Remembrance of Sister Jill
By Gretchen L. Langton
The year is 1976. “Rocky” was the hit movie and the Concorde made its first flight. The USSR, China, and the US were all making a big show of testing nukes. Patty Hearst was found guilty of armed robbery, the Steelers beat the Cowboys in the Super Bowl, Apple Computer was born. “Convoy” and “Dancing Queen” were both hit singles. On television, powerful chicks in skimpy and frumpy outfits were en vogue: Charlie’s Angels, The Bionic Woman, Laverne and Shirley, Alice. In 1976, Jim and Tammy Faye started the PTL Club, every little girl wanted to be Nadia or Dorothy, and Richard Scarry was churning out memorable children’s stories. My sister Jill Ann Langton was born at Marcus Daly Memorial in Hamilton on February 3, 1976. Today she would be thirty-four. She died a month and change away.
As the story goes, my mom went to see Aunt Linda at Marcus Daly. She had just given birth to my cousin Sarah, and Mom brought her a hamburger. Then she sped to the airport to pick up Brian, my father. He had been on a trip to China as a delegate for the Kellogg Corporation to welcome China into the western world’s economic enterprises. Mom helped calve cows and chop wood in his absence with the assistance of her father and father-in-law. Twelve hours after my aunt gave birth, Linda found my mother was her roommate with her own baby girl. Sister-in-laws with girls, attached six generations back to their family’s arrival in the Bitterroot.
My mom’s mom called Jill “Casey.” She reminded my grandmother of a sprite, with that mischievous twinkle in her eye. “That Casey is such a ham,” she would say. “Pill” was interchangeable with “ham.” She was always into things, her sisters’ things namely, but she had a curiosity that rivaled any cat. And this led to her next title in the family, “The Finder.” Jill could uncannily locate anything and when some object was missing, we would beg her to use her skills. She, being the ham, would play this up and eventually wanted to know what was in it for her. As “the third” she eventually became savvy to all the intricacies of a family of five. She entertained us. She was funny early on and remained funny her whole short life, making Jim Carrey-esque faces and strutting to bend the rest of us over, hysterical. She was that sort of extrovert who played her time on the stage, but after the show, went introvert.
Jill was an artist. She saw life in vibrant-greens and whites, up close-O’Keefe-style. She sang like a bird nearly from birth. She closed her eyes when she sang, like Barbra Streisand singing “The Way We Were.” She made up songs about the goings-on of our crazy life, so much so that her favorite gift, outside of the Cabbage Patch, was a radio that had a microphone attached. She could officially sing along with whatever happened to capture her… and be louder than the din of her loud family, until we begged her to turn it down. She was Kristy’s and my mascot on many farm adventures. We always swore her to secrecy, but she had an innate sense of decency that prevented her from being the liar we hoped she would be. She got us in a good deal of trouble of our own making. Was this because her favorite book at night, that she later held together with duct tape, was the picture Bible?
We had seriously riotous sister bonding on a regular basis. Jill was our R2-D2 for Halloween, at three, so courageous under a paper bag we had cut a square hole in for her to see through. She was game, she was brave, she was patient…until her sisters left the nest. Then she began in earnest a new identity. “She had more parties than the two of you combined,” remembers my mom. She was an Avon lady in high school, she managed the girl’s basketball team and all their hair, too. She became a person away from her sisters, but influenced all the while. When Kris and I came home for the holidays, the three of us would religiously sing the song from “White Christmas,” “Sisters, sisters….” In radically unharmonious harmony, we proclaimed our tightness at the top of the stairs into the living room as the movie played beneath us, arms linked, swaying as if we were drunk, each trying to prove we could bump the hardest with our hips.
She went to cosmetology school and became a psychologist for those who sat in her chair. Her analysis did not go unappreciated and neither did her skills as a professional. Some of my favorite photos depict Jill, in various stages of sickness (because she worked for her friends throughout her battle with cancer), piling their hair atop their soon-to-be newlywed heads. Jill loved the “Bible” and “People Magazine.” She couldn’t see a disconnect between Jesus and high fashion. She began helping those she cared for in a physical way and ended by hoping to reach people spiritually.
