MONTANA

November 2015

A Monthly Publication for Folks 50 and Better

One big adventure

The Never Too Old To Color group
Grandfather-grandson peak baggers
A new life in the East Rosebud

INSIDE

Bookshelf..................................................Page 3
Opinion.....................................................Page 4
Savvy Senior.............................................Page 5
Calendar....................................................Page 18

Volunteering..............................................Page 19
On the Menu.............................................Page 21
Strange But True.......................................Page 22

News Lite
Officer dressed as homeless man
catches drivers using phones

BETHESDA, Md. (AP) A Maryland police officer went

undercover dressed as a homeless man to catch people who were
using their phones while driving.
Cpl. Patrick Robinson went undercover Oct. 27 equipped with
a police radio and a body camera. He held a sign that read, I am
not homeless. I am a Montgomery County police officer looking
for cell phone texting violations.
Montgomery County police Sgt. Phillip Chapin and about eight
other officers issued a total of 56 tickets countywide that day,
including 31 tickets and 9 warnings to people caught using their
phones without hands-free devices.
Chapin says authorities are seeing more distracted-driver-related deaths as a result of people using their phones while behind
the wheel.

November 2015

Need campaign funds? How about coca?

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) While U.S. politicians are scrambling

for ways to pay for campaigns, few are likely to adopt the latest
Bolivian tactic.
Backers of President Evo Morales say theyre bolstering their
finances with donations of potatoes and coca, the crop thats a
traditional stimulant in Bolivia but is banned abroad as the raw
material of cocaine.
The presidents partisans are seeking a constitutional amendment eliminating a ban on Morales seeking another term in 2019.
Coca growers vice president Leonardo Loza says his members are
pledging 20 tons of coca to be sold to raise money for the effort.
They hope to raise $120,000 and say none of the crop will go toward
cocaine. Morales is honorary president of the growers union.
Other growers groups are pledging potatoes and rice for the
campaign.

Bookshelf
The Heart Healers: The Misfits, Mavericks
and Rebels Who Created the Greatest Medical
Breakthrough of Our Lives
By James Forrester, M.D.
St. Martins Press - September 2015
Hardcover 384 pages
ISBN: 1-250-05839-3

The Heart Healers

provides an excellent
medical read
By Montana Best Times Staff
Looking for a good read for an upcoming cold winter
evening?
Check out The Heart Healers: The Misfits, Mavericks
and Rebels Who Created the Greatest Medical Breakthrough of Our Lives by Dr. James S. Forrester, which
tells the compelling story of how cardiac surgery came to
be as we know it today, and how scientists and doctors
often had to defy the accumulated medical wisdom of their
day in order to save the human heart, a news release from
publisher St. Martins Press says.
Forrester is a world-renowned cardiac surgeon who in the
early 1990s led a team that developed coronary angioscopy, a
procedure that has helped save countless lives around world.
The recipient of the American College of Cardiologys Lifetime Achievement Award, an emeritus professor and former chief
of the Division of Cardiology at Cedars-Sinai, and a professor of
medicine at UCLA, Forrester also pioneered the development of
several other revolutionary advancements in cardiac care that are
used today.
In The Heart Healers, Forrester traces the evolution of the
treatment of heart disease, once considered a death sentence, and
focuses on the visionaries, mavericks and rebels who relied on
their own intuition, rejected the criticism of their peers, and persisted in the face of failure in order to bring about extraordinary
medical breakthroughs in the field of cardiac care, the release
says.
Forrester recounts the fascinating stories of cardiac pioneers
like Ludwig Rehn, who in 1895, successfully sutured the heart of
a living man with a knife wound to the chest for the first time.

Once it was deemed possible to perform surgery on the heart,

others followed. In 1929, Dr. Werner Forssman inserted a cardiac
catheter in his own arm and forced the X-ray technician on duty
to take a photo as he successfully threaded it down the vein into
his own heart and lived.
On June 6, 1944 D-Day another momentous event
occurred far from the Normandy beaches: Dr. Dwight Harken
sutured the shrapnel-injured heart of a young soldier and saved
his life, and the term cardiac surgeon was born, the St. Martins
Press release says.
The Heart Healers tells the deeply personal stories of the
doctors who risked lives and careers to further medicines understanding and treatment of heart disease. It is also a compelling
look at their patients who put their lives in the hands of these men
as they strived to create cardiac miracles.
The result is a compelling chronicle of heart disease and its
treatment, as well as a fascinating look at the future of cardiac
research and the prevention of heart disease by a man who himself
has been responsible for hugely significant advances in the field.
November 2015

Opinion

Climbing duo shows how to build memories with grandkids

November 2015

parents that when he gets old enough, they will need to

send him out to Montana for summer visits so he and his
grandad can do some peak-bagging, just like Hansen and
his Fadness.
Of course, mountain climbing together is not the only
way to build memories with your grandkids. There are endless ways to do it, outdoors or indoors. Think of how you
can do something special with your grandchildren, on a
regular basis.
It will enrich your life and theirs.
Dwight Harriman,
Montana Best Times Editor
MONTANA

The Absaroka Mountains overlooking Livingston where I

live have snow on them, as Im sure do many other ranges
and hills around the Best Times readership area.
Not a surprising thing for Montana this time of year, but
still, comon, its only October well, at least at the time
of this writing.
The snow means winter fun for skiers and snowmobilers,
but it spells the end of hiking in the hills for those of us
who like to climb, including Wade Hansen, of Dillon, and
his grandson Kyle Fadness.
Hansen, 66, and Fadness, 18, are the pair featured in a
Page 10 story of this issue of Best Times. The duo have for
years been taking mountain climbing trips together, with
the intent of bagging all the 10,000-foot-plus peaks in the
Pioneer Mountains near Dillon.
What a great thing to do with your grandson building
a relationship and creating memories he will keep with him
all his life. Id wager Fadness will pass the tradition to his
own grandchildren some day.
Speaking of which, my grandson is only 8 months old,
but Im already planning mountain climbing trips with him.
Although he lives in Chicago, Ive dropped the hint to his

A Monthly Publication for Folks 50 and Better

P.O. Box 2000, 401 S. Main St., Livingston MT 59047

Tel. (406) 222-2000 or toll-free (800) 345-8412 Fax: (406) 222-8580
E-mail: montanabesttimes@livent.net Subscription rate: $25/yr.
Published monthly by Yellowstone Newspapers, Livingston, Montana
Dwight Harriman, Editor Cheyenne Crooker, Designer

Jim Miller, creator of the syndicated Savvy

Senior information column, is a longtime
advocate of senior issues. He has been featured in
Time magazine; is author of The Savvy Senior:
The Ultimate Guide to Health, Family and
Finances for Senior Citizens; and is a regular
contributor to the NBC Today show.

Required IRA and 401(k)

withdrawal rules for retirees
Dear Savvy Senior,
Can you give me the details on required IRA and 401(k)
distributions? I turned 70 this year, and want to be clear on what
Im required to do, and when Ill have to do it.
Planning Ahead

Dear Planning,
The old saying you cant take it with you is definitely true
when it comes to Uncle Sam and your tax-deferred retirement
accounts. Heres what you should know about required retirement
account distributions along with some tips to help you avoid extra
taxes and penalties.

wouldnt turn 70 1/2 until 2016. In that case, you would be

required to take your first distribution by April 1, 2017.

But be careful about delaying, because if you delay your first

distribution, it may push you into a higher tax bracket because
you must take your next distribution by December 31 of the same
year.

Also note that you can always withdraw more than the required
amount, but if you dont take out the minimum, youll be hit with
a 50 percent penalty on the amount that you failed to withdraw,
along with the income tax you owe on it.

RMD rules

Distribution amounts

Beginning at age 70 1/2, the IRS requires all seniors that own
tax-deferred retirement accounts like traditional IRAs, SEP
IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, SARSEPs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s and 457s
must start taking annual required minimum distributions (RMDs),
and pay taxes on those withdrawals. The reason: The IRS doesnt
want you hoarding your money in these accounts forever. They
want their cut. Distributions are taxed as income at your ordinary
income tax rate.

There are, however, two exceptions. Owners of Roth IRAs are

not required to take a distribution, unless the Roth is inherited.
And if you continue to work beyond age 70 1/2, and you dont
own 5 percent or more of the company you work for, you can
delay withdrawals from your employers retirement plan until
after you retire. But if you have other non-work-related accounts,
such as a traditional IRA or a 401(k) from a previous employer,
you are still required to take RMDs from them after age 70 1/2,
even if youre still working.

RMD Deadlines

Generally, you must take your distribution every year by Dec.

