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July 26, 2010
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2010 Menu Guide
On stands now!
DINING SYMBOLS
- $—Under $7 per person
- $$—$8 to $12 per person
- $$$—Over $13 per person
Smoke-free martini lounge, hand-thrown pizza and traditional French bistro fare paired with original wine list. Dinner nightly and Sunday brunch, closed Monday.
2nd & Park, 222-9463 $—$$$
Homemade Italian fare including pizza, pasta and house specialties and Italian wines. 101 N. Main, 222-7400 $—$$$
Allegro
Wine bar, paninis and sandwiches, fresh salads, Italian sodas and desserts. 101 N. Main, 222-7400 $—$$
Bittersweet
Luncheon items and daily specials, specializing in home-baked goods. 121 S. 2nd, 222-5593 $
BRIX
Burgers, shrimp cocktail, and other American fare served at tavern/grill. Located at the Best Western Yellowstone Inn.
1515 W. Park 222-6110 $—$$
Buffalo Jump
Traditional western steak house serving prime rib, burgers, chicken and fish. 5237 US Hwy. 89 S., 222-2987 $—$$
Café at Clark’s Crossing
Diner breakfasts all day as well as lunch and dinner selections. 102 N. Rogers, 222-6320 $—$$
Cafe D’Arte
Specially blended coffees, bagels, muffins, snacks & more. Drive through service. 1404 E. Park 222-2231 $
Chadz Back Page
Cozy kid, teen, adult and geezer-friendly coffeehouse café serving pressed hot sandwiches and breakfast and lunch specials.
104 N. Main St., 222-2247 $
Hosting a Wine Spectator-rated restaurant serving dinner and Brunch on Sundays in historic lodge setting.
Pray, MT, 333-4933 $$—$$$
Coffee Creek
Drive-through specialty coffee and other drinks and pastries to go. 2050 S. Park, 220-1553. $
Coffee Crossing
Baked goods, breakfast sandwiches, bagels, espresso, news and conversation. 104 N. 2nd St., 222-1800 $
Dairy Queen
Malts, shakes, home-smoked pulled pork and trademark Blizzards as well as seasonal homemade soup and smoked pork along with burgers, fries and other treats.
1017 W. Park, 222-2076 $
Dawg House
Hot dogs, burgers, fries, and more. Serving daily homemade breakfast. 1014 W. Park St., 222-2914 $
Traditional Mexican fare with extensive menu of specialties and combo plates. Serving lunch and dinner daily along with margaritas and menu of cocktails. 119 W. Park, 222-5444 $—$$
The Fry House
Back for another deep-fried season of walleye po-boys, catfish baskets, hush puppies, along with Chicago beefs and dogs, sweet tea, and deep fried desserts. Yellowstone Gateway Mall,
223-0275 $—$$
Forty Niner Diner
Serving traditional breakfast plates and lunch and dinner diner fare in casino and diner. 404 E. Park, 222-8204 $-$$
Hearthstone Bakery
Wholesome, addictive salads, soups, sandwiches and selection of baked goods. 117 W. Callender, 222-7238 $
Homemade Kitchen
Serving homemade breakfast lunch and dinners with specialties from Cobb salad to coconut pie. Closed Mondays. 206 S. 11th, 222-6691 $—$$$
Jumping Trout Java
Breakfast burritos, pastries, and organic and fair-trade coffees. Gateway Mall parking lot. 223-6672 $
Matt’s Butcher Shop & Deli
Wide deli selection of cut meats, cheeses and award-winning jerky. Fresh soup and sandwich specials daily. Lunch only.
405 N. 8th, 222- 5160 $
Montana Cup
Homemade fresh bagels, pastries, soups, sandwiches, lunch specials and specialty coffees and teas. Closed Sundays.
113 W. Park 222-3266 $
Aged steaks, fresh seafood, and decadent desserts. Also serving lunch Mon.—Fri. 305 E. Park 222-9200 $$—$$$
Wide selection of gourmet sandwiches, salads, entrees, and desserts along with gourmet-to-go items.
215 W. Lewis Street, 222-8884.
Serving Thai cuisine from coconut shrimp to chicken curries, also brewery tasting room. 119 N. L Street 222-4794 $
From fresh waffles to chicken fried steak, featuring down home cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner with railyard-side setting.
108 W. Park St., 222-7288 $-$$$
The Office Lounge
Famous Pork Chop John’s sandwiches & tavern treats. Serving late. 128 South Main, 222-7480. $
South of town on Highway 89, an authentic roadside diner serving breakfast, lunch and dinner.
5060 US Hwy 89, 222-2006 $—$$
Park Place Tavern
Angus burgers, fish and chips, fried seafood baskets along with fresh pastas, tavern fare. Seasonal patio dining.
122 N. Main St. 222-5277. $—$$
Hot and cold made-to-order sandwiches, salads and fresh soup and chili. Featuring Livingston-made Wilcoxsons ice
cream bar. 131 S. Main, 222-5469 $
Slow food specialists serving hearty weekend breakfasts and brunch, weekday lunches and nightly dinners. Featuring live regular music and presentations with dinners.
2496 East River Road, 222-3628 $—$$$
Pinky’s Cafe
Omelettes, egg sandwiches, an extensive menu of deli sandwiches and familiar faces at the counter.
109 1/2 S. Main Street, 222- 0668 $
Pizza Hut
New dining room open, pizza, pasta, delivery available.
1019 W. Park, 222-7393. $—$$
Rosa’s Pizza
Italian family dining including pizza, sandwiches, soups and salads. Free delivery. 5237 Us Hwy. 89 S., 222-8099 $—$$
The Sport
Casual fine dining including fresh seafood, pastas, steaks, specialty salads and the legendary Sport burger with ham and swiss.. Lunch and Dinner. 114 S. Main, 222-3800 $—$$$
The Stockman
Aged hand-cut steak, fish and chips and traditional no-frills steakhouse fare. Also serving lunch Mon.—Fri.
118 North Main Street 222-8455 $—$$$
The Twelve Top
Specializing in taco and burrito takeout along with beans and rice, soups and select desserts. 106 1/2 N. 2nd St., 222-NITE $
The Wok
Lunch combo plates, Chow Mein, egg rolls and other traditional Asian and Asian-American dishes.
102 N. Second St., 222-7009 $—$$
Yellowstone Truck Stop
Chicken fried steak, hash browns with gravy and other breakfast plates served all day. Also serving lunch and dinner. Open 24 hours. 1226 US Hwy 10 W., 222-6180 $
On-line dining in an open catering kitchen. Open Thursdays and Fridays. 405 N. 8th., 222-4892 $$—$$$
The Z Barn
Serving pub fare late night, seven days a week.
522 E. Park St, 222-4921 $
Zona Rosa
Authentic global cuisine, daily house specials, unique salsa bar, and hand-crafted desserts. 206 S. 11th, 222-1548 $—$$
Call 222-3633 to make updates to City Diner.
June 29, 2010
2010 Fishing Guide for Park County: A Fly Fishing Mecca
Could Montana be considered the fly fishing mecca in the world? It’s certainly one of them. Two other heavyweight contenders always come to mind: New Zealand and Argentina. But if Montana is at least the fly fishing mecca of the United States, which city in Montana would best sport the thrown?
Missoula is in the running with the Clark’s Fork, Blackfoot, and Bitteroot accessible, plus it deserves some props for being in “A River Runs Through It”. How about Ennis? One could certainly make the case for its economy thriving on fly fishing and it does host several fly fishing functions every year. The proximity to the upper and lower Madison, and Yellowstone Park is convenient but the area might suffer from perhaps not enough historical background? What about Fort Smith or Craig? They’re probably the two best rivers in Montana but for variety’s sake, there’s not much for other options. Even West Yellowstone definitely deserves a mention with solid waters and deep history.
Granted, the vote of a Livingston, Montana native who loves to fish seems quite biased, but I honestly cannot think of a better location for living and fishing in Southwestern Montana.
Centered between the Bighorn and Missouri Rivers, a day drive can put an angler on a number of blue ribbon streams including the Upper and Lower Madison, Gallatin, Jefferson, Stillwater, Boulder, Ruby, Beaverhead, Bighole, Gardner, Lamar, Slough Creek, Soda Butte, as well as countless lakes and creeks. Talk about a Smörgåsbord of incredible fishing options.
One could spend a lifetime of fishing within 200 miles of Livingston and never be satisfied with covering the map.
On the Map
Not only is Livingston centrally located for some of the best fly fishing Montana has to offer, fly fishing history has equally been centered around Livingston. Legendary anglers like Dan Bailey and Joe Brooks stand out as resident fishing stars. Together the pair started Montana’s first Trout Unlimited chapter, The Yellowstone Chapter (which has since been re-named the Joe Brooks Chapter).
Livingston is also home to the Fly Fishing Federation’s national headquarters, equipped with one of the best angling libraries and fly fishing museums anywhere in the world.
Just an eight-minute drive south of Livingston will put an angler on one of three famous spring creeks: Armstrong’s, Nelson’s, and DePuy’s. Here expert anglers can enjoy technical “match the hatch” fly fishing and the challenge of fooling big, selective trout on tiny dry flies.
A bit further down the valley will put you on superb attractor fishing in one of the Absoraka Mountain’s cool flowing creeks, and near Emigrant is Dailey Lake, which holds some truly monster rainbows, perch galore, and even a few walleyes.
Yellowstone Park is only an hour away and with the purchase of a Park fishing license, 2.2 million acres are yours for exploring where native Yellowstone cutthroat trout were born.
On top of all the reasons for Livingston to be fly fishing central, it is also home to the longest un-dammed river in the United States.
The River
The Yellowstone river commands respect in every way an angler can think of and everything about it is gorgeous: the fish, the bugs, the wildlife, and the views.
There is something mystical about the river one cannot exactly put their finger on, something that sets it apart from all the other major rivers in Montana.
Perhaps it has something to do with the reality that anytime you wet a line in it, you could catch the monster brown you’ve been looking for your whole life.
Or maybe the river offers more solitude and space than popular rivers like the Madison, Bighorn, or Missouri. Whatever it is, the Yellowstone is surely one of the major reasons many choose to live here, whether they like to fish or not.
Wetting a Line
Remember that before you fish you must obtain a current fishing license. A Montana Fishing License is available at any of the local fly shops. Non-resident fishing licenses (which include a conservation license) are $25 for two days, $45 for four days, $53 for 10 days, and $70 for a season. The money paid will help Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks conserve, protect, and restore the natural resources of the state. Anyone fishing does not have to have their license displayed, but be sure to have it on your person should a game warden appear.
One popular question often asked by anglers is, “When is the best time to fish the Yellowstone?” Below is a summary of many of the most productive periods to fish the Yellowstone River:
Late April to Early May
This is the time period when anglers see the river come alive from a harsh and often brutal winter. As the water temperature warms up, trout become more active in seeking food, picking off a variety of aquatic insects including midges, baetis, march browns, stone flies, and caddis. In the weeks to come, as water temperatures rise to 52 degrees, more and more caddis begin to “pop” (or hatch) and the fabled Mother’s Day Caddis Hatch begins.
Seeing millions of caddis in the air, bushes, and water is not always the case. Often the weather will get cold again, snow, or otherwise put the caddis down. However, when all the planets are aligned, this is one of them most impressive hatches in the world. Don’t worry - they don’t bite, but they might crawl all over you, tickling you as you catch fish after fish on caddis dry flies.
If the hatch isn’t happening, or if the hatch is going off but the river is too muddy from snow melt for fish to key in on these tiny moth-like insects, you can still have great fishing with streamers. These larger flies imitate a small fish, such as a sculpin, white fish smolt, or even a juvinile trout. When you fish with these bigger flies, you typically catch much less fish, the ones who attack however are certainly photo-worthy, often over 20 inches.
May to Mid June
Inevitably, as the snow melts from the snow pack in the Absaroka mountains, a gush of cold water, mud, and soil enters the river. Not only is the river unfit to fish during this time, but it can be very dangerous. Locals refer to it as the “cottonwood” hatch, where you will often see sticks, snags, logs, and even trees floating down there river. Needless to say if one of these hit you or your boat you’d be in big trouble. So during this time we fish the Paradise Valley Spring Creeks or the lakes in the surrounding area. If you are interested in fishing the creeks or a private lake, any of the local fly shops should be able to assist in getting a “rod” for the day. Prices vary from $75 to $100.
Lake fishing in May and June are two of the best months to fish lakes in Montana. Fish are eager to suck down callibaetis dries, damsel flies, snails, leeches, and even ants. They are not dumb fish by any means, but you can catch them off the guard before the summer crew arrives.
