No headline
Santa Claus visits with youngsters in December, 1955, during a Lions Club Christmas Party. This photo was one of a 19-photo spread on the front page. Children weren’t identified by photos, just listed.
70 years ago
Dec. 19. 1946
No bids had yet been received on the contract to do plumbing work on 50 pre-fabricated houses in Hungry Horse. A Navy bus purchased by the F.H. Stoltze Lumber Co. after the war came through a draw battle with a bull moose after the moose charged the bus twice. Both the bus and moose were unharmed by the altercation.
60 years ago
Dec. 21, 1956
A new 1949 Cadillac ambulance was purchased this week by Columbia Falls Volunteer Ambulance Association for $1,200 plus the traded-in 1938 Buick that had served for the past two years. Directors of the Bank of Columbia Falls recommended the bank’s capital be doubled to keep up with the growing community.
50 years ago
Dec. 23, 1966
The Hungry Horse News reported that the schedule for fiscal year 1969 would see four more miles of the North Fork Road constructed, with $400,000 of Forest highway funds set aside for the project. Plum Creek was considering restoring a night shift at its plywood plant.
40 years ago
Dec. 23, 1976
Flathead County Commissioners wrote the “Montana Highway Commission” urging construction of Nucleus Avenue as soon as possible. Mel Ruder called ‘76 the “Year of the Grizzlies,” with top headlines being dominated by the infamous Geifer grizzly, attacks on Roscoe Black and Theressa Wadden, and the mauling death of Mary Pat Mahoney, Ruder wrote.
30 years ago
Dec. 24, 1986
Glacier National Park’s operating budget rose 8 percent to $5,285,600, the first increase the park had seen in two years. The gate fee at the Park for vehicles was also set to increase for the coming fiscal year, going from $2 to $5. The Christmas Eve issue of the Hungry Horse News carried a feature on the countless law enforcement, medical professionals, and others whose work did not stop for the holiday and saw them on the job on Christmas.
20 years ago
Dec. 26, 1996
After being trapped in their homes for two days due to drifting snow, residents of the 60-home Kokanee Bend subdivision were plowed out in time for an uneventful Christmas dinner. The Flathead valley passed a water mark, with 24.35 measured inches of precipitation, making 1996 the wettest year in a century of record keeping.
10 years ago
Dec. 21, 2006
The McKessick family was enjoying the holiday season in their new home, having moved in the fall into one of six Habitat for Humanity homes in Columbia Falls. Hurricane-force winds were recorded in Glacier Park.