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Wednesday, 07 November 2007 |
Some people think Veterans’ Day commemorates great victories. . . or honors great heroes of past wars. Or glorifies war. The real purpose of Veterans’ Day is to honor our citizen soldiers, those millions of Americans who serve or have served their country when asked and the thousands who died.
November 11, 1921 was the first Veterans’ Day. Armistice Day as it was then called, was set aside by Congress to honor the veterans of World War I and marked the fourth anniversary of the signing of the Armistice with Germany.
In June 1954, President Eisenhower signed a bill to honor veterans of WWII and the Korean War on that day. The holiday was officially renamed Veterans’ Day.
Because the Armistice ending WWI was signed at 11 a.m. on Nov. 11, 1918, it became the custom to observe two minutes of silence at that hour. Does that silence exist today? Do churches still include patriotic services and prayers for the war dead on the preceding Sunday or the 11th.
The most solemn service is observed in the laying of a wreath at the tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington Cemetery. The Unknown Soldier’s body was one of four unidentified soldiers brought from American cemeteries in France to Washington’s City Hall and placed in a flag-draped room. While an Army band played appropriate music, a sergeant of the 59th Infantry placed a bouquet of white roses on one of the coffins. The inscription on the casket read: “An Unknown American Soldier Who Gave His Life In The Great War.”
It would be a perfect world if one day there were no living war veterans. If a lifetime passed without armed conflict. If there was no need for a standing Army. But the world is far from perfect.
So, on Nov. 11, with one voice, express gratitude to each and every one of our veterans today. They are the true American heroes!
RutheMary Kronebusch, American Legion Auxiliary |
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Wednesday, 07 November 2007 |
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 The Four Leaf Clovers 4-H Club, along with the help of Curley and Rita Denning, of Whitefish, have once again collected an extraordinary amount of aluminum pull tabs for the Ronald McDonald House in Billings.
Pictured from the left are Curley and Rita Denning, along with Colt Harris and Ruby and Glen Bouma, with the 342,720 tabs the Dennings brought over from the Whitefish Moose Lodge #642 Thursday evening and JD’s Wildlife Sanctuary in Bynum. These will be added to the 320,047 collected locally by the Clovers from Ray Denny, Darlene Matheson (49,536), Ed’s Tavern, the Hi-Way, the Keg, Branding Iron and local Moose Lodge for a total of 712,303 tabs, with more to come. Last year the 4-H Club collected 502,176 tabs, pushing their total to 1,214,479 for the two years. By the way, the tabs weigh in at 507.4 pounds. The tabs will be taken to a 10-unit Ronald McDonald House where they will be recycled. Ronald McDonald houses provide a place to stay for parents of children receiving medical treatment, a home away from home.
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Wednesday, 07 November 2007 |
By Buck Traxler, I-O Editor
On a recommendation from an interview committee the city council, on a 4-0 vote, moved to hire T. Kai Lee to represent Conrad on legal matters.
The new attorney lives in Shelby but works for the law firm of Frisbee, Moore and Olson in Cut Bank.
Also considered were attorneys William Bronson from Great Falls, who happens to be a candidate for the Great Falls City Commission and local attorney Shari Gianarelli.
There is no residence requirement for the city attorney since this is a contract position, not an elected office.
Mayor John Shelvin, Chief of Police Gary Dent and aldermen Gary Brown and Sandy Syvertson made up the interview committee.
Alderman Brown noted, “The local attorney wanted to be compensated on a hourly basis, not a flat fee, it would cost more,” (to hire her).
A compensation package has not yet been worked out. Mayor Shevlin will do that this week and it will be voted on at the next council meeting on Nov. 19.
Two building permits were approved, one at 14 S. Minnesota for fencing and the other at 15 S. Delaware for an egress basement window.
Representing the Pondera Arts Council (PAC), Harold Olson was on hand to request CTEP (Community Transportation Endowment Program) funds that come back to the city-county.
PAC would like to utilize the fund, approximately $30,000, with a match to put up a new marquee sign at the Orpheum Theatre. He said paperwork for the request would follow; he just wanted to introduce the concept. Valier is attempting to utilize the county CTEP funds. Olson’s pitch to the city came during a public comment segment where no action is taken.
The council moved on a 4-0 vote to allow the Pondera County 4-H Shooting Sports Program to use Norley Hall (Blue Sky Villa) for one day, Dec. 15, to host a predator-calling workshop.
The workshop will feature Les Johnson of Predator Quest, a TV program that is shown on the Sportsman’s Channel.
In addition to the workshop, Johnson will also be shooting a video for one of his TV shows as he hunts coyotes in the Golden Triangle area the week he is here for the workshop.
With a vote of 4-0, aldermen passed the request. More information about Johnson and the workshop will be in an upcoming edition of the I-O.
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