Fall 2016
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Fall 2016
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hike
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explore
race
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enjoy
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eldercare
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books
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freedom walk
a charioteer at 90
fall drives
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transition
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chronic pain
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backcountry blogger
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fall jewels
prepare for retirement
a different approach
dance
the benefits of ballet
pedal
all-weather mountain biking
mediation can help
worth reading
Vietnam vet’s long hike
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Backcountry Blogger
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By Tom Kuglin
Tom Kotynski’s first Montana backpack trip was 44 summers ago. The 68-year-old former Great Falls Tribune editor recalled the adventure into what is now Sluice Boxes State Park in the Little Belts, catching cutthroat trout and becoming “absolutely hooked.” He now writes and photographs for his blog, “Out there with Tom,” featuring more than 600 hikes. Last year Kotynski published the second edition of his book, “Discover the Rocky Mountain Front: A Hiking Guide,” detailing some of his favorite summits and backcountry destinations. “I just have a really strong feeling that people need information about the backcountry, particularly in north central Montana, and there’s not much out there on a systematic basis,” he said. “Since I’ve been getting out for so many years, people have been turning to the blog and getting some pretty good ideas.” Kotynski started blogging at http://outtherewithtom.blogspot. com 12 years ago, compiling tales of day hikes and expeditions that offer off-trail routes and some of the only information available for island mountain ranges such as the Highwoods, Judiths and Little Belts. Tom Kotynski on top of Choteau Mountain in Rocky Mountain Front, west of Choteau. (Mark Hertenstein photo) A book on hiking the island ranges may be in his future, but it is tough to pull away from the Front and Glacier National Park. “Some of these island ranges are absolutely uncharted and treasured, and a great surprise for anyone that pokes around in them,” he said. The blog contains many under-the-radar hikes with a searchable database containing enough information to fill five books. “There’s just so much in every single direction from around here,” he said. The hikes and blogging do not stop with winter, as Kotynski and friends enjoy skiing and he continues updating followers on his adventures. Running the blog means Kotynski hears from hikers all over the country, particularly those interested in the east Front and Bob Marshall Wilderness. The Front has captivated Kotynski, and he tells potential visitors not to be dissuaded by perceived access challenges. Gravel roads provide good travel to many areas, and even a drive up the Sun River Canyon offers some stunning scenery. There are plentiful mountains worth climbing, limestone reefs that abut the plains,
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On the Holland Peak summit ridge in the Swan Mountains east of Condon above Upper Rumble Lake.
high mountain lakes and waterfalls to explore. “I think people are making a mistake if they drive past the Front and go straight to Glacier,” Kotynski said. “We have scenery and hiking in our own way that rivals national parks, and it’s truly a gateway to places like the Scapegoat.” As Kotynski gets older, he looks to go ultra-light with his gear. By using a shelter for a tent, a two-pound sleeping bag, a tin or aluminum can as a stove and making his own food, an 18- to 20-pound pack has sustained six-day trips in the Bob. “When I backpack, I go by myself or with one other friend,” Kotynski said. “I like the solitude. And the other thing is it’s hard finding people to go because I go off trail, pick a destination and plot a route.” Taking the routes less traveled, or perhaps never traveled, has left Kotynski overnight on the sides of mountains more than once. He uses a GPS, and those who would like to try the routes can download them from the past two years. Kotynski also uses a SPOT satellite messenger, which
(Tom Kotynski photo)
allows him to communicate with his wife and provides a way to notify emergency services if something goes wrong. Along with blogging and authoring books, Kotynski tries to lead at least one Wilderness Walk for the Montana Wilderness Association, which he and his wife Katie recently led to Fairview Mountain on the Front. “I’m just a journalist so I have almost a compulsion to write, and I love taking photos,” he said. Tom Kuglin writes for the Helena Independent Record: Tom.Kuglin@helenair.com
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Get out and
ENJOY
the colors, sights and tastes of fall
Going-to-the-Sun-Road, Glacier National Park.
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thinkstock
By Rob Rogers
The weather is changing and it’s a perfect time to pull on your favorite sweater and hit the road. Montana really steps into its own come fall. The entire state comes alive as it wraps itself in all its autumnal glory. Best of all, says Jerry Kessler, a retiree and volunteer with the Billings Chamber of Commerce, most of the tourists have gone home. So hitting the road and getting out to see the best the state has to offer this fall won’t leave you fighting busy highways and big crowds of gawkers. “Montana comes into its best in the fall,” Kessler said.
Start big Beartooth and Chief Joseph Scenic Byway: You’re running against the clock here, but if the weather holds out, one last drive up the Beartooth Highway is
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Flathead Lake.
thinkstock Fall 2016
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Stream in the Absaroka Mountain Range.
worth the hassle. Driving up through Red Lodge allows you to see the fall foliage from a great vantage point. But the real fireworks come as you turn around at the top of the Beartooths and take the Chief Joseph Highway back to town. “There’s simply not a better time of year to drive the Chief Joseph Highway,” Kessler said. Glacier National Park: Unlike its famous cousin to the south, Glacier National Park is open to cars all year long. And the best fall drive through Glacier is Going-to-the-Sun Road, a 50-mile stretch of asphalt that bisects the park east to west and showcases mindblowing colors and views that can’t be seen anywhere else in the country. Portions of the road are open all year, so you’ll be guaranteed great views whenever you get there. But to drive it start to finish, you’ve got to get there before mid-October. Flathead Valley: Your drive to Glacier National Park likely will take you through Flathead Valley, which might be some of the prettiest country in the entire mountain west. An autumn drive along Highway 35 along the east side of Flathead Lake and then Highway 93 along the west side will shower you with an entire spectrum of fall colors. Ruby River Valley: As starkly captivating as Glacier and the Bitterroot Mountains are to the north, the valleys and river lands in southwest Montana, warm and inviting, are arresting in their own way. A drive down State Road 287 south of Butte will take you along the Ruby River Valley Scenic Route. It’s a drive 10
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that features everything you see when you imagine Montana in the fall: golden light, shimmering rivers and leaves of every autumn hue. The road stretches through the small towns of Sheridan, Nevada City, Virginia City and ends in Ennis. Most of the mining town-era attractions in Virginia City and Nevada City are closed this time of year, which is fine. It’s the countryside that will be the main attraction on this drive.
Grandiose but on a smaller scale Blue Creek/Chief Plenty Coups State Park: The drive from Billings down Blue Creek Road into the Pryor Mountains can be an austere and beautiful fall drive. It ends at Chief Plenty Coups State Park, which is saturated in fall colors this time of year. The park is a gem in Montana’s state parks system and a great place to stretch your legs and take in some great Montana history, said Karla Field, a retiree and volunteer at the Billings Chamber of Commerce. Heading back to Billings, take Pryor Road west up to Cottonwood Creek Road, which eventually links up with Duck Creek Road just west of Billings. “It’s a beautiful, 40-mile loop,” Field said. Pictograph Caves State Park: The caves are a nice destination, but in the fall, the real treat is the drive to the caves rather than the caves themselves. The road winds through a group of small hills dappled with scrub oaks and other deciduous trees, splashing the
montana55.com countryside in lovely fall tones. It’s a short drive with a high reward, Field said. Pompeys Pillar National Monument: Like the Pictograph Caves, the autumn splendor surrounding Pompeys Pillar is more captivating than the monument itself this time of year. While the visitor center closes at the end of September, the grounds are open year round with paved walkways and interpretive signs. It’s definitely worth the walk about. The Yellowstone River marks the north edge of the grounds, and all around the rock structure where explorer William Clark etched his name are cottonwoods groves and other vegetation. It’s as picturesque a location during the fall as you’re likely to find in eastern Montana. The Rims: It’s pretty simple. There are seven miles of paved trail that follows the Rims above Billings from Boot Hill stretching west. Walking the path this time of year offers a panoramic vista of the city below and its tens of thousands of trees. “We have so many trees in Billings, it’s fun to see them all change,” Field said. There is no better view of the changing trees in town than from a walk along the Rims. And on a brisk fall day, an afternoon on the trail watching the leaves change across town is as satisfying as anything you can do this season.
