-like. The waitress at Pupuseria brought us a hot sauce and curtido that we could use for toppings on our pupusas. The curtido is worth the extra effort. EDITOR’S NOTE: I can vouch for the tastiness of the pupusa Jim Durfey describes. I also once worked in El Salvador, in a refugee program, and my wife and I got addicted to pupusas. Street vendors cook them on heavy metal sheets over hot coals. It’s a slice of heaven to eat a smoky-flavored pupusa cooked that way.

– Dwight Harriman, Montana Best Times Editor

On The Menu With Jim Durfey

July 2014 — 20

Pupusas2 c. masa harina (corn flour)Pinch of salt1 1/3 c. warm water1 c. grated Monterey Jack or mozzarella cheese1/2 c. non-fat refried beansPulled pork (optional)Olive oilChili sauce or curtido (recipe below) for topping

Combine masa harina, salt and water in mixing bowl. Knead to form smooth, moist dough. If mixture is too dry, add more water, one teaspoon at a time. If mixture is too sticky, add more masa harina, one teaspoon at a time. Cover bowl with clean towel and let stand 10 minutes. With lightly oiled hands, form dough into eight balls about two inches in diameter. Use your thumb to make an indentation in one of the balls, forming a small cup. Fill the cup with about one tablespoon cheese and refried beans and wrap dough around filling to seal. Make sure the filling does not leak. Pat dough back and forth between your hands to form round disk about 1/4-inch thick. Repeat with the remaining balls.

Heat lightly oiled skillet over medium-high burner. Cook pupusas for two to three minutes on each side until golden brown. Makes eight pupusas. Serve warm with toppings of your choice on the side.

Curtido1/2 head cabbage, shredded1 large carrot, grated1/2 onion, thinly sliced1/2 c. apple cider vinegar1/4 c. water1/2 tsp. salt1/2 tsp. brown sugar1 tsp. dried oregano1/2 to 1 tsp. red pepper flakes

Combine cabbage, carrot, and onion in large bowl. Combine remaining ingredients in separate bowl. Pour this over the cabbage mixture and stir. Cover and refrigerate for at least two hours. Better if left to marinate overnight. Makes about four cups.

with sorting and cleaning donated merchandise.- Holy Rosary Health Care: Volunteers needed Mondays and

Thursdays in the gift shop.- Miles City Historic Preservation Office: Seeking a volunteer to

help with clerical duties.- Spirit Riders: Volunteer to assist with traffic control at funerals.- St. Vincent DePaul: Volunteers to assist in thrift store with sort-

ing, pricing, cashier and stocking.- Stepping On: Volunteer to assist with 8-week session of classes

starting in September.- VA Miles City CLC: Urgently need volunteers to assist with vet-

eran activities.

- WaterWorks Art Museum: Volunteer receptionists needed, 2-hour shifts Tuesdays-Sundays. If you are interested in these or other volunteer opportunities

please contact: Betty Vail, RSVP Director; 210 Winchester Ave. #225, MT 59301; phone (406) 234-0505; email: [email protected]

Dawson County- If you have a need for or a special interest or desire to volunteer

somewhere in the community, please contact: Patty Atwell, RSVP Director, 604 Grant, Glendive, MT 59330; phone (406) 377-4716; email: [email protected].

RSVP, from Page 19

Tasty things come in cocoons

—� Thursday, July 3

• Music in the Mountains Concert Series, 7 p.m., Thursdays through August 28, Big Sky

• Southwest Montana Arts show and Sale, through July 31, Bozeman Library, Bozeman

• Makoshika State Park Campfire Program, Thursdays through Aug. 1, Glendive

• Northern Cheyenne 4th of July Pow Wow, through July 6, Lame Deer

• Fourth of July Celebration, through July 4, Laurel

• Lewistown 4th of July Celebration, through July 4, Lewistown

• Depot Festival of the Arts, through July 4, Rotary Park, Livingston

• Livingston Roundup Rodeo, through July 4, Livingston

• Home of Champions Rodeo, through July 4, Red Lodge

• Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park: Campground Programs, 8 p.m., Thursday and Friday evenings through Aug, 29, Whitehall

—� Friday, July 4

• Valley of the Chiefs Pow Wow and Rodeo, through July 6, Lodge Grass

• Independence Day parade and festivities, Riverside Park, Miles City

• Red Lodge Farmers Market, 3:30-6:30 p.m., Fridays through September 26, Lions Park, Red Lodge