31. First timers, however, can choose to delay taking their
distribution until April 1 of the year following the year you turn
70 1/2. So, for example, if your 70thbirthday was in March
2015, you would turn 70 1/2 in September and your required
beginning date would be April 1, 2016. But if your
70thbirthday occurred later in the year, say in August, you

Your RMD is calculated by dividing your tax-deferred

retirement account balance as of Dec. 31 of the previous year, by
an IRS estimate of your life expectancy. A special rule applies if
your spouse is the beneficiary and is more than 10 years younger
than you.

IRA withdrawals must be calculated for each IRA you own, but
you can withdraw the money from any IRA or combination of
IRAs. 403(b) accounts also allow you to total the RMDs and take
them from any account or combination of accounts.

With 401(k) plans, however, you must calculate the RMD for
each plan and withdraw the appropriate amount from each
account.

To calculate the size of your RMD, you can use the worksheets
on the IRS website seeirs.gov/Retirement-Plansand click on
Required Minimum Distributions. Or, contact your IRA
custodian or retirement-plan administrator who can do the
calculations for you.

For more information, call the IRS at 800-829-3676 and ask

them to mail you a free copy of the Distributions from
Individual Retirement Arrangements (publication 590-B), or
seeirs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p590b.pdf.
Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443,
Norman, OK 73070, or visitSavvySenior.org.
November 2015

Photo Credit: Kathleen Gilluly

On the cover and above: Bruce and Virginia Ireland are pictured on their Harleys at Beartooth Harley Davidson between Billings and Laurel. The dealership is like family to the couple, who have purchased several bikes there and feel free to help themselves to coffee. Virginia is seated on her new 2016 Softail Slim.

One big adventure

Couple embrace life and each other on and off their Hogs
By Kathleen Gilluly
Montana Best Times
LAUREL Bruce and Virginia Ireland count themselves
among the happiest people in the world. They certainly live full,
active lives and enjoy every minute.
Married just five years ago come January, at 66 and 63 years
old respectively, neither acts their age. Both are avid skiers, Harley riders and horsemen. And every day is an adventure.

Romance and a lost end of thumb

The two met in the intensive care unit at Billings St. Vincent
Healthcare, where they worked alongside each other as nurses.
Their crew, which remain close, included Dougs late wife.
We were all great friends before Bruce and I got together,
Virginia commented. A bunch of us regularly went skiing
together. And, then Bruces wife became ill and died.
Bruce noted that as they had been friends for so long, Virginia
took on the role of matchmaker and tried to hook him up with eligible women. That is, until they realized they belonged together.
November 2015

For Bruce, that moment came while the two were on the Grizzly Peak chair lift at Red Lodge Mountain, when he impulsively
kissed Virginia. She told him in no uncertain terms to never do
that again. Luckily, he didnt listen.
Virginia didnt move from her little ranch on the east side of
Billings with her horses and dogs until after they married.
I had lots of baggage, she said laughing about her menagerie.
But, in addition to getting married, I had always wanted to live
closer to the ski area.
Bruce laughed as he added details to the story from that hectic
time.
I had three dogs, and then we brought her two dogs home, he
said. They got into a big fight and her dog bit the end of my thumb
off. She was so upset about it, but I told her not to worry. I just
wanted to find it. Well, we did finally find it, and then the cat ate it.
Bruce is still disappointed about that. He had planned to make
a pendant out of it.

Harleys to the White House

Riding their Harley hogs is a big part of the Irelands lives.

Weve both been active our whole lives, so we dont consider

ourselves older. We used to ski all day and party all night. Now,
we still ski all day, but we have to go to bed after a long day ...
Bruce Ireland
We sure had fun this summer, Bruce said. The Billings
National Forest. There are no intersecting roads, so riders and
Harley dealership got us in to see the Harley Davidson headdrivers can keep their eyes on the road.
quarters in Milwaukee. They also got us a tour of the brewery
Its 11 miles of road with 319 turns, Doug explained. At
and tickets to a Brewers game.
the end, there is the Tree of Shame filled with bike and car parts
From Milwaukee they journeyed to Anamosa, Iowa, where
from people wrecking.
they visited another motorcycle museum.
They went on to visit Atlanta before returnThen it was on to Columbus, Ohio, which
ing home.
neither realized was a city of almost a half a
On the way back, we were in Kansas City,
million people.
Missouri, when they had the worst rainWe met so many great people, Virginia
storm, Doug said. They had 6 inches come
said, but we had no idea it was so populous.
down. My bike became personal watercraft.
It was very unexpected.
When I realized we were hydroplaning, we
Although they had four wheels beneath
got off the road.
them, since they each only had two each,
Once back in Montana, they rested for two
when Bruce took a wrong exit one time, Virdays before heading off to Sturgis, South
ginia worried about finding him.
Dakota, to see the heavy metal band Five FinAlmost right away our two-way radios
ger Death Punch.
quit working and we lost communication,
It was a great concert, Virginia enthused.
she said. I pulled up at the motel thinking,
It also counts against their tally of run-ins
Ill never see my husband again. He finally
with the law. Once again, Bruce got away
showed up.
with his record untarnished, but it was close.
They left their bikes outside the nations
I told them to quit profiling bikers, Bruce
capitol to tour the monuments and the White
said. We arent criminals. Were professionHouse. It was in front of the White House
als that happen to ride motorcycles.
that Bruce almost got arrested, when he
Future rides
wanted to get a picture of himself with the
A closeup of Virginia IreSecret Service fake frisking him.
Although Doug has retired, Virginia still
lands 110 cubic-inch Softail
I hear, Sir, stop. Sir, stop. Do not
works as a nurse. Since returning from SturSlim Harley.
move, recounted Virginia.
gis, shes had rotator cuff surgery, so horseIt seemed a reasonable request, but they
back riding and skiing may be out this winter.
balked when he approached the officers car inside a no tresI cant ride right now, either, Virginia said, but I just got a
passing area. Incarceration averted, they got back on the road.
new bike, so Ill be ready.
One of the first to get Harley Davidsons new 2016 110
cubic-inch
Softail Slim bikes, Virginia test rode one before buyTail of the Dragon and
ing it. It has the largest engine of all the Harleys.
Five Finger Death Punch
She likes to do everything faster, Bruce said. You know,
All along their summer road trip, the Irelands met like-mindweve both been active our whole lives, so we dont consider
ed HOGs members of the Harley Owners Group and other ourselves older. We used to ski all day and party all night. Now,
bikers. As they do everywhere they go, they made friends and
we still ski all day, but we have to go to bed after a long day,
had memorable experiences.
and Virginia still skis like a maniac.
In Tennessee, the couple enjoyed some high-hill driving.
Noting that neither of them are Bible thumpers, and they
Nothing compared to our mountains, but very beautiful,
dont attend church, Bruce said, You know, God moves around
Virginia said. Then we rode the Tail of the Dragon in North
us and we dont even know it, but I sure like where hes taken
Carolina; that was definitely an adventure.
us. Weve just had so much fun.
Known as a biker and sports car destination, the Tail of the

Dragon is a stretch of the winding U.S. Highway 129, which is

Reach Kathleen Gilluly at news@laureloutlook.com or (406)
bordered by the Great Smoky Mountains and the Cherokee
628-4412.
November 2015

Never Too Old To Color

Three Forks group enjoys socializing with latest craze

Photos courtesy of Debbi Kramer

Above: Members of Three Forks Never Too Old To Color group proudly show off their coloring projects.
Facing page: Shown are three samples of colorings by the Never Too Old To Color group.

By Doreen Heintz

Montana Best Times

Many of us have spent time over the years coloring with

our children and our grandchildren, added Kramer. Now
we are just coloring with people our own age and socializing in the process.
One of the ideas the Three Forks group has come up with
is for everyone in the group to have the same drawing,
probably one with patterns, and color it.
Then we are going to display them at the library so
everyone can see how differently the picture will turn out,
Kramer said.
The thing I like most about coloring is that one doesnt
have to have a special skill, added Kramer.
Anyone can color, and now most of us even stay in the
lines, she laughed.

How it works

Big demand

Three Forks librarian Debbi Kramer was looking on

Amazon.com for books for the Three Forks Community
Library when she came across adult coloring books.
What the heck, she said, I will order a couple.
That was a little over two months ago. Now the Three
Forks Library is home to a group called Never Too Old To
Color.
When I got the books, I showed them to my friend, Sandy Jackson, said Kramer. Sandy said maybe we should
start a coloring group.
Kramer said Jackson added, Do you think anyone will
come?
Come they did. The Never Too Old To Color group has
joined the newest craze taking over the country of coloring
in their own books. The group meets on the second and
fourth Thursday from 5 to 6 p.m. at the Three Forks
Library to spend time coloring.
Most of the group uses colored pencils, but any medium
will do, such as crayons, markers and even chalk.
Since the group began, Kramer said they usually have
between six and nine people, mostly women and most over
the age of 50, but the coloring group is open to anyone
willing to share their colorings with the rest of the group.
We spend some of our time sharing what we have
done, said Kramer.
For anyone not familiar with adult coloring, the pictures
are usually more intricate and detailed than a childs coloring book.