The leaves are beautiful, but ..... Hot springs a plenty: One of the best things about Montana is the geothermal stretch across the bottom half of the state. Chico Hot Springs south of Livingston is one of the state’s more famous hot springs and the perfect place to soak tired bones when the fall chill in the air becomes a bit too nippy. Fairmont Hot Springs just east of Anaconda offers a more resort-style experience than Chico, which has its own rustic charm. Fairmont includes two Olympic size pools, two mineral soaking pools and a spa. Norris Hot Springs south of Bozeman is bestknown for its famous wooden pool and surrounding wetlands. It’s a fun stop in this little wooded corner of the Madison River Valley. Rocky Creek Farm: Open through Halloween, Rocky Creek Farm in Bozeman is famous for its apple cider and all through the fall visitors can come and press their own cider at the farmhouse. In fact, you can even bring your own apples. The farm also has extensive apple orchards and provides enough apples for you to press as much cider as you want. It’s the perfect way to spend an afternoon in the fall. Rob Rogers is a freelance writer. He can be reached at u2disco@gmail.com
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Transitions Network helps women take the leap into retirement
Chris Easton discusses a book at Billings Public Library.
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Photo By Bob Zellar/ Billings Gazette
By Susan Olp Chris Easton taught school in Billings for 27 years, and spent the next eight working full-time as education outreach coordinator for the Montana National Guard. When she retired in 2013, Easton found herself at loose ends. So much of what had occupied her time for so long was now behind her. “It’s amazing to me the amount of time and energy that goes into your professional world and also your family world,” Easton said, sitting at a table in the Billings Public Library. “And then all of sudden the kids grow up and they’re gone and you’re retired and you start to lose social interactions from people in the work world.” So Easton, 61, was thrilled when she found a new way to connect with women who shared similar interests. Through The Transition Network (TTN), she discovered specialty groups that interested her and brought her together with other women. On a day last spring, she spent an hour with seven other women at their
montana55.com happy. Collins is executive director of TTN, a nationwide organization based in New York. She traveled to Billings in April, to help celebrate the formal launch of the Billings chapter, which so far is the only one in Montana. Collins said the organization has a simple mission: to support women, mostly in their 50s and 60s, in transition. The main focus is on women who are looking toward retirement or those who have already taken the leap. “The first thing we want is women to connect with one another on lots of different levels,” Collins said. “In social interaction through activities Jean Palmer, national board member of The Transition Network, during the “Women maybe around an interest — in Transition” workshop at the Billings Public Library. just anything to bring them Photo by Hannah Potes/Billings Gazette together because when we leave our jobs, a lot of us leave a monthly book club in the library’s cafe. The group network of women.” is one of many specialty groups offered through the The second goal is to help women discover what’s network. important to them at this stage and, how they want Easton sat with seven other members around a to live their lives. pair of small tables pushed together. They chatted And the third is helping them figure out the about their most recent pick, “The Book Thief.” impact they want to have, on their families and During a lively discussion about the book set in their communities, in this next phase. Nazi Germany, the women dissected the plot and Some women decide to pursue a new career in the characters, mentioning their favorite moments an entirely different field than the one they left in the novel. By the hour’s end, all agreed that the behind, Collins said. Others pick up an interest book was worth reading, and then chose their next they left behind. selection and went their separate ways. “A woman I knew in New York revisited her early That kind of gathering feeds Easton’s soul. love of being an artist, painting,” Collins said. “Now “I seriously needed it,” she said. “You can only when she’s asked what she does, she doesn’t say clean house so much. All those things you think what she used to do, she says ‘I’m an artist.’” you’re going to do, weed, paint, garden, read a Thinking about retiring book — but where’s the social interaction?” Groups like TTN are gaining more traction, Easton also meets for lunch once a month with especially as female Baby Boomers have retired or another specialty group. She volunteers at the begun to move in that direction. The composition Billings Clinic, as well as at Global Village. of the 13 TTN chapters found in the U.S. vary, And sometimes one things leads to another, Collins said, from ones mostly made up of retired Easton said. That happened with the book club, women to those who have a greater percentage still whose members normally only see each other at the in the workforce. library. “What’s interesting is the change of age and when “But all of a sudden we decided to do the that move is made,” Collins said. “In the late ’90s Women’s Run, which turned into a brunch at Kara’s women in their 50s were doing this. Then (the house,” she said. “It starts relationships beyond the financial crisis of) 2008 happened, and now it’s groups that we’ve signed up for, via email or on the women in their 60s.” phone.” Regardless of when women start contemplating Network launch retirement, or if they’ve already reached that point, That sort of connection makes Susan Collins Fall 2016 13
there are ways, beyond finances, that they can help prepare themselves. With that in mind, TTN chapters offer “Women in Transition” workshops to do just that. In Billings, 20 women attended a workshop in April held in conjunction with the official launch of the chapter. Put on by national and local TTN leaders, it was billed as “a workshop for women 50plus who wish to navigate change successfully and create a meaningful life.” During the four-hour gathering, national board member Jean Palmer talked about the difference between transition and change. Change is what happens on the outside, it involves external events, she said. Sometimes they happen to us and other times we initiate them. “Transition is what happens inside of me, how I come to terms with change,’’ Palmer said. “In both instances, we have internal reactions to it.” She said it’s a time of letting go of things that were and reorienting ourselves to the way things are, and then moving forward. Women at the workshop completed what Palmer called a Wheel of Life, “a snapshot of where you are today.” Participants rated their level of satisfaction in 10 areas of their life: their job; health, exercise and hobbies; finances, relationships; spouse, partner or family; learning and growth; spiritual support; and physical environment. What to do next Later, after the women shared the results of their wheels, Palmer noted some common themes: fear of retiring and not knowing what to do next; being able to pay for retirement; and a lack of self-care. “We’re not really good at that last one,” she said. The women also spent time at the workshop developing a strategic action plan for how they would approach the transition in their life, or how they could better deal with it. One of the workshop presenters, Evey Lamont, is a member of the Billings chapter’s steering committee and coordinator of the special interest groups. Lamont, 65, was a school psychologist for 38 years before she retired last June. She’s also a life coach and owns a business called Prime Time Transition and Retirement Coaching. Through it, Lamont helps both men and women with transitions, especially retirement. At that point in life, there are many issues to work through, she said. “I think the biggest thing is ‘how do I feel purposeful, how can I still contribute?’ ” Lamont 14
said. “That seems gigantic.” It may not hit a new retiree at first. Some people who retire want to let the dust settle, take time to relax, enjoy the lack of a regimented schedule. But often at about the year mark, Lamont said, they start looking toward what they can do that will have an impact, maybe on their family or their community. “Another thing is ‘who am I now, what is my identity?’ ” she said. “Whether you’ve actually been involved in a paying job or not, I think it’s true for everybody.” Defining your future She asks her clients a question to help them clarify their thinking. “I say, if you’re at a cocktail party, do you introduce who you were or who you are now? ” Lamont said. Not everyone who retires wants to regularly volunteer or get a job. She recommends to some clients that they consider finding a special project over a limited time, which lets them be flexible. Women who worked full time may not realize all that they’re leaving behind when they retire. Besides the social interaction, it can be a place where they get what Lamont calls “atta boys or atta girls,” positive reinforcement that boosts self-esteem. She found other strategies to help her transition. “As I was contemplating my own retirement, I was thinking ‘how am I going to stay in a routine?’ ” she said. “I’m involved with a lot of different little groups, a film club, a couple of book clubs, a walking group, a movie film group and lunches with friends.” It helped her develop new interests and enjoy friendships. She is glad to head up that aspect of the TTN’s Billings chapter, knowing how much they help her in her life. Lamont talks about a tool used in the TTN workshop that breaks the transition down into three parts: endings, a neutral zone and new beginnings. She equates the neutral zone as the moment when a trapeze artist lets go of one bar but hasn’t yet caught the next one. It can be unsettling, chaotic and even lonely. “They can’t put their finger on what’s bothering them, they feel unsatisfied or anxious,” Lamont said. For that, a group like The Transition Network or a bit of life coaching might provide help in the midst of a life change that can be both unsettling and wonderful. Susan Olp writes for the Billings Gazette at: solp@billingsgazette.com