• Roundup Independence Days Extravaganza, through July 6, Roundup

—� Saturday, July 5

• Gallatin Valley Farmers Market, 9 a.m.-noon, through September 13, Gallatin County Fairgrounds, Bozeman

• Dillon Farmers Market, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., Saturdays through September 27, Dillon

• Charlie Russell Chew-Choo, 6 p.m., Lewistown

• Lewistown Farmers Market, 8 a.m.-3 p.m., through Oct. 4, Symmes Park, Lewistown

• Miles City Farmers Market, 8 a.m.-noon, Saturdays through Oct. 25, Riverside Park, Miles City

—� Sunday, July 6

• Montana Barbecue Cook-Off, Woodard Avenue, Absarokee

• St. Timothy’s Summer Music Festival, 4 p.m., Sundays through Aug. 24, Anaconda

—� Tuesday, July 8

• Bogert Farmers Market, 5-8 p.m., Tuesdays through Sept. 23, Bogert Park, Bozeman

• Miles City Farmers Market, 5-7 p.m., Tuesdays through Oct. 25, Riverside Park, Miles City

—� Wednesday, July 9

• Laurel Downtown Farmers Market, 4-6 p.m., Wednesdays through Sept. 24, Laurel

• Livingston Farmers Market, 4:30-7:30 p.m., Wednesdays through Sept. 24, Miles Park, Livingston


• Miles City Garden Club meets every 2nd Thursday of the month, 7 p.m., First Baptist Church, Miles City

• Yellowstone Boat Float, through July 13, Livingston


• Brewfest, through July 12, Big Sky

• Montana Folk Festival, through July 13, Butte

• Glendive Farmers Market, 10-11 a.m., Fridays through Oct. 3, JC West Park, Glendive

• Will James Roundup, through July 13, Hardin


• Annual Bicycle Club One Helena Hundred, Helena


• Stillwater County Fair, through July 19, Columbus

• Beartooth 10K Run, Red Lodge

—� Monday, July 14

• Lantern Tour Livingston History Program, Virginia City


• Big Sky Food Festival, Big Sky


• Gallatin County Fair, through July 20, Bozeman


• Rosebud Treasure County Fair, through July 20, Forsyth

• Columbus Farmers Markets, 4-6:30 p.m., Thursdays through Sept. 4, Columbus


• Relay for Life survivors dinner, Range Riders Museum Pioneer Memorial Hall, Miles City


• Charlie Russell Chew-Choo, 6 p.m., Lewistown

• Barn Players “War of the Worlds” Live Radio Show and Dinner, Miles City

• David Onley: WaterWorks Art Museum with Joe Whalen, Miles City

• 50th C.M. Russell Stampede Anniversary and Music Fest, through July 20, Fairgrounds, Stanford

• Stanford Farmers Markets, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., Saturdays through Aug. 30, Stanford


• Southeastern Montana Fiddlers, 2-5 p.m., Range Riders Museum Pioneer Memorial Hall, Miles City

• PRCA Rodeo, 1:30 p.m., Fairgrounds, Stanford

—� Monday, July 21

• Sweet Grass County Fair, through July 25, Big Timber


• Central Montana Horse Show, Fair and Rodeo, through July 26, Lewistown


• Whitehall Frontier Days, through July 26, Whitehall

• Evel Knievel Days, through July 26, Butte


• Livingston Gallery Association Art Walk, 5:30-8 p.m., Livingston


• Cowboy Mounted Shooting, Big Timber

• SLAB Town Antique Show, Little Bear School House Museum, through July 27, Bozeman

• Dutch Oven Cook-off, noon-4 p.m. Range Riders Museum, Miles City

• Floating Flotillas Fish Fantasy, Twin Bridges

• TerryYippee, Terry


• Headwaters Classic Auto Car Show, Three Forks


• Montana Baroque Music Festival, through July 31, Quinn’s Hot Springs, Paradise


• Bite of Bozeman, Bozeman• Yellowstone Photography Adventure with Cindy Goeddel, through Aug. 1, Gardiner