November 2015

Earlier this year, NBC News reported the stress-reliever

that is soaring in popularity is something that most people
have not done since elementary school coloring.
Now, coloring books for adults cannot keep up with
demand.
Illustrator Johanna Basfords Secret Garden is in the
top 10 on Amazons Best Seller list. At the time of this
writing, Bashfords two coloring books were sold out. Lisa
Cohengdons three Just Add Color books were also sold
out.
But Kramer has not found getting the coloring books for
adults to be much of a problem.
One can find them in several different stores around the
area, Kramer said. At Costco, one can get big coloring
books that are 18 by 24 inches. Hobby Lobby have books
that are poster size, but most books are about 8 by 11 inches

in size. I like to use markers when I color the larger-size pages.

You can find these books at other stores also or order them
online.

Like grandmother, like granddaughter

Kramer has taken her coloring a step further. She has two
young granddaughters who are just starting to color. They always
like to make a picture for grandma to put on her refrigerator.
Kramer makes a copy of a picture and colors it. She then sends
her colored picture to her two granddaughters to put on their
refrigerator and asks them to color theirs and send them to her for
her refrigerator.
If I can have your pictures on my refrigerator, then you have
mine on yours, Kramer tells her two granddaughters.
Whether coloring for stress relief, for fun, or with your grandchildren, join the newest fad in the country. You might be surprised what you can accomplish. Or color.

Reach Doreen Heintz at sports@lewistownnews.com or (406)

535-3401.

November 2015

Pioneer
mountain
men

Dillon man, grandson

ascend to great heights

Photos courtesy of Wade Hansen

By Dick Crockford

Montana Best Times

Wade Hansen, left, and his grandson Kyle Fadness take in the view from atop a
peak in the Pioneer Mountains on a summer day last year.

DILLON Wade Hansen is probably better known for digging holes than for mountain climbing, but scaling the Pioneer
Mountains of southwestern Montana is something he finds especially rewarding.
The longtime owner-operator of Wades Excavator Service in
Dillon, Hansen, 66, has been climbing the mountains for nearly
half a century, since he was a student at Beaverhead County High
School.
For the past 13 years, he has been sharing his passion for hiking with his grandson Kyle Fadness, of Helena, who first joined
Hansen when he was 5 years old. Since 2002, the two have been
steadfast hiking buddies. Fadness, now 18, is a freshman at Montana Tech in Butte.
Climbing every peak over 10,000 feet high in the Pioneer
Mountain Range northwest of Dillon has been a goal of the pair
for at least 13 years. Together, they have made it to the top of 13
different peaks, some of them two or three times, Hansen said.

Peak baggers

Hansen recalled that on their first trip together, he helped his

grandson over the boulders and other obstacles as they hiked.
Now the younger man carries the gear, and this gives Grandpa
a better chance of keeping up, Hansen said.
When Hansen was 55 and Fadness was 8 they climbed Tweedy
Mountain, the tallest Pioneer peak at 11,154 feet.
Over the years the pair has completed 16 of 19 attempted
ascents of the peaks, turning back twice because of topography
after encountering cliffs, and once by snow, including a September attempt at Sharp Mountain. More on that in a minute.
Weve taken as much as three days to make a trip to set up a
base camp, make the climb and then return, Hansen said, adding
that most of the hikes are day trips.
In July, the pair climbed 10,400-foot Mount Alverson and a
10,200-foot unnamed mountain that lies about a mile northwest
of Alverson. Since the unnamed peak is steep and presented difficult climbing, Hansen said they informally dubbed it Mount
Tough.
November 2015

10

For the ascents of those mountains, they started at the Mono

Creek Campground, hiked seven miles to upper Schultz Lake,
climbed the mountains, then returned to the campground, taking
14 hours to make the round-trip.
Since the excursion took place before wildfires erupted a few
weeks later, Hansen said, the vegetation was very green and the
mountains beautiful, with clear, unobstructed views.

Every time I go out to the

mountains its an aweinspiring experience that shows a
majestic God that created this beauty.
Wade Hansen

Back to Sharp Mountain: The attempt at the 10,144-foot peak

was going to include a try at Mount Tahepia as well, ascending
Sharp first. Hansen and Fadness made a start but were turned
back at about 9,880 feet after encountering freezing rain and
snow that left the rocks covered in ice.
Faced with the choice of trying to clamber over 10-foot-diameter, ice-covered, boulders or negotiate an alternative route with
cliffs on both sides, the pair abandoned the effort.
Conditions on the mountain just got too dangerous, Hansen said.
He has since learned of a better route, and he and his grandson
plan to attack the mountain from Canyon Lake, and bag Tahepia
on that expedition as well.

Beginnings

So, how did all this mountain climbing thing begin?

When he was 16 years old, Hansen said, he came across a
claim for a record for the fastest climb of Torrey Mountain, elevation 11,147 feet, though that particular statistic has since faded
from memory.
He and a Beaverhead County High School classmate, Dan
Struckman, set out to break that record, which he said they did,

making the trip in three hours, 25 minutes an hour, 56 minutes

up, and an hour, 29 minutes down, including taking a few to
catch their breath at the top.

Just enjoying the outdoors

So far this year, Hansen has logged about 300 miles hiking at
elevations between 8,000 and 10,000 feet, including some hunting during archery season. He said he expects to put in another
hundred or so during the general big game rifle season.
He admits that lots of times he does not even take his gun.
He enjoys helping his family and friends with their hunting,
including scouting places for elk hunting.
Much of his outdoor activity involves outings in the AnacondaPintler Wilderness Area and helping take groups from youth programs, such as the Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch, on back
country trips.
He said he likes to share his love for nature and the outdoors
with others, especially kids, primarily through activities such as
camping, hiking and backpacking.
I guess that every time I go out to the mountains its an
awe-inspiring experience that shows a majestic God that created
this beauty, Hansen said, adding he is very thankful to have
such opportunities to share his faith.
He said he also greatly values the bonding that has taken place
with his grandson over the years through their shared outdoor
experiences.

Wade Hansen pauses for a picture at the summit of one of the

Pioneer Mountain peaks he and his grandson scaled.
When the two started out on their climb-every-peak quest,
Hansen figured there were 11 peaks over 10,000 feet in elevation.
He later learned there were several more.
According to the East Pioneer 10000 Club (visit http://www.
summitpost.org/torrey-mountain/154798, then scroll down to
East Pioneer 10000 Club), there are 16 named summits over
10,000 feet in elevation in the Pioneers. Adding that unnamed
mountain brings the number to 17.
So the grandfather-grandson duo still have some climbing to
do.

Reach Dick Crockford at publisher@dillontribune.com or

(406) 683-2331.

Great News for Seniors 62 yrs of Age & Older!

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Accepting Applications for Independent Seniors

Call (406) 248-9117 1439 Main Street Billings, MT

Kyle Fadness, 18, of Helena, has been his grandpas hiking

partner since he was 5 years old.

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Live On-Site Community Administrator
Free Laundry On-Site Parking
Mailboxes on Premises
Electric, Gas, Water, Sewer, & Trash
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Community Room Available for Social
Gatherings & Meetings

November 2015

11

Finding
a new
life in the
East
Rosebud

Frank Annighofer and Annette Lavalette are pictured in their home

near East Rosebud Lake on the Beartooth Front, recently.

Story and photos by Richard Hanners

Montana Best Times
ROSCOE German-born ex-chemists Frank Annighofer and
Annette Lavalette recall the day they drafted a 10-year plan that
eventually landed them in a log home above the Beartooth
Fronts East Rosebud Creek near Roscoe.
They were on a Christmas vacation in Wales when Annette put
her corporate managerial skills to work and suggested the longterm strategy.
I generated the idea, she said. I didnt want to grow old in
Germany.
Working as a management consultant while Frank moved
around Europe from office to office for an insurance company
had meant 60-hour weeks and often being separated for five days
a week.
It was a fun life, Annette said, but I wouldnt miss it.

