Book, book, book
This is the table of contents for Montana: Real Place, Real People. You can see a larger, easier-to-read version by clicking on the image.
The publishing ball continues to roll as we’ve finished proofing the book and it is on its way to the printer. We have some time before we are committed to the final print numbers, so we’re trying to raise some extra dough on our Kickstarter site. If all goes well, we’ll print an edition of soft-cover books as well as a limited edition, signed, jacketed and sleeved hard cover version.
Many of you have already pledged, thank you. For those of you who haven’t seen the site, please check it out — even if you can’t make a pledge. It explains a lot of what went into the book.
Spirit walk
These are the tooth marks left by a beaver on a small tree stump along the East Gallatin River.
On Sunday, no one in my family felt much like going to church so we all kind of went in our own spiritual directions. I found myself along the banks of the East Gallatin not far from my house. The quiet endurance of the place really renewed my spiritual energy.
This is a spiritual time of year for many of us, whether we’re talking about our greedy consumerist lack of spirit, or the strengthening and re-acquaintance of our spiritual connections, or our frustration with perceived spiritual hypocrisy in others.
Here’s hoping that we can find commonality within our individual spirits to form our collective spirit. And that this collective spirit can be focused, energized and celebrated.
Team roping in Lewistown
While a lot of the rest of America was watching football last Sunday afternoon, these men were practicing their team roping skills in a barn on the east end of Lewistown. There’s a big roping event coming up in Las Vegas.
Everyone have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Crazy sunset
I was driving back from an assignment in Lewistown last night and was treated to this sunset over the Crazy Mountains, north of Big Timber. This sure is a great place to live.
Loyal to Winifred
Winifred, in north central Montana, is unique among small towns in rural America in that it is actually looking forward — not backward — to better times. And that’s mostly due to the loyalty and generosity of people like Norman Asbjornson.
Asbjornson, 75, grew up in Winifred working in his father’s auto shop. He went to college in Bozeman, got an engineering degree and wound up doing very well living in Minnesota. But he never forgot Winifred.
“I looked around for a business I could put into Winifred to create jobs,” he says, and he started a sign shop in Winifred that will compete for work on a national level. “I go for the things most sign shops can’t afford to have,” Asbjornson says when pointing out the only vacuum former in the state, and adds that he doesn’t care much when or if he makes his money back.
Asbjornson has also built houses in Winifred to attract teachers and their families to the school and the town, and he’s put in sidewalks, paved the main road and paid for hundreds of trees to be planted.
“I have a lot of love for the town and the people in it,” he says.
One of the families Asbjornson has brought to Winifred is Gordon and Mary Wichman and their 16 kids.
That’s right, 16.
And those are just the ones currently living in the 12-bedroom, 6,000-square-foot house Asbjornson built for the Wickmans. In all, Gordon and Mary say they have adopted 14 children, been foster parents to 49 more, and had two biological children of their own.
Asbjornson recruited the Wichmans, who both grew up in Winifred and became teachers, to teach at Winifred’s school. The job didn’t open up as planned, so Asbjornson put Gordon in charge of the new sign company.
And Asbjornson isn’t the only one investing in Winifred from afar.
Eileen Stulc is 53 and she manages the Winifred Grocery for her nephew, who lives in California. The shop is also a deli, bakery, coffee shop, Wi-Fi station, cell phone booster, public computer, dvd rental store and liquor store. Stulc lives nearby in the house she grew up in. “I just have always liked it here,” she says.
Neil Rich, center , is serving his fourth term as mayor. It was calving season when I made these pictures and Rich says he comes into the Winifred Cafe most mornings for coffee after checking on his herd. Agriculture is still big around Winifred and most families raise cattle, grain and hay.
But ask anyone where the mayor is, and they’ll point you toward Beauregard, who crosses Main Street whenever and where ever he wants, and always seems to be present for big town events, like school sports.
“They just started calling him The Mayor,” says Ed Heggem of his basset hound. “I guess because he was always around. He’ll come to about anything. Food especially.”
Winifred has its small-town charms like newborn calves, the people who spend their lives connecting with the land.
Even the friendly community bulletin board inside the new building that houses the Post Office and a museum which proudly shows off the largest collection of Tonka Toys in the world — belonging to yet another Winifred native.
But Frank Carr sums it up best. Carr owns the Winifred Cafe and runs a construction business in town. “A lot of other small town are going backwards. We’re going forward.”
Photo Walk
I spent a fine morning on Thursday walking the streets of downtown Bozeman just looking for pictures. I was helping a local photographer to get better. She and I talked for a while about her photography and where she wanted to go with it, then we went for a good, old-fashioned photo walk and put some of the things we talked about into action.
The photo walk was great for me because it was so nice to just look for good pictures without worrying too much over who may or may not like them.
Prairie Winds Cafe
The Prairie Winds Cafe is in Molt, Montana, about 45 minutes west of Billings. It not only serves fantastic pie, but also boasts live bluegrass music on Saturday mornings.
Owners Fran and Jerry Urfer say they’ve had visitors from 43 countries and all 50 states sign the guest book in their restaurant, which used to be the Molt hardware store. And Fran takes the cooking seriously, using expensive ingredients and making pretty much everything from scratch.
“They’re not gonna drive out here if it’s bad food,” she says.
Book work
I’ve spent a lot of time this week toning pictures and proofreading the book Al Kesselheim and I are publishing with Companion Press here in Bozeman. The more time I spend on it, the more I like it. Al’s stories are personal. They offer an authentic view of some of the people and places that make this state so wonderful and unique. They touch.
The book will be out in the spring and will retail for $29.95. If any of you are interested, you can order advance copies and receive a substantial discount, depending on quantity. We’re also offering a limited-edition, signed, numbered, jacketed, hard cover version with a slip case for advance purchases. Contact me for details.
Oregon Coast
I’ve visited the Oregon Coast only a few times in my life, but each time has been very special. On my way from Portland, Ore., to San Francisco last week, I was able to spend a sunset and a sunrise in Bandon, Ore., where these pictures were made. The stay was too short, but still a very pleasant respite from driving and big cities.
In The Show
I’ve just found out that this picture of Sherry, a waitress at Wade’s Drive-In in Harlowton, was selected to be part of the Portraits exhibition at the Center for Fine Art Photography in Fort Collins, Colo. The exhibit will be on display in the Center’s online gallery and physical gallery from January 13 – February 25, 2012, with artists’ and public reception on February 3 from 6-9pm.
Neato!
Thomas Lee True West 