Carole Dickson reports that she has closed Cantina La Cocina, a popular eating spot in Victor. Carole worked there first as a waitress for six years and then purchased the restaurant 19 years ago in 1988. She said the bar and casino will remain open. She plans to do more visiting with her grandkids in Seattle and California. She also owns a bar and restaurant in Costa Rica. Carole recently visited her children and grandkids. She has always been a strong supporter of the Victor community.

Linda Langton Slater visited with her mother Louise Langton and all her relatives in the valley from her home in Arvada, Colorado.

Bobbi Cote McKuen visited with her brother John Cote and their sister Kathy Cote in Seattle and then went to Phoenix to visit her son Jeremy and her little grandsons.

Veterans' van available

The DAV van is available to transport any veteran to a VA medical facility. Veterans must be ambulatory. The van makes daily trips to Fort Harrison, Missoula and Kalispell clinics and Great Falls clinic if needed. Veterans may also be transported to the airport or the bus station if needed. The service is free. For more information call Eric Wells, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., 777-1136.

Prescribed burning on Stevi Ranger District

The Stevensville Ranger District has initiated its spring prescribed burning program. The goals of the prescribed burning program are to maintain and promote forest health, improve wildlife habitat, clean up post-harvest slash, reduce the potential for large, high intensity wildfire, and reduce safety risks to firefighters and the public.

Depending on field conditions, there are five prescribed burning projects which may be completed on the north end of the Bitterroot National Forest this spring. These projects include 300 acres in the Sweeney Creek area, 70 acres in Fred Burr, 55 acres in Sheafman Creek, 100 acres in the Burnt Fork drainage, and two projects totaling 135 acres in the St. Mary's area.

It is not possible to predict exactly which day any of these projects might occur. District fire personnel assess fuel moisture, air quality and dispersion predictions, and weather forecasts prior to deciding which projects to pursue. It is common for the spring prescribed fire program to be concluded by the end of May.

Call the Stevensville Ranger District at 777-5461 for more information.

Victor author wins national award

"Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents" by Victor author, Marty Essen, has won the National Indie Excellence 2007 Book Award for Travel Essay. More than 700 independently published books were entered in the awards, in various categories, and the winners were announced on May 1, 2007.

This is the second book award for "Cool Creatures, Hot Planet." Late last year, it won the USA Book News' Best Books 2006 Book Award for Travel/Essay.

"ool Creatures, Hot Planet" is also in the running for some additional awards. The book is a finalist for four awards that will be announced the first weekend of June at Book Expo in New York City:

· Ben Franklin Award

· ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Award

· IPPY Award

· Nautilus Award

"When my book first came out, I entered it in several contests, hoping it would at least be a finalist for one award," said author Marty Essen. "When it won the Best Books 2006 Book Award I was thrilled, because it validated all the hard work I put in. As for winning a National Indie Excellence Award, I feel truly fortunate. After all, most authors go their entire careers without winning even one award.

"But for me, the biggest honor, and surprise, is having my book make the finalist stage for all of the Book Expo season awards it was entered in. More than 1000 books didn't make it that far. My wife, Deb, and I will head to New York City for Book Expo, and hopefully we'll come back with some more good news."

"Cool Creatures, Hot Planet" is available in bookstores, worldwide, and signed copies can be ordered at www.CoolCreaturesHotPlanet.com.

Bicycle Race to benefit Bitter Root Land Trust

This Memorial Day weekend, 100-200 people will visit the Bitterroot Valley to participate in the Tour of the Bitterroot, a three-day bicycle race to benefit the Bitter Root Land Trust. The race is sanctioned by USA Cycling and is one of a number of races in Montana Bicycle Racing Association’s season-long point series. The event is also part of the Lance Armstrong Junior Race Series and will include a kid’s fun race in downtown Hamilton. Five Valley Velo/Team Stampede, a local bicycle racing and triathlon club, is helping organize and promote the event.

