View From The Bridge

VIEW from the BRIDGE
By Muncie
8/31//16

SEPTEMBER MOON
My favorite month’s moon is called the Corn Moon or the Harvest Moon. Two years out of three the Harvest Moon comes in September and the other in October. Obviously the name indicates harvest time when farmers can work late hours by the light of the moon. (Even though it is my favorite month weather wise, it is a bit sad because fall is upon us.  Can winter be far behind?) The full moon will be Friday, September 16th. Enjoy!

CELEBRATION QUILTS
The quilt drawing raffle ticket stated that the quilts were to be drawn at the Chouteau County Fair. They were not because it was suggested that the winners be drawn at Connie Jenkins Fund Raiser on September 10th. That gave the committee three more weeks to sell tickets.

The proceeds from the raffle support next year’s Summer Celebration. If you enjoy Summer Celebration then please purchase a raffle ticket to support it. Excuses like, “My wife makes quilts,” or “I have enough quilts,” does not cut it with me. So, if you win the quilt you can give it away as a gift or donate it back again. You could also donate it to the Ag Museum and that would be a wonderful thing to do.

The cost of a raffle ticket is $5.00. It would be fantastic if we could sell all 1,000 tickets to help support the biggest event in Fort Benton.

Please reconsider and find me at the next two Farmers Market on the 1st and 8th of September. You can also find me at the Connie Jenkins Fund Raiser on September 10th from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Ag Center. Connie has fought a most difficult battle against cancer and has handled Summer Celebration since 1992.

DO YOU REMEMBER?
A few years ago an author named Susanna came to town and visited The Friends of the Library. She read a couple of chapters from a book she was writing about Fort Benton and the Missouri River.

I received a phone call on Tuesday evening a couple of weeks ago from her husband, Stuart, who had just spent 5 days on the river. He was calling to say hello from Susanna. The next morning he came over to visit and I found out that she had a book of short stories published about a month ago. The Fort Benton book will be out next year.

It was a nice surprise and I am now in touch with Susanna again as the old e-mail number had been changed.

WHO KNEW!
I am due for my driver’s license next month. The last time I got a license I did it by mail. I had to have an eye test at the Eye Clinic and a physical exam. I mailed those two forms into the bureau and received my license.
This year I received a green postcard telling me that I was due for a license. I went to the Eye Clinic again for my eye exam and then called the number on the green card to get the papers to fill out for my physical.

This is where the “WHO KNEW” came in.  I found that I could only get a license by mail once. However, I could make an appointment instead of standing in line. I did not have to get a physical but needed to have my picture taken for this year.

When I inquired as to the change in procedure I was told that these changes went into effect a year ago.  WHO KNEW! It is not a subject that one gets involved in. Several people I spoke to knew but never thought to tell me about it.

A couple of people asked me if I had a license to drive my Go-Go. I was also asked if I have ever gotten a ticket for driving too fast. No, I never have because the fastest I can go is 10 mph. I love that little machine and when it gets too cold I will have to resort to my truck. I filled the truck with gas in the spring and still have 3/4/ of a tank of gas left. Let no one say I put any pollution into the air.

ANTIQUES ROADSHOW
Everyone has a story. This one about the Antiques Road Show came from Dee Spencer who lives in our sister town of Geraldine. If you are familiar with this TV show on PBS, (Public Broadcasting System,) then you will enjoy her story.

Dee’s son Ken drove her to Salt Lake City where about 1,000 other people gathered with their 2 antique items to have them professionally appraised. Out of those 1,000 people about 4 to 6 were chosen to be featured on the TV show. About a half dozen people were shown at the end of the show whose questionable items were not worth very much money. (That is so humorous.)

Each item that was chosen was evaluated by a professional antique dealer in his field. It was interesting to hear about the history of the piece and how much it was worth.

It was so interesting when, for instance, an old desk was shown. The expert would show them a little secret drawer. He or she would know what kind of wood was used and the date it was made. I really loved watching the show on Saturdays evenings after Backroads of Montana and knew nothing about how people took their precious items to the show for inspection.

So, General Federation of Woman’s Clubs take note. Dee would be an interesting speaker if you could talk her into it.

BINGO
It is time again and it seems as though it just ended for the summer. Games at the Golden Age Senior Center will begin on Thursday September 1st and at the VFW on Monday the 3rd of October. I know this will make quite a few fans very happy and good luck to all.

WATER, WATER
How do you use water?
7. One flush of the toilet can use up to 6 ½ gallons of water.  (Put a brick in the tank.)
8. Automatic dishwashers uses 9 to 12 gallons of water white hand washing dishes can use up to 20 gallons. (Invest in a dishwasher and not only save on water but save on work.)
9. Approximately 1 million miles of pipelines and aqueducts carry water to the United States and Canada. That’s enough pipe line to circle the earth 40 times.
10. A tomato is about 90% water. An apple, a pineapple, and an ear of corn are about 80% water.
11. In the United States we spend about 61 billion each year for bottled water.
12. 3.5 million people a year die from water related diseases.
The World Bank predicts that by 2025, 2/3rds of the world population will run short of fresh drinking water. (Now that is scary!)

This has certainly been an eye opener. If you have any questions or are interesting in the program being repeated, please contact the Upper Missouri Interpretive Center.

DEMENTIA/ALTZHEIMERS
It is Monday afternoon about 2:30 p.m. and I just returned from the Golden Age Senior Center. There speakers, as I told you about last week, presenting information about the above subjects. There were 18 people in attendance and the Center seemed pleased with those figures. I, of course, was not. I always look for larger participation numbers for these very informative events. The information was so vast that it would be difficult to pass along. All I can suggest, if you need information, is to call me and I can give you phone numbers to call.

There was information about how far along people are into the heredity disease, when they are in need of specialized care, and help for the caretakers. Unfortunately Fort Benton does not have a support group. I will call the Health Department and the Missouri River Medical Center in the next week and see if there is interest in starting one.

Support groups are very important because there are people who have been through it. From their conversations and sharing, a caretaker can judge when their loved one or themselves need help. Some patients need professional nursing care or other needs that families are not qualified for. Get all the help you can because one of the important points was for the caretaker to take care of themselves.

OBSERVATIONS
“Time heals everything.”

GOD BLESS AMERICA, OUR TROOPS, ALL THOSE WHO ARE IN PROTECTIVE JOBS, and WEAR RED ON FRIDAYS.