Her hair days were followed by days as a missionary. She met her man, whom she could not stop talking about. James and Jill were married. Jill fantasized about being the princess as a child and her wedding confirmed her fantasy. Then, she and James flew off to start an orphanage in Thailand just before she would be diagnosed with cancer for the first time. After returning and enduring an inconceivably arduous treatment, they went back to Thailand and had a baby, William Brian Peddie. She wanted to return to what she and her hubby were driven to do. Her child, her longing for home, and a re-diagnosis of cancer brought Jill, James, and Will stateside soon after. Jill was blessed with a passion to share her faith with others, so her parents say, when they are asked to share words about Jill. Her nephews say she was courageous and joyous. Kristy describes her as “loving.” My daughter remembers her as “beautiful and exciting.” Her father-in-law thinks “she rocks.” Her son and family miss her deeply and still feel her courage and her absence daily.
When I remember my sister, I see a photo of the three of us under a June sun; I look pained as I looked often in family photos. I am eight, Kris is five, and Jill is like a monkey baby clinging to my left hip as if I was a pro at holding her so. There were times, that I curse now, when I thought her my nuisance of a littlest sister. I want to call those thoughts back and I want her back… to get old with, she and Kris and me, complaining about the ways our teens are driving us to distraction. I don’t want to think she has gone because where she was is a hole, a deep gash in the family fabric. I am short of breath to describe how my anguish changes me daily. How do we, who are deeply attached to those we love, imagine absence in a fashion that does not include anguish of the breed that will smash our conscious beings against the rocks? We must imagine her desire for us to “sally forth” in whatever fashion we see fit. She became a person who reached out in love to the masses based on her faith and resoundingly affected the folks she encountered. I am her sister, and one of those she encountered for the duration of her nearly 34 years, and I can say that she is one-third my loss, as if my pie has been haplessly sliced before its time.
I love you, Jilly Willy Puddin’ Pie and I am not alone. Your sister and your family, GLL
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Stevi volunteer firemen awarded
By Michael Howell
The Stevensville volunteer fire departments held their annual awards dinner last Friday evening and honored three retirees, Chief Bob Summers who served for 45 years, Assistant Chief Dean Whitesitt who served for 37 years and Firefighter Terry Rosen who served for 25 years.
The Stevensville Fire Department put in a total of 5,240 hours last year serving the community. Of that total 4,056 was in training, the rest was in actual calls. The department received a total of 378 requests for service, 151 of which were in the Town limits and 218 were in the rural district. It responded to 9 requests for mutual aid from other districts and made 8 requests for mutual aid.
The average response time was 8 minutes from the time of being paged to arriving on the scene.
Of the 378 total requests for service, 72 were fire related, 43 were for motor vehicle accidents, 252 were medical assists, and 11 were false alarms.
Other awards given out at the dinner included: Raphael Goodson, Cadet of the Year; Andy Clark, Fire Fighter of the Year; Crissy Lord, EMT of the Year; Kristopher Burgett, Most Fire Calls (95), Most EMT Calls (123); Brad Lord, Most Overall Hours (405); Bill Perrin, Most Officer Training Hours (49); Donna Capps, Most EMS Training Hours (125); Jeff Motley, Most Structure Training Hours (70); Larry Schalk, Most Engineer Training Hours (64); Lee Henderson, 2007 Fire Fighter of the Year; Kristopher Burgett, 2008 Fire Fighter of the Year.
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Community Food Project update
After some major setbacks in the past year, the Community Food Project is regrouping its forces, adding new board members, and moving forward with another grant application. The Department of Agriculture initially rejected the first grant, but encouraged CFP to apply for slightly less money over a three-year span to develop infrastructure. The group will know if its been funded in the first week of February.
Over twenty people came together to discuss CFP’s new direction at a meeting in Corvallis on January 29. Most have been members of the Project for several years. Alice Mariana, current President of the Board, lined out the specifics of the grant which includes the creation of a Food Policy Council, composed of community partners involved in local food production and distribution. The grant would also provide funds to develop an online ordering system that links producers and consumers and develops a delivery system to all the towns in the valley. Funding would be available for the second year of the very successful Food Sharing Project in which volunteers gleaned unharvested fruit and vegetables and distributed them throughout the valley. In addition the grant would support a mentoring project for new farmers to offer guidance and in some cases equipment. Some funds are available to maintain a Distribution Center as well. The second year of the grant would fund a delivery truck and driver.
