View From The Bridge

VIEW from the BRIDGE
By Muncie
2/15/17

FIRST ROBIN
My phone jingled with excitement last Friday morning when I received a call from Jackie Campbell. She and her husband were walking their dogs on the Levee Trail and they spotted a ROBIN.  When they were on their return walk the robin was still there. I would guess that she was building a next nearby. Now is that early or what? I never kept a record of the robin spotting but perhaps someone out there did.

Now I will be waiting for country folks to call with the first Meadowlark sighting.

LAST BASKETBALL
How did the season go so quickly? The games with Chinook were exciting especially with the boy’s game when Fort Benton did a catch-up again from behind to even the scores with quite a few 3 pointers. The last 2 minutes were crucial and they lost by 3 points. Being Senior Night it must have been difficult for the 2 seniors. Now the team is on to districts and that should generate some exciting moments in that wonderful game of basketball.

CHOUTEAU COUNTY PERFORMING ARTS
On Tuesday the 21st the “Take Five” group will be performing for us at the Fort Benton Elementary School. Rob Verdi, who is a great friend of Fort Benton, has put together a terrific group of missions that will keep your toes tapping.

There are only three more performances left in the season. It is a long wait until the end of September when we have the great entertainment again set up by our Chouteau Count Performing Arts committee. So enjoy these next performances and see you there.

NEW LIBRARY
You deserve to be proud Big Sandy. The article’s in the River Press about your ten year struggle was very interesting. What I was most impressed about was the way the community raised the funds. It seems as though every single person in their town donated including the last graduating class. They realize how important a library is to a town. Now it will become the history of Big Sandy.

My memory was jogged with this story. When I was a young girl our library was in a store building. I loved to go there and read because it was quiet. (I always loved quiet.) You had to whisper and never, never talk out loud. It was a wonderful world for me as I loved reading. One summer I won a contest for reading 149 books during the summer. (I’m a little hazy on the number of books that I read but I am sure it was close.) Most of those were read at the library although a few were read under my covers with a flashlight.

Have you been to Big Sandy to visit the library?  We looked for and found it last fall on our way home from Havre. The exterior did not look as it does in the photo on the front page of the River Press last week.  It is a fascinating looking structure and will be a valuable asset to their community.

AROUND TOWN
My truck is 20 years old this year. Many have asked why I do not park it in the garage now that I have one. My reply is that the Mail Truck has been outside in even worse weather for 19 years and I am afraid the change would be too much for it. At the Morger house, it would sometimes not start. If I forgot to plug it in I was in trouble. This winter there wasn’t a problem. It started up and the plug was not in most of the time.

I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would ever have a vehicle 20 years old.  Time flies when you are having fun and those 20 years slipped by me in record time.

However, read below about a vehicle that I have ridden in many times in the last few months.

“My name is Galloping Gertie and I am 50 years old,
My owner inherited me says that I will never be sold.
I have almost 25,000 miles on my speedometer and it has never been messed with,
Some people will say that it was changed but that is just a myth,
She looks really good with not a scratch, bump and brand new tires to boot,
Now she is good for another 50 years and another 25,000 miles to around town toot,
She will be cruising up and down Front Stet just like the youngster model years,
I know, when Gertie gives up at the end, I won’t be around to shed any tears.”

Who do you think this owner is and have you see her driving around town?  (I’ll let you know next week. There are no gift certificates if you know the answer.)

OTHER NEWS
There is a lot going on around town but as the President says, “I know a lot of things that no one else knows because I am President.” I still have that thing hanging over my head. If I tell, they will have to kill me. You will all know soon.  My excuse about this information is that I am not a reporter. I have been dubbed a columnist and all my news is after the fact.  My wish is that people would call me like Jackie Campbell with happy stories about robins.

PONDERISMS
“Why is it that you put in your 2 cents worth in and yet you only get a penny for your thoughts?”
(Found on the internet.)

GOD BLESS AMERICA, OUR TROOPS, THOSE WHO PROTECT US and WEAR RED ON FRIDAYS.