Many local lakes offer decent fishing (Dailey lake is 45 minutes south of Livingston) but the best fishing is usually on private ponds. Rod Fees are steep but well worth the shot at 20” trout or bigger. Some folks aren’t as excited to fish a lake as a river, but everyone who tries usually ends up really liking it. Since lakes offer fish a smorgasbord of food, fish are often on average are much bigger than those of equal length from the river. Experienced anglers will appreciate head hunting for circulating hogs while beginners have a better shot at catching a their first trout. Local shops will have the scoop.
Mid June & July on the Creeks
If the Yellowstone is still muddy from spring runoff, you can always find quality fishing on the local spring creeks: Armstrong’s, Nelson’s, and DePuy’s. Rod fees this time of year are $100. That is definitely a lot of dough, but think of it as paying greens fees to play a round of golf at Pebble Beach, Torrey Pines, or St. Andrews. These creeks are legendary in their own right, and are in the book “Top 50 Places to Fish in the World.”
Certainly if you are an angler and have come to Livingston, the spring creeks should be on your bucket list to fish, even if the river is gin clear.
During mid-June through the end of July the spring creeks host an emergence of small light green may flies called PMD’s (pale morning duns). These aquatic insects grow to maturity through four different phases: nymphs, emergers, duns, and spinners. During the nymphal stage, PMD’s usually cling onto the rocks, feeding on fine detritus and algae. Sometimes the current pulls them off of their rock, upon which them become an easy meal for a keen trout.
A PMD emerger is a nymph that has floated to the surface and struggles to grow wings, much like a caterpillar turns into a butterfly. Emergers are sitting ducks as well, because they are often helpless for a few seconds as their wings dry before they can fly away. Once they fly away, (or ride the surface with their wings up in a sailboat-like manner) they are PMD duns.Duns have slightly grayish wings. At this point they are adults, but not yet sexually mature. They molt their skin again, becoming a PMD spinner, and are finally ready to copulate in the air. Spinners have clear wings and their tails are usually longer than the duns.
During the morning anglers mostly fish nymphs until the hatch gets more active. Once they start seeing fish rise, they may switch to an emerger or dry fly pattern. Splashy rises often indicate a trout eating an emerger, since they eat it just under the surface and tail kick back to depths of the stream.
A slow “ring” like rise usually indicates a fish coming up to the surface slowly and “sipping” the dun or spinner into it’s mouth. Pay close attention to these rise forms when choosing a fly pattern.
One can also wade out in the creek 40 feet below the fish and look carefully in the water to see what is coming down the pipe. If you see a PMD coming down, you can catch them in your hands for a closer inspection, but spread your fingers (like the Vulcan “live long and prosper” sign) so that the water will push the insect into your palm.
Any fly shop in town will have a good selection of these different stages of PMD’s. Make sure you grab a few of each because when the fish key in on a certain life cycle, they will often refuse anything else. This is one of the challenges that makes fishing to selective spring creek fish so rewarding. Any fish you catch on the creek is a trophy and proof of good angling skills.
Late June and Early July
When it becomes late June, early July
I’m all about the hunt for the salmonfly
Whether we be in the mud or fishin’ in the clear
I’ll bring the boat and you bring the beer
Let the weather do whatever it does
If we ain’t catchin’ fish then we’re catchin’ a buzz!
Late June and early July can be the best fishing of the entire year.
Huge fish rise up to eat super-sized salmonflies, caddis, golden stones, yellow sallies and the action can be red hot.
However, to be on the safe side, you better bring along a case of beer, because while it could be the best fishing of your life, it could also be one of the slowest. If we’ve had a big snow year with lots of snowpack, the river will still be gushing with tinted mud, making it difficult for fish to see your flies. If this is the case, you’ll want to put the rod down, relax and kick one back as you watch a mating frenzy fly in air.
This hatch is a photographer’s dream come true, and as long as you have a good talk (AKA “buy some flies”) with one of the local fly shops, you’ll be in the middle of something truly incredible. Again, folks with bug phobias, have no fear: these peaceful bugs have no mouth to bite you with. Nope, these bugs are only around for one purpose: procreation.
Sometimes if you look close, you will see black egg sack on the end of a female’s body that looks almost like a mini-blackberry. Salmonflies live up to three years underwater as a nymph before they crawl out of the water and hatch into one of the biggest dry flies the world has to offer. And the fish are dining big time. So much, in fact that after days of eating nymphs and clobbering dries, many fish will become gorged.
Some anglers choose to float slightly above or below the belly of this hatch but we feel it can be just as good if not better in the thick of things. Like a bag of freshly opened cheese puffs, the fish cannot stop the urge to feast except perhaps for a few minutes a day here and there. I’ve seen fish that have come up trying to eat our dry with samlonflies already hanging out of their mouths. Talk about stuffed to the gills. I think almost every local angler has caught a trout that was puking salmonflies in their net as they tried to take the hook out carefully.
The other thing to remember this that in late June and early July there are tasty hors d’oeuvres on the table. Succulent and slender sallies with, medium sized goldenstones, and chocolate caddis for desert. Why would a fish key in on smaller bug instead? Fish a dropper behind your big bug as a second offering, as you never know who might be ready for sorbet, but not ready yet for another baseball cut.
Mid July to September
Herein lies the meat and potatoes of the Yellowstone’s fishing season. The weather is nice, it fits with most people’s vacation time, and the fish are keyed in on eating grasshoppers, caddis, stoneflies, ants, beetles, and other terrestials. It is the “safest” time to book a trip because you don’t have to guess if runoff will start, or if it is over. The only thing that can mess up the river in the summer is a strong rain in the North East section of the Park, in which the Lamar’s muddy banks will collapse and push a “plug” of mud into the Yellowstone. These plugs typically last a few days, and anglers can often get around it by floating way below it, or by floating above it as the river clears.
The Yellowstone is one of healthiest rivers in the world, and definitely deserves to be checked off a fishing bucket list. While fly fishing is the most popular method (since you can fish dry flies above the surface or nymphs below) spin fishing is also permitted. Artificial bait, including rapalas, spinners, spoons, rubber worms, etc. are always allowed on any stretch of the Yellowstone. Bait however, (worms, maggots, dead sculpins, etc.) are only allowed on certain sections of the river. Refer to a local shop or the Montana fishing regulations for more details.
I’d still recommend fly fishing the Yellowstone, mostly from the thrill of seeing a big mouth swim up and engulf a hopper off the surface. Big fish rise slower, so remember to let them actually eat your fly before you pull it out of their mouth.
Even if you do miss a fish (and we all do) the memory of the big one coming up to crush your dry will be burned in your memory bank forever.
One trick to successfully catching fish on the Yellowstone is getting a dead drift with your fly. That means having the fly float along the river at the same speed of the current. If the fly is skittering too fast through the current it will look suspicious. While you might catch smaller fish this way, large trout are smart and have seen this number a time or two before. Likewise, if the fly is flowing too slow it will look fake. To help reduce drag and get a good drift, try to cast at an angler slightly downstream and pull your line back in the air. This slack line cast or “reach cast” will enable the fly to look natural the instant it hits—which is often when the fish notice it.
Another technique which will help with eliminating drag is to “mend” your line. Since the leader and tippet are smaller in diameter than the line, the water will push the line downstream, so you have to constantly keep mending your line so that the line is up stream from your leader and fly.
This action is harder to explain than do, so if you see another angler on the water who looks like he knows what he or she is doing, pay attention to how they are covering the water and try to mimic their style. Once you get in the habit, you will cast, mend, and be ready for the take without even thinking about it.
So now that you have an idea on what it takes to catch fish in the Yellowstone, the next question is what do they eat? Trout are reactive to their surroundings and are quick to notice what type of insects are currently hatching. They can become “keyed in” on these specific insects, and ignore other patterns completely. So before tying on a fly, I usually go down to the river to get a feel for what is going on. Look for hints like insects crawling in the willows, on the rocks? Are there birds flying around, are there fish rising? If you notice something crawling around try to catch one and compare it with what you have in your box. You might not have the exact representation, by try to match size and color as best as possible. If you don’t see anything happening, select an attractor fly like a royal wolff, lime trude, hopper, or nymph. Remember, if you are using a nymph, you won’t be able to see your fly and you will want to put a strike indicator about 4-6 feet above your fly. If the strike indicator jumps or goes down quickly, set the hook!
When first starting out, I’d suggest fishing with only one fly until you get the hang of the rhythm. Once you have made 10 casts in a row without tangling up you’ll know you have it down. Once feeling confident in your ability to deliver the fly, consider trying two flies. Fishing two flies is often more effective as it gives the trout two different choices. Put your larger fly on first and the smaller fly as the “dropper” for easier casting. The larger fly might attract the fish in the first place, but the smaller fly might look more like the meal it has been eating. Don’t get any crazy ideas with three flies however. Triple-threat is not only a disaster to cast, it is also illegal. When fly fishing one can only have two hooks per line. Some flies these days have two hooks on one fly, so you will one to break one hook off, or just use one fly.
One of the most popular methods is to fish two flies, the hopper / dropper technique. Choose a large foam hopper that you can see well and that will float all day long. You can use gink if you like, to help silicone your fly and keep it from soaking up water. Tie another piece of tippet to the hook of your hopper, leaving 18 inches or so for your next fly. Take your pick when it comes to droppers, but a bead head hare’s ear, prince, or pheasant tail are among the most popular fish finders.
Now you have two flies, one on the surface and one below, so you might catch the attention of a fish looking up, or a fish eating nymphs. If your hopper goes down quickly, you’ll want to set the hook hard! A quick disappearance of your hopper means your nymphs has either hooked up on a rock or stick, or a fish. Either way you’ll want to strike to keep the fish tight, or hopefully get your fly out of trouble.
Fair warning: you will get more tangles fishing two flies so make sure you have a strong back cast with a solid pause before you come forward again. If you get a serious tangle between the two flies, sometimes it is quicker to “cut and paste” by re-rigging.
On the Water
One of the best things a new angler can do if they are interested in learning to fly fish is to hire a guide. He or she will be able to teach you things you never would have thought of and also be able to break you of bad habits in the beginning.
A guide will have a boat too, which helps drastically when it comes to finding sections of the river that are less fished. A guide will slow the boat down and adjust to your drift, making it easier for you to achieve a dead drift. Plus, guides know the best ways to take photos of your fish so that they look big and you don’t feel robbed when you get your photos back.
A guide will know all the cool local places to eat, what band is playing where, and what else shouldn’t be missed on your Montana vacation. To top all it off, your guide will even prepare a stream-side lunch, making your day on the stream a pleasurable experience for all.
To find a guide simply call or stop in one of the local fly shops and they will gladly accommodate you.
Yellowstone Angler (406) 222-7130
Sweetwater Fly Shop (406) 222-9393
Dan Bailey (406) 222-1673
Hatch Finders (406) 222-0989
Photos and Article by James Anderson
James Anderson is his own outfitter #8969 and is the webmaster for the Yellowstone Angler. You can also see more fly fishing photos from around the world at photographyonthefly.com
March 31, 2010
Railway to Resume Passenger Service to Yellowstone National Park
Railroad officials recently meeting in Bozeman and Belgrade at the annual BTSF Southwestern Montana Structuring Session have determined the profitable viability of restoring the route to and from what is commonly known as America's First National Park, Yellowstone.
A team of railway company spokesmen addressed a town hall assembly March 31 at the Gardiner Community Center where a rough proposal was presented to outline the project.
According to the project plan the primary revenue stream will not only derive from tourist travel to and from the park but will also include fares from an energy-efficient year-round commuter engine.
"Part of the wilderness now once again untouched by mankind will be touched once again," said Halbert Ason, Chief Planning Engineer for the railway public relations firm.
"Visitation increased in 1903 when the Northern Pacific Railroad reached the adjacent town of Gardiner, Montana," added Ason, "And it will increase again."
The railway plan should bring not only jobs but tourists to the Yellowstone Park area. The restruction of the line has a projected cost of $23 million in steel, engines, cars and parts alone and will include reassembly and buildation of track from the historic Livingston Depot along and across the Yellowstone River to the site of the former Gardiner Depot near the entrance to Yellowstone Park.
Railway officials have announced plans to add an additional two bridges in the Paradise Valley area over the Yellowstone River to accommodate for terrain and private property obstacles, and to build a state-of-the-art $1,200 facility to function as a interpretive center and temporary depot in Gardiner.