Know where you stand with Social Security Fifty-six percent of all Society Security beneficiaries are women, and that number goes up to 66 percent of all beneficiaries over age 85. For 48 percent of unmarried women 65 or older, Society Security represents nearly half of their income. Obviously finances play a big part for both women and men in deciding when to retire, and figuring out Social Security benefits can help in deciding what age is optimum to do that. The Social Security Administration can’t give individual advice on when to make that big leap. “That’s a hard decision to make and Social Security can’t tell you what’s best,” said David Baier, public affairs specialist for the Social Security Administration in Montana. “We don’t know how long you’re going to live; we don’t know what other assets or income you have; and we don’t know what your needs will be at a later date.” What claims specialists can tell individuals, and what workers can find out online, is what their estimated benefits would be, depending upon the age they retire. At the minimum retirement age of 62, a person receives 75 percent of their full retirement benefits, and that figure goes up to 100 percent (for people born between 1943 and 1954) at age 66. The amount an individual receives is “based on the highest 35 years of earnings,” Baier said. “We adjust
Susan Collins is the executive director of The Transition Network. Photo by Hannah Potes/Billings Gazette
for inflation.” Baier said many people don’t fully understand Social Security. “You pay into it your whole life and then you don’t know where to go or what to do when you get to that point,’’ he said. For one thing, people qualify for Social Security benefits after they have worked for 40 quarters, which is equivalent to 10 years. And each quarter an individual has to earn at least $1,260, or $5,040 per year. Of course, some requirements change over the years, so it’s best to get specific information online, or to sit down with a claims representative. He suggests that people 18 and older in the workforce sign up online for a “my Social Security” account. Even for those years away from retiring, it can let them verify that the earnings reported by the companies they work for are correct. “Let’s say when you’re 25, the earnings reported gets messed up,” he said. “Then, you come in when you’re 61, and it’s hard to prove, and those might have been good working years.” The SSA mails out a Social Security statement to individuals every five years until a person nears retirement age. Then it comes every year. By signing up online, Baier said, a person can check their information as often as they want.
Evey Lamont of the Transition Network in Billings is a transition & retirement coach. Photo by Bob Zellar/Billings Gazette Fall 2016
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Living with Chronic Pain research supports a different approach to treatment By John Fiore Chronic pain is defined as a painful condition affecting one or more areas of the body lasting for more than twelve weeks. In contrast to acute pain, which is induced by tissue damage, injury, or disease, chronic pain may be linked more to familiar sensory pain patterns or previous pain experiences. The complexity of chronic pain leads to costly and often ineffective treatments. Health economists from Johns Hopkins University estimated the annual cost of chronic pain is as high as $635 billion per year, which is more than the annual related costs for cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. Treating a person with chronic pain must include treating the person as a whole. Rather than treating the chronic pain symptoms, a comprehensive evaluation of movement, limitation, medical history, surgical history, and current medications must be performed. Historically, traditional treatments for chronic pain have included prescription medication and surgical intervention. Applying treatments for acute pain or injury to chronic pain conditions, however, leads to poor results and frustration for all involved. Focusing treatment on restoring movement and function will not only improve quality of life, but it will also address the underlying cause of chronic pain. A recent article in the New York Times highlighted the need to change our treatment approach when working with individuals with chronic pain. The article cited a July 20, 2014, study published in The British Medical Journal which compared the results of surgery for knee meniscus tears with a physical therapy exercise. The results showed no greater improvement in the surgical group. Furthermore, knee MRI scans of pain-free individuals often revealed meniscus tears which were not symptomatic. Similar studies have looked at the outcomes of individuals following lumbar fusion which is a common surgical intervention for chronic low back pain due to degenerative disc disease. Again, no long-term benefit was shown between the fusion group and the physical therapy exercise group. While it should be noted that both knee meniscus and lumbar fusion surgical procedures may be the only option given certain clinical cases, surgical procedures should not be equated with a quick fix. In most cases, proper conservative, function-based treatments and lifestyle modifications are a more effective and economical option. In 23 years of practice as a physical therapist, I have learned that beneath the surface of every individual suffering from chronic pain are one or more compensatory movement patterns which collectively contribute to chronic pain symptoms. Much like a detective following clues to solve a mystery or crime, a physical therapist must possess the knowledge and 16
understanding of the human body to piece together the movement limitations and/or dysfunctions contributing to an individual’s chronic pain symptoms. Once the underlying causes are identified, realistic, short-term mobility and exercise goals can be established. Short-term goal success represents progress towards freedom from the familiar chronic pain pattern. Good physical therapists will take the time to thoroughly evaluate movement patterns, joint mobility, and formulate an individualized treatment plan aimed at successfully returning an individual to the quality of life enjoyed before the onset of chronic pain.
Medlineplus.gov/magazine/issues/spring11pg5-6.html Neurosci Biohehav Rev.2013 Dec: 37(10 0 2): 25972607 Darrel J. Gaskin, Patrick Richard. The Economic Costs of Pain in the United States. The Journal of Pain, 2012; 13(8): 715 DOI: 10.1016/j.pain.2012.03.009 www.nytimes.com2016/08/04/upshot/the-right-to-koe-thatan-operation-is-nest-to-useless.html John Fiore is a physical therapist and can be reached at john@sapphirept.com
Specializing in: • Joint Pain & Ov Overuse Injuries • Running & Athletic Injury Experts • On-site 2D Video Running Evaluation • Pre & Post-Operative Rehabilitation • Back & Neck Pain • Work-related Injury & Work Hardening • Functional Capacity Evaluation • Core & Functional Strengthening for Sports • Manual Therapy & Dry Needling • Women’s Health • Total Joint Replacement Rehabilitation
1705 Bow St, John Fiore, PT Missoula MT 59801 Rachael Herynk, DPT (406) 549-5283 Jesse Dupre, DPT Early & Late Holly Warner, DPT Appointments Allie Molnar, DPT sapphirept.com
(photo credit: John Fiore) Physical therapy can improve quality of life for those with chronic pain.
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A four-point plan for joint health
Keep on cruising with a regular maintenance schedule for your joints (BPT) - Whether it’s a brand-new Bentley or a classic 1970 Mustang, most people have a car they dream about. If they’re lucky enough to own it someday, you better believe they’re going to take care of it. Regular maintenance is an essential part of keeping a vehicle in tip-top shape. The same is true of the human body, particularly the joints. “Prevention is the only thing that actually pro18
longs the health of your joints, similar to the care of a machine,” says Matt Johnson, health and performance expert and president of On Target Living. “If you want something to last as long as possible, and to cost as little as possible over the long run, you have to do maintenance, checkups, and change the oil. Taking care of your body is no different. If you do, your joints can last until you’re 80, 90, or even 100 without tendon or ligament issues.” Johnson notes that joint issues are some of the most common concerns he sees in his practice. These issues can happen at any age, although
many start to manifest between the ages of 40 and 50, after years of wear and tear cause pain and inflammation. Johnson’s mantra: If you take care of the body it will take care of you. To help people of any age maintain joint health, he provides this four-point joint maintenance plan.
1. Rest
The first part of healing the joints is to rest the joints. Massage, meditation, light yoga, stretching, and cool baths are great ways to rest the joints. Additionally, quality sleep each night is essential. (Quick tip: Take an epsom salt bath once a week.)
2. Healing Nutrients
Studies show that omega-3 fats can help support joint health by limiting inflammation after exercise and boosting hormones that help the body heal. Take a daily, high-quality omega-3 supplement like Nordic Naturals that has been thirdparty tested for purity, and is known for its great,
non-fishy taste.