• Big Horn County Youth Fair, through August 2, Hardin

• Park County Fair, through Aug. 2, Livingston

—� Friday, August 1

• Sweet Pea Festival, through Aug. 2, Bozeman

• Little Horn State Bank Farmers Market, 7:30-11:30 a.m., Fridays through Sept. 19, Hardin

• Festival of Nations, through August 3, Red Lodge

• Prairie County Fair, through Aug. 3, Terry

—� Saturday, August 2

• Red Lodge Climb to Conquer Cancer, Red Lodge

July 2014 — 21

July 2014 Calendar

Q. For what group in our society was the coming of the “Rover” safety bicycle of 1885 probably the greatest boon? The Starley & Sutton Co. model had both wheels the same size, thus offering the safest and most efficient combination for a bicycle.

A. Its invention casts a new light on the old quip that “a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle,” says Eric Chaline in “Fifty Machines that Changed the Course of History.” Ironically, the safety bicycle (so-called because the rider’s feet could reach the ground) helped create the emancipated “new woman” of the late 19th century. Victorian women constrained by a modest dress code found it impossible to ride a penny-farthing with its oversized front wheel, yet even in a floor-length skirt, they had no problem with the safety bicycle. “Thus, the long fight for women’s political and social emancipation began when they took to the streets on bicycles, giving them unprecedented mobility, self-reliance and independence.”

Q. In 1988, Xerox’s Mark Weiser coined the term “ubiquitous computing” to refer to the seamless integration of computing resources into most of the objects we use in daily living. What phrases are we more apt to use today?

A. Technically speaking, “pervasive computing” is everywhere, or “everyware,” as is “clamorous computing” to describe all those gadgets like smartphones and tablets that we routinely carry with us, writes columnist Paul McFedries in “IEEE Spectrum” magazine. True enough, it’s a sort of “jittery technology,” constantly bleeping at us and alerting us to new messages, posts, updates and news. Also consider the curious prevalence of “phantom vibration,” where we perceive a cellphone’s vibration in the absence of an

incoming call. Even watching TV is no longer straightforward as people use their mobile tech for “second screening” (monitoring social media commentary about the show they’re watching) and “chatterboxing” (chatting online with people watching the same show).

Q. “It’s rude when you get home,” he said, your balance system thrown off, feelings of nausea gripping you, your walk having taken a hike. It’s as if you just got off a horrible spinning amusement park ride coupled with the worst flu you’ve ever had. Who are you and what’s going on?

A. You’re astronaut Chris Hadfield trying to transition back to Earth after a five-month stint on the International Space Station. “Now your body has to instantaneously go from the graceful elegance of perpetual weightlessness to the tyranny of gravity,” Hadfield tells Andrew Grant in “Science News” magazine. In his “Space Oddity” music video, Hadfield shows what it’s like to be in space, how you cut your nails, brush your teeth, go to the bathroom. He also describes the challenges of “rocking out”: “Playing the guitar is weird”; as your hand comes up the neck, the whole guitar moves sideways because it’s actually floating in front of you. “The vocals are slightly different too, because without gravity, your sinuses never drain. It’s sort of like standing on your head forever.”

Q. When M.I.T. doctoral candidate Ben Weber outfitted 80 bank operators with palm-size sensors to wear around their necks as they worked, he was clearly up to something important. Such as what?

A. The sensors tracked who talked with whom and for how long, giving Weber and company executives hard numbers on how important social interactions are in

employees’ happiness and productivity, says Adam Piore in “Discover” magazine. Monitored as well were workers’ location, tone of voice and other telling details. Weber found that bankers belonging to small tight-knit groups that interacted frequently were not only happier but got more work done, shared ideas faster, and divvied up tasks more efficiently. He also found he could predict changes in bankers’ job satisfaction with up to 60 percent accuracy.

Q. The most valuable food source in the ocean — sunlight — is completely absent in the depths, making photosynthesis impossible. So scientists were at first stunned to discover lush life forms in the deepest ocean darkness. Just where did their food supply come from?

A. The food and the rotten egg smell found at thermal vents — those “continental wounds agitated by the planet’s tremendous heat and laced with sulfurous poisons” — both derive from the simple chemical hydrogen sulfide, say marine biologist Stephen Palumbi and writer (and son) Anthony Palumbi in “Extreme Life of the Sea.” “For all its toxicity, the molecule’s sulfur bonds practically crackle with energy.” Bacteria at these vents have mastered “chemosynthesis,” or the conversion of the chemical energy of hydrogen sulfide into raw cellular energy. Breaking the sulfide molecules apart, the bacteria can use the resultant chemical energy to fuel microbial growth, allowing them to build new cells and power their metabolism.