The land for the tracks will run mostly parallel to the river, and BTSF plans to take full advantage of state stream access laws for track construction, along with a large re-purchase of previously railroad-owned land. Monies for the project will be provided by stock railway investments liquidated in early 2008, according to officials.
Many of those present at the March 31 town hall meeting in Gardiner expressed gratitude to the railway officials for reconsidering the historic route. A few attendees had objections to the plan, citing the need for environmental impact surveys for the tracks and the possible engine pollution.
"Although the railroad may usher in a new era of mass tourism for the park, its plans to monopolize public access and tap into the park's resort potential are frowned upon by those of us looking to protect the park's natural charms," said Gardiner resident Ben Jackson.
Railway representative Ason responded: "As long as this profit does not disturb the natural wonders, mineral deposits, and wildlife, the Secretary of the Interior [of the Federal Government] could allow a business such as the Railroad to build a railroad even past the boundaries and into the park."
Another resident argued that despite lacking a railroad, tourists still came into the park, but officials were unable to field further questions.
Railway officials will be in Livingston April 1, 2010 at 2 p.m. for a walk-through at Mayor's Landing Dog Park near the Yellowstone River, weather permitting. Officials will be on hand to answer questions as a team of engineers survey the site for future railway development.
—Special Report by Ensley Ellis
January 24, 2010
Firehouse Five Young Actors Workshop
I should state my biases up front: I do not think it is possible to hear the Oompa-Loompa songs too many times. Having read and loved the Roald Dahl book “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” since childhood, I think the images of its candy wonderland and perfectly eccentric characters translate wonderfully as a musical.
Singing and dancing their way through Wonka’s magical fortress, the characters seem perfectly believable in their sugary Utopia, chiming their moral lessons, using as foils the degenerate caricatures of petulant brat Veruca Salt, electronics-obsessed Mike Teevee, gum-chewing
blabbermouth Violet Beauregard, and the over-indulgent Augustus Gloop. Charlie Bucket alone exemplifies a young person with the self-discipline, integrity, and selflessness to inhabit the world as Master of Ceremonies and candy factory owner Willy Wonka would have it exist: without hypocrisy, dishonesty, greed or selfishness.
So, upon hearing the Firehouse 5 Children’s Theatre Workshop would be performing “Willy Wonka” this season, I jumped to register my children, ages nine and seven, who love everything Roald Dahl has ever written. I assume the reader will understand my ecstatic glee on the first night, returning to find my nine-year-old son intently rehearsing choreography with his gifted and enthusiastic instructors Sarah Kelly and Tonya Andrews: two-on-one with him concentrating hard, singing verses over and over while demonstrating the dance—three of them “Oompa-Loompa-ing” across the stage.
It was an image I will not forget, a glimpse for me of the dedication of the staff of the workshop as well as the diligence they inspire in their students. It is also one of the most endearing things in the whole world to see a child, especially your own, doing the Oompa-Loompa dance.
As I observed from the inside, the level of professionalism and coordination the Firehouse staff of eight or nine is able to achieve is nothing less than staggering. The mere ability to keep nearly 70 children aged five to 18 years old both attentive and also from slamming into each other on stage is a feat in itself, but the workshop accomplishes much more. The working space the staff and participants create is a fun and safe one of exploration where inhibitions drop and the creative energy of each performer can be freed.
The lessons of theatre performance are one layer of the experience of the workshop—the vocal scales, tongue-twisters, limbering-up exercises, blocking, singing, lines and choreography—all are part of the learning experience of performing arts.
For my children, and for many with whom I spoke, the lessons extend well
into the social and interpersonal lives of these participants, and in that aspect especially, our community has an important resource for our often insular, disengaged young people.
The students’ commitment to each other to create the whole that is more than the sum of its parts is just one community-building piece of the experience. Follow-through and discipline are often more readily learned in just such an atmosphere of both mutual responsibility and support as these workshops create.
Performer Alex Armstrong has been participating in the workshop for years and can’t count the number of performances he’s played. As a Park High junior, he might seem out of place amongst the other young actors, but “loves working with kids” and even in this group ranging over 13 years in age, the camaraderie in their shared project onstage is evident.
Workshop instructor Sarah Kelly is another example of the full circle of
community theatre in Livingston. “Since I’ve been in the program since it started, I get to see the kids grow,” she says of the evolution of the young performers she now teaches. She has performed in local workshops since she was seven, and says she “loves getting to be around all the people who inspired me to do theatre.” As a sophomore at the University of Montana’s School of Theatre and Dance with an emphasis in Acting, her experiences with Firehouse 5 have shaped her career choice, and she now returns to help with the workshops along with the crew who once taught her in “Annie,” among many other plays.
“Willy Wonka” opened Friday, January 21, 2010 at the Firehouse 5 Theatre in Livingston with performances through the weekend of Saturday, January 22, 2010.
To support Crazy Mountain Productions/Firehouse 5’s ongoing capital
campaign to develop the East Side School building as a performing arts center in Livingston and continue the great work of this group in the Livingston community, visit http://www.crazymountainproductions.org/ and follow the links to donate or to learn more, or call 222-1420.
—Jen Eames
New Issue Now on Stands
The Historic Whithorn Collection
After over two years of painstaking cataloging of thousands of images, the Yellowstone Gateway Museum now houses a permanent collection of digitally archived photographs originally compiled by Bill and Doris Whithorn. The Whithorns—Bill as the photographer or photo archivist, and Doris as the chronicler—wrote and published over 20 books on area history, placing them among Livingston’s most unique creative artists, and presented here is a picture of their work looking back at “educational” shots of the area’s past.
The Whithorn’s photographic records—along with oral and written histories, negatives and video—were donated to the Yellowstone Gateway Museum by the Whithorn’s daughters Alta and Carol in the fall of 2006. The consequential archiving of the Whithorn photos at the Museum has been no easy task. The Museum acquired grants to help fund the manpower necessary for the job and along with the trained technicians working to individually scan, catalog, and file each photo in the collection, over 25 volunteers also donated their time and energy to the project, all in the name of preserving Park County history.
By continuing to print selections from the Whithorn collection during the archival process over the past two years, the Current hopes to enlighten locals and visitors alike to the phenomenal heritage of this area. In the case of this issue, the selection of images chronicles area education over the years, from student bands to one-room schoolrooms. We do hope that these visions from the past give readers a perspective on the beginnings of this community and inspire an interest in the historical culture of Livingston as well as an interest in the world-class exhibits maintained by the Yellowstone Gateway Museum.
Currently, the Museum is seeking funds to help make the Whithorn collection more accessible to the public through the Doris Whithorn Outreach Program, an effort that includes a fully searchable online database of the images. For more information about the program, or the 10,000-plus images of the Whithorn collection, contact Jon Watson at the Museum at 222-4184 or see Watson’s note on the online collection at the end of this feature.
We invite our readers take a trip back through time to the days of the area’s beginnings, and enjoy a perspective on the past. The following notable shots picked by the museum staff are only a hint of what will be preserved for future generations.
On the Cover: Print, photographic, Shown here is A.W.T. Anderson and the Chico school on April 13, 1897 , An Enterprise item on December 25, 1897, (yes, the local paper did publish on Christmas Day) read: ”Chico School will open again with Mrs. Vesta P. Walker as teacher.” Anderson taught only one year. He became storekeeper and postmaster in Emigrant, a job he held until 1941. August Anderson was always called A.W.T.
The Wan-I-Gan and the Wan-I-Gan Press
In the late 1920s, the Wan-I-Gan store was built on East River Road about midway between Livingston and Gardiner. In the Ojibwa language, a “wanigan” refers to a trunk or chest used for storing supplies. Besides selling tourist supplies and gasoline, the Wan-I-Gan had 12 cabins for fishermen, hunters, construction crews and overflow patients from Dr. Townsend’s small hospital at nearby Chico Hot Springs. It also served as a café, diner, general store and a delivery place for hard rock miners awaiting equipment.
The Whithorn family bought the Wan-I-Gan in 1948. At the time, Bill and Doris and their children were on the move from Billings and they were looking for a new home.
Doris once related the story of one holiday weekend prior to purchasing the Wan-I-Gan when she and Bill parked their car at some discreet distance and watched for hours to get an idea of how much business the place was generating. It was very busy that particular weekend and they ended up buying the store, but Doris later confessed that business never seemed to be as brisk as during their test survey.
It was at the Wan-I-Gan that Doris began to collect stories from the residents of the Paradise Valley, and to research them in the newspaper files at the Livingston Park County Public Library.
Bill also became an expert photographer as he made copies of photographs supplied by neighbors and friends. In 1965, through collaboration with Fred Martin of the Park County News, the Whithorns began to publish a series of some twenty local photo history books.
The Whithorns ran the Wan-I-Gan until 1976, when they moved to Livingston. In Livingston they were part of a group that established the Yellowstone Gateway Museum on Chinook Street.
In 2005, the Friends of the Yellowstone Gateway Museum, a nonprofit group, purchased all of the Whithorn books and copyrights from the Whithorn family.
After raising funds from the community, the Friends hoped after the purchase of the copyrights they would have a hefty monetary surplus. The surplus funds, together with income from annual book sales, would allow the republishing of out-of-print books, and publish similar new titles.
The Friends named their small publishing house the Wan-I-Gan Press after the place where the work all began. Although the fund raising surplus was not so hefty, the Friends did manage to print, reprint or publish the following four books:
“Life and Adventures of Calamity Jane,” by Herself. (1896, reprinted 2005); “Yankee Jim’s National Park Toll Road and the Yellowstone Trail” (1989, reprinted 2006); “Pics & Quotes of Yellowstone” (1972, reprinted 2009); and “A is for Aldridge, An Index for the Whithorn Books” by Richard J. Dysart, (published 2009).
This last volume is a list of over 12,000 names from all twenty of the Whithorn books. When used in conjunction with the new Whithorn Online Database created by Jon Watson, readers will be able to locate many, many people and places throughout Park County, Montana.
The Wan-I-Gan Press hopes to reprint one or more out-of-print Whithorn titles each year. Five titles are currently out-of-print: “Montana in the Good Old Days, No. 1”, “Photo History of Chico Lodge”, “Photo History of Aldridge: Coal Camp That Died A-bornin’”, “Photo History from Yellowstone Park”, and “Montana in the Good Old Days, No. 2.”
For more information about the Whithorns, the Friends of the Yellowstone Museum or the Whithorn collection, contact the Gateway Museum at 222-4184.
—Dick Dysart
December 09, 2009
Livingston Current Giving Guide 2009:The Season of Best Intent
It is impossible to single out one particularly viable and effective entity or organization in Livingston. The volunteer, the participant, each individual contributes equally, whether an elected official or librarian, actor or administrator, donor or patron. From the work with area youth in Manaia to the community meals served for free at Loaves and Fishes, so many organizations full of volunteers and supported solely by area efforts are equally effective in creating a true community spirit.
This has been a tough year for many families and communities around the world, in our country and here in Livingston. The Stillwater Mine laid off scores of employees, many area businesses scaled back—a few even closed for good. Each person in Livingston now knows someone who has lost a job, lost their home or had to scramble to make ends meet.
It’s no surprise in these leaner and leaner times that the Livingston community holds up pretty well. Area organizations report levels of funding equal to the increased need and this is a hallmark of our small town: we are here for one another.
In the years between the railroad pull-out and the growth boom of the early 2000s, Livingston pioneers and locals crafted a solid community here with the mixed bag of artists, literati, ranchers, farmers, families and loners. But the feeling in Livingston just a few years ago was one of anxiety over unbridled growth and prosperity. In this climate some of our small-town spirit began to erode. The perception of coming growth created a sense of urgency to preserve the way of life so many more of us are now back to living again, and many people in Livingston divided on to different sides of the fence as to what would be best for the community.
There is still a surprising amount of expansion in our small town right now. It is the indomitable spirit of the Livingston pioneer and native alike to survive in this West.
But no longer do we have the resources, energy or freedom from worry to battle with one another. Right now we need to be working by cooperating and understanding. We no longer enjoy the luxury of time to pursue efforts that produce no progress and only serve to intensify strife. There is work to be done, our community is stretched thin, and most of us are doing everything we can just to stay afloat.
Let’s focus on forward progress and the things we share in common: arts, culture, the spirit of humanity and understanding. Let’s make a reasonable agreement to enjoy each other on earth, and to respect one another enough to want to live in harmony, and watch the generations to follow us continue in harmony.