“We were looking for a fund-raising event that would showcase our scenic valley beyond the Highway 93 corridor,” said Bitter Root Land Trust Director Grant Kier. “The bike race allows racers from outside the valley to enjoy the beauty of the Bitterroot that we all cherish. It’s also an opportunity for locals to celebrate our agricultural lands and learn how we can protect them.”

Beyond benefiting the Land Trust, he said, the race will also be an early-season boon to the Valley’s motels and restaurants, which typically depend on a busy tourist season.

The race will be held in three stages over three days -- Saturday, May 26 through Monday, May 28. Motorists traveling in and around the Valley on those dates are advised to keep an eyeout for the race groups. Drivers may be asked to slow or stop momentarily, but any traffic delays should be minimal.

The event’s first stage, the Bitterroot Valley Road Race, will begin on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the historic St. Mary’s Mission, in Stevensville. The race will parade up Main Street, meander north through the Valley’s scenic east side to Florence, and head back toward Stevensville to finish atop the Airport Rd. hill.

The second stage is the Downtown Hamilton Criterium. A criterium is a bike race in which riders make multiple loops on a section of closed roads. In this particular race, the last-placed rider on each lap will be eliminated until five riders remain. Then, those riders will battle it out in a final sprint to determine the ultimate winner. The criterium provides great opportunities for spectators, as the racers will complete many exciting, fast laps around downtown. They’ll also do intermediate sprints for cash and merchandise prizes, so there’s sure to be plenty of action!

A kid’s fun race will be held at noon, with youngsters (under age 12) following an abbreviated form of the same course. Kids can register at 307 State Street before the race. Helmets are required. Valley Bicycles will raffle off a new kids bike and other kids gear for all kid’s fun race participants! There will be an amateur criterium, as well, in which local non-competitive riders can take advantage of the closed course and try their hand at a USA Cycling sanctioned race.

Festivities for racers and community members alike will take place throughout Sunday on the Bitter Root Land Trust lawn at 307 State Street. Following the race, there will be live music by Blue Melon and food for race participants and volunteers. Festivities will take place at Red Barn Bicycles (399 McCarthy Loop), a local bike shop operating from a barn on a working farm. Contact Robin Pruitt at the Bitter Root Land Trust at 375-0956 for more information regarding the festivities.

The third and final stage of the race is the Time Trial up the pastoral Sleeping Child Road on Monday morning. The time trial pits competitors against the clock, with riders leaving at one-minute intervals and racing individually on an out-and-back course. Racing begins at 9 a.m.

After the time trial, the awards ceremony and final shindig for racers and spectators will commence at nearby Red Barn Bicycles at noon.

Director Kier, himself a top-level mountain bike and road racer, says “the whole Tour of the Bitterroot event is a great opportunity for locals to witness first-rate, competitive road racing, and celebrate the Valley’s beauty as it comes to life in the spring.”

“Multi-stage races like this are a rare treat for racers, and great way to showcase an entire community,” he added. “And, we hope this event will be successful for years to come.”

For more information about the Tour of the Bitterroot or to find out how to volunteer or help sponsor the event, contact Grant Kier or Robin Pruitt at the Bitter Root Land Trust office at 375-0956 or visit www.tourofthebitterroot.com.

The Bitter Root Land Trust is a private, non-profit organization that partners with landowners to conserve clean water, wildlife habitat, and working farms and ranches in and around the Bitterroot Valley for the benefit of this and future generations. For more information visit www.bitterrootlandtrust.org.

Aguirre honored

Geoffrey Aguirre, son of Rudy Aguirre of Claremont, California, and Beverly Aguirre of Stevensville (and grandson of Clyde and Doris Ragsdale of Stevensville), received the American Bar Association/Oregon State Bar Public Honors Fellowship in Environmental Law, Summer 2007. He is also is the recipient of the Edith Durgan Memorial Scholarship 2007-2008 and was elected as Editor to the Oregon Review of International Law. Geoffrey is a second year law student at the University of Oregon School of Law.