From Germany to Beartooth country

Frank, 58, and Annette, 56, were born and raised in Hamburg.
Frank got his Ph.D. in chemistry about the same time Annette got
her masters in chemistry. They met in Switzerland when Frank
hired her to help him with his research in plastics for the automotive and textile industries.
They eventually moved on to new careers in corporate management that scattered them across the continent with Annette for
a time in London and then Germany, and Frank at offices all over
Europe.
The idea of a 10-year plan clicked with Frank.
Annette convinced me that all this work would leave you dead
by 66, he said. We needed something less stressful.
The couple married about seven years after they first met in
November 2015

12

Switzerland. Armed with their plan, they began to look for a new
home in the U.S. Franks company maintained a headquarters in
New York, and he had done his post-doctoral work in chemistry
in California.
The couple had also vacationed in California, rock climbing at
Joshua Tree and Yosemite national parks. A photo collage hanging in their home shows Frank and Annette on their honeymoon
in 1996 climbing the Zodiac route on the southeast face of El
Capitan in Yosemite.
It was 16 pitches we took eight days, Frank said.
We slept head to toe, Annette said.
Their search for a new home focused on undeveloped land
backed by big landscapes a precious commodity in Europe.
We wanted the coast or the mountains, Annette explained.
And we wanted our four seasons so California was out.
Its too crowded anyway, Frank said.
The couple eventually found their new home on a hillside several miles east of East Rosebud Lake. They bought the land,
secured permanent visas and moved to Beartooth country in
2003.
Frank helped the contractor finish building their log house, and
the couple moved into the shell before the interior was completed.
We always liked to work with our hands but never had the
time in Germany, Annette said.

A new career

That craftsman drive led to a new career for the ex-chemists

blacksmithing.
Im not exactly sure how we got into that, Annette said.
Its because you wanted a pot hanger for the kitchen, Frank
said.

Left: This wrought-iron sign for the Branger Ranch near Roscoe was one of Frank Annighofer and Annette Lavalettes
first sold works.
Busy is perhaps an understatement. The couple also helped
found Friends of East Rosebud Creek, a nonprofit seeking federal Wild and Scenic River designation to protect the East Rosebud from a planned hydroelectric project. The proposed designation has the full support of Montanas congressional delegation and is working its way through Congress. And Frank is creating a rock climbing guide to the East Rosebud area, posting
the descriptions one climb at a time.
Annette is also a member of the Red Lodge Area Food Partnership Council, which seeks to connect local food producers
with consumers in order to improve both the local economy
and local residents quality of life.

For more information on Frank and Annettes blacksmithing business, visit www.woodandironworks.com. For more
information on saving the East Rosebud Creek, visit www.
saveeastrosebud.org. And for more information on connecting local foods with consumers, visit http://foodpartnership.
org.

Reach Richard Hanners at reporter@stillwatercountynews.com or (406) 322-5212.

However, theres more to the story. Franks father, Dieter, had a

wrought iron shop in Hamburg and learned the trade from Franks
grandfather Arthur. Frank spent quite a bit of time in his fathers
shop as a teenager.
Once the couples new garage was completed, it morphed into
a fully-equipped blacksmithing shop.
We started out just doing things for ourselves, Annette said.
Then one day a neighbor came by and asked if they could make
a life-size sculpture of a rearing horse. Frank crafted a model
using copper wire, and they worked on and off on the project.
Franks father even had a hand in the sculpture while visiting
from Germany.
He was very proud of our work, Annette said.
It was our first sold piece of art, Frank said.
Their newfound interest turned into Wood & Iron Works, a custom blacksmithing and metal art business, with products ranging
from door and cabinet hardware to deck railings and towel racks.
The couple are members of the American Artist Blacksmith
Association, the California Blacksmith Association and the
Northern Rockies Blacksmiths Association. Frank recently was
elected president of the Northern Rockies group, which inaugurated an educational program this year to certify blacksmiths.
Last year, I taught 80 Boy Scouts in Columbus how to make
steak turners, he said.

Staying busy

We originally planned to work only in winter so we could

spend more time hiking, climbing and fishing, Annette said.
But weve gotten fairly busy.

This iron and copper sculpture, Wild and Free, forged

and fabricated by Frank and Annette, stands 12 feet high.
They made it for a neighbor in 2007.
November 2015

13

Dick
Van Dyke
prescribes
song &
dance
Dick Van Dyke is pictured with his wife, Arlene, who was originally his personal makeup artist.

By William Hageman

Chicago Tribune/TNS

Its not even 9 a.m. in Malibu, California, yet Dick Van Dyke soon-to-be 90
Dick Van Dyke already is home from
the gym, attacking his long to-do list for
the day.
I just got back, says Van
Dyke, who has been entertaining audiences in some capacity
for more than 65 years. Im up
at 6 every morning. I wake up
and have a cup of coffee and
get over to the gym before I
talk myself out of it.
His daily regimen includes
the treadmill and weights he
says he can still lift his age a stop at the
market, errands, back home, a nap, dinner,
then a nightly treat of ice cream.
These days hes also promoting his new
book, Keep Moving and Other Tips and
Truths About Aging (Weinstein Books).
Ive got a couple of signings to do this
week, phone interviews, some newspaper
things, he says. I think it will sell well to
my generation.
The book is full of stories from Van
Dykes life and his reflections on what he
November 2015

14

Photo by Jim Udell/TNS

are inactive who have all their marbles.

That leads to another factor in a healthy
old age, one he mentions frequently in the
book: the mental aspect.
Theres the biblical admonition about
putting aside the things of your childhood.
But I take that to mean self-centeredness,
willfulness; not creativity
and wonder. Walt Disney
and I always said we were
children looking for our
inner adults.
Here are some of Van
Dykes other lessons for
living a full life:
Dick Van Dyke
Diet: Good habits matter, he writes. Eating light
and fresh. Staying away
breaking into a little soft-shoe when the
spirit moves him, whether at home or at his from fast and processed foods. Van Dyke
says he has never had a weight problem. I
favorite grocery market. He has no room
come from a skinny family. I watch what I
or time for a sedentary lifestyle.
eat. Im not much on meat, maybe once a
If you get exercise, get moving, get the
week. I have blueberries every morning. I
blood moving, you walk out of the gym
feeling better, he says. Get that circulation watch my sugar level. When I was a kid I
said, When I grow up I want to eat candy
going, and it changes you. I can go to the
every night. I do eat ice cream every
gym feeling pretty lousy, but I walk out of
night. For those keeping score at home,
there with a bounce in my step and feeling
thats two scoops of Haagen-Dazs vanilla
pretty good. I know very few people who
has seen and learned over his 90 years (his
birthday is Dec. 13). But mostly he wants
to tell readers how to enjoy life as they get
into their 60s, 70s, 80s and beyond.
The primary message of Keep Moving
is just that keep moving as you get older. In the book, Van Dyke talks about

You cant sing and be

miserable at the same time.

Continued on Page 20

Memoirs by seniors offer

lessons worth sharing
By Erin E. Arvedlund
The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

Before the advanced degrees,

money, and accolades, he was just a
kid growing up farming cotton with
seven siblings, his mother, and his
father, who was the son of an exslave in Mississippi.
Benjamin Nero grew up just miles
away in Mississippi from where
teenager Emmett Till was beaten to
death. Born in 1937, Nero was a
high school football star who played
in college and was recruited to play
professionally. He remains close
with childhood friend Morgan Freeman, the award-winning actor.
Nero was also the first African
American to graduate from Albert
Einstein Hospitals residency program in orthodontics. He built successful dental practices in greater
Philadelphia and New Jersey and
endowed a scholarship at his alma
mater.
Now hes writing his memoirs
part of a trend from the baby boom
Photo by Michael Bryant/Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS
and older who want to leave a record Benjamin Nero, the first African American to graduate from Albert Einstein Hospitals
of their legacy. Some, like Nero, pay residency program in orthodontics, is writing his memoirs starting on a cotton farm in
ghostwriters. Others take classes, do Mississippi.
their own writing, and self-publish.
Obviously, she had no choice in the matter, as this was during
Theres even a National Association
the
late 1800s, Nero recalls of his grandmother.
of Memoir Writers, based in Berkeley, California, which began in
Neros mother was well-educated, attending a boarding school
2008 and now has several hundred members and several thousand
for mulatto children, and finally a historically black college for
newsletter subscribers.
women, leaving to get married.
For Nero, of Cherry Hill, the spark was lit during the hours
Neros father, David Nero Sr., was the son of a freed slave who,
bent over at work, fixing crooked young teeth.
with his brothers, bought up swampland in cotton country, and
Clamping painful braces on his patients, Nero distracted and
amused patients with tales of leaving the cotton farm, becoming a drained and cleared it for farming. Neros father inherited 50
acres of prime farmland in Fayette County, Mississippi, in the
football star and a dentist. His parents were both educated and
yearned for their children to leave farming and earn degrees in heart of the cotton industry. He and Neros mother farmed it successfully for decades.
short, to escape Mississippi.
My mother left college to marry my father and grow cotton.
I had so many stories that I was telling my patients, I realized
She stayed there 55 years, he recalls. Can you imagine? The
I should just write my memoirs, Nero recalls.
daughter of a doctor and a city girl!
The youngest of eight children, Nero started jotting down
memories and snippets of conversation with his oldest brother,
David Nero Jr., in 2000.
NFL reality check
By 2002, David had died, prompting Nero to get serious.
With his pal Freeman, Nero graduated high school. After playId put it off, and his death pushed me to start. I was inspired
ing quarterback for the Kentucky State College football team and
to tell the story of my parents, too, he said.
graduating, Nero was drafted by Sid Gillman, coach of what was
Neros mother was half-white, the daughter of an African
American woman and a white physician. The white doctors wife then the Los Angeles Chargers, in 1960.
At training camp, the lifetime quarterback realized he wouldnt
had died, and he then fathered a daughter with the maid.
November 2015