There may always be distress in our world. Each week may continue to bring terrible stories in the news as religious wars are waged and life on earth as we know it is threatened by man’s pollutant activity. Polarity may always be apparent in the debate over health care reform, the woman’s right to choose or not, and the now-seeming-eternal war in the Middle East (and everywhere else we may have tried our “Cowboy Democracy” out on other countries in the past two Bush administrations). But this is supposed to be the part in the epic action-packed blockbuster where the humans decide to abandon prejudice and realize they all either work together or fail together.
We can turn from the strife and discord in our world to the good in man and encourage cooperation to embrace the spirit which some may say makes us unique and human, and in celebrating this spirit we may be able to transcend our own realities of strife.
Let us celebrate the season of best intent, understand and work with those who we may not agree with (even the politicians, for they are volunteers, too) and give to one another peace this holiday season.
—Reilly Neill
Bringing a Warm Glow to the Streets:Holiday Lights of Livingston
Holiday Lights of Livingston is a community-based organization working to preserve the holiday decoration tradition in downtown Livingston.
“Currently, we have four rehabbed vintage intersection lights in storage that need new poles,” says Holiday Lights committee chairman Joel Reinholz.
Reinholz and others discovered the large iconic candelabras in the basement of the former JC Penny on Second Street. After refurbishing the four large decorative pieces, which Reinholz estimates to be around 40 years old, they were once again installed at downtown intersections for the past five years.
Due to engineering problems with the height of the supporting poles, the decorations were not hung last year. Holiday Lights hopes to return the classic decorations to their original glory with a wealth of structural improvements to mirror the coming infrastructure improvements planned for the downtown area.
In addition to the large intersection decorations, Holiday Lights has 49 rehabbed snowflake decorations, 35 were rehabbed and hung this year on one pole each.
After the planned downtown infrastructure improvements, there will be approximately 160 new poles in the downtown area. Holiday Lights plans to install traditional decorations during the annual holiday season throughout downtown while the infrastructure project is undergoing completion.
“If we go with the current plans we will have 40 new street lights on Park Street between Fifth and B next year after the state redoes Park Street. Our goal is to build new holiday lights for the new lights. We do this working with the high school and FFA and we may try to include the art and drafting classes in design and conception also.”
Reinholz says they hope to raise enough money to keep up with the downtown infrastructure project as it is getting done, a projected period of the next five to ten years.
“We would also like to put at least one of the intersection lights back up with new taller poles during the downtown project,” says Reinholz, “This will take new engineered poles with a considerable cost to get them to legal DOT (Department of Transportation) heights.”
Holiday Lights is supported solely by volunteer efforts and contributions from the community. A recent fund-raiser brought in enough to get the existing holiday lights up for the 2009 season, but each year will bring a new set of funding challenges.
For more information about Holiday Lights of Livingston, or to make a donation, call 220-5635. Donations may also be mailed to Holiday Lights, 628 Meadowlark Lane, Livingston, MT 59047.
—Reilly Neill
A Full Pantry for the Needy:Livingston Food Pantry of Park County
With Christmas food and fun cheerfully looming ahead, it is easy to forget that hard times still press heavily on some local families. The Livingston Food Pantry of Park County is helping to relieve the pressure to have a hot meal and enough to go around the table every day of the week. Although it may be difficult to believe, many individuals strive eat only once a day for financial reasons or subsist on only an evening meal.
Food Pantry Director Micheal McCormick says increase in demand for assistance was almost 50 percent higher for this year through October 2009 compared to the food distribution statistics for the same period in 2008. The Pantry also gave out 223 Thanksgiving food baskets this year, a ten percent gain on last year’s 200-plus baskets.
With volunteers and donations, word of mouth and no government subsidies of any kind, the Livingston Food Pantry is aiming to help families buffer the hard times with a five to seven-day supply of food. The program is set up for a “staple shopping” day every 30 days with produce and perishables available to fill in between. Some of the basic staples included are canned meats and fruits, peanut butter and cereals, beans and rice with some frozen items also in stock.
When picking up the monthly box, the options are left to the family receiving assistance as much as possible, such as cereal choices and sides to go with meals.
The Food Pantry also helps make sure everyone in the community is fed everyday with the BackPack Program, a Senior Commodities Program and the Summer Lunch Program.
The BackPack Program was developed by a school nurse to help address the needs of kids who get meals during the week at school but still go hungry on the weekend. The concept became a pilot program of the National Council of Feeding America in 1995, and became an official Feeding America program in July 2006. With more than 90,000 school kids being served and approximately 200 elementary children in Livingston taking part this year, this is one of those program that just works, says McCormick.
The program provides for free small bags of nutritious, non-perishable snacks and meals to be placed anonymously and discreetly in the lockers of participating children to be taken home for the weekend. The yearly cost per student per year is $120 and the program is not subsidized by any grants but solely through donations.
The Food Pantry also works with LINKS for Learning and the City of Livingston to supplement children who need lunch through the summer vacation. The Summer Lunch Program provides a cold lunch is served at the Livingston Civic Center.
The Senior Commodities Program is yet another way the Food Pantry is helping to keep people from going without the basics from day to day. In addition to the monthly staple box and interim produce and perishable shopping offered, this program helps when the limited income and cost of medications and bills that must be paid take precedence over items like juice, cheese and cereal.
The Livingston Food Pantry is always accepting help in the form of volunteers, donations of non-perishables or money. Perhaps for the loved one who has everything already, a gift in their name might be something never before received: good will to another.
—Laura Bolduc
Enriching Local Curriculum:Livingston Education Foundation
Since 2002, the Livingston Education Fund (LEF) has endeavored to enrich education in the Livingston School District. Financially independent from the school district, the LEF maintains funding primarily through a grants program. Local educators are encouraged to apply for grant monies as individuals, or as part of a group for materials and programs to enhance learning experiences for area students.
LEF works to infuse new elements of creativity in classrooms and strengthen ties between the classroom and the community, “going beyond textbooks.”
“Our goal is to raise $70,000 this year” says LEF Board President Lisa Snow, “Last year we increased our grant writing and as a result, received about $17,500K in grant money. We plan to increase our grant writing efforts even further this year; two board members will be attending a grant writing workshop in January.”
LEF is a completely volunteer organization and Snow says they are actively looking for board members: “It is a ‘working board,’ so it is important to have a board made up of members who have a lot of energy and a variety of talents and skills.”
For more information on LEF, call 222-5266 or visit their website at livingstoneducationfoundation.org.
—Reilly Neill
Growing a Healthy Community:Farms for Families
Many local Farmer’s Market shoppers see tables at the Farms For Families (FFF) booth heaped with locally-grown, chemical-free vegetables throughout the summer growing season, and stuff their market bags with hundreds of pounds of produce from FFF’s Demonstration Farms. But the non-profit organization Farms For Families nurtures a yield beyond the fresh weekly cornucopia at the market, using small-scale, local farming as a base for a renewal of community, and evidence a commitment to restoring the tradition of a local food culture in Park County.
“Building healthy communities by growing local food systems” is the mission of Farms For Families. It works toward this goal by its collaborations with other community groups using farming, education, and outreach to expand farming opportunities, markets, and consumer awareness of locally-grown, healthy food.
FFF’s most recent collaboration includes the submission of a USDA Community Food Projects grant, with the support of the Livingston Public Schools, the City of Livingston, Montana State University’s Sustainable Food and Bioenergy program, local youth-based organizations, the Livingston Food Pantry and many others. The grant aims to establish a community-wide hands-on educational network, increase markets and demand for local produce, and to establish a processing facility to extend the benefits of local produce beyond the short growing season, increasing local food security by infusing the food system with produce grown right here in Park County.
The organization also works throughout the year on its other farm-based community development projects, including the Incubator Farm project, Victory Garden programming in local schools, its Mobile Processing Unit for small-scale poultry growers, and the Community Food Assessment.
FFF’s Incubator Farm Project offers the use of land, water, equipment and guidance to support local small-scale farmers in growing locally and marketing their harvests. This relationship further infuses Park County’s economic system with extra capital. FFF has some farmers signed up for next year’s growing season, but welcomes more farmers looking for full-time growing opportunities within the project. Also, the Livingston Food Pantry uses their volunteer labor to help grow healthy produce for those who most need food resources, bringing the food system full circle.
FFF has used its Mobile Processing Unit for trainings around the state, and worked closely with the Department of Livestock in identifying issues for small-scale poultry growers in the areas of food safety and production methods.
Victory Garden programs now underway in conjunction with local schools include: the facilitation of on-site school garden installation; networking with school administration and faculty for the development of experiential curricula on small-scale agriculture; farm field trips; and future planning to expand these programs throughout the school system.
The ongoing Park County Community Food Assessment is a community-led research process in measuring aspects of the local food system, establishing baseline data on strengths, weaknesses, resources and barriers to sustainable,local food self-reliance with access for all segments of the community. Results will be used to create additional programs that meet the goal of strengthening our local food culture and ensuring food security.
To pledge money or donate directly online, check out the links on Farms For Families website at farmsforfamilies.org.
—Jen Eames
Beyond the Classroom: LINKS for Learning
LINKS For Learning, a program of the Livingston School District, is a low-cost afterschool and full day summer program for children in Livingston. LINKS activities are designed to encourage success in school, a lifelong interest in learning and a commitment to community involvement.
Since its inception in 1999, LINKS programs have run at capacity with a waiting list. This fall, LINKS enrollment is higher than ever with a growing waiting list. Due to decreased funding for 2010, LINKS is faced with ending the afterschool program five weeks before the end of the school year and reducing the summer program to six weeks, leaving children and families without the LINKS enrichment program for over two months.
Research conducted by the Rose Institute (2002) revealed that afterschool programs such as LINKS For Learning reduce child care costs, crime costs, and welfare costs, and that every dollar spent on afterschool programming returns $2.19 to $3.22 to the taxpayers. A separate study conducted by Brandeis Univeristy (2004) revealed that decreased worker productivity related to parental concerns about afterschool care costs businesses up to $300 billion per year.
In addition to enrichment activities, LINKS afterschool program includes focused homework time and special attention to math and reading skills. LINKS summer programs, which also take place at Washington School, include frequent field trips throughout the community and surrounding areas.
In spring of 2009, LINKS embarked on a Garden Classroom project that uses a portion of the green space surrounding Washington School for a vegetable garden and small orchard. The garden and orchard provide food for LINKS participants and the community, while serving as a living classroom where students, staff and community volunteers learn about living systems and develop practical skills. In 2010, with the support of a generous grant from PPL Montana, LINKS will add a greenhouse, tool shed and outdoor wash station to the Garden Classroom.
LINKS has been funded primarily through a 21st Century Community Learning Center (CCLC) grant since 1999. Though the CCLC grant was cut by 60% after 2004, LINKS continues to offer high quality programming at minimal cost to families by seeking other sources of funding.
In 2010, LINKS faces ending the afterschool program on April 30, five weeks before the end of the regular school year. With present funds, LINKS will again offer a six-week full day summer program beginning the first week of July. This leaves LINKS students and families without the afterschool and summer enrichment program for over two months in 2010.
In order to provide a full eight-week summer program in 2010, LINKS must raise an additional $10,000. LINKS is conducting a stocking stuffer fundraiser this holiday season in an attempt to raise the funds necessary to run the full eight-week summer program. The LINKS fundraiser provides community members the option to give a gift to LINKS on behalf of someone they love. Gifts can be designated for general use, the LINKS art program, or the Garden Classroom program. In acknowledgement of the gift, LINKS provides colorful greeting cards that can be given to loved ones this season to let them know that a donation has been given on their behalf.
For more information on the LINKS Stocking Stuffer fund raiser, or any of the LINKS programs, call 222-1231.
—Megan Drimal
November 28, 2009
Best of Livingston Winners Announced
The “Best of Livingston” is designed to be fun, an opportunity for the Livingston community to commiserate about favorite haunts, important issues, and wishes for the future as well as a chance to celebrate the place we call home.
For being nothing more than a community poll, the Best of Livingston is also fraught with peril. The concept is curious enough to elicit a range of responses from, “Why are you folks doing this?” to, “This balloting process offends my very soul!” At the same time, many voters anxiously await the reader poll each year, some even joking how they will rig the vote.
Rigging the vote is difficult, and we here at the Current like to think that we use all of our power and energy to tally results with the utmost integrity. We throw out obvious duplicates and recount close calls where there might be a tie or a few ballots separating the winners.For over three months, ballots are collected from three local sit-down coffee shops (Chadz, Coffee Crossing and MT Cup) as well as at the offices of the major sponsor of the event, the Livingston Current. Each ballot contains nearly 100 questions and although a few respondents complain about the length of the process, most use the ballots as a playground for creative expression—creative being an understatement in some cases. Livingston folks seem happy to expound on any number of issues given a writing utensil and slight inspiration.