3. Superfoods
Superfood herbs and spices help the body get maximum nutrients in minimal amounts. For example, curcumin and bromelain are both great for helping joint pain and repair. Remember, limited processing of the product is ideal for optimal absorption.
4. Exercise and body alignment
You can’t have optimal joint function if the body is out of alignment. There are five key joint checkpoints: ankle, knee, hip, shoulder and neck. This is where you start to achieve perfect posture, after which you can focus on strengthening the large muscles. “The best age is always now,” says Johnson. “Start as soon as possible and think about it like you take care of a car or nice jewelry. Joints are meant to last as long as you live. The key is to take care of them with quality nutrition, normal exercise, and adequate rest.”
V OTING IS A RIGHT WE ALL SHARE In Montana, having a disability is not a barrier to exercising your right to vote. If you’re a person with a disability, the State of Montana offers a variety of ways to vote independently and privately.
Electronic Ballot Request System
AutoMARK Specialized Voting Machine
With this brand new system, Montanans with disabilities can apply online to receive a ballot electronically, allowing them to vote from the comfort of their home. The ballot can then be printed and returned by mail or in person to the county election office during the absentee voting period and must be received by 8 p.m. on Election Day.
Every polling place in Montana has at least one specialized voting machine called an AutoMARK. The AutoMARK is a ballot-marking system that provides privacy and accessibility to voters who are blind, vision impaired, or have a condition that makes it difficult or impossible to mark a ballot in the usual way.
To learn more about the variety of options available, call 888-884-VOTE (8683) or visit CountYourVote.org. This message brought to you by Montana Secretary of State Linda McCulloch. IN MONTANA, YOUR VOTE COUNTS
Rhythm of life:
A dancer’s story
Larry Stanfel, 76, said ballet has enabled him to stay healthy and limber.
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By Zach Benoit
Photos by Casey Page/Billings Gazette
Larry Stanfel stood on the balls of his feet with his arms stretched overhead, his gaze locked forward and his neck and back straight, seemingly pointing toward the ground under his feet at the Montana Dance Center in Billings. With the tinkling of classical piano music in the background, he held the position, tiptoed to the right and bent at the knees while Julia Marble, his classical ballet instructor, doled out instructions and encouragement. “Plié,” Marble said. “Yes, there you go. Can you feel that?” Yes, he could. No big deal for most of Marble’s students. But during the 2014 practice session where that conversation took place, Stanfel happened to be a spry 74 years old. Now he’s 76 – and still hard at it with Marble, his ballet instructor now more than 14 years. Stanfel’s love of ballet started about a decade and a half ago as nothing more than research for a novel but soon bloomed into a beloved hobby. He now drives an hour and a half or more to Billings each week for private lessons, practices daily at home and says it’s helped to keep him healthy and limber.
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Stanfel drives more than an hour each week for private ballet lessons at the Montana Dance Center in Billings.
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Larry Stanfel dances during his lesson with Julia Marble of the Montana Dance Center. Stanfel’s love of ballet started more than a decade ago as research for a novel but soon bloomed into a beloved hobby.
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Ballet instructor Julia Marble helps Stanfel with his technique.
“I’m still undiscovered,” he joked during an interview. “I’m waiting for that phone call from the (American Ballet Theatre).” Shortly after retiring as a professor at the University of Alabama, Stanfel, then 62, began writing a work of fiction, titled “Ghost Town: A Novel,” that featured a phantom dancer as part of its premise. He figured the best way to accurately write about ballet was to understand it, so he started researching it and then taking classes. A trip to New York with his wife, Jane, to see a performance by the American Ballet Theatre all but sealed the deal for ballet as more than just research for Stanfel. “I thought it was the most glorious thing I’d ever seen,” he said. He started taking lessons in Washington, D.C., in February of 2002. Later that year, he and his wife moved from the Washington, D.C., area to a remote area northeast of Roundup and began taking ballet classes from Marble, who was then at the Billings YWCA. That means that more than 14 years, they’ve been driving to Billings each week, sometimes a two-hour trek if the roads are bad, for the classes. “He used to be all baseball, football, basketball,” Jane Stanfel said. “This keeps you limber. There are definitely health benefits. He can bend and do things that men his age usually can’t do.” According to the American Association of Retired Persons, dancing offers numerous health boosts, from a low-impact way to strengthen bones and muscles to toning and improving flexability, from reducing stress levels to building confidence and boosting mental focus and sharpness. Marble, a professionally trained ballet dancer, has taught ballet for more than 37 years and is director of the Montana Dance Center, now at 701 Daniel St. in Billings. The center has classes for beginners and advanced dancers alike and for all age groups in a wide range of styles. “It’s the best in the state of Montana, if you ask me,” Stanfel said after noting Marble’s sharp eye for form. “From across the room, she can tell if your weight isn’t distributed properly.” Marble said that, in addition to the physical benefits, such as better stability and an increased range of motion, she’s seen ballet act as an etiquette class for youngsters, provide an emotional outlet for people and help with their general sharpness. “Ballet is pretty demanding,” she said. “It’s incredible for memory discipline. All of the parts of the brain, with dance, go into ballet.” She added that with a dedicated pupil such as Stanfel, she can see the difference it makes. Fall 2016
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Stanfel has been dancing for 14 years and credits it with improving his mental focus, as well as his balance and flexibility.
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montana55.com “I have taught him at some very low points in his life. At one point I taught him when he had an oxygen tank on his back. I think the extra physical and mental aspect of it keeps him wanting to do things,” Marble said. “He’s a very avid student.” Stanfel, on his part, takes the strain as part of the way dance is meant to be “Ballet is approaching 500 years of age. In that time people have had good opportunities to decide what are all the positions in which one’s body is comfortable. Ballet, then, was defined to be everything else. Jennifer Penney, a principal danseuse with England’s Royal Ballet once wrote me, ‘If it doesn’t hurt, you’re not doing it correctly,’” Stanfel said. Stanfel keeps active in other ways as well, including through bicycling and lifting weights. He said that ballet, though, goes beyond simply an activity to keep himself busy. “I don’t do this just to amuse myself,” he said. “I want to get better. There’s just a desire to improve because there’s still so much I can learn.” Both Marble and Jane Stanfel, who’s also taken the classes, said he’s made huge strides as a dancer since he first started.
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Jane Stanfel said she’s noticed how much more flexible her husband is and the boost in his technique on the dance floor, while Marble noted that he’s been a quick learner, especially with his wife around. “You want to work within what’s natural and easy for your body, and I always try to do that,” Marble said. “They’re so fun when they’re together. He’s been pushed along faster and really made some progress here. I’ve actually learned so much from them, not only in how to teach, but in their spirit of adventure.” As for Stanfel, he said he doesn’t see himself slowing with ballet, both for the health benefits and for the challenge and mental focus it provides. But, beneath that, he also just plain enjoys it. “I certainly enjoy and I think it’s good for me,” he said. “It’s a pleasant way to exercise. I get to listen to some lovely music and get a workout at the same time.” Zach Benoit writes for the Billings Gazette at: zbenoit@billingsgazette.com
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Pedaling Passion: ALL-WEATHER MOUNTAIN BIKING PROVIDES FUN, FITNESS IN YOUR 50S
Sean Cleverly, left, and Shawn Gleason, both of Butte, are pictured earlier this year in the open space west of Montana Tech. The two like to ride their mountain bikes in that area during their lunch break.
