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– Governor’s Conference on Aging & Montana Gerontology Conference – Insights Into Alzheimer’s Disease: Lifespan Respite Care & other Aging Resources –
pages 61-67
Kirby Lambert Is Saving and Sharing Montana’s Stories By Connie Daugherty “I grew up listening to my grandparents tell stories about the olden days,” says award- winning historian, Kirby Lambert. That childhood experience set Lambert on his life’s path and passion. In February in the rotunda of the capitol building, Lambert received a Governor’s Humanities Award for his dedicated work at the Montana Historical Society as well as for co-authoring the recent MHS publication about Charlie Russell’s art. A soft-spoken man with a generous and engaging smile that invites conversation, Kirby Lambert came to Helena and the Montana Historical Society in May of 1985. He was young, recently out of graduate school, and just beginning his career after working for a time in Arkansas and at the Sam Huston Museum in Texas. Then the Montana Historical Society (MHS) offered him a job. “It was just one those things I didn’t even think about for a split second, I just said yes,” Kirby recalls. It felt like the right decision, at the right moment in his life. So he just jumped in his truck and headed north to a country he only knew about from Steinbeck’s Travels with Charlie. “My goal was to stay a year of two.” Then he got involved in his work and married his wife Becca who works in the photo archives at the Historical Society. “Now, I just can’t imagine not living near the mountains,” he says. Whether it’s researching Montana history, camping, or walking along the trails surrounding Helena, Kirby Lambert has allowed Montana to grow on him. He has even almost lost his southern accent. Raised in east Texas, Kirby recalls the summers spent at his grandparent’s wheat farm with extended family. There was the space to roam, there were aunts, uncles, and cousins, and there were the stories – always the stories. (Continued on page 50)
Gather the Hidden Eggs
Just for fun, we have hidden 8 Easter eggs throughout this issue of the Montana Senior News. Find them and mail or email to us a list of the page numbers on which you found them. We will award a $25 prize to the person who finds all of the eggs. If there are multiple correct entries, the winner will be determined by a drawing. None of the hidden eggs is located within an advertisement. Have fun!