Report predicts early, active fire season

The National Interagency Fire Center recently released its annual “Wildland Fire Outlook: May–August 2007” report which indicates the potential for wildland fire is above normal for lands encompassed by the Bitterroot National Forest, and neighboring areas in central Idaho and southwestern Montana. The report states, “Fire potential is expected to be higher than normal across much of the Southwest and California, portions of the Great Basin, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Alaska and the Southeast.”

Produced by the Predictive Services division of the National Interagency Fire Center, three critical factors are used as indicators of fire potential for this outlook period, including drought, conditions that lead to an early fire season onset, and grassland conditions. All three of these factors support the potential for an early and more active fire season. Specifically, “Drought conditions are expanding and intensifying across large portions of the West and Southeast. Low snowpack, warmer than normal forecasted temperatures, and early snow melt over most of the West will likely dry out timber fuels, cause early green-up, and bring an early onset of fire season. And abundant new and carryover fine fuels across much of the West are expected to green-up and cure early, leading to an active and prolonged grassland fire season.”

The Bitterroot National Forest’s Assistant Fire Management Officer Rick Floch reviewed the report and affirmed that these findings are consistent with conclusions reached by others. “I have heard similar results from other sources. Our fire season will hinge on the amount of rain we receive in June and July but with the long term drought and global warming trend, we could be in for an active season again in 2007.”

The full report can be viewed online at http://www.nifc.gov/nicc/predictive/outlooks/season_outlook.pdf. For more information, contact Floch at 363-7186.

Births

Births at Marcus Daly Hospital, Hamilton

5-8-07
Boy, 6 lbs., 8 oz., 19-1/2 inches, to Ken and Jamie Munson, Stevensville

Obituaries

Patty Jean Spang
1934-2007

Patty Jean Spang, 73, of Stevensville, died at her home on Sunday, May 6, 2007, of lung cancer.

She was born on March 2, 1934 at Columbus, Ohio and was the daughter of Ben and Edith (Berry) Petty.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Albert M. Spang in 1996, and her son, Albert D. Spang in 2003.

Patty is survived by her two sons, Robert, Stevensville and Jeff, Columbus, Ohio and a daughter Valerie in Texas. Also surviving are granadchildren Valecia and Rusty.

Private graveside services will be held.

The Whitesitt Funeral Home in Stevensville is in charge of arrangements.

Charlotte Evelyn Hawk
1915-2007

Charlotte Evelyn Hawk, 92, of Florence, died peacefully in her sleep on Friday, May 4, 2007.

She was born on January 3, 1915 in Huntington, Indiana to Sylvia (Hummel) and Fred Brock.

She graduated from high school in South Whitley, Indiana and attended a business college in Ft. Wayne, Indiana.

She married Luther F. Hawk in Dearborn, Michigan on May 12, 1935. The couple made their home in the Detroit area for 37 years. In 1972 they moved to Florence. Evelyn was an avid gardener and bridge player. In her later years, she enjoyed spending time at Flathead Lake, reading, pitting cherries and going for boat rides.

Evelyn was preceded in death by her husband Luther and a brother Jack Brock of Flint, Michigan.

She is survived by a son Ray (Arlene) Hawk of Florence, and a daughter Suzanne Hawk (Edward) Schrems of Norman, Oklahoma. Also surviving are four grandchildren, Lynn Lanktree, Joe Hawk, Vicky Johnson and Gary Schrems, and 10 great grandchildren.

Memorial services will be held on Monday, May 21, at 2 p.m. at the Florence Carlton Community Church with the Rev. David Blackwell officiating. Cremation has taken place. Should friends desire, memorials may be made to the Florence Carlton Community Church, 5693 Old Highway 93, Florence MT 59833.

The Whitesitt Funeral Home in Stevensville is in charge of arrangements.

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