15

Photo by Shaun Ring/TNS

Benjamin Nero talks with actor Morgan Freeman, left. The

two grew up as childhood friends in Mississippi.

be allowed to play this brainy position, due to an unwritten

agreement in the NFL that restricted black players. So Nero
walked away.
He was the first African American graduate of the University of
Kentucky College of Dentistry, and then completed a three-year
residency at Albert Einstein Hospital in Philadelphia. In 1971, he
took over a practice at a medical arts building at 16th and Walnut
Streets from Knowlton Atterbeary, the only African American
orthodontist in the city. I was the only black guy in my classes,
he said.
But buying the practice almost didnt happen, because Nero
couldnt get a bank loan. The late Eagles star Clarence Peaks,
running back and 1957 draft pick, cosigned a loan for Nero.
Within a few years, Nero opened a second practice, in the Germantown-Mount Airy area, and a third in Mount Laurel. Finally,
Nero fulfilled a lifelong dream of building his parents a new
house.
Neros memoirs took a nontraditional turn; he was having trouble writing, so he turned to a neighbor, retired Inquirer columnist
Claude Lewis, and a coauthor, John Timpane, a current reporter
and editor. Lewis, who is blind, strikes up a conversation with
Nero and records everything. Then Timpane transcribes the
recordings and turns Neros personal history into a narrative.

Mad Men. Shes taking classes with Temple instructor Anne

Hunter to complete her memoir.
The deadline really writes it for me, says Palmer, who is
looking for a publisher. The hardest part? A routine.
Taking classes has helped, as does her work ethic. Classes generally run six to eight weeks and cost $150 to $200. I feel if I
stick to a routine, I can finish, she says.
Boomers cant stop writing their life stories, says memoiristfor-hire Nell McShane Wulfhart. A native of Philadelphia, she
lives in Uruguay and works as a freelance journalist and writer of
memoirs for others, interviewing them by email and Skype and
fashioning their memories into books.
Its a baby boomer market, says Wulfhart, 35. Her fees range
from $130 an hour for memoir consulting to anywhere from
$2,000 to $20,000 for a longer book with a professional designer
and photographs.
Memoir consulting is helping people who want to do the writing themselves. They need a professional to shape it. Sometimes
someone wants something short and doesnt want to do a full
book.
The full package can add a lot to the price. A lot of clients
start the project for someone else, for their parents or grandparents or 50th wedding anniversary. And among boomers, the memoirs skew slightly more male.
For memoirists, the results can be priceless.
In reviewing his life, Nero says, he has learned to reflect more
on the mistakes he made. I flunked one course and that was
marriage.
Married three times, he blames his workaholic habits and drive
to succeed. Recently, he said, he was able to make amends with
his first wife.

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A cottage industry

Advice for memoirists? Write down a little something every

day. Talk to siblings, cousins, and friends. In Neros case, Im
not literary, so I hired someone.
Dixie Tabb Palmer of Harrisburg is writing her own memoir.
Hers is a funny, poignant family history. Im writing a memoir
about coming of age with a father who was my own Don Draper
of sorts, she says, referring to the advertising hunk in the series
November 2015

16

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Your local
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helping local
Seniors.

MEMBER:

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Advice: Step it up
to be strong enough
for winter sports
By Wina Sturgeon
Adventure Sports Weekly/TNS

A growing number of people are not giving up competitive

sports or action activities as they age. The older athlete is no longer a rarity. With winter coming on, many masters-age athletes
are looking forward to alpine or Nordic skiing and to snowboarding.
If you dont want your winter skills to be affected by your age,
its important to train for the transition from summer to winter
sports. Action in winter usually happens at a higher altitude and so
requires extra aerobic capacity. These activities can also be more
strenuous than summer sports, so a different kind of training is
necessary to maintain or improve the skills youll need.
As you get older, your bodys physiology changes. Under ordinary conditions, muscle mass starts to decline, while body fat
increases. Strength diminishes. The biggest loss is in aerobic
capacity, or VO2 max. VO2 max is a measurement of oxygen
consumption during exercise. Its usually considered the best way
to measure an athletes cardiovascular fitness.
But many masters-age winter athletes take to the slopes and
hills without the specific transitioning required for winter activity,
or without training at all. The lack of training is actually the biggest cause of lower performance and injuries. A formal study
done at a German University by a coalition of scientists titled
Physical Performance in Middle Age and Old Age, states, Performance losses in middle age are mainly due to a sedentary lifestyle, rather than biological aging. The large contingent of older
newcomers among marathon runners demonstrates that, even at
an advanced age, non-athletes can achieve high levels of performance through regular training.
The study also said, A recently published longitudinal study
including men older than 50 showed impressively the great effectiveness of regular sports activities at an older age: the life expectancy of active seniors was 3.8 years longer than that of their
non-active peers.
Being more sedentary after years as an active athlete is known
as the deconditioning effect. To overcome deconditioning and
to move from summer to winter sports, the masters athlete should
be increasing the intensity of their training after several exercise
sessions. Always remember that it takes the older athlete longer
to recuperate from a workout.
Unlike a more youthful athlete, veterans cant train every
day. Gaining complete recovery from an exercise session may
limit workouts to three or even two sessions a week. Thats why
each workout must be efficient and packed with the physical
work required for improved strength and aerobic capacity.
If you havent trained for awhile, its essential to start out slowly. Maybe when you were younger you could squat your body
weight, but thats not where you start now. Work with an
unweighted exercise bar at first. Get your joints and connective
tissue (tendons and ligaments) accustomed to the movements of
the squat again. This holds true for every weight-bearing exercise

Photo courtesy of Forolia/ TNS

If you dont want your winter skills to be affected by your

age, its important to train for the transition from summer to
winter sports.
you do at the gym.
Before starting any exercise program, first get an okay from
your doctor. Next, begin to improve your VO2 max with high
level interval training. This means pushing yourself to a hard
sprint for a short period while biking or running, slowing down
the pace until your heart rate returns to normal, and then repeating the sprint phase. Again, start slow. Your heart may be racing
after a 10 second sprint. If so, keep the sprint phase to 10 seconds
until your aerobic capacity improves. When it does, add five seconds to the sprint interval. Interval training may be uncomfortable, but it should never be pushed to the point of pain when
youre a masters-age athlete.
Your goal to get ready for winter sports is to improve your
strength (especially in the glutes and thighs), and improve your
aerobic capacity. The result will not only maintain your skills, but
help protect you against the risk of injury as well.

EDITORS NOTE: Wina Sturgeon is an active 55-plus based in

Salt Lake City who offers news on the science of anti-aging and
staying youthful at: adventuresportsweekly.com. She skates, bikes
and lifts weights to stay in shape.
November 2015
17

November
2015

 Thursday, November 5
Veteran Warrior Society Pow Wow, through Nov. 6, Salish and
Kootenai College, Pablo

 Friday, November 6
Wine and Beer Festival Tasting, 6-8 p.m., Livingston Depot
Center, Livingston
Art Stroll, Dillon
 Saturday, November 7
Confluence Concert Black Lillies, Range Riders Museums Pioneer Memorial Hall, Miles City
Our Saviors Lutheran Church Bazaar, 707 W. Third St., Laurel

 Monday, November 9
Community Blood Drive, noon, Holy Rosary Healthcare, Miles
City

 Thursday, November 12
Bare Bait Dance, University of Montana Westerns Beier Auditorium, Dillon

 Friday, November 13
A Mystical Mountain Christmas, Festival of the Trees Auction, The Ranch at Rock Creek, Philipsburg
Holiday Wishes Christmas Bazaar, through Nov. 14, Hardin
High School, Hardin

 Saturday, November 14
Art Squared event, WaterWorks Art Gallery, Miles City
Festival of Trees, Miles City

 Sunday, November 15
Bozeman Symphonic Choir: Premiere of Luminosity,
3 p.m., Holy Rosary Church, Bozeman

 Saturday, November 21
Chamber Light Parade, Glendive
Festival of Trees, Glendive
Miles City Shop and Dine, Miles City

 Saturday, November 26
Community Thanksgiving Dinner, Livingston

 Friday, November 27
Miles City Branch of the American Association of University Women Christmas Market, 5-9 p.m. through Nov. 28, 9
a.m.-4 p.m., Centra on the Miles Community College campus,
Miles City
North Pole Adventure Train, 5 and 7:30 p.m., Hanover
Boarding Station, Lewistown

 Friday, December 4
Holiday Stroll, 5-8 p.m., Livingston

 Saturday, December 5
North Pole Adventure Train, 5 and 7:30 p.m., Hanover
Boarding Station, Lewistown
Laurel High School Winter Formal, 9 p.m.,Laurel
 Sunday, December 6
Christmas to Remember Parade and all-day events, Laurel

News Lite
Hotel to serve $75 road kill-inspired menu

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) A fish and wild game supper is

featuring some Vermont road kill on the menu.
New Yorks WPTZ-TV reports Hotel Vermont will offer three
animals injured or killed on the road as it hosts the Wild About
Vermont event on Nov. 7. The event will feature a game supper
November 2015

18

with donations from hunters and fishermen in the state.

