View From The Bridge 4/13/16

VIEW from the BRIDGE
By Muncie
4/13/16

SPRING
You know that it is SPRING when the Freeze opens for the season. On Sunday the 3rd I drove by and saw the Freeze was in business. I love to see a business “we couldn’t live without,” with the OPEN sign on.

The lilacs are budded out and you can see green everywhere. It is time to cut the lawn, turn the sprinklers on, and start thinking about a garden. I miss having a garden the last few years but I do enjoy Connie’s tomato plant in her front yard. I sit on her front steps and eat at least a dozen cherry tomatoes. Yummy!

While we are enjoyed this beautiful weather, back East there are blizzards, loss of electricity, and icy driving conditions. Do not ever under estimate Mother Nature as she is full of surprises.

PIE DAY
There was a good crowd for Pie Day. My Rhubarb Pie Angel came through again with one of her delicious Rhubarb pies. There was 1 piece left when I was leaving and I am now so sorry that I didn’t take it home.

It was reported that rhubarb is now growing in gardens and there is only one more Pie Day in May until next September. I wonder what kind of a bribe one would use to have someone bake rhubarb pies in the hot summer days. Actually, I would not ask anyone to do that. It is hot enough without using ones oven at 400 degrees.  Besides I do not need a whole pie to myself. One piece once a month will do me.

LIBRARY WEEK
By the time the River Press reaches you, Library week will be half over. It was advertised last week with a schedule and I hope you took advantage of it. I vote that the Library is the most important building in Fort Benton. It provides the best learning tools.

If you have not been to the Library yet this week, there will be a Tea on Thursday from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. There will be entertainment with our local Lucky Valentines on Friday from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. See you there.

ANGELS
I know that there are Angels among us. I added two more to my list this past week.

I am able to ask for help in this column and I did that several weeks ago by asking for help on a new project. I needed a carpenter to measure the walls at the Sunrise Bluffs for the Veterans picture shelves. I also asked for the help of four or five men to build the shelves and attach them to the walls. These shelves would organize the photos by straightening them and putting them in order. Karla, manager of the Bluffs, and I received many complaints about the photos being crooked and families unable to find their loved one.

I got no response in two weeks and I was going to give up the project. Then along came my Carpenter Angel on Front Street and volunteered to do the whole project.  We will make a trip to the Bluffs this week to measure how much material we will need. Hopefully it will be completed by Memorial Day when we celebrate remembering our Veterans with a wreath thrown in the Missouri off the Old Fort Benton Bridge. We then proceed to the Riverside Cemetery for the ceremony at the Veterans gravesides.

The VFW is working to get the Flagpole in place according to their report in the River Press. It should all come together as planned. See you there.

THRIFT SHOP ANGEL
I also acquired a Thrift Shop Angel. I have been asking friends if any of them had some old white sheets. I need them for the Toothbrush Rugs that I make. I have many colored sheets but white is the runner part of the rug.

I visited the Thrift Shop on Thursday and checked for white sheets. Vi said to come back on Saturday and she thought she had some somewhere. When I went back on Saturday she had a box full of 8 white sheets. Those ought to keep me busy for at least 100 rugs and out of trouble.

I also have a Snow Angel who cleans my snow and a Computer Angel who knows everything you need to know about a computer. Also remember my Pie Angel. Do you have Angels in your life?

PANCAKE BREAKFAST
What a fun time last Sunday morning when the Signal Point Golf Club invited all of you to come up to a Pancake Breakfast. It was delicious with juice, coffee, pancakes, sausage, hash browns, and scrambled eggs. It was all you wanted to eat and I did seconds on the pancakes. I haven’t had a pancake for 2 or 3 years.

It seemed as though the wind was blowing a tad bit more up on top but it was still pleasant. It is a beautiful sight to see the green grass and the view of Fort Benton town from that vantage point. Many people ask me why I do not play golf. I don’t know the answer. As much as I love the outdoors and walking, it just never happened. I’ll blame my friends. They never invited me.

FERTILZER FOUNDATION
After leaving the Golf Course, we took a ride by the railroad track to see the construction going on with the Fertilizer Plant. There was a picture in the River Press on March 16th but like most things to see it live gives you a whole new perspective. There is much more work that has been done in the month since that photo was taken. You cannot really see it from the road and all of a sudden…there it is.  It is down in a kind of valley and it reminded me of a lost city rediscovered.   It is huge.

There were many large trucks and building material in the area. What a sight it is.  It will be employing new families perhaps with children for our schools. The employees will need homes to rent or buy. It is like a whole new world. The young people of Fort Benton have much to look forward to. History is being made every day here in our town. Get involved and add to this history.

PIATIGORSKY
It was a perfect Sunday morning after having that delicious pancake breakfast at the Signal Point Golf Club. The afternoon was scheduled for the piano performance at the Grand Union Hotel by Richard Dowling. This is an annual event of classical music. This performance was more than that. I learned classical music history. Richard had many stories to tell about Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, and other classical pianist. The frosting on the cake was the Scott Joplin’s Rag Time career.

I decided that I like Rachmaninoff more than Beethoven. In Beethoven’s favor, I do like some of his compositions.  I have on my cell phone ring tone his Pathetique. I used to have the sheet music but could not find it today to remind me what concerto it came from.

It was a perfect afternoon listening to beautiful music and looking out the windows at the cottonwood trees and the Missouri River. “It doesn’t get any better than that.”  (That is a quote from last week’s River Press by Jerry Brooke.)
I spoke with Richard for a few seconds and asked him if he could tell me something for the View that no one else knew. He came up with his K-1 title with the airlines.  He flies 100,000 miles or more a year. (What a high that is!)

CCPA
There will be only one more performance this season on Wednesday, April 27th when Streisand and Sinatra will be here in Fort Benton. You will not want to miss this one as I know from experience it will be very enjoyable. I saw this show in Helena about 5 years ago. Please plan to attend to fill the Elementary School auditorium. See you there.

OBSERVATIONS
Laziness and inactivity kills just as many people as smoking.

GOD BLESS AMERICA, OUR TROOPS and THOSE WHO PROTECT US DAILY.