Q. When you consider “the law of large numbers,” “the improbability principle” or “the law of combinations,” it’s not surprising that some truly quirky things happen with numbers, such as one Israel state lottery picking 13, 14, 26, 32,

July 2014 — 22

Who did an 1885 bicycle help the most?

By Bill Sones and Rich Sones, Ph.D.Send STRANGE questions to brothers Bill and Rich at [email protected]

33, 36 on Sept. 21, 2010 and then again a few weeks later on Oct. 16; or the same person winning the same big lottery more than once. Or what if you’d been Maureen Wilcox in 1980 when “she bought tickets containing the winning numbers for both the Massachusetts State Lottery and the Rhode Island Lot-tery”?

A. Unfortunately for Ms. Wilcox, her ticket for the Massachusetts Lottery held the winning number for the Rhode Island Lottery, and vice versa, says David J. Hand in “Never Say Never” in “Scientific Amer-ican” magazine. Obviously, “matching a ticket for one lottery with the outcome of the draw for another wins you nothing —

apart from a suspicion that the universe is making fun of you.”

Q. How much can police investigators tell about a suspect from genetic materi-al left at the crime scene?

A. Predicting appearance from DNA is a powerful tool for researchers, says Man-fred Kayser, forensic molecular biologist of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, as told to Rachel Feltman in “Scientific American” magazine. “One of our latest studies focused on stature. From a suspect’s DNA, we were able to predict extreme height, or those in the upper 3 percent, within accura-cy 0.75 where 0.5 is random and 1 is a per-fect indicator.” Eye and hair color and age are more like 0.9. “But everything else

we’ve looked at is actually much lower than our height accuracy.”

Q. Rival sides in human conflicts may liken each other to “vermin” or “pests to be exterminated,” leading to outbreaks of “bestial savagery.” Yet, according to the Human Mind Project, what is wrong with this sort of animalistic thinking?

A. Alas, we humans are well known for grouping each other according to how we look, where we live or what we believe, denying those outside our own group “their shared humanity,” say the editors of “New Scientist” magazine. It seems the tendency to see others as less than fully human is deep-seated in our psyches — ”dismaying-ly easy to trigger.”

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Across1 Cubicle sight12 1961 Ben E. King hit14 Fiction involving let-ters16 Hipster persona17 Fair18 Frequent co-produc-er of U2 albums19 Comportment20 Impact sound21 By and by22 Pay stub abbr.23 MIT Sloan degree25 Striking action?28 Jack-in-the-pulpit family30 Entreaty31 Onetime Bell Atlan-tic rival34 1995 film with the line “Alan, please, last time I played this game, it ruined my life”36 Not forward37 1994 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee39 “The Whiffenpoof

Song” repetitions40 Veterans42 Gag order?43 Owed46 Schmeling rival47 Wanamaker Trophy org.49 Reason for an R50 Gardner of film51 Admitting a draft, perhaps53 Like some wallpaper motifs55 Read lots of travel-ogues, say58 Altar burners59 Political matriarch who lived to 104

Down1 Like soser through Pisa10 1969 Peace Prize-winning agcy.11 Proceeds12 Nautical pole13 Image on Israel’s state emblem

14 Winged statuette15 Uninhabited20 “John Dough and the Cherub” author, 190621 Well of Souls guard-ian, in “Raiders of the Lost Ark”23 Sizable24 20th-century maestro __ Walter26 Indian bigwig

27 Imitative29 Fairy queen who car-ried a “whip of cricket’s bone,” in Shakespeare31 Far-reaching32 City with prevalent Bauhaus architecture33 Attempt35 Magellan sponsor38 “Wait Wait... Don’t Tell Me!” network

41 “In the Bedroom” Oscar nominee43 Hirer of Sinatra in 194044 Mount Narodnaya’s range45 Hard to capture48 Adorn49 Pianist Glenn known for his Bach interpreta-tions51 Alamo rival52 Balderdash53 Fictional rafter54 Underground band?56 Maginot Line arena: abbr.57 Published

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