Residents say its a quirky and interesting idea.
The supper will cost $75 and will be prepared by chef Doug
Paine. Also on the menu will be deer, bear, moose and muskrat.
Paine says it will be delicious and well worth trying. He says
hes sure many residents havent tried beaver but would probably
like it if they did.

RSVP

Below is a list of volunteer openings available through the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) in
communities across southern Montana. To learn more about RSVP, call (800) 424-8867 or TTY (800) 833-3722;
or log on to www. seniorcorps.org.

Custer & Rosebud

counties

- AARP Tax Assistance program: Volunteers needed.

- Clinic Ambassador: Need
volunteer to greet patients and
visitors, providing directions
and more, two locations.
- Custer County Food Bank:
Volunteer assistants needed for
8 a.m-1:30 p.m., Mondays,
Tuesdays and Wednesdays, to
process donations, stock
shelves and more.
- DAV van: Drivers needed to
provide transportation to veterans to medical appointments.
- Eagles Manor: Volunteer
exercise class leader needed,
one to two days a week, you
pick the days and the exercise
for residents.
- Historic Miles City Academy: Urgently need volunteers at
the thrift store.
- Miles City Soup Kitchen:
Needs servers and greeters Monday-Friday; pick a day of the
week you would like to serve.
- Relay for Life: Popcorn
popper needed one day per
week, two hours in the morning, at MCC.
- St. Vincent DePaul: Volunteers to assist in several different capacities.
- VA Activities: Urgent need
for someone to help with activities. Application packet available at VA Activities Directors
Office.
- WaterWorks Art Museum:
Volunteer receptionists needed,
two-hour shifts Tuesdays-Sundays; a volunteer also needed in
cataloging the art collection,
one to assist with historic
research of the permanent art
collection, and a volunteer to
assist in kids classes when
scheduled.
If you are interested in these
or other volunteer opportunities
please contact: Betty Vail,
RSVP Director; 210 Winchester
Ave. #225, Miles City, MT
59301; phone (406) 234-0505;
email: rsvp05@midrivers.com.

Fergus & Judith Basin

counties

- American Reads: Recruiting

volunteers to read with elemen-

tary students.
- Art Center: In need of volunteers on Saturdays.
- Boys and Girls Club: In
need of a volunteer to wash and
fold kitchen laundry in their
home; detergent is provided.
- Central Montana Fairgrounds: Seeking clerical support.
- Community Cupboard
(Food Bank): Volunteers are
needed to help any week mornings as well as with deliveries.
- Council on Aging: Volunteers needed to assist at the daily Grubstakes meal and with
clerical help during the busy
lunch hour.
- Library: Volunteer help
always appreciated.
- Office of Veterans Affairs:
Seeking clerical support.
- ROWL (Recycle Our Waste
Lewistown): Looking for volunteers to join teams baling
recyclables.
- Treasure Depot: Thrift store
needs volunteers to sort, hang
clothes and put other items on
display for sale.
- RSVP always has various
needs for your skills and volunteer services in our community.
- Current RSVP volunteers
are encouraged to turn in your
hours each month; your contribution to the community is
greatly appreciated!
Contact: RSVP Volunteer
Coordinator Sara Wald, 404 W.
Broadway, Wells Fargo Bank
building, (upstairs), Lewistown,
MT 59457; phone (406) 5350077; email: rsvplew@midrivers.com.

Gallatin County

- American Cancer SocietyRoad to Recovery: Drivers

needed for patients receiving
treatments from their home to
the hospital
- American Red Cross Blood
Drive: Two volunteer opportunities available: an ambassador
needed to welcome, greet,
thank and provide overview for
blood donors; and phone team
volunteers needed to remind,
recruit or thank blood donors.
Excellent customer service
skills needed, training will be

provided, flexible schedule.

- Befrienders: Befriend a
senior; visit on a regular weekly basis.
- Belgrade Senior Center:
Meals on Wheels needs regular
and substitute drivers MondayFriday, to deliver meals to
seniors before noon.
- Big Brothers Big Sisters:
Be a positive role model for
only a few hours each week.
- Bozeman and Belgrade
Sacks Thrift Stores: Need volunteers two- to three-hour
shifts on any day,Monday-Saturday, 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m.
- Bozeman Deaconess Hospital: Volunteers needed for the
information desks in the Atrium and the Perk,8
a.m.-noon,noon -4 p.m.
- Bozeman Senior Center
Foot Clinic: Retired or nearly
retired nurses are urgently
needed, two days a month,
either four- or eight-hour
shifts.
- Cancer Support Community: Volunteer receptionist need
for the last two Tuesdays of the
month from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The position would be shared
with another volunteer so there
could be flexibility in how the
Tuesdays are divided.
- Galavan: Volunteer drivers
neededMonday-Friday, 10
a.m.-2 p.m. CDL required and
Galavan will assist you in
obtaining one. Volunteers also
needed to make reminder calls
and confirm rides for the following day. Volunteers also
needed for morning dispatch.These responsibilities
include receiving phone calls/
messages and getting information from clients and facilitating the transfer of information
to staff as required.
- Gallatin Rest Home: Volunteers wanted for visiting the
residents, sharing your knowledge of a craft, playing cards
or reading to a resident.
- Gallatin Valley Food Bank:
Volunteers needed to deliver
commodities to seniors in their
homes once a month. Deliveries in Belgrade are especially
needed.
- HRDC: Receptionist needed to help during the lunch

hour and during some staff

meetings and training. Main
duties include answering a
multi line and phone and help
with walk-ins.
- HRDC Housing Department Ready to Rent: Curriculum for families and individuals who have rental barriers
such as lack of poor rental history, property upkeep, renter
responsibilities, landlord/tenant
communication and financial
priorities.
- Habitat for Humanity
Restore: Belgrade store needs
volunteers for general help,
sorting donations and assisting
customers.
- Heart of The Valley: Compassionate volunteers especially needed to love, play with
and cuddle cats.
- Help Center: Computer literate volunteer interested in
entering data into a social services database. Also volunteers
needed to make phone calls to
different agencies/programs to
make sure database is up to
date and make safety calls to
home bound seniors.
- Jessie Wilber Gallery at
The Emerson: Volunteers needed on Wednesdays, Thursdays,
and Fridays to greet people at
the main desk, answer questions and keep track of the
number of visitors.
- Museum of the Rockies:
Variety of opportunities available such as helping in the gift
shop and more.
- RSVP Handcrafters: Volunteers to quilt, knit, crochet and
embroider hats for chemo
patients, baby blankets and
other handmade goods once a
week (can work from home).
Items are on sale in our store in
the RSVP office at the Senior
Center. Note: Donated yarn
needed for the quilting, knitting and crocheting projects.
- Seniors: You may qualify
for $192-$600 a years for grocery and food assistance. Call
Mary at 333-2537 or 3332883.
-Three Forks Food
Bank:Volunteer needed on
Mondays and/orThursdaysto
help with administrative duties,
including answer phones and
November 2015
19

questions, some paper and

computer work. They will train.
- Your unique skills and
interests are needed, without
making a long-term commitment, in a variety of ongoing,
special, one-time events.
Contact: Debi Casagranda,
RSVP Program Coordinator,
807 N. Tracy, Bozeman, MT
59715; phone (406) 587-5444;
fax (406) 582 8499; email:
dcasagranda@thehrdc.org.