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Sean Cleverly and Shawn Gleason pedal this summer toward Big Butte on Butte’s West Side. The two are in their early 50s, and don’t let middle age slow them down. Photos by Paula McGarvey
By Paula McGarvey
Fitness gurus widely agree that if you pick an activity that’s fun, you are more likely to succeed at your fitness goals. Butte’s Sean Cleverly, 51, took up mountain biking in his 20s, and readily confessed that at the time, he wasn’t remotely interested in the health benefits of biking. And it’s still not his prime motivation. “I ride because I love to ride,” he said. But after 30-plus years, that passion has had a nice pay off. “The fact there’s a fitness component is just a convenient byproduct,” he said. Like Cleverly, Shawn Gleason, 52, fell in love with mountain biking when he took up the sport in 1993. The two have been cycling together in and around Butte for more than 20 years and are part of a larger group of approximately 15 mountain bikers and cyclists who work at NorthWestern Energy and regularly ride together. The group has worked to develop trails west of the Montana Tech campus in Butte and on any given day, you can find members of their informal, two-wheeled contingent rolling along the labyrinth of dirt trails snaking their way through the sagebrush. That trail system also links into trails heading up Big Butte. “There are three really good trails on the M that we cycle,” Cleverly said. “Steep stuff,” chimed in Gleason, with both riders agreeing that they worked their way up to the really sharp inclines over time. The lunch hour is a favorite time for these cyclists to ride — taking a break from their jobs at NorthWestern Energy, where Cleverly works as the director of security (cyber) and Gleason supervises the gas transmission drafting department. Both men are pleased that their company is pro-fitness, supporting on-site areas for fitness activities and bike storage, along with on-site locker rooms and showers. “Cycling at lunch time really breaks up the day nicely,” Gleason said.
montana55.com Cleverly agreed. “My job is very technical, and it’s a really great stress breaker,” Cleverly added. Both men also agree that Butte has a lot to offer mountain bikers, regarding terrain. “This is some of the most challenging cycling around,” Cleverly said. From west of Montana Tech, north to Moulton Reservoir, to the East Ridge, and both west and south of town, there are trails fit for any and every level of expertise. “Butte is really a center for mountain biking,” Gleason said. In retrospect, as they start out their 50s, both Cleverly and Gleason are glad that their passion had a few fitness perks. The activity gained by regular cycling has helped both men avoid health and weight issues their less-active peers have faced. Cycling is considered a low-impact activity, so their knees have benefitted, too, suffering less wear and tear than those participating in some other sports. Cleverly and Gleason are four-season cyclists, and getting outside on their bikes is preferred by both to working out inside on fitness machines. In the past, they have cycled in some extreme conditions, but are easing back a bit with age. “We just put a limit on temperature recently,”
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Gleason said. Their cut off? When the ambient temperature “feels like” 10 degrees Fahrenheit with the wind chill factored in. With a shared passion for mountain biking, the two often encourage others to take up the sport, with their pedal pushing geared toward getting others to get out and ride. “I push people at work all the time to come out and ride,” Gleason said. “You can start slow. There are lots of trails you can build up to,” Cleverly added. Though Cleverly and Gleason feel that over the years Butte has become more bike-friendly, they still prefer the dirt trails to paved roadways. “The biggest advantage of mountain biking (over road biking) is that there’s fewer distractions,” Cleverly said. His final advice for would-be mountain bike newbies of any age is this: “You live in this wonderful playground. You should get off the asphalt and hit the trails!” Paula McGarvey is a freelance writer. She can be reached at: paulajmc@bresnan.com
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Paul Greany still racing chariots at 90
Paul Greany, right, and wife Billie sit in the stands of the Drummond Rodeo Grounds. Paul and family gathered at the grounds to celebrate his 90th birthday. Photos by Tommy Martino/Missoulian
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By Chelsea Davis
DRUMMOND – Paul Greany’s family and friends from across the nation descended on Drummond this summer to celebrate his 90th birthday. Drummond’s rodeo grounds were filled with team roping, food, drinks and dancing – a belated party since Greany’s birthday was in February, but better fit for the sunny August day. Plus, Greany and his wife didn’t have to travel far; they live two miles up the road. Ninety-one team ropers wowed the crowd as Greany was swarmed with hugs and well-wishes. 28
“I don’t know how he does it,” Dannette Merchant, one of Greany’s daughters, said of her father’s spunk and strength. He may have been decked out in a cowboy hat, boots and a fresh button-up and jeans, but his belt buckle gave insight into his other life: chariot racing. It read “Jackson Hole Shriners 2013” for the Jackson Hole Shrine Club’s annual cutter races. Greany said he’s been chariot racing 40 years. “I loaded up my junk and went to participate,” he said of a club just getting started in Bozeman at the time. “The other guys showed up
montana55.com Jhett Murphy, of Helena, looks to set his rope on a steer during the team roping event held during Paul Greany’s birthday celebration. A group of Greany’s grandsons helped put on the competition. There were 91 team ropers at the celebration.
with fancy horses and carts. My friend said, ‘I’ll bring you a different cart, like theirs.’ And I won the next day.” He’s now a member of a chariot racing club in Rigby, Idaho, and participates in races in Idaho, Wyoming and Utah. Merchant’s husband, Sameer, said his family in India uses video of Greany chariot racing as inspiration. Greany hopes he’ll race in Jackson Hole again in February. He starts training horses in October, “but I’m always in shape,” he said, grinning. A month after the party, Greany received another gift: He was inducted into the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame with the Living Award for District 12, a region that includes Deer Lodge, Beaverhead, Silver Bow, Granite, Madison and Powell counties. *** Greany is a well-known name in the Drummond area, and “it’s because of Paul,” said his brother Byron, who now lives in Spokane. But their family didn’t start in Montana. Greany, his parents and his brothers and sisters piled into a car in Iowa in 1938 and headed west. “When I think back on it, I think ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ had nothing on us,” Byron said. They settled in Elliston, where Greany graduated high school. Then he served in the U.S. Navy on Landing Ship-Tanks in the Pacific in World War II. Some joked that the LST actually stood for “Long Slow Trips.” “Paul joined when he was 17 and didn’t come home for three years,” said his brother, Dick. And when he did come home? “He started chasing Billie,” Dick said. Billie is Greany’s wife of 67 years this November.
She was at Powell County High School in Deer Lodge when she met Greany. “His brother (Dan) went to school with me, and he said Paul had too many girlfriends and that I should go out with him,” Billie said, laughing. “I didn’t even know who he was.” But they did end up going out, “and we’ve been together ever since.” *** In 1951, Greany took over the oil business in Drummond from Martin Briggeman. He ran the business until his retirement in 1993. Greany also owned Greany’s Dry Goods and Western Wear in Drummond, and another in Deer Lodge. Both are now closed. He also used to own Swede’s Bar in Drummond and Shack Bar Fall 2016
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in Deer Lodge. Today, you can find him bartending at the Corner Office in Deer Lodge. He hadn’t kicked the bartender role at his birthday party, asking everyone if they had a beer, if it was cold, and telling one friend that sorry, there wasn’t any whiskey. Greany himself didn’t have a birthday beer. He just wrapped up radiation the week before and wasn’t feeling 100 percent. He had prostate cancer, which spread to his kidneys. The celebration echoed the parties Greany used to hold for his customers every year. But this day, it was all about Greany. Of Greany’s living siblings, Regina White is 95, Byron is 94 and Dick is 80. Byron told people he was “doing good for my
age,” a line he kept using “because that’s what everyone else says.” “It’s in the genes,” Byron said of his family’s longevity. “We’re a bunch of Irishmen.” Their father lived to 72, and their mother to 88, “so any longevity must’ve come from her side of the family,” Byron said. “Paul doesn’t say much, period,” he said. But when he does, it’s with a sly grin. Halftripping down one of the stairs, he leaned over, saying, “Been drinking too much beer,” though he hadn’t had any. Chelsea Davis writes for the Missoulian at: chelsea.davis@missoulian.com
Paul Greany has been racing chariots for 40 years and races in Utah, Wyoming and Idaho.
