Yesterdays

60 Years Ago

Aug. 24, 1951

Regent Drilling Co. hauled oil-drilling equipment from Chip Lake, Alberta, up the North Fork Road to a site near Sage Creek, about 70 miles north of Columbia Falls. Two bulldozers cleared a 4,000-foot long airstrip last summer for Capital Exploration Co. of Calgary. Four trailer houses were set up at Polebridge for the families of the drill crews.

Plans were announced to build a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints church in Columbia Falls. The Mormon church in Columbia Falls was organized in 1950. About 70 percent of the $50,000 cost of the church would be funded by the church headquarters in Salt Lake City.

50 Years Ago

Aug. 25, 1961

The 76th annual convention of the Montana State Press Association was held at the Many Glacier Hotel in Glacier National Park. Dorothy Johnson, the association's secretary-manager and a well-known Montanan author, spoke on "A frantic study of European communications." She recently traveled to Greece and Great Britain.

The Glacier Lanes bowling alley on Nucleus Avenue held its grand opening. Brothers Bob and Tom Smith were owners of the eight-lane facility. Their wives ran the lunch counter, and Cal Crouch was the control center operator.

40 Years Ago

Aug. 27, 1961

With the sale of the Anaconda Aluminum Co. employee club house to the city of Columbia Falls for one dollar, the city was accepting bids for six Brunswick bowling lanes with automatic pinsetters, along with a complete bar and kitchen. The city planned to use the building for a new city hall.

Public hearings were scheduled in Columbia Falls and in Hungry Horse for the new Highway 40 and U.S. 2 designs. Construction was slated to begin from U.S. 93 near Whitefish all the way east to West Glacier.

30 Years Ago

Aug. 20, 1981

A Kalispell architectural firm was chosen for the new $2 million 50-bed addition to the Montana Veterans Home in Columbia Falls. The project was expected to be completed in April 1982.

The Columbia Falls City Council turned down a request by Plum Creek to extend water service to its plant outside the city limits. The council cited a 1962 ordinance in its decision.

20 Years Ago

Aug. 22, 1991

Heart problems were blamed for the death of a 46-year-old Babb woman whose vehicle left the Going-to-the-Sun Road near Logan Creek. Rangers guiding a tour bus carrying Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan, Montana Rep. Ron Marlenee and Glacier National Park superintendent Gil Lusk arrived about 10 minutes after the accident.

A zoning change for an RV park east of Columbia Falls was rejected by the Columbia Falls City Council and the Flathead County Commissioners. The owners of the Route 40 Mobile Home Trailer Court wanted the zoning changed from residential to commercial.

10 Years Ago

Aug. 23, 2001

Montana Sen. Conrad Burns' office facilitated a meeting with concerned neighbors about environmental impacts by the Great Northern Bark Co. plant outside the city limits on Railroad Street. Representatives from state and county health departments attended.

Glacier Park rangers found the body of a 22-year-old Polish man who died while descending the west ridge of Mount Jackson on Aug. 13. A Minuteman Aviation helicopter assisted in the search.