Musselshell, Golden
Valley & Petroleum
counties

- Central Grade School:

Assist younger students with
lunch, clear tables and serve
from the salad bar.
- Food Bank: Distribute food
commodities to seniors and
others in the community; help
unload the truck as needed.
- Nursing Home: Pianoplayers and singers neededon Fridays to entertain residents,
alsoassistant needed in activities for residents to enrich supported lifestyle.
- Senior Bus: Volunteers to
pickup folks who are unable to
drive themselves.
- Senior Center: Volunteers
are needed to provide meals,
clean up in the dining room
and/or keep records; meal provided.

- Tax aide: Assist low income

individuals and senior citizens
with tax filing. No experience
necessary, training is provided
and begins soon.
- RSVP offers maximum
flexibility and choice to its volunteers as it matches the personal interests and skills of older Americans with opportunities to serve their communities.
You choose how and where to
serve. Volunteering is an opportunity to learn new skills, make
friends and connect with your
community.
Contact: Shelley Halvorson,
South Central MT RSVP, 315
1/2 Main St., Ste. #1, Roundup,
MT 59072; phone (406) 3231403; fax (406) 323-4403;
email: rdprsvp2@midrivers.
com ; Facebook: South Central
MT RSVP.

Park County

- Big Brothers Big Sisters:

Mentor and positive role models to a boy or girl needed, one
hour a week.
- Divisional Volleyball Tournament: Needs volunteers to
help with the three-day event
on Nov. 5-7 at the high school.
Numerous positions are available.
- Fix-It-Brigade: Needs volunteers of all ages and skill levels for two-hour tasks, on your

Dick Van-Dyke, from Page 14

with a generous topping of chocolate syrup.
Bad habits: Van Dyke smoked and drank for decades but
stopped on his own. His secret? I tried for several years to quit
smoking. Its just the worst. Then a doctor showed me an X-ray.
He said, These are little emphysema scars on your lungs. I
stopped right there. Drinking I had a problem with, but it went
away. It started to taste funny. It didnt do anything for me. I
wasnt interested anymore.
The mind: Find mental challenges. Van Dyke tries to memorize
some Shakespeare every day. A lifelong artist, he also talks about
getting involved with 3-D computer animation. Its so deep Ill
never master it, he says with a laugh, but its one of those hobbies you can lose yourself in. Everyone needs an engrossing hobby. Some of my older friends there are still a few left
havent changed their minds about anything since they were kids.
They cant be open-minded. And I think thats a factor in aging.
Thinking young: Youve got to stay social somehow, he
says. I have a quartet I sing with (an a cappella group, Vantastix); we do benefits all over. The guys are all 40. My wife
(Arlene) is 44. As my friends have disappeared, I have a circle of
friends a lot younger. They say time appears to pass more quickly
as you age. Ive had young people come to me and say, Where is
the time going? I think its the pace of life. Life goes faster.
Belt it out: Van Dyke says that he has older friends who are
November 2015
20

schedule, to help seniors or veterans with small home repairs

and chores, such as changing a
light bulb, mending a fence,
cleaning up a yard.
- Loaves and Fishes:Volunteers needed to prepare dinner
meal on Wednesday nights.
- Main Streeter Thrift Store:
Someone who enjoys working
with the public, greet customers, ring up purchases, label
and hang clothes and accept
donations. Volunteer four hours
a week and get 50 percent off
your purchases.
- Meals on Wheels: Always
need substitute drivers to deliver meals to seniors in their
home.
- RSVP: Need compassionate companions to give caregivers a break in their home on
a regular basis playing games,
going out to lunch or just sitting and visiting with someone.
- RSVP: Has many one-time
events, including mailings and
fundraising events that require
volunteers. Your unique skills
and interests are needed, without making a long-term commitment, in a variety of ongoing and special one-time
events.
- RSVP Handcrafters: Volunteers to knit and crochet caps
and scarves for each child at
Head Start this winter, also as
gifts for children of prenatal

classes, and baby hats and

afghans for the hospital newborns; Sewers needed to make
simple pillowcases for our soldiers overseas, Thursdays, 1-2
p.m. at the Senior Center.
- Senior Center: Need volunteers, Tuesdays, 1 p.m., to
cut unsold clothing into rags to
be sold for proceeds to the
center.
- Seniors: You may qualify
for $192-$600 a years for grocery and food assistance. Call
Mary at 333-2537 or 333-2883.
- Stafford Animal Shelter:
Kindhearted volunteers needed
to socialize cats and kittens,
and to walk the dogs.
- Transportation: Drivers
needed to help patients keep
their doctor appointment in
Livingston and Bozeman.
Some gas reimbursement may
be provided.
- Yellowstone Gateway
Museum: has a need for help
with the museum in general
from front desk to organizing
items.
- Current RSVP Volunteers
are encouraged to turn in your
hours each month. Your contributions to the community are
greatly appreciated!
Contact: Deb Downs, Program Coordinator, 111 So. 2nd
St., Livingston, MT 59047;
phone (406) 222-2281; email:
debdowns@rsvpmt.org.

bothered by weak voices. I tell them, For Gods sake, sing.

They say, I cant sing. Oh, everybody can sing. Get those voices
going. It will not only strengthen your voice, but it will improve
your attitude. You cant sing and be miserable at the same time.
One last nugget: I think I repeat this to everybody. Never go
down stairs sideways, no matter if it feels better on your hips or
knees. I always tell everyone, go up and down forward, even if it
hurts a little.

On The Menu
Just for men ...

If youre a woman, dont read this

months recipe. This is strictly for men.
Most of us men share the same desires
when it comes to dining fare. We want
meat and potatoes. Even my 17-monthold grandson prefers meat on his plate.
Hell sometimes refuse to eat vegetables
that his grandmother Durfey prepares for
him, much to her frustration.
We guys know we should eat healthier,
but we just cant often force ourselves
to eat food that a rabbit would think is
ideal.

With Jim Durfey

The recipe below was used by your

Best Times recipe contributor to make
the dish recently. It was a hit with both
my wife and me. Im sure that even a
dedicated carnivore such as a caveman
would think highly of it.
Dont be intimidated by couscous. Its
not something that requires a lot of cooking time. All you have to do is boil water
and pour it over the couscous. Its ready
in just five minutes. The dish has kale,
walnuts and dried cranberries in it. Those
are very healthy items. The dish tastes so
good, though, that you dont notice how
healthy it is.

Goat cheese is
creamy as opposed to Parmesan,
which is hard. The
general rule of
thumb with cheeses
is that the harder
the cheese, the
more saturated fat
it contains. So goat
cheese is healthy.
Not only is this dish healthy if
youre trying to impress a certain someone of the opposite sex, this salad is sure
to accomplish that goal as well.

Butternut squash & couscous salad

1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and diced
into 1/2 inch cubes
2 tbsp. olive oil
salt & pepper
1 c. dry couscous, cooked in water according to
package directions
2 c. chopped kale leaves
1/3 c. dried cranberries
1/3 c. chopped walnuts
2 oz. goat cheese, crumbled
Orange vinaigrette (recipe below)

Spread butternut squash out in even layer on a parchment

covered baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from
oven and turn squash pieces over for even cooking. Bake
an additional 10 to 15 minutes, or until squash is tender
and slightly browned. Remove from oven and transfer to
metal bowl. Add cooked couscous. Place in refrigerator
or freezer until cool. Put kale, cranberries, walnuts, goat
cheese and vinaigrette in large mixing bowl. Toss to combine. Place bowl in refrigerator. Add squash and couscous
when cooled. Toss again until well combined. Can be
refrigerated up to three days. Can be served warm.

Vinaigrette Ingredients:
2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp. freshly squeezed orange juice
Salt and black pepper, to taste

For vinaigrette:
Whisk all ingredients together until combined. Taste,
and season with additional salt and pepper if needed.

For salad:
Heat oven to 425 degrees. In large mixing bowl, toss
cubed butternut squash with olive oil. Sprinkle with a few
generous pinches of salt and pepper. Toss until combined.

This salad was the perfect accompaniment to antelope

chops that I had sauteed. Just before the chops were done
cooking, I sprinkled a generous amount of shredded Parmesan cheese over them and covered the saute pan with a lid.
We also enjoyed tortilla chips and guacamole with the meal.

November 2015

21

By Bill Sones and Rich Sones, Ph.D.