A pair of ballot counters assembled a few weeks ago and started the process of counting the over 200 responses. Each counter was assigned a separate list of categories which had been split to reflect the greatest diversity. The counting and recounting process took over 40 hours and each vote for every category was counted. Duplicate ballots or obvious jokes were omitted and, as indicated on the actual ballot, responses less than half-completed were thrown out.
No one at the Livingston Current chooses the winners; this task was completed by the Livingston community who participated in the poll. It is true that many Current advertisers win categories, but it’s most likely because our readers are loyal to the great businesses who take advantage of the pages of the Current to promote their goods and services. Regardless of whether or not they advertise, winners are counted fairly.
On October 31, 2009, the Current culminated the promotion with the best of Livingston Halloween Bash at the Depot Center. Partygoers raised funds and 500 pounds of food for the local Livingston Food Pantry. The Fossils and The Shufflebums performed and provided entertainment for the many vampires, goblins, skeletons and ghouls attending.
This year “Best Local Character” Chad Petrulis took home the golden cup for best costume (and a season ski pass to Bridger Bowl) for the third year in a row, although Livingston’s creative community came out in full force to attempt to break Petrulis’ streak. Costumes ranged from the absurd to the delightful and masqueraded mayhem ensured until the witching hour.
The top three winners of the following reader poll were posted at the party, and first place plaques were available. Any first place winner who has yet to get a plaque, please contact the Current at (406) 222-3633.
The following Best of Livingston Reader Poll results are neither scientific nor gospel. The nature of the poll is to be neutral, fair and inclusive and everyone in Livingston is invited to participate.
We thank everyone who voted, hosted boxes and took the time to be a part of the Best of Livingston 2009.
READER POLL RESULTS:
BEST LOCAL CHARACTER
1. Chad Petrulis
2. Rob Bankston
3. (tie) Blackfoot
Russell Chatham
Also in the running: William Whelan, Kevin Hoover, Rich Ruggles, Vern LaDoux, Lindie Gibson, Tim the Magician, Pookie, Margot Kidder, Wilson, Montana Bob, Mike Devine, Ed Turner, Jim Harrison, LouAnn Nelson, James Willich, Ned Shapiro and Eric the Locksmith/Philosopher.
BEST NEW BUSINESS
1. Park Place Tavern2. Zona Rosa
3. (tie) L-Town Sports
Community Closet Alley Annex
Without a single advertisement, Livingston’s best new business opened to a packed house on July 1, 2009. The Park Place Tavern, founded by four-time award-winner for “Best Bartender in Livingston” Glenn Godward, along with Bill and Joe Hernandez, prides itself on serving quality food and drinks at reasonable prices.
Godward tended bar for 12 years at the Livingston Bar and Grill before opening the tavern. “Most of my customers are friends too,” he says. “I try to take care of them.”The tavern is located on 122 Main Street, where the SlackKnuckle Pub used to be. The patio outside looks similar to the SlackKnuckle design, though Joe Hernandez now calls it the “tikki bar.” A new u-shaped bar dominates the interior of the tavern, which Godward says improves traffic flow and creates a friendlier bar atmosphere. Some blocked windows were cleared to admit light, accentuating an assembly of Chatham lithographs hanging inside. One customer also brought in a mounted bison head to hang on the wall.
Though the award for best happy hour went to The Office Lounge this year, Park Place Tavern received many votes in the category. Happy hour runs from 4-7 p.m., when the price of well drinks and draft beers drops from $3 to $2.
The Park Place crowd is an eclectic mix, including cowgirls drinking brandy, singles with wine, families having dinner, and fishermen sipping cognac. Most draft beers are local, including brews from Bitterroot Brewing Co. and Red Lodge Brewing Co. And even the well liquor is good liquor, according to Godward.
The tavern also offers a full menu of traditional bar food and a selection of pastas. “Livingston has a long tradition of good eating places,” says Godward. “Most locals know what they want, and from here you won’t go away hungry.”
Also in the running for Best New Business: Designing Women, Studio Montage, Kelly’s at the Best Western, Allegro, Mill Creek Trading Post, Tiny Tee Graphics, Western Drug Soda Fountain and Pura Vida Salon.
BEST EDUCATOR1. Danny McGrath
2. Deb Certier
3. Jennifer McMillion
Also in the running: Mr. Feckanin, Marla Bray, Tandy Riddle, Livingston Library, Hermes Lynne, Christina Gillespie, Steve Hopkins, Jimmy Conley, Kelly Dick, Katie Laird, Sue Meador, “life,” “my parents,” and “experience.”
BEST ELECTED OFFICIAL
1. Bob Ebinger
2. Vicki Blakeman
3. Kara Bailey
Also in the running: Kevin Larkin, Mary Beebe, Brian Schweitzer, Steve Caldwell, June Little, Rick Van Aken, Marty Malone, Marshall Lutes, Randy Taylor and Martha Miller.
BEST COMMUNITY PROJECT
1. Livingston Community Gardens
2. G Street Splash Park
3. McNair Skate Park
Also in the running: Stafford Animal Shelter, “Improving the Civic Center,” Sacajawea Statue, Farmer’s Market, Bozeman Connection Trail, Vision Livingston, Livingston Round-up, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Sister City Organization, and “Sacajawea Park’s beautiful flowers.”
BEST NON-PROFIT
1. Stafford Animal Shelter
2. Community Closet
3. Big Brothers Big Sisters
Also in the running: Loaves and Fishes, Friends of the Gateway Museum, Crazy Mountain Productions, Western Sustainability Exchange, LINKS for Learning, Livingston Center for Art and Culture, The Rotary Club, Livingston Sister City, Montana Women For, Boy Scouts, Community Gardens, Livingston Food Pantry and CASA.
BEST THING ABOUT LIVINGSTON
1. The People
2. The Mountains
3. The Yellowstone River
Also noted: The wind, downtown, “me,” skateboarding, bar scene, coffee shops, “everything,” Livingston HealthCare hospital staff, fresh air, pie, scenic beauty, summer, Main Street, small town character, “no Wal-Mart,” “coolness factor,” location, Community Closet, “Most of the people are sane” and “No pollution because there’s too much wind!”
MOST IMPORTANT LOCAL ISSUE
1. Railroad Underpass/Overpass at Star Addition
2. New Hospital Plan
3. Railroad Plume Superfund Clean-up
Also noted: Ninth Street bridge, economy and growth, Amtrak Passenger Rail Service, cattle mutilations in Paradise Valley, “Keepin’ it real (unlike Bozangeles),” unemployment, keeping Livingston clean, bringing more businesses downtown, City infrastructure improvements, keeping homes affordable, and the women’s clinic on Main Street.
BEST EFFORT TO
IMPROVE LIVINGSTON
1. New Hospital Plan
2. Refurbishing Downtown Streets/Pipes/Sidewalks
3. Vision Livingston
Voted “Best Effort to Improve Livingston,” the new hospital building projected to be erected in the next few years by Livingston HealthCare won top honor.
“Our first priority is to create a facility that can serve our community with quality health care for generations to come,” says Livingston HealthCare Development Director Sandi Marlowe. “Now, there are just things that don’t fit.”
The new hospital will house facilities now scattered across 18 locations in town, Marlowe says. It will be built according to modern principles of efficiency and healing environments, and may offer views of the mountains and immediate access to a park. According to Marlowe, the hospital will cost an estimated $37.5 million. When and where the new facility will be built remains undetermined, as planners are still pushing pieces of the gargantuan project together.
The main hospital building currently in use is 54 years old. Some staff members crowd closets for office space, while others operate out of houses across the street. One plan under consideration calls for the new building to be 116,000 square feet, 56 percent larger than the current sprawl. According to the plan, patient care areas will increase by 88 percent. The added space may also accommodate in-house physician clinics and outpatient services under the same roof as the intensive care unit and emergency room services. Patients with acute conditions may receive specialist care down the hallway, instead of moving across town.
In the new facility, plans call for 25 private rooms to hold one bed each, adhering to the federal critical access facility limit of 25 beds. As a critical access facility, the Livingston hospital receives government reimbursement according to operation costs, rather than number of patients. Marlowe says the concept originated in Montana, where hospitals serve a large area but relatively few patients. All rooms are slotted for the second floor, away from the noise and bustle of central hospital activities and the ER. According to the plan under consideration, each room will have views of the mountains.
One location being considered for the hospital is east of town, off of Highway 89 on the other side of the bridge. The Ted and Georgann Watson family offered to donate a 20-acre parcel at the location, and Marlowe says she expects to know if they will be able to accept the land by the end of the month.
Livingston HealthCare is funding the building with current financial assets as well as loan money and community capital campaign donations. Marlowe says the organization expects to select a lender this month.
Design-build firm Marshall Erdman plans to build the hospital according to new studies of healing environments. Project Executive Ed Anderson says the firm will use evidence-based design strategies proven to accomplish better healing results than traditional building methods.
For example, Anderson says evidence shows patients who have access to daylight use less narcotics and achieve faster healing times. According to Anderson, the science of healing environments often aims to reduce anxiety among patients. “In a hospital environment, you often can’t control what’s happening to you,” he says. “When patients are being poked, prodded, and put through magnets, their anxiety level goes up.”
By orienting themselves to recognizable landmarks, such as the Absaroka Mountains, patients may feel a greater sense of control, and anxiety and heart rate may decrease.
Anderson says the design firm is also considering simple measures to increase efficiency at the hospital. Patient rooms may be identical, so physicians always know where to find their instruments. Passages may be designed so patients are transported around the hospital without passing through public reception areas or emergency corridors.
More space may be available for visiting specialists to work with the tools they need. Limited or inefficient workspace often hinders visiting specialists from coming to an outdated facility, according to Anderson. “The new facility will really help our ability to recruit and maintain quality staff,” Marlowe says.
Marlowe emphasizes the hospital’s practice of upgrading according to need. The hospital is not waiting for the new facility to bring in any necessary equipment. In 2006 they added an MRI. This year, they increased the utility of x-ray and mammography information by converting to digital imaging systems
No estimate is yet available for a date when ground may be broken for the hospital, but Marlowe says once the ground is broken the structure will be completed within 18-24 months.
—Wes Venteicher
Also noted as Best Effort to Improve Livingston: New City recycling project, L-town Sports, “any effort,” Margot Kidder, Livingston Mercantile, “someone should buy the Owl Lounge,” free Historic Yellowstone Bus Tours, killing city mosquitoes, “keeping Wal-Mart out,” railyard cleanup, new soccer fields, and H Street improvements.
BEST STREET1. Main Street
2. Yellowstone Street
3. Park Street
Also in the running: Callender Street, Lewis Street, Old Clyde Park Road, “J Street,” Fifth Street and H Street.
BEST PLACE TO COMMUNE
WITH NATURE
1. Sacajawea Park
2. (tie) Yellowstone River
Pine Creek
Also noted: Mayor’s Landing, Yellowstone National Park, ‘outside,” Absarokas, the dock on the Sacajawea Park Lagoon, “the forest,” St. Andrew’s Garden and Ninth Street Island.
BEST SWIMMING HOLE
1. Livingston City Pool
2. Chico Hot Springs
3. Carter’s Bridge
Also noted: Boiling River, Pine Creek Lake, Sacajawea Park Lagoon, Loch Leven, “Ninth Street, but we can’t get there any more,” and many “secret” spots.
BEST CAMPING
1. Pine Creek Campground
2. Mill Creek
3. (tie) Yellowstone National Park
West Boulder Campground
Also noted: Osen’s RV Park, Luccock Park, “any Forest Service cabin,” “my backyard,” islands on the river, Pine Creek lakes, Mallard’s Rest, Pie Creek KOA, and the Beartooths.
BEST PLACE TO WATCH THE SUNSET
1. At Home
2. On North Hill
3. (tie) Livingston Peak
Mayor’s Landing
Also noted: the Wineglass, “the west,’ on the river, Bozeman, Mormon Church, Paradise Valley, the Crazy Mountains, “in alpenglow clouds,” and at the Pine Creek outlook/turnout.
BEST BIKE RIDE
1. City Bike Path
2. Sacajawea Park
3. Around Town
Also noted: Highway 89, “downhill,” Yellowstone Park on Bike Day, “The one we wish we had: along the levy all the way to Mayor’s,” East River Road, “to the bar,” “through puddles after the rain, “home from the bar,” Old Clyde Park Road, and “away from 55mph traffic.”