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Fall 2016
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Preparing your body and
mind for the season ahead By Dillon Kato
While many Montanans celebrate the start of winter as the beginning of the skiing and snowboarding season, the snow and ice can also bring challenges. Here is some advice to keep you active, healthy and engaged when the weather turns frosty. The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services has created a program called Stepping On and partnered with 40 locations across the state to help seniors learn how to prevent injuries from falls. DPHHS says falls account for 83 percent of the injury hospitalizations among residents age 65 and older every year. Jeremy Brokaw, the department’s injury prevention program coordinator, said the Stepping On meets for two hours once a week for seven weeks. “There’s a different topic for each class,’’ he said. “So one might be strength and balance, another on prescription drugs and how they might influence factors that lead to a fall.” Course leaders also talk with participants about the importance of having an annual vision exam and making sure they are using proper footwear. “For the winter, that might include education about Yaktrax or using a cane or a walking stick,” Brokaw said. Yaktrax are a popular brand of traction devices that can be attached to the bottom of shoes to give them more grip while walking on snowy or icy surfaces. Brokaw’s office at DPHHS also recommends that seniors maintain a regular exercise pattern, which makes them stronger and improves coordination. Brokaw said the Stepping On courses are particularly helpful for seniors who have had a fall in the past year and are worried about another. “The evidence shows that people who complete the class are less fearful of a fall,” he said. “We want 32
people to alleviate those fears and know that they can get out in the community.” Brokaw said Montanans interested in learning more about the Stepping On courses or who want to find one near them can call him at 406-444-4126 or send an email to jbrokaw@mt.gov. *** Another winter health concern is influenza. While the state DPHHS recommends all Montanans 6 months old and above receive a vaccination to protect against the seasonal flu each year, it says it is especially important for residents 65 and older, who are at a higher risk of complications from the flu. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that in recent years, between 54 and 70 percent of all seasonal-flu related hospitalizations have been among people 65 and older age. Partly because our immune systems weaken as we age, the CDC says seniors are at higher risk for contracting the flu and suffering from more severe symptoms or additional health complications from the disease. DPPHS says seniors should try to get their vaccinations done in the fall because the flu season in Montana normally peaks in January.
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*** Montanans looking to avoid cabin fever when the weather gets colder and the snow starts to fall should consider taking a class from the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Montana. The continuing education program, also known as MOLLI, is available to adults ages 50 and over who want an opportunity to continue learning in a classroom setting without enrolling as a traditional student. Unlike standard classes at UM, MOLLI courses are noncredit and don’t have tests or homework. For the past decade, MOLLI has offered classes during three terms in the fall, winter and spring. Taking MOLLI classes requires a $20 annual membership. After that, each six-week course costs $60, and meets one day a week for an hour and a half. Roger Maclean, the dean of the School of Extended & Lifelong Learning, which facilitates the MOLLI program, said while the winter term is the least busy of the three, they have seen a resurgence in its popularity in recent years. In 2015, MOLLI had 870 people enrolled, a record for the winter. “There are a lot of seniors who leave and move south during the winters but I think there have been more and more who are saying, ‘I’m staying here, I
need something to do to keep my mind and my brain engaged,’” he said. Registration for the winter session of MOLLI, which runs from Jan. 17 to Feb. 24, will open on Dec. 5. Maclean said the class schedule for that term, which will include 15 to 17 courses, should be available about a week before registration. Information about MOLLI courses can be found online at umt.edu/ce/plus50 or by calling the MOLLI office at 406243-2905. Dillon Kato writes for the Missoulian at: dillon.kato@ missoulian.com
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In fall,
we get Montana’s jewels to ourselves
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The Clark Fork River on a beautiful fall day.
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Photo by Tyler Wilson
By Rob Chaney
They call Chicago the “City of the Big Shoulders,” but Montana has the Big Shoulder Season. Hordes of tourists jam Big Sky Country during the peak months of July and August, overfilling campgrounds and turning scenic drives into asphalt slogs. Few realize that September and October offer Montana’s prime time. The bugs disappear, but the warm weather remains. Rivers cool off and fishing resumes. Wildflowers go to seed, but the rest of the meadows and streambanks erupt in fall color. Glacier National Park: While the centerpiece of the Crown of the Continent stays open year-round, many consider fall the best time to visit this public
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Glacier National Park.
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A Mountain Goat in Glacier National Park.
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Snowy Owls occasionally arrive in Polson in large numbers in the fall and winter months.
treasure. While the historic hotels and lodges inside Glacier Park close for the year in late September, many communities just outside the border remain available for fall visitors. These include West Glacier, Essex, Polebridge, East Glacier, Browning and St. Mary. And don’t forget Glacier’s International Peace Park partner to the north, Canada’s Waterton Lakes National Park (remember to pack your passport). In the past few years, summer visitation to Glacier has numbered between 600,000 and 700,000 people a month in July and August. September remains busy, with about 350,000 people coming through the gates. But October visits tumble to around 70,000, followed by an average of 17,000 in November. Granted, high-mountain weather can be fickle to fierce in late fall. But those who come prepared for wet and cold get treated to peaks freshly dusted with snow, rejuvenated streams and waterfalls boosted by fall rains, and prolific mushroom assemblages burst out of the duff. Fall wildlife sightings may increase A blackbear cub climbs a lodgepole pine tree in Yellowstone National Park. thinkstock
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montana55.com compared to summer, as mountain goats sport their clean winter white coats and bighorn sheep gather in mating herds. Fall is also the time when grizzly and black bears kick their foraging into high gear in preparation for winter hibernation – so be extra alert. Fall migration: Waterfowl refuges like Freezout Lake Wildlife Management Area and Ninepipes National Wildlife Refuge become waystations for thousands of geese, ducks and swans heading south for the winter. The flights peak in mid-fall, with tundra swans moving through in late October followed by snow geese in early November. Mallards and northern pintail ducks also show up in large flocks in the ponds between Choteau and Fairfield. Sharp-eyed sky-watchers may notice migrating bald and golden eagles following the same continental air currents along the Rocky Mountain Front, especially around Roger’s Pass, Flesher Pass and McDonald Pass between Lincoln and Helena. At Ninepipes, western, red-necked and pied-billed grebes show off their young broods in advance of southern migrations. Rough-legged hawks move into the valley between St. Ignatius and Ronan, as do occasional parliaments of snowy owls. Unlike many public waterfowl refuges, Ninepipe National Wildlife
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Refuge is closed to bird hunting in fall. Fall colors: From the thickets of huckleberry and alder to the ridgelines of western larch, slashes of red and gold highlight Montana’s mountainsides in fall. Larch trees, also known as tamaracks, look like conifers but lose their needles like deciduous trees in golden fall showers. The Seeley-Swan Valley northeast of Missoula holds large groves of larch, including some of the state’s largest in the Jim Girard Memorial Grove just north of Seeley Lake township. A visit to the Seeley Lake Ranger Station will provide up-to-date suggestions of best forest roads to cruise for leaf-peepers. River valleys such as the Bitterroot, Blackfoot and Flathead also turn awash with color as their cottonwood and willow groves prepare for fall. Follow the lower Flathead River through steep rock canyons between Dixon and Paradise on Highway 200 west of Missoula, or trace the Blackfoot River on the same highway heading east from Bonner to Lincoln. Highway 93 parallels the Bitterroot River from Missoula south past Florence, Stevensville, Victor, Hamilton and Darby. Rob Chaney writes for the Missoulian at rob.chaney@ missoulian.com
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To solve eldercare problems, mediation may be best option By LaDawn Whiteside
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Yesterday morning, I thought about options available when solving problems related to eldercare. As I see it, there are three doors to resolving a problem.
I applaud those people who are able to figure out solutions to problems on their own without sacrificing their financial future or their health status.
Door number one is people solving problems related to seniors and healthcare with the skills that life has taught them. Some people bully/threaten their way into a solution. Some take on a martyr status. Some give up in frustration. Some can sustain anger and vengeance for years in effort to “make” another person or agency comply with a correction. And some can effectively negotiate the decline or loss of a parent or spouse with grace and acceptance.
“Door number two” is seeking assistance from an attorney or a regulatory agency to solve the problem. I no longer work at the Certification Bureau; however, during the 25 years I worked in healthcare regulation, people submitted over 2,000 formal complaints to me about healthcare facilities.