Send STRANGE questions to brothers Bill and Rich at strangetrue@cs.com

How long should you wait

before opening a dropped beer?
Q. How long do you have to wait
after dropping a bottled beer before you
can safely present it to a guest, and how
did its internal pressure build up if the
system is in equilibrium? asked New
Scientist magazine of its readers.
A. The pressure inside is unchanged
after a dropping or shaking, though tiny
beer bubbles are now distributed throughout, answers Andrew Carruthers of Quebec, Canada. When the bottle is opened,
these bubbles serve as nucleation points
for the dissolved carbon dioxide, which
takes a lot of beer with it as it rushes out.
Its a terrible waste: not only is good beer
lost, but what remains is flat.
Better to wait a bit before opening
long enough to allow the last, smallest
bubbles to rise to the surface and burst
harmlessly. The time required depends on
how large and deep the bubbles are and
how viscous is the beer.
In my experience, about 10 minutes is
normally enough, Carruthers says. However, a 10-minute wait may be asking too
much of a thirsty beer drinker, so far better
is to place the bottle at the back of the
refrigerator and take out another with
great care.
Q. How early do we humans begin
forming our first impressions? What
are they likely to be?
A. Going by recent research, the fetus
uses its budding brain and senses to learn
about itself and the outside world well
before birth, says Ferris Jabr in Scientific American magazine. In one classic
drawing, a fetus at 27 weeks is shown
sucking one thumb and using its other
hand to grasp onto the umbilical cord. In
fact, as early as seven weeks after fertilization, fetuses start to move, swinging their
umbilical cords, climbing the walls of the
amniotic sac and sticking their limbs in
November 2015

22

their mouth. Their coordination improves

as they grow.
Q. Get your thinking process in gear
as you try to name a U.S. pro sport
where men and women compete as
equals.
A. Auto racing: Unlike the womens
NBA, womens World Cup soccer, genderspecific Olympics, etc, there is no separate
womens NASCAR, NHRA (National Hot
Rod Association), Indy Car or Formula 1
division, says retired Cleveland librarian
and NASCAR fanatic Jeff French. In these
races, men and women compete as equals,
driving the same cars on the same tracks
against one another. In NHRA, women
have been particularly successful, having
produced national champions in classes of
Top Fuel, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle, and runner-up in Funny Cars.
Although the NBA has female referees
and coaches, and the NFL is adding a
female official this season, auto racing
may be the truest site for gender equality.
As in other pro sports, race car drivers
must possess a certain kind of athleticism.
Imagine being wrapped up in a fire suit, in
a car that is well over 100 degrees, for
three to five hours, surrounded by noise
and making split second decisions, all the
while traveling 150 to 200 mph. Also,
endurance is remarkable, and on smaller
tracks, such as 500 laps on a 3/4 mile
track, drivers need strength just to keep
pulling on the steering wheel for a thousand turns.
Let the best woman or man win!
Q. Zeroing in on an old curiosity, is
zero an odd or an even number?
A. This ones not so hard to answer or to
prove, says Arthur Benjamin in The Magic of Math. Odd numbers, as you know,
are 1, 3, 5, 7, 9.... Even numbers are divis-

ible by 2 2, 4, 6, 8.... Expressed algebraically, this means that even numbers

can be written as n = 2 x k where k is any
integer. Regarding 0, you can say 0 = 2 x
0, meaning that 0 is an even number. A
smart proof indeed! You might even say
its brilliant.
Q. Are you a lifetime million-miler?
A. A million miles is 40 times around
the world (25,000 times 40) or 300 flights
across the US, says Bob Berman in
Zoom: How Everything Moves, from
Atoms and Galaxies to Blizzards and
Bees. Starting with data galore plus some
savvy guesstimation, researchers arrive at
65,000 miles of walking for the average
American today not so different from
people of times past. But todays estimated
million miles for each of us was unheard
of until recently. In fact, the word million didnt exist until the 14th century,
before which the largest number was a
myriad 10,000. Also travel danger per
mile was so great even as recently as the
Civil War era that few people would have
survived long enough to join the millionmile club.
Obviously, were a whole lot more
mobile today. Driving maybe 100 miles
daily to work and back for 250 days a year
makes you a million-miler within just a
few decades.
Q. Back in the 1970s, right turns on
red lights were legalized in all 50 states
of the US, in an attempt to conserve
fuel. The guessing was that this would
increase traffic accidents and pedestrian
deaths, but statistical studies conducted
at that time said otherwise. Why the
gap?
A. There is no gap, says Alex Reinhart
in Statistics Done Wrong: The Woefully
Complete Guide. Allowing right turns on

red does indeed increase traffic accidents and pedestrian deaths,

but the problem is with the interpretation of statistical significance. For example, a study of 20 intersections in Virginia
showed that before the change there were 308 accidents, while
afterward there were 337 in a similar time span, meaning the
number of accidents had increased by 29 (about 9 percent). But
this was not deemed statistically significant based on the studys
overall criteria and relatively small size; other studies drew similar conclusions.
Yet statistical insignificance does not equate to practical insignificance. Later larger studies after the laws had become
entrenched showed that among incidents involving right
turns, collisions were occurring roughly 20 percent more frequently, 60 percent more pedestrians were being run over, and
twice as many bicyclists were being struck.
Q. If you want your pro sports team to be winning games at
home right before your eyes, what sport should you be following?
A. Best bet would be basketball, where home teams overall win
60 percent of their games (vs. 40 percent on the road), followed
by football at 57 percent of games (vs. 42 percent road wins),
hockey at 55 percent (vs. 45 percent) and baseball at 54 percent
(vs. 46 percent), reports Time magazine. Grueling travel can
take a toll on visitors, especially in the NBA and NHL, where
many road games are back-to-back.
Yet there are a few oddities to keep in mind: The Baltimore
Ravens have a perfectly average record of 43 percent on the
road while sporting a killer record of 78 percent at home, over
a ten-year period. Interestingly, the team lost every 2005 road
game but were undefeated at home in 2011. Particularly in foot-

ball, a boisterous crowd can interfere with a visiting teams ability to communicate strategy.
In baseball, the home field advantage may be due to the fact
that each stadium is unique, and the home team can best take
advantage of its stadiums quirks.
Finally, referees can also be a factor in scoring more wins:
According to a 2011 analysis of referee bias, officials influenced by the crowd were prone to make calls in favor of the
home team.

DARNIELLE

1320 28th Street West

Billings, MT 59101
call us: (406) 652-4180
visit us online: darnielle.com

INSURANCE AGENCY

Managing Your
Insurance Moves
Article Series

Transportation Network Companies-TNCs

Triggering Property Insurance CoverageMaybe!
Insuring the Boss
The Bakken and Workers Compensation Coverage
By guest blogger Dennis P. Gambill, Insurance Litigation Consultant.

Read More at darnielle.com

Crossword
Across
1 Mystery novel cover-up?
11 Window component
15 Bad way to leave someone
16 Harpsichordist Kipnis
17 Threading tool
18 Ax
19 Gets really high
20 Reverent
22 Sum (up)
23 Tahari of fashion
24 Slurred pronoun
25 Game invented at Harrow
School around 1830
27 Grandchild of Japanese
immigrants
29 Amble
30 Its website includes a Headache Center
33 Mr. Rochester's ward
34 John of England
37 Aptly named sleep aid
39 Case, for example: Abbr.
40 "No way!"
42 Comparable in quality
44 Where the Irrawaddy flows
46 High pitch
50 Netherlands river
51 "V for Vendetta" actor
53 Blow

54 Professional runner
55 Place to see a hit
57 25-Across starter
58 Proof word
60 Sawdust producer
62 First name in gossip
63 Musician with the autobiography "My First 79 Years"
64 "Once more __ the breach":
Shak.
65 Hunch source
Down
1 Bad-mouths
2 Beverage nickname introduced in
1967
3 Filter
4 Television personality Caputo
5 Yeshiva students
6 Sight from the
Brenner Pass
7 Apology ender
8 Venomous Asian
snake
9 Prefix with plasm
10 Springsteen's
birthplace?
11 Peter Pan rival

12 Shakes up
13 In a sullen manner
14 Fellow members
21 Filth
24 Seven-term Mexican president Porfirio __
26 Hamburger's link
28 Food processors
29 New Orleans jazz club __
Harbor
31 Industry authority

32 Brightness measures
34 Planned 2019 Pan American
Games host
35 Open secret, e.g.
36 Inclined
38 Shred
41 Social worker?
43 Thaw
45 Outs
47 Dairy giant
48 Flames
49 Timeless, in verse
51 Chill
52 Bother
56 '50s sitcom name
57 Challenge for a babysitter
59 Eastern ideal
61 Auburn, for one: Abbr.

November 2015

23

H e a lt H N o t i f i c at i o N

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At the end of this evaluation, you may keep your instrument, if

you so desire, at a tremendous saving for participating in this field
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NOW Through the End of November!

Bozeman Office
701 N. 19th Ave
Bozeman, MT
(406) 586-5841

Miles City Office

18 N. 8th St. Ste #8
Miles City, MT
(800) 340-3720

Billings Office
1527 14th St. West
Billings, MT
(406) 259-7983

Service Centers
Glendive
Wolf Point
(800) 340-3720

National Board Certified in Hearing Instruments Science 30 years Experience in the Hearing Aid Industry.