Reenie and Lee Kierig joined the Board of Directors which is composed of Alice Mariana, Jim and Star Farley, Denelle Pappier, and Gracene Long. Future events will include educational workshops about local food safety, sustainable agriculture, and fundraising events. The film, “Food, Inc.”, which discusses national food distribution problems, was presented.
The membership-based Community Food Project is incorporated as a cooperative by the State of Montana. A monthly e-newsletter is available from Jill Davies at HYPERLINK "mailto:jill@sustainablelivingsystems.org" jill@sustainablelivingsystems.org or 642-3601. All interested persons are encouraged to become members.
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New shamanic healing practice in Stevensville
Marge Hulburt has opened a shamanic healing practice in Stevensville. She is seeing clients on Tuesdays from 1 to 6 p.m. at 504 Main Street (Active Care Family Chiropractic building). She can be reached at 241-7260 or HYPERLINK "mailto:mhulburt@gmail.com" mhulburt@gmail.com. Her website is HYPERLINK "http://www.BlueEagleWoman.com" www.BlueEagleWoman.com.
Shamanic healing is a tool for addressing emotional concerns, such as depression and anxiety, to assist with problem-solving, or to use as a complement to medical therapies for physical healing. It uses gentle rhythmic drumming and the “shamanic journey” to create a safe space in which to heal and grow. It allows us to find hidden wisdom, change subconscious beliefs, and activate our body’s self-healing processes.
Hulburt lived in Missoula before doing a six-year stint in Maryland where she began her shamanic practice, and has been back in Missoula now for two years. She and her husband, a Montana native, are glad to be back and don’t plan on moving again.
As she brought her practice to the Missoula area, Hulburt found most of her clients were coming from the Bitterroot, so she decided to bring her work to the valley. She is excited to have Stevensville as her new shamanic “home.”
Hulburt grew up in Illinois. She earned a BA in geology and biology from Carleton College in Northfield, MN and an MS in hydrology from the University of Arizona. She had a 12-year career as a groundwater hydrologist, then served for four years as chairman of the Missoula Water Quality Advisory Council. In Maryland, she decided to pursue a career in writing and began offering a writing and editing service for businesses and individuals. This grew into her company, Gone Writing, which is now based in Missoula.
She also began studying shamanism at that time. Hulburt is a graduate of the Foundation for Shamanic Studies “Three-Year Program in Advanced Shamanism and Shamanic Healing” taught by Michael Harner. She has also studied with Dana Robinson of Easton, MD and Myron Eshowsky of Madison, WI. She has been practicing shamanism for eight years.
“What I like most about my work in both shamanic healing and written communication,” she says, “is that I get to help people find their voice. They count. They have a reason for being alive, and I help them find that reason and express it well through their words and actions. Mind, body, and spirit are intertwined, and healing one often helps heal the others.”
Hulburt will be holding a free shamanic journey circle on Tuesday, February 9 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at her office. The public is invited.
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County Commission Activity Report
Weeks of January 18 and 25
Friday, Jan. 22 (Driscoll out of town):
-Voted 4-0 to approve Resolution 2436, granting an easement to MDT to maintain riprap structure on the Bitterroot River south of Woodside Crossing.
-Voted 3-1 to approve an agreement with Triple Creek Ranch for disposition of slash piles from the West Fork Road tree clearing project on TCR property for an amount not to exceed $5,000 in county road department labor and operations costs. (Voting no: Iman)
-Voted 4-0 to direct $40,000 from the sale of county property to the county road and bridge department’s capital reserve account.
-Voted 4-0 to accept the road department superintendent’s recommendation to place regulatory signs (“Tire Chains Required”) on Bear Creek Trail and Granite Creek Road.
-Voted 4-0 to retain CTA Architects to begin process for remodel of sheriff’s office intoxilizer room, contingent upon bid amount.
-Voted 4-0 to designate 1990 one-ton GMC truck as surplus property for purposes of liquidation.
