The handshake heard 'round the World

By CHRIS PETERSON

Hungry Horse News

Perhaps no one noticed that flock of birds flying from one tree to the next, across a small strip of land cleared by men to the top of the mountains. Perhaps no one noticed that the wind and the sun didn't care that the small strip of land was there. It didn't stop the wind blowing or the sun shining, that's for sure.

That small strip of land is all that separates the U.S. from Canada, Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta from Glacier National Park in Montana. It's a peaceful strip. It has been for nearly 200 years. In an age of war, the border still has no fence. No poised armies. No sentinels. No guns pointed at one another.

It's peaceful.

That peace was celebrated last week by both young and old alike as Rotarians got together to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park.

At Logan Pass on Thursday, 18 sixth-graders from Canada and Montana got together at the Glacier Institute's West Glacier camp. They then got a jammer ride up to the Pass where they had a hands across the border ceremony and a tour of the area — led by ranger-naturalist Kim Redding.

Students were chosen for their winning essays, poems and presentations sponsored by the National Parks Conservation Association.

Some went beyond paper pens and crayons, however. John Iddon, of Fernie, B.C. did a Power Point presentation on the Rocky Mountains.

He said Glacier "is very nice. It's a beautiful place. The peace park is a great idea. It symbolizes that we have peace between the U.S. and Canada."

Iddon said when he grows up he wants to be a science teacher or a professor.

Some kids were already becoming friends.

Stephen Hochstein of Pincher Creek and Boone Tullett of Kalispell were hitting it off. Hochstein, an avid golfer, wrote about golf courses while Tullett wrote about Holter Lake.

Hochstein said he thought Tullett was a little weird. Tullett said the same thing about Hochstein. But the two were hitting it off just the same.

Teagan Forster was worried about coal mining in the Flathead. He said he didn't want the Cline Mine near Elko.

He wrote an essay about a baby moose. The mother had a baby moose and a bald eagle flew down and ate the afterbirth. Forster watched the whole thing. The Elk River is out his backyard, he explained. He's an outdoors kind of kid.

These kids are the future of course, and that was sort of the point, noted Steve Thompson of NPCA.

"This is ultimately about future generations," he said.

Glacier Park Superintendent Mick Holm agreed.

"This was a great opportunity to give us that moment to share the legacy of the Peace Park… What better time to pass that on," Holm said in reference to the current state of the world.

Of course, adults had their own ceremony as well.

On Sunday officials from Waterton, Glacier, the Rotarians, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Border Patrol had a hands across the border ceremony.

Pincher Creek Rotarian Doug Thornton was master of ceremonies and lent a good bit of humor to the affair, starting out by wearing a snarling grizzly bear hat on his bald head and saying "Play Ball!" after both national anthems were sung.

Mike Snyder, the director of the Intermountain Region for the National Park Service, told the story of his mother and father. His father was an American. His mother Japanese. They fell in love during World War II. Both lost loved ones in the war. But they never forgot each other and after the war they were eventually married.

"Their love overcame," Snyder said. "Our love for both countries has overcome."