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When people called, I offered the options available within the regulatory parameters. In most cases the regulatory agency conducted an investigation and, as
montana55.com appropriate, cited deficiencies when violations of state or federal regulations were verified. In some cases the complainant was happy, and in some cases the outcome did not meet the expectations of the making the complaint. “Door number two” is a hands off approach which allows another person and/or entity to verify and solve the problem for you. If this solution appeals to you, the Yellow Pages provide many legal options. If your concern is with a Montana healthcare facility, contact the Montana Licensure or Certification Bureau at 406444-2099 for assistance. About five years ago, I found mediation and realized it is “door number three.” Mediation facilitates problem solving between people who have reached an impasse. With the assistance of a mediator, preferably a Certified Mediator with either eldercare or healthcare experience, people are able to create unique solutions to problems.
an opportunity for two parties (or more) to come to an informed choice; to create an opportunity to solve problems and to identify what is most important to them. Mediation is not bound by state or federal healthcare regulations. It is not bound by civil monetary penalty structures. It is not necessarily precedent setting and is not arrived at during a trial of public opinion. When a mediation agreement is achieved, both parties are satisfied with the outcome. The Montana Mediation Association member directory can help you find a mediator to open your “door number three” at mtmediation.org or by calling 406-241-2422. LaDawn Whiteside is an eldercare mediator in Montana.
These are not the solutions typically implemented by judges. With mediation, solutions can be achieved without waiting weeks, months or years, and mediator fees are usually less than attorney fees. Mediation is
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books worth reading and
giving By Barbara Theroux
In the Fall as the temperatures change, life tends to seek routines. Visitors are gone, lake houses are closed, classes begin and hopefully your favorite reading chair awaits. This Fall there are several fascinating books that could also make great gifts. Many books celebrate the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service. Yellowstone is featured in these:
“Yellowstone: A Journey Through America’s Wild Heart” by David Quammen
Best-selling author David Quammen takes readers on a breathtaking journey through America’s most inspiring and imperiled ecosystem -- Yellowstone National Park -- in this lavish expansion of National Geographic magazine’s May 2016 issue. Filled with amazing images captured by eight National Geographic photographers over an extensive two-year “deployment” in the park, it is unlike any Yellowstone book before it.
“Yellowstone National Park: A Cautionary Coloring Book” In Yellowstone National Park offers its visitors more spectacular natural wonders, and as many ways to die while enjoying those wonders, than anywhere on the planet. If there’s a way to die in Yellowstone, you’ll find it pictured here. This coloring book also offers facts about the park, advice on its many animals and tips to help you stay alive during what hopefully isn’t your last trip to the nation’s first National Park. Recommended for mature colorists only!
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montana55.com Three of my favorites this season (two non-fiction and one fiction) give insights into history:
“Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, a Daring Escape, and the Making of Winston Churchill” by Candice Millard
At age 24, Winston Churchill was utterly convinced it was his destiny to become prime minister of England one day, despite the fact he had just lost his first election campaign for Parliament. He believed that to achieve his goal he must do something spectacular on the battlefield. Although deliberately putting himself in extreme danger as a British Army officer in colonial wars in India and Sudan, and as a journalist covering a Cuban uprising against the Spanish, glory and fame eluded him. Churchill arrived in South Africa in 1899, valet and crates of vintage wine in tow, there to cover the brutal colonial war the British were fighting with Boer rebels. But just two weeks after his arrival, the soldiers he was accompanying on an armored train were ambushed, and Churchill was taken prisoner. Remarkably, he pulled off a daring escape, but then had to traverse hundreds of miles of enemy territory, alone, with nothing but a crumpled wad of cash, four slabs of chocolate, and his wits to guide him. The story of his escape is incredible enough, but then Churchill enlisted, returned to South Africa, fought in several battles, and ultimately liberated the men with whom he had been imprisoned.
“Mad Enchantment: Claude Monet and the Painting of the Water Lilies” by Ross King
Claude Monet is perhaps the world’s most beloved artist, and among all his creations, the paintings of the water lilies in his garden at Giverny are most famous. Monet himself intended them to provide “an asylum of peaceful meditation.” Mad Enchantment tells the full story behind the creation of the Water Lilies, as the horrors of World War I came ever closer to Paris and Giverny, and a new generation of younger artists, led by Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, were challenging the achievements of Impressionism. By early 1914, French newspapers were reporting that Monet, by then 73, had retired his brushes. He had lost his beloved wife, Alice, and his eldest son, Jean. His famously acute vision was threatened by cataracts. And yet, despite ill health, self-doubt, and advancing age, Monet began painting again on a more ambitious scale than ever before.
“A Gentleman in Moscow: A Novel” by Amor Towles
A Gentleman in Moscow immerses us in an elegantly drawn era with the story of Count Alexander Rostov. When, in 1922, he is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, the count is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. Rostov, an indomitable man of erudition and wit, has never worked a day in his life, and must now live in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history are unfolding outside the hotel’s doors. Unexpectedly, his reduced circumstances provide him a doorway into a much larger world of emotional discovery. Brimming with humor, a glittering cast of characters, and one beautifully rendered scene after another, this singular novel casts a spell as it relates the count’s endeavor to gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a man of purpose.
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One book just to laugh and celebrate the humor of Carl Hiaasen’s Florida:
“Razor Girl: A novel” by Carl Hiaasen
When Lane Coolman’s car is bashed from behind on the road to the Florida Keys, what appears to be an ordinary accident is anything but (this is Hiaasen!) Behind the wheel of the other car is Merry Mansfield, the eponymous Razor Girl, and the crash scam is only the beginning of events that spiral crazily out of control while unleashing some of the wildest characters Hiaasen has ever set loose on the page. There’s Trebeaux, the owner of Sedimental Journeys, a company that steals sand from one beach to restore erosion on another… Buck Nance, a Wisconsin accordionist who has rebranded himself as the star of a redneck reality show called Bayou Brethren…Brock Richardson, a Miami product-liability lawyer who’s getting dangerously, and deformingly, hooked on the very E.D. product he’s litigating against…and Andrew Yancy, formerly Detective Yancy, busted down to the Key West roach patrol after accosting his then-lover’s husband with a Dust Buster. Yancy believes that if he can singlehandedly solve a high-profile murder, he’ll get his detective badge back. That the Razor Girl may be the key to Yancy’s future will be as surprising as anything else he encounters along the way, including the giant Gambian rats that are livening up his restaurant inspections.
Last but not least, a book to celebrate reading:
“A Child of Books” by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston
A little girl sails her raft across a sea of words, arriving at the house of a small boy and calling him away on an adventure. Through forests of fairy tales and across mountains of make-believe, the two travel together on a fantastical journey that unlocks the boy’s imagination. Now a lifetime of magic and adventure lies ahead of him…but who will be next? This beautiful book is creatively filled with excerpts of classic literature. For example, when the children meet a “monster” in the book, the “monster” is made of sentence fragments from Frankenstein and Dracula. At first glance, the forest appears like a traditional forest. On closer examination, the tree trunks are actually old books. The branches are sentences from famous fairy tales. A Child of Books is about the rewards of reading and sharing stories. This will be a gift for any reader, any child raised on books who is now raising the next generation of readers. Simply stunning!
Barbara Theroux is the founder of Fact and Fiction Books in Missoula.
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Freedom walk: Book details Vietnam vet’s long hike to restore his faith in humanity
Greg Burham talks about his recently published book, “One Step at a Time.” The book follows the Vietnam combat veteran’s walk from Alaska to Mexico after he returned home with post traumatic stress disorder in the 1970s.