-Voted 4-0 to extend professional service contracts with WGM Group and PCI (civil engineering) and Alcyon, LLC (surveying); and to negotiate with Catena Soil and Wetland Services for environmental permitting reviews.
Monday, Jan. 25:
-Voted 5-0 to approve the following administrative matters:
Amended Resolution 2405 establishing the investment committee;
Extended the Gunshy Ridge II subdivision for one year;
Approved Resolution 2435 to request from the voters one mill for veteran’s services;
-Voted 4-1 to approve a five-year lease with the Forest Service for air operations building at the Hamilton airport (voting no: Rokosch)
-Voted 5-0 to approve loan closing documents for 911 center remodel project with Ravalli County Bank.
Wednesday, Jan. 27:
-Voted 5-0 to approve Resolution 2439, amending the FY ’08 budget to account for the progress in the JCI energy performance contract.
-Voted 5-0 to approve budget amendments for fiscal year 2009 in resolutions 2440-2468.
Thursday, Jan. 28:
-Voted 4-0 to authorize the chairman to sign an agreement hosting a speaker on behalf of the DUI Task Force. (Not voting: Iman)
-Voted 4-0 to amend the contract with WGM Engineering to revise the scope of work on the Florence School sidewalk CTEP project to include easement clarification. (Not voting: Iman)
-Compiled by Carlotta Grandstaff, Commissioner
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Engagement
Fadely-Bennett
Kevin and Mya Fadely of Stevensville announce the engagement of their son, Dallas Fadely, to Felisha Bennett, daughter of Mark and Suzanne Bennett of Middleton, Idaho. Dallas and Felisha will be married February 6 in the Boise, Idaho LDS Temple. There will be a reception in their honor February 26 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Stevensville LDS Church building. Dallas recently returned from an LDS mission to South Texas.
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Volunteer tax preparers needed
The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA) is looking for volunteer tax preparers for the upcoming tax season.
VITA is working with Ravalli County Federal Credit Union in offering a free tax filing service to Hamilton residents with low incomes. It’s called the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program and is sponsored nationally by the Internal Revenue Service. VITA provides the training and assistance, equipment, and e-file services. The credit union takes the appointments, provides space, and promotes the site. It is all very streamlined and volunteer support is extensive throughout tax season. It’s a great way to get experience and give to the community in a meaningful way. Only basic tax returns are prepared, and the service is only available to those with low incomes. If interested contact Jeanne Saarinen, Executive Director, Montana Credit Unions for Community Development, 1-800-745-5546, ext. 131.
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Victor garden plots possible
Do you need a garden plot in Victor? The school owns four acres on 5th Street, and the school board is considering a development plan for this land. Part of the field could be used for gardens for the community and school if there is enough interest. If you or someone you know would like to have a low-cost garden plot in Victor in spring, or would like to volunteer for school or community gardens, call Luci Brieger at 642-3943. The board needs to hear from you by March. Spread the word!
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Call for educators
Workshop presenters wanted! Got knowledge?
Ravalli County Museum would like you to come on over and pass that knowledge on.
The museum has the venue, you have the information. The museum will publicize your workshops and schedule your students. Contact Sarah Monson at the Ravalli County Museum at 363-3338 or sarahmrcm@qwestoffice.net or drop in at
205 Bedford, Hamilton to talk about what you would like to teach, set up dates and times for your workshops, sign a contract and submit your syllabus.
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Info and referral service available
Need help locating assistance with food, housing, daycare, support groups or other human services? Call 211/First Call For Help. Call 211 or 549-5555.
211/First Call For Help is a telephone information and referral service. Trained staff can analyze your unique problems and provide information or refer you to the social services designed to meet your needs. 211/First Call For Help is a service of the Human Resource Council and United Way of Missoula County.
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Davis graduates with honors
Amber Christine Davis, daughter of Jerry and Nancy Davis and sister of Jackson Davis, graduated from Washington State University at Pullman on December 19, 2009. Amber graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelors degree in Philosophy/Pre-Law and a minor in Spanish. Amber is a 2006 graduate of Stevensville High School. She plans to continue her education in Portland, OR in the field of civil and human rights.
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