View From The Bridge 7/4/18

VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE
By Muncie
7/4/18

JULY MOON
How quickly these months are rolling around. The Full Buck Moon is usually the month when the antlers of the buck deer push out of foreheads in coatings of velvety fur. It was also called the Full Thunder Moon for the reason that thunder storms are most frequent during this month. Another name is the Full Hay Moon. (I really enjoy the different names of each month and the significance of them. These names are hundreds of years old mostly named by the Native Americans.

4TH OF JULY
This is my favorite holiday. I love what it stands for. I love the flags waving almost everywhere. I love fireworks. It just seems like a most happy birthday party.  I will count my blessings the whole day. I could have been born in another country that was not the home of the brave and the free. I feel I can say what I feel, especially at my age,) and not be concerned about it. Yes, God bless America.

TRIATHLON
On Saturday, July 7th there will be another exciting event. The Missouri River Breaks will sponsor the event which starts and ends in Fort Benton. It begins at 8:00 a.m. The starting point in Fort Benton is a canoe/kayak 20mile race, then on to a 3.4 run, and a grand finish in Fort Benton with a 20mile bicycle ride. I do not know where the beginning and finish lines are. There is a map on the poster, but I cannot make out the beginning and end with my eyesight. Check it out for yourself.

At 2:00 p.m. there will be outdoor games and the pool will be open. I do not know details on the games but I think that they are for the kiddos. It should be a fun day for them.

At 5:00 p.m. on Front Street there will be a FREE CONCERT called Boats, Brews, and Blues. In my opinion this event is going to attract a crowd so get there early and stay late. Let us have the good weather hold as it did for Summer Celebration

JUNIOR EXPLORERS   
Every Tuesday and Thursday at the Chouteau County Library & the BLM Interpretive Center there will be a Junior Explorers Series.

Please check the River Press for the time and place. It is different every week.

This sounds like another great program to keep kiddos occupied this summer. I wish I was a kid again when I hear about programs like these. (I wonder if I could sneak in?)

VIRGELLE
For those of you readers who are antique buffs Virgelle will hold an outdoor flea market. The date is Sunday July 8th from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. If you have never been to Virgelle you will find a very charming area that you will return to many times with visitors. It is worth the trip and take a ride across the Missouri if the ferry is running.

SUPPORT OUR TROOPS
Wear red on Fridays such as a Support Our Troops t-shirt. Again I would like to see those red shirts with the logo “Support out Troops” on it.

Several years ago over 350 of those shirts were sold. Where could all those shirts have disappeared? Please check your closets and let next Friday be a red shirt Support Our Troops day and every Friday. Let it continue through the summer while we are wearing short sleeved shirts.

If you did not get a shirt or it is too small or too large, check out the Sadie’s Resale Chop for one.

FREE GOLF LESSONS
Lessons begin on July 11th, 12th, 18th, and 19th for different age groups. Check River Press for times.

SUMMER READING PROGRAM
I really enjoy the Summer Reading program seeing the Kiddos on the lawn of the Library / How I wish we would have had those kinds of programs when I was a kid. I spent a lot of time in the library but it was not outdoors. It was on a main street with nothing but cement in front.

Our Chouteau County Free Library is one of the reasons I love Fort Benton. Because I have poor vision I no longer read. I belong to Talking Books but note that the Library has hundreds of books on tape.

Take advantage of that Folks and listen to great books on vacations or times when you spent long hours driving. May I suggest books about Montana. They are a wealth of information.

INVITATION
Come to the Sunrise Bluffs for Sunday dinner. Since the Senior Center does not serve Saturday or Sunday dinners any longer, the Bluffs would be an alternative for a pleasant Sunday afternoon.

Dinner is served at 1:00 p.m. and it is necessary to make a reservation. Call Karla at 622-5443 during the week.

It is a great social afternoon to meet more of your Fort Benton neighbors. There may be old friends who have moved to the Bluffs and they would like to visit with you. (We are actually at the other end of town and it would be a little further a drive. I am accused of moving out in the country when I moved to the Sunset apartments.)

Hope to see you next Sunday.

CONSTRUCTION
I was able to track down some information about the construction on Front Street on the north end of town. Perhaps you did not even know that Front Street jags over a half block after it dead ends into the Sunrise Bluffs. It is s government mandate that sewers be brought up to code. Most rural areas are old and falling apart as most senior citizens are.

I do not know where the construction company began but they worked between 23rd and 22nd for several weeks. They have now moved on to the area between 22nd and 21st.

So where do you go now since your destination is the pump house across from the Old Fort Benton Fort?

The only way to go is diagonally across the Old Fort Park to Front Street. The bad news is that it will be confusion for a while but the good news is that Front Street between the Sunrise Bluffs and the swimming pool will come out of it a well, no bumps, potholes, road traveled. That stretch of road is not well defined between gravel parking area and the road. I am looking forward to the improvement although I no longer drive.

GOD BLESS AMERICA, OUR TROOPS, POLICE OFFIS, FIREMEN/WOMEN AND EMT’s.