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By Kim Briggeman
There’s no simple reason why Greg Burham walked from Alaska to Mexico in 1974. People called him crazy for even setting out on the hike that began in Hyder, Alaska, on June 19 and ended five months later, on the nose, at the Mexican border town of Sonoyta. Maybe he was. “But it was a different kind of crazy,” Burham writes in his book “One Step At A Time: A Navy SEAL Vietnam Combat Veteran’s Journey
Home.” Just in time for Veterans’ Day, the memoir by the Missoula man was published by Phoca Press, which specializes in works related to Naval special warfare. Following a standout high-school basketball career at Flathead High in Kalispell and, as a senior, at Missoula Sentinel for Coach Lou Rocheleau, the 6-foot-6 Burham spent a hitch in Vietnam as an Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) SEAL. He came back to an America, a Missoula and
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Greg Burham, center, towers over fellow Navy SEALs Barry Feece and Bob Harger in Chuong Thien Province, South Vietnam, in 1971.
a University of Montana that greeted its returning warriors with a level of antagonism that Burham still can’t comprehend – from television shows and movies he says depicted “evil/crazy Vietnam veterans” to his fellow students to professors and to the girls he dated briefly, until they found out he’d fought for “the man.” “I understood the pro-peace, anti-war position,” Burham says. “But the anti-military, antiveteran stuff was very difficult to tolerate.” Yes, he suffered from what later was recognized as post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, from those days on the Mekong Delta. Still does. Now 67, Burham has weekly sessions with a Missoula trauma therapist to cope. He also has lunch regularly at the Village Senior Residence with centenarians Ty Robinson and 104-year-old Emma Lommasson, who as registrar was one of the few people at UM who showed support and comfort for Vietnam
vets. Burham said his mother, Cecelia, secretary to Grizzly athletic director Jack Swarthout, was another. All that hostility weighed on the mind of the strapping, handsome 25-year-old when he dropped out of school, quit his job with his childhood friend and Kalispell teammate Doug Bitney at Sparta Health Spa (now the Women’s Club) on Bow Street and started walking. “I was free from the day-to-day grind of school and work. I was free from being judged negatively. I had nothing before me but the open road and the incredible beauty of nature,” he wrote. “This gives you some idea of why this freedom thing was such a big deal for me. From all kinds of pressure to none at all felt great.” Freedom did ensue. So did blisters and bugs, a backpack that weighed 80 pounds fully stocked, rain, snow at the Grand Canyon and an amazing, unvarying stream of warm strangers. Fall 2016
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Burham was one of a number of Vietnam veterans who visited Afghansy veterans at a hospital in the Soviet Union, under the watchful eye of a smiling KGB security agent, left. Burham later recognized the agent as future Russian president Vladimir Putin.
A Missoula buddy, Buzz Blastic, rode the ferry to Ketchikan, Alaska, and walked with Burham the first few days wearing an “impossibly large” 10-gallon hat. A 29-year-old hitchhiker named Dick Martin accompanied him the last 150 miles into Banff, Alberta, and for a day in Arizona. George Ganoung, a UDT SEAL teammate in training and in Vietnam, hiked the final 80 miles with Burham, from Gila Bend to Mexico. *** Sometimes turning down a half-dozen offers for rides a day, Burham hiked 650 miles through British Columbia and 450 through Alberta before he reached the U.S. at the Chief Mountain Port of Entry near Glacier National Park. It was Sept. 5 – 40 years ago Monday – when a four-wheel drive pulled off in front of him as Burham plodded down the north side of Interstate 90 a few miles west of Missoula. A bearded man jumped out and started taking his picture. Eventually the man introduced himself as Missoulian photographer Harley Hettick. Burham laid over in Missoula for the Sept. 14 wedding of his younger brother Kevin and Jeannie Yovetich in Rose Park, a marriage that continues 42 years later. While he was there, at Hettick’s urging, he contacted the Missoulian and a write-up on Burham’s walk appeared in the Sept. 15 paper. In her final paragraph, Debbie McKinney wrote, “Burham plans to return to Missoula to finish school after the hike. He said he is keeping a fairly accurate journal and hopes to ‘put something together’ in way of a book to share his experiences.” Burham chuckled about that recently. The book, he said, has been a long time coming. 46
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He stayed with the Ganoungs in Tucson for a time, during which he borrowed their cassette tape recorder. With map and his journal in hand he talked his way back through the hike, recording eight hours’ worth. A few months later he met Leslie Young in Denver. They married in 1976. They had twins, Anna and John, now 36; and then Jake, who’s 32. All three are graduates of Hellgate High School, where Leslie teaches today. Burham returned to UM and finished his bachelor’s degree in 1977, then went to work for the Missoula Youth Court’s foster care program. He struggled with PTSD and joined with other veterans to advocate for a Veterans Center in Missoula. With the help of Rep. Pat Williams they succeeded in 1985. Burham received a master’s degree in counseling in 1987 and continued working with veterans groups around Missoula. In 1988, while the Cold War was still chilling, he and four other Vietnam vets from Missoula were in one of three troupes invited to visit the Soviet Union to help counsel “Afghantsies”– Russian soldiers suffering PTSD from the war in Afghanistan. The trip was made into a PBS documentary “Brothers in Arms.” Burham’s book includes a number of photos from the trip. In one he’s sitting in a veterans’ hospital amid smiling Afghan patients and a smiling KGB security agent who was assigned to “babysit” the American visitors. The agent “was so glad we were connecting and helping them with their PTSD,” Burham last week. Years later, he realized who the agent was when he saw news accounts of Russia’s new president – Vladimir Putin. In 2007, Burham retired from his job as team leader at the Missoula Vet Center, where he’d worked for 14 years. He reflected on his walk of 1974 in another Missoulian story. “What I needed to do was restore my faith in humanity, and that’s exactly what happened,” he said. “I found people who took me for who I was,
and found a goodness that I wasn’t sure existed anymore.” He has remained active on a volunteer basis with PTSD counseling, manning Veterans Administration outreach booths at East and West Coast UDT-SEAL reunions in Virginia and California and the annual “muster” at the UDT-SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce, Florida. It wasn’t until two years ago that he dug out the old cassette tapes of his walk. Burham said he’s indebted to Taran Kahler, a computer expert and son of a former co-worker at Missoula Youth Court, Patta Kahler. Taran spent hours converting the eight hours of tape into text. “One Step at a Time” rose out it, slowly. The book is an attractive 214-page hardbound, with color photos throughout. The cover design and graphics, including maps of each segment of the journey, are by Vietnam combat veteran Roman Kuczer of Missoula. Burham worked for months with Phoca Press editor Lisa Merriam before his book hit the presses in July. Seeing the finished product proved therapeutic in itself. “Oh, gosh, yes,” Burham said. “The fact that it got published helped me considerably, physically and emotionally.” “Greg Burham went on after his time on the SEAL teams to become one of the most productive members of our society despite dealing with the difficulties of PTSD,” said Tom Hawkins, founder and CEO of Phoca Press. “His work bringing PTSD discussion to the forefront in the Navy SEAL community was ground-breaking and essential.” Burham’s inspiring story is “a great narrative, a remarkable journey of life and healing,” Hawkins said. “Every reader will want to grab their hiking boots and hit the road.” Greg Burham’s “One Step At A Time: A Navy SEAL Vietnam Combat Veteran’s Journey Home” can be ordered online at phocopress.com. Cost is $55. Kim Briggeman writes for the Missoulian at kim.briggeman @missoulian.com
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Each day to the fullest.
The secret to happiness as we age is to stay as mentally, physically and socially engaged as possible. To feel a sense of purpose. And to be surrounded by those who truly care. Helping residents live each day to the fullest is our mission at Highgate. We offer a host of activities, nutritious and delicious meals, and full care for all in a lovely, homelike setting. If you or your loved one needs either a little or a lot of extra help with daily living, call today and schedule a tour of our Assisted Living or Memory Care community. You’ll see why a move to Highgate is one of the best moves you can make. Highgate at Great Falls 3000 11th Avenue South Call: 406-454-0991 Highgate at Bozeman 2219 West Oak Street Call: 406-587-5100
Highgate at Billings 3980 Parkhill Drive Call: 406-651-4833
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