BEST LOCAL IDEA
1. Livingston Farmer’s Market
2. New Hospital Plan
3. (tie) Community Gardens
Updating Civic Center
Also noted: Vision Livingston, “no ‘marts’,” Skate Park, “the lizard people,” “cleaning up our neighborhoods,” painting the underpass, local spotlight page at bigbearelectric.com, Highsides should be reopened, replacing bad trees, passenger rail service, “buy local,” “make Callender and Park one-way streets,” and Summerfest All School Reunion.
BEST TEEN HANGOUT
1. Pickle Barrel
2. Treasure Lanes
3. Chadz
Also noted: Coffee Crossing, MT Cup, Sacajawea Park, L-Town Sports, McNair Skate Park, Mark’s In and Out, Community Closet and “their own house.”
BEST PLACE TO SEND TOURISTS
Home
3. Livingston Depot Museum
Also noted: Chico Hot Springs, Montana Grizzly Encounter, “to shop locally,” Gateway Museum, Chadz, Bozeman, Second Street Bistro, Natural Bridge on Boulder River, The Murray, “hunting for jackalope,” Pine Creek Falls, Livingston Chamber, “through Yankee Jim River Access,” and Conley’s Books and Music.
BEST BUMPER STICKER
SEEN LOCALLY
1. “Who’s Your Farmer?”
2. “Hey Osama, Kiss My American Ass”
3. When Abortions are Illegal, Only Rich Women will have Abortions”
Also noted: “Wear your seat belt, it keeps the aliens from sucking you out of your car,” “Montana Native,” Bozeman: Just 30 minutes to Livingston,” “Behind every great woman is a man checking out her ass,” Evolve beyond belief,” “Livingston Blows,” “Area 49,” “You’ve got to have balls to get your dog neutered,” Crime control not gun control,” “Where the hell is Tow-Dot?”, “Save a cow, eat a vegetarian,” and “Happiness is Coming.”
BEST LOCAL CONSPIRACY THEORY
1. City Commission Versus City Manager Ed Meece
2. Bomb Shelters in Paradise Valley
3. Wal-Mart West of Town
Also noted: Bigfoot, the C.U.T., “That no one uses Ninth Street other than the residents,” Obama will outlaw guns, J Street is underground, “gum collection,” “Aliens are governing Park High,” Margot Kidder is really a right-wing Republican, City of Livingston has plenty of money, and that the Yellowstone Caldera will blow.
BEST PREDICTION FOR
LIVINGSTON’S FUTURE
1. Amtrak will Resume Passenger Rail Service to Park County
2. Economic Recession and Unemployment
3. Yellowstone Caldera Will Blow
Also noted: More new businesses, bridges and levy will be repaired, slow and sustainable growth, more out-of-staters and less locals, “horrible hell where robots prey upon helpless humans,” flooding in the area actually on the Army Corps of Engineers map, “will stay destination spot for tourists but no one will move here,” the wind will blow, and “a Delorean sent back to 1955.”
BEST CHEF
1. Brian Menges at the
Second Street Bistro
2. Dan Shapiro at Pine Creek Café
3. Jim Liska at Adagio and Allegro
Also in the running: Zac Kellerman, Scott Lambkin at Zona Rosa, Russell Chatham, Chad Petrulis, Carole Sullivan at Mustang Catering, Bob at the Fry House, Teri Ruggles at Pinky’s, Chris ** at the Northern Pacific Beanery and Chuck Tanner of the Sport.
BEST FINE DINING
1. Second Street Bistro
2. Chico Hot Springs Dining Room
3. Livingston Bar and Grille
Also in the running: Adagio, Montana’s Rib and Chop House, Pine Creek Café and the Stockman.
BEST SERVICE
1. Second Street Bistro
2. Pinky’s
3. Montana’s Rib and Chop House
Also in the running: Chico Hot Springs, Pine Creek Café, Adagio, Chadz, the Office Lounge, Ace Hardware, Mark’s In and Out, Park Place Tavern, The Stockman, Fiesta en Jalisco, Community Closet, and Mark’s In and Out.
BEST BREAKFAST
1. Pinky’s
2. Northern Pacific Beanery
3. (tie) Homemade Kitchen
Clark’s Crossing
Also in the running: Chadz, Pine Creek Café, Yellowstone Truck Stop, Paradise Valley Pop Stand, Coffee Crossing, Second Street Bistro Brunch, and Val’s Deli in Wilsall.
BEST LUNCH
1. Pinky’s
2. Bittersweet
3. Chadz
Also in running: Zona Rosa, Homemade Kitchen, Mark’s In and Out, Montana’s Rib and Chop House, Mustang Catering, Hearthstone, Pickle Barrel, Dairy Queen, 12-Top, Fiesta en Jalisco, The Fry House, Paradise Valley Pop Stand, and MT Cup.
BEST BURGER
1. Mark’s In and Out
2. The Stockman
3. Park Place Tavern
Also in the running: Second Street Bistro, Paradise Valley Pop Stand, Wilsall Café, The Sport, Montana’s Rib and Chop House, Chico Grill, Pine Creek Barbecue, Murray Bar and Dairy Queen.
BEST STEAK
1. Montana’s Rib and Chop House
2. The Stockman
3. Second Street Bistro
Also in the running: Matt’s Butcher Shop, “at home on the grill,” Chico Hot Springs, Livingston Bar and Grille, Buffalo Jump, and Wilsall Café.
BEST PIZZA
1. Rosa’s Pizza
2. Yellowstone Pizza
3. Second Street Bistro
Also noted: Allegro, 49’r and the “Meatloaf Pizza” at the Bistro.
BEST GLOBAL CUISINE
2. Fiesta en Jalisco
3. The Wok
Also noted: Twin Dragon, Adagio, Neptune’s Brewery, and Mustang Catering.
BEST SANDWICH
1. Matt’s Butcher Shop
2. Chadz
3. Pinky’s
Matt Feldtman, owner of Matt’s Meats, offers simple advice for making a good sandwich: “Load it up.” Sandwich experts at Matt’s Butcher Shop and Deli stuff about a quarter-pound of roasted meat and two ounces of cheese between slices of fresh bread to create Livingston’s favorite sandwich.
Meats are seasoned with salt and pepper and roasted in-house, and nine varieties of bread are baked fresh daily. Matt says locals favor turkey and roast beef, as well as the daily specials including Friday’s chicken salad sandwich and Wednesday’s “BLT.”Meat and bread are the most important elements of a sandwich, according to Matt. The variety of meats, cheeses, and breads at the deli provides a range of sandwich possibilities. Matt encourages customers to use their imagination when ordering, and to pile on the fixings. His 8-year-old daughter ordered simple ham and cheese until she tried his order—turkey, bacon, and avocado served on a sourdough hard roll with all the fixings, including sprouts. Now young Romy Feldtman orders the same, including onions.
Matt started cutting meat 20 years ago, and says he continues to learn new things all the time. “There’s meat science and meat sense; I have meat sense,” he says. Matt has been butchering in Livingston for 14 years and selling sandwiches for 10. When he opened his shop, he says most of his business came during holidays and hunting season. “We used to play cards in the down time,” he says.
Sandwiches helped the business grow, and Matt claims consistency and quality ingredients carried the butcher shop and deli to where it is today. He also mentions a secret ingredient in the mayonnaise. Whatever the secret of his sandwiches may be, as long as Matt keeps making them, Livingston will likely keep eating them.
—LC Staff
Also in the running for Best Sandwich: The Pickle Barrel, Pine Creek Café, Homemade Kitchen, “peanut butter and pickles,” Bittersweet, Mustang Catering, “Super Pizza Burger” at Mark’s In and Out and “French Dip” at the Stockman.
BEST COFFEE1. Coffee Crossing
2. Chadz
3. MT Cup
Also noted: Jumpin’ Trout Java, Cabin Coffee, Second Street Bistro, Café D’Arte, Pickle Barrel, Pinky’s, TJ’s Gas and Convenience and Coffee Creek.
BEST DESSERTS
1. Second Street Bistro
2. Bittersweet
3. Montana’s Rib and Chop House
Also in the running: Dairy Queen, Hearthstone, Zona Rosa, Adagio, Chico Hot Springs, Pinky’s, MT Cup, Livingston Bar and Grille, Chadz truffles, Pine Creek Café, Wilcoxson’s, Homemade Kitchen and the Pickle Barrel.
BEST SERVER
1. (tie) Phalle Colvin at Montana’s
Rib and Chop House
2. Kent at the Bistro
3. Sarah at Pinky’s
Also noted: RicheRuggles at Pinky’s, Lisa Waldron, Katie Narbus, Nicole at the Bistro, Becca Christians at the Pickle Barrel, Orlina Hunsaker at the Rib and Chop, Michelle Lutes, Dan Sullivan, and Laura Poinsette at Pine Creek.
BEST BARISTA
1. Chad Petrulis
2. John
3. Michelle Lutes
Also noted: Kitty Krohne, Jodie Nardella, Baily Brenna, and Kerrie Brock.
BEST CATERING
1. Mustang Catering
2. Zac’s Montana Kitchen
3. Homemade Kitchen
BEST PLACE TO EAT
WHEN SOMEONE ELSE PAYS
1. Second Street Bistro
2. Chico Hot Springs
3. Livingston Bar and Grille
Also noted: Montana’s Rib and Chop House, Adagio, Zona Rosa, and “anywhere.”
BEST EXPRESSION OF
DINNER AS ART
1. Second Street Bistro
2. Chico Hot Springs
3. Livingston Bar and Grille
Also in the running: Adagio, Zona Rosa, Pine Creek Café, Montana’s Rib and Chop House, the Stockman, Paradise Valley Pop Stand, and Mark’s In and Out.
BEST WINE LIST
1. Second Street Bistro
2. Chico Dining Room
3. Allegro
BEST PLACE TO DINE ALONE
1. Mark’s In and Out
2. The 12-Top
3. Northern Pacific Beanery
4. Pinky’s
5. Montana’s Rib and Chop House
6. Chadz
7. Paradise Valley Pop Stand
8. Second Street Bistro Bar
9. Fiesta en Jalisco
10. Hearthstone
BEST BAR/TAVERN
1. The Office Lounge
2. The Murray Bar
3. Park Place Tavern
Also noted: Whiskey Creek, Neptune’s, The Mint, 49’r, Z-Barn, Chico Saloon and Pine Creek Café.
BEST HAPPY HOUR
1. The Office Lounge
2. The Murray Bar
3. Park Place Tavern
NICEST BAR STAFF
1. The Office Lounge
2. The Murray Bar
3. Second Street Bistro Bar
Also noted: Montana’s Rib and Chop House, Whiskey Creek, The Z-Barn, Neptune’s, The Elk’s Lodge, Pine Creek Café, and The Sport.
BEST BARTENDER
Park Place Tavern
2. Chuck at The Office
3. Nathaniel Browning at
the Second Street Bistro
BEST MARTINI
1. Second Street Bistro
2. Park Place Tavern
3. (tie) The Office Lounge
The Murray Bar
BEST DRAFT BEER
1. Neptune’s Brewery
2. The Murray Bar
3. Whiskey Creek
BEST PLACE TO WATCH SPORTS
1. The Office Lounge
2. 49’r
3. The Murray Bar
Also noted: The Sport, Montana’s Rib and Chop House, Whiskey Creek and Park High School.
BEST PLACE TO DRINK ALONE
1. Home
2. The Murray Bar
3. Whiskey Creek
BEST FLY FISHING SHOP
1. Dan Bailey’s
2. Sweetwater
3. (tie) George Anderson’s
Yellowstone Angler
Hatchfinders Fly Shop
BEST WOMEN’S CLOTHING
1. Wild West Clothing
2. Livingston Mercantile
3. (tie) Community Closet
The Vogue Shop
Also in the running: Timber Trails, Designing Women, Bob’s Outdoors, Pamida and Way Out West.
BEST MEN’S CLOTHING
1. Bob’s Outdoor
2. Livingston Mercantile
3. Community Closet
Also in the running: Timber Trails, L-Town Sports, Yellowstone Gateway Sports, and Pamida.
BEST WINDOW DISPLAY
2. The Office Lounge
3. At Home on the Range
Also in the running: The Danforth, “live cats” at Mordam Art, Community Closet, Iraqi Casualty Count, Christmas at Chadz, Truex, Coffee Crossing, Livingston Mercantile, Conley’s, Root 66, Paradise Ring Works, Sax and Fryer, and Cowboy Connection.
BEST FRESH PRODUCE
1. The Farmer’s Market
2. (tie) Albertson’s
Town and Country
Also noted: Foodworks Market, Bozeman Co-op, and “my garden.”
BEST GROCERY STORE
1. Town and Country
2. Albertson’s
3. Foodworks Market
BEST RETAIL WINE SELECTION
1. Gourmet Cellar
2. Town and Country
3. Albertson’s
BEST RETAIL BEER SELECTION:
1. Town and Country
2. Albertson’s
3. Spirits Liquor Store
BEST HARDWARE STORE
1. Ace Hardware
2. True Value
3. Kenyon Noble
BEST CAR DEALERSHIP
1. Whiting Motors
2. Yellowstone Country Motors
3. Headwaters GMC
BEST REALTOR
1. Gillian Swanson
2. Jon Ellen Snyder
3. Bruce Lay
Also noted: Ashley Kayser, Michelle Goodwine, Hebberd Blesius, Ernie Meador, Dude Tyler, Pat Wagman, Jeff Welke, Tracy Raich, Michael Kolivas, Lisa Schwartz, Stacey Raney, Julie Kennedy, Sarah Jane Rindos, Gary Ward, Sam Noah, Dixie Bullock and Candace Dorr.
BEST BANK
1. First Interstate
2. Sky Federal Credit Union
3. American Bank
BEST HOME DECOR
1. Catherine Lane Interiors
2. Community Closet
3. Rocky Mountain Interiors
BEST CONVENIENCE STORE
1. TJ’s Gas ‘n Convenience
2. Loaf and Jug
3. Town Pump
Also noted: Sax and Fryer, True Value Hardware, Western Drug, and Kum and Go.
BEST SALESPERSON
1. Robin Zank
2. (tie) John Boyd
Julie Delorey
Livingston’s best salesperson volunteers two of the six days she works every week at the Community Closet. “My job and my whole lifestyle now is service to others,” says Robin Zank. “It’s the most important thing in my life, whether I’m paid for it or not.”
Zank says she began to volunteer at the thrift store when she moved to Livingston four years ago, and quickly became a part of the community. “People here are very down to earth,” she says. “They have no problem helping each other."
A baker by profession, Zank says her skills as a salesperson result from good, old-fashioned manners and a learned ability to create a fun environment around her. “We try to make it very social, and we communicate with our customers,” she says. “It’s amazing how people respond when you treat them with kindness.”
She chooses music from among donated media, and says people always comment on the tunes playing in the store. One day a week she plays only records. “I like to play old stuff people haven’t heard for a long time,” she says. “I’ll play anything from a yodeler from Norway to Barry Manilow, the Beegees to Hank Williams.
When there is a special occasion, Zanks says she spoils her customers by bringing in gourmet treats. On Valentine’s Day she brings homemade truffles. On Christmas, a variety of specialty cookies she favored as a baker.
Zank says she enjoys being part of the cycle of giving and getting. “The thrift store helps people walk gentle on the earth,” she says. “People learn to give, and it allows them to have things they like.”
She says there is even some magic at work. She sees people come in asking for something the store doesn’t have, and a couple days later the item appears. If an item is not selling, an employee has just to touch it, to move it, and an hour later it sells.
Dedicated to a lifestyle of service and giving, Zank is eager to welcome anyone who may come in to the Community Closet for a shirt, a smile, or an afternoon.
—LC Staff
BEST COWBOY BOOTS1. Bowman’s Wilson Boots
2. Community Closet
3. Way Out West
Also noted: Livingston Mercantile, Bob’s Outdoors, Wild West Clothing, Cowboy Connection, and Bob and Lu’s.
BEST THRIFT STORE
1. Community Closet
2. Senior Center Thrift Store
3. (tie) Designing Women
Bob and Lu’s
BEST AUTO REPAIR
1. A-1 Muffler
2. Larry’s Foreign Auto Repair
3. American Automotive
BEST MASSAGE THERAPIST
1. Lori Matthews
2. Kristen Kovash
3. Sara Rossi
Also noted: Nicole Chowen, Marya Spoja, Amory Anderson, Linda Mahr, Nancy Milligan, Elizabeth Vallencourt, Chico Day Spa, and “my husband.”
BEST HAIR STYLIST
2. Brook Gall at Pura Vida
3. Laura Bolduc at the Salon
Also noted: Tina Polluck, Kara Pinder, Larissa Viers, Sharopn Johnson, Walter Kirn, Sandra Bourque, and Trish Pederson.
BEST SALON
1. Grace Studios
2. Pura Vida
3. The Nest
Also noted: The Salon at Main and Callender, Tara’s Salon, Tangles and Company, Jack’s Barbershop, Studio Montage, Legends, Lady Ann and Root 66.
BEST DOCTOR
1. Dr. D. Scott Coleman
2. Dr. Douglas P. Wadle
3. Dr. Christopher J. Lee
BEST NURSE
1. Peggy C. Scanson, CNP
2. Terri Wheeler
3. Heather Jurvaklanen
BEST DENTIST
1. Liz Blavatsky, DDS
2. Gary Jagodzinski, DDS
3. (tie) Theodore K. Kulaga, DDS
Lani McLane, DDS
BEST CHIROPRACTOR
1. Merle Bouma, DC
2. Jim Brandau, DC
3. Kirk Archibald, DC
BEST WEB SERVICES
1. Wispwest
2. Bresnan
3. Sparkling Dawg
Also noted: Bridgeband, John Gracey, Catherine Bourneman, Coffee Crossing, imt.net, Tom Pascal, Chadz, Big Sky Internet Design, and Brad Bunkers.
BEST VETERINARIAN
1. Duane Colmey, DVM
2. James O. Murray, DVM
3. Livingston Veterinary Hospital
BEST FITNESS INSTRUCTOR
1. (tie) Sara Rossi at Breathing Room Yoga
Carol Stern at Total Fitness
2. Karen Stenseth at Firehall Fitness
BEST LODGINGS
1. Murray Hotel
2. Chico Hot Springs
3. The Comfort Inn
Also noted: Best Western, Pine Creek Lodge, Blue Winged Olive, Livingston Inn, Budget Host, “my house,” and Patricia Blume Properties.
BEST LOCAL ARTIST
1. Parks Reece
2. (tie) Edd Enders
Bob Storey
Also in the running: Brian White, Laura Poinsette, David Swanson, Robert Newhall, Parke Goodman, Elichai Fowler, Brad Bunkers, Sarah Homans, Steve Fox, Doris Davis Gallagher, Karen Garre, Russell Chatham, and Shirl Ireland.
BEST GALLERY
1. (tie) The Danforth
Park’s Reece Gallery
2. B. Civilized
Also noted: Mordam Art, Livingston Center for Art and Culture, The Frame Garden, Paradise Ring Works, Paradise Art Works, Garee Fine Art and B. Civilized.
BEST LOCAL AUTHOR
1. Tim Cahill
2. Christopher Paolini
3. Jim Harrison
Author Tim Cahill arrived in Livingston in 1979 to view a total eclipse of the sun. The moon moved on, but Cahill stayed. “As far as I know, it’s a place that doesn’t have a warrant out for my arrest,” he says.
In 2009, Livingston selected Cahill from among a tough pool of competitors, including Jim Harrison and Christopher Paolini, to receive the award for “Best Local Author."
In the Livingston of 1979 there were no faxes and no e-mails, Cahill says. Though it was a radical idea at the time, Cahill moved to Livingston to live and write while publishing in Chicago. When e-mail arrived, Cahill says, freelancing became more common. “I moved here to work and people thought I was prescient, that I could see the future.”
Before moving to Livingston, Cahill received a graduate degree in creative writing from San Francisco State University and wrote for Rolling Stone. At the time, a literary circle in San Francisco including Cahill, Russell Chatham, Tom McGuane, Richard Brautigan and William Hjortsberg visited Livingston, but did not often discuss the small Montana town while in the big city.
At the time, Cahill says, “hippie-dom” was breaking up all over San Francisco. The authors, like everyone else, were there for sex, drugs, and rock and roll.
“They were talking to people clueless about fishing—people who were anti-gun, anti-hunting, and who for the most part thought people who liked outdoors and wilderness were probably Neanderthals.”
Most outdoor writing either taught basic skills, such as how to paddle a canoe, or told tales of dominating savage beasts. “Magazines like Adventure for Men, Men’s Adventure—Man’s Testicle—all showed wonderfully gaudy pictures of some unshaven guy, square-jawed, broad-shouldered with a ripped shirt, dragging a woman whose shirt is even more ripped, and they had titles like ‘Jaguars Ripped My Flesh.’”
Rolling Stone launched Outside magazine in 1978 with a new idea to publish literate writing about the out of doors. As one of two people in the office who liked to go outdoors, Cahill was elected as an editor and writer for the new publication.
Around the same time, Cahill completed a novel about serial killer John Wayne Gacy, titled “Buried Dreams.” The novel was a bestseller, and Cahill faced a dilemma. “I spent three years working on the Gacy book, in the sewer of that man’s mind, and while it worked out economically for me, psychologically it was a bad thing,” he said.
On the other hand, writing outdoor stories produced an opposite psychological effect, a cleansing effect.
“The question I had to answer to myself was: do I want to be rich and really psychologically scarred, or have less money and do things I really like to do—I chose doing things I really like to do.”
Cahill titled his first collection of short travel stories “Jaguars Ripped My Flesh: Adventure is a Risky Business,” in the spirit of the Men’s Adventure pieces. He took another title, “A Wolverine is Eating My Leg,” directly from the magazine. Other titles include “Pecked to Death by Ducks” and “Pass the Butterworms: Remote Journeys Oddly Rendered.”
When Cahill now plans a trip, which will become a story, he says he identifies a quest. Many times the quest is just to satisfy his own curiosity.
He read in the London Times that people in Turkey were beginning to see evidence of the supposedly-extinct Caspian tiger, and after a few phone calls, Cahill arranged for an expenses-paid trip for him and a photographer. The quest was to find the tiger, or at least the story.
“I found evidence,” he says. “I’d say the chance is more than 50 percent that it exists.” He traveled to the border of Turkey and Iran and Iraq, where the Kurdish workers party had been fighting the Turkish government for 16 years. In such an unstable area a soldier might be mistaken for an civilian, or a civilian might be mistaken for an insurgent. Nobody was doing much hunting.
“An ironic result of the war was that it was pretty damn good for the animals in the region,” Cahill says. Prey species flourished, providing a good environment for the elusive tiger to survive and multiply
Early in his travel writing career, Cahill admits he took voluminous notes in camp, brought them back to a home office, read through them, and tried to find the angle.
“It was like holding up a piece of glass to the sun. You turned it and turned it, until a rainbow came through the material. There it was; the story.”
Thirty years later, he is confident of his ability to find the story. “Now I know, when it starts happening, that this is the story,” he says. “I don’t know what the story is before I go, but I have enough experience to recognize it when it starts to happen.”
While he may be a character in his own stories, Cahill says he does not attempt to influence their outcome by his presence.
“There are so many fantastic things going on if you have your antennae out and you’re looking. You can see the story happening. You don’t need to embellish or make it happen—it’s fantastic enough on its own,” he said.
With his most recent book, titled “Lost in My Own Backyard: A Walk in Yellowstone National Park,” Cahill took an opportunity to meditate on the park, the earth, and walking. The book is part of a series on walking written by various authors.
The publisher asked Cahill where he would like to walk. “It occurred to me I could walk around Yellowstone Park without getting on a plane, going across the earth, or suffering the attention of various warlords,” he says. So he asked to write about Yellowstone Park, and the publishers agreed.
Cahill’s favorite hike in the park is Specimen Ridge in the Lamar Valley, an area he refers to as “America’s Serengeti.” He also favors the Beckler Meadows, in the southwest corner of the park.
Last December Cahill traveled to the Pantanal region of Brazil, a region of cattle country bigger than Texas, with horses, Brazilian country music, and real jaguars ripping real flesh. Prior to Cahill’s visit Jaguars had recently mauled three people, killing one. All of the attacks occurred in an area about the size of Park County.
One day Cahill was riding with a group of cowboys in 105-degree heat, stalking jaguars. When he directed his horse under the shade of some trees, the cowboys called him back to the sun and the heat. “The jaguars are in there,” they said.
He moved out of the shade and soon noticed a fresh jaguar track, the size of his fist, crossing the sand. The jaguar was in those trees. “It made me think about jaguars in a whole new way, and I didn’t particularly want them to rip my flesh,” he said.
Later, he viewed the first jaguar he had ever seen in the wild. He sat in a boat drifting through a flooded plain when he saw the jaguar swimming about 20 feet away. He said the jaguar didn’t see the boat immediately as it was pursuing a caiman, a South American crocodile which it probably intended to eat.
Cahill watched the jaguar through field glasses when it turned and its head filled his vision. “And it gave me this dirty jaguar look,” he says. Then it left the water, scaled a cliff, and entered the jungle.
Though he is working on writing a story about the jaguars in Brazil, Cahill says he hasn’t been doing much other work lately. At 66, he says the adventures are becoming more difficult to perform and he would like to begin working on something different, challenging, and maybe even a surprise, but he doesn’t yet know what it will be.
He and local author Peter Bowen have also been brainstorming about working together on a project, but nothing is settled or in stone yet.
Cahill said he is flattered by the “nice honor” of the award for best local author.
—Wes Venteicher
Also noted for Best Local Author: Walter Kirn, Scott McMillion, Doris Whithorn, Maggie McGuane, Richard Wheeler, Dwight Harriman and Gatz Hjortsberg.
BEST JOURNALIST
1. Scott McMillion2. Matt Dettori
3. David Nolt
Also noted: Dwight Harriman, Karen Ronnow, Tom Gersack, David Lewis, Tim Cahill, Steve Matlow, Jen Eames, Lindie Gibson, Tom Brokaw and Todd Dvorak.
BEST BOOK SELECTION
1. Conley’s Books and Music
2. Sax and Fryer
3. Livingston Public Library
Also noted: Community Closet and Sacred Mysteries.
BEST PHOTOGRAPHER
1. Melanie Nashan
2. Tom Murphy
3. Lynn Weaver
Also noted: David Nolt, Paul Dix, Larry Stanley, Lindsay Wright, Nathaniel Browning, Warren Mabie, Cody Redmon, Dan Shapiro, Bill Campbell and Audrey Hall.
BEST LOCAL MUSICIANS
1. Nan and Jimmy Conley
2. Mike Boise
3. (tie) Kyle Brenner
Cindy Hicks
Also in the running: Kevin Toll, Frank O’Connor, Scott Bohler, Ben Bullington, Hilary O’Hara, Caitlin Ryan, Rich Ruggles, Libby Caldwell, Shelly Besler, Jamie Jean, Mike Devine, Garret Melin, Dan Myer and Keith Lowry.
BEST LOCAL LIVE BAND
1. The Max
2. The Fossils
3. 30-Ot-Hix
Also in the running: Big Quinn and the Broken Hearts Band, The Shufflebums, Caitlin and the Clutchriders, the Red Elvises, Prairie Wind Jammers, Nite Ride, Ringling 5, Highway 89, Pretty Good String Band and The Blokes.
BEST LIVE MUSIC VENUE
1. Pine Creek Café
2. The Murray Bar
3. The Z-Barn
Also noted: Chcio Saloon, The Owl, Summerfest and the Band Shell at the Farmer’s Market.
BEST PLACE TO PLAY POOL
1. The Office Lounge
2. The Murray
3. Whiskey Creek
BEST JUKEBOX
1. The Murray Bar
2. The Pickle Barrel
3. (tie) Paradise Valley Pop Stand
The Office Lounge
BEST CASINO
1. 49’r
2. Whiskey Creek
3. The Mint
BEST ACTOR/ACTRESS
1. Gary Fish
2. Margot Kidder
3. Gillian Swanson
Also noted: DeeDee VanZyl, “my ex-wife,” Jamie Jean, Sandy Barton, Bill Koch, Tim Williams, Rich Hall, and Alex Armstrong.
BEST LOCAL MUSEUM/EXHIBIT
1. Yellowstone Gateway Museum
2. Livingston Depot Center
3. Livingston Model Train Club
BEST LOCAL CELEBRITY
1. Margot Kidder
2. Michael Keaton
3. Tom Brokaw
Also in the running: Russell Chatham, Big Quinn, Tim Cahill, Brutus the Bear, Mark Murphy, Joanne Gardner, Tim the Magician, Dennis Quaid, John Fryer, Dean Holmes, Peter Fonda, Doug Peacock, Rich Hall, Jeff Bridges, Christopher Paolini, Chad Petrulis, Jimmy Buffett, and “me.”
BEST PLACE TO PARTY
1. The Murray Bar
2. “My House”
3. (tie) Pine Creek Lawn
The Office Lounge
Also noted: The Elk’s Lodge, the Depot, “where the keg is,” Allegro, the Old Saloon, Summerfest, Steph and Kelby’s, Mill Creek Campground and the Z-Barn.
BEST PLACE FOR A FIRST DATE
1. Second Street Bistro
2. The Empire Theater
3. Pine Creek Café
4. Treasure Lanes
5. Montana’s Rib and Chop House
6. Chico Hot Springs
7. Mark’s In and Out
8. Floating the River
9. Chadz
10. Northern Pacific Beanery
11. Yellowstone National Park
12. Adagio
13. The Stockman
14. Sacajawea Park Picnic
15. Bridger Bowl
16. Livingston Bar and Grille
17. Mountain View Cemetery
18. Paradise Valley Pop Stand
19. Livingston Rail Yard
20. The Murray
21. A Drive into the Mountains
22. Fiesta en Jalisco
23. Community Closet
24. The 12-Top
25. A Pickup in Paradise
BEST LOCAL EVENT/FESTIVAL
1. Summerfest
2. Fourth of July Rodeo and Parade
3. The Farmer’s Market
When organizers netted the Kingston Trio to headline Summerfest two years ago, the event brought a crowd of nearly 10,000, including visitors from every state and several countries. The latest fest featured the Drifters, drawing large crowds and enough local favor to be voted Livingston’s best event.
“It was the best one to date,” says Summerfest founder and organizer Ken Kastelitz. The event earned record profits, which benefit the city recreation department. Some of the money goes toward scholarships for children’s sports programs. Last year, proceeds provided a new basketball scoreboard for the civic center
“At this festival, the entertainers really have to entertain,” says Kastelitz. With so many activities available, bands need to work to keep an audience. He says the Drifters succeeded by packing their set with classic tunes listeners knew.
Assistant director John Gracey and a music committee begin making arrangements for the next Summerfest the day after the festival ends.
The 2010 summer lineup will feature soul legend the Platters. Chris Hyatt, who Kastelitz calls Livingston’s long lost son, will travel from Florida to perform. Cold Hard Cash, a Johnny Cash cover band from Missoula, will appear as well as a new lineup of local groups.
Festival-goers may expect the usual fare of family-friendly events, including children’s activities in the civic center, food vendors, beer, a car show, climbing wall, and free swimming at the city pool. Organizers boast a safe event. Last year, there were no incidents. “I think the kids help monitor the parents,” Gracey says.
“A lot of the bands have been mind-boggled by how pretty it is,” says Gracey. Many performers, impressed with the scenery and the friendly atmosphere, say they would like to return to Livingston.
Summerfest is held in the third week of July. “That’s the closest you can come to being sure of weather in Montana,” Kastelitz says.
Though last year’s festival will be hard to beat, the 2010 Summerfest is shaping up to be one of the best yet. The price of admission remains at just $20 for the weekend that’s come to be Livingston’s favorite.
—LC Staff
Also in the running for Best Local Event/Festival: Art Walks, Halloween Bash at the Depot, Bark in the Park, Depot Festival of the Arts, Stafford Shelter’s Fur Ball, and Christmas tree lighting at the Depot.
BEST PLACE TO PEOPLE WATCH1. Chadz
2. The Murray
3. Community Closet
Also noted: Pinky’s, Sacajawea Park, Main Street, Town and Country parking lot, Rodeo, Coffee Crossing, baseball fields, the Stockman, Summerfest, Pine Creek Café, downtown, MT Cup, and “anywhere in Livingston.”
BEST BATHROOMS
1. Community Closet
2. The Office Lounge
3. Whiskey Creek
Also in the running: Second Street Bistro, Livingston Bar and Grille, Highsides, Teddy Roosevelt Lodge in Yellowstone Park, and “Closest place when you have to go.”
Thanks for voting, Livingston!
September 13, 2009
Best of Livingston Ballots on Stands Now
Check out the Fifth Annual Best of Livingston Ballot in the Current issue on stands now. Cast votes before October 4, 2009 to get your voice heard and weigh in on the BEST of everything in Livingston.
August 03, 2009
Rich Hall Previews "Campfire Stories" on the Livingston Stage
“The trout isn’t concerned with its current facebook status, the trout is only concerned with the current.”
Comedian Tim Williams ruminates to an absent audience last week in pre-production of Rich Hall’s “Campfire Stories,” previewing at the Blue Slipper Stage July 31 and August 1.
“The age-old metaphor of the mayfly is as heavy as it gets,” says Hall of the new comedy he has been developing for the stage since early January of 2009.
Hall says he wrote the play with the Edinburgh Festival Fringe arts festival in mind. “They gave me this small theatre in Edinburgh, it seats about 120 people and...it’s not really a stage it’s sort of a break down on the floor, but it sort of lends itself to a kind of circular kind of configuration so I thought it would be interesting to tell stories around the campfire. I’d never seen that before on stage.”
Hall says the campsite is an ideal setting for storytelling: “When you’re sitting around a campfire you don’t have any distractions—so you have no other choice but to entertain each other.”
Although initially prepared as a series of vingettes, Hall says the play began to transform with a message, “Let me just say there’s a giant bug involved...It’s sort of a campfire Kafka story, a campfire metamorphosis story.”
Livingston resident Tim Williams plays a “psychotic fly-tyer” who ingratiates himself in Hall’s character’s life, and Canadian comedian Mike Wilmot plays a camper on a mistaken-identity internet date with a “nymph.”
“The material is very Montana,” says Williams of the script, “It’s got some good reflections on modern technology and how we’re all captivated by the latest, greatest of everything. Sometimes just getting out in the ‘Big Cathedral’ and going out some place and not being around technology has some genuine benefits.”
“It’s always fun to do Rich’s material,” adds Williams, “This will be the third project I’ve worked with him on.” Williams worked with Hall on plays “Levelland” and “Best Western” which also previewed on Livingston stages before being taken to the Festival Fringe for a month of performances.
Williams and Hall sit bantering on the steps of the Blue Slipper just two weeks before the upcoming performance. The past three weeks they have been in rehearsals five days a week, fine tuning the script and marking out places onstage.
The third member of the cast, Mike Wilmot, arrives the final week of pre-production.
“He’s a quick study,” Williams says of his co-star, “He’ll catch up with us and pass us.”
By the time Wilmot arrives, the stage is set for dress rehearsals and an additional show has been added to the weekend line-up. WIlmot is admittedly exhausted, flying in from the “Just for Laughs” comedy festival in Montreal to leave a short week later for Edinburgh.
“This is less work,” he jokes, and admits he’s been working out an aspect of his onstage character where he forgets his lines all the time.
“I need a nap!” Wilmot shouts.
“Isn’t that what you’ve been doing during scenes?” Hall answers.
The trio will perform only three shows on the Blue Slipper stage July 31 and August 1, then will head to Edinburgh, Scotland for the self-billed “biggest arts festival in the world” Festival Fringe.
At the Fringe, the comedians will present 25 performances of “Campfire Stories” from August 5 through August 31, all the while fine-tuning, re-writing and perfecting the show.
The performers have only 15 minutes to set up or break down the show in the Edinburgh theatre, as up to eight other shows may be held in the same venue in a day. Many of the performances are picked up by theatres across the world and go into production within the year. Others may take years to develop.
The pieces range from amateur to professional, and Hall notes word of mouth is the best key to success. Hall claims to have built up a following with two pieces previously played at the Fringe: ”Levelland” and “Best Western.” Both also previewed in the Livingston area before heading to the Edinburgh stage.
Williams, who was in on both productions, says he’s looking forward to taking “Campfire Stories” to the Fringe: “It’s an absolutely fabulous, wonderful experience.”
Previewing the piece in Livingston before the Fringe performances will give the comedians a good feel for the timing, Hall says. “As far as comedy goes, running the two nights will tell us the sure-fire jokes” as well as give the comedians confidence in the piece as a whole.
Often there are rewrites up until the last minute.
“I can change it as much as I want,” Hall notes, “because I wrote it.”
Hall finished rewrites for the last two productions of “Levelland” and “Best Western” with final updates just moments before getting off the plane in Scotland, and Williams says he is expecting nothing less.
“Campfire Stories” will play at the Blue Slipper Theatre Friday, July 31 and Saturday August 1. As of press time, 8 p.m. shows on both nights have sold out, but tickets are still available for the Saturday showing at 6 p.m. Call 222-5550 for tickets.
For more information on the production as it progresses at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and to read daily reviews, visit the extensive website at edfringe.com.
—Reilly Neill
Yellowstone National Park
Local Travel
Archives
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