Deep Roots: Mayor Don Barnhart reflects on career; looks to future

More than 50 years ago, a Columbia Falls 13-year-old would jump on his bike, ride up to the job site and run a backhoe for his father.

The boy worked for four hours and then a friend would work for four hours.

They made good money and it was fun.

That teenager was Columbia Falls Mayor Don Barnhart.

“I remember when everyone called me the kid,” Barnhart said in an interview last week.

Today, Barnhart has a host of pictures on the wall in his small office in the industrial park off Railroad Street —Pictures of machinery and jobs he’s worked on over the years.

After a distinguished career as a community leader and mayor of Columbia Falls, he’s no longer the kid. He’s the man people go to looking for advice, or history of this fair city.

Barnhart was born and raised here. His father, Ray, moved here from Fairview, Oregon in 1948 after World War II to work on the Hungry Horse Dam. After the dam work, Ray went to work for E.J. Lundstrom and in 1955, along with partner Fred Fowler, they bought out Lundstrom and formed B&F Excavating.

That’s where a young Don got his start. Don graduated from Columbia Falls in 1971. He played football and was a center on the 1970 team that made it to the state A championship.

“I was a little guy,” he said. “5-foot-5, 155 pounds.”

After high school he went to Flathead Valley Community College and joined the Army Reserves, where he reached the rank of Staff Sergeant. He tried working other jobs, but kept going back to the excavation business. And why not? He made more money in his teens than the grown men working at the nearby plants.

In 1973 he married Barb Schrock. They had two children, Carrie and Dawn. In 1979 he joined the Columbia Falls Volunteer Fire Department. He rose through the ranks and became chief in 1990, a post he held until 2000. They ran the department on a tight budget, about $18,000 annually. Like digging in the dirt, the firefighting was enjoyable.

“It’s a lifestyle,” he said. “When a call came out, no one stayed home. The only time you wouldn’t go is if you were leaving your kids at home alone.”

The first fire he was incident commander on was when the rectifier at the aluminum plant caught on fire. It was a giant ball of flame.

“That’s how I was introduced to incident command,” he said.

Firefighters learned to do everything — from running the Jaws of Life to interior attack on a blaze. He slipped a disk in his back early on chopping through a door. It still bothers him today.

His worst fire was an explosion at Plum Creek’s medium density fiberboard plant years ago. It set the rafters of the plant on fire. Temperatures were zero and below.

“Everyone was so cold,” he recalled.

Another memorable blaze was in 1983 when the old theater on Nucleus Avenue caught fire in a spectacular blaze. It was a tinderbox.

“The walls were filled with sawdust insulation,” he said.

He retired from firefighting for good a few years ago after being safety officer for more than a decade. His body just couldn’t do what it used to.

Barnhart has also had a distinguished public service career. He served seven years on city council and has been mayor for seven years as well. At 65, he plans on seeking another term this fall.

The council works well together.

“This is what (government) should be,” he said. “People get together with diverse ideas and get things done. We talk things out. Ninety-nine percent of the time it’s a unanimous vote.”

Barnhart said his focus is working on enhancing the amenities to residents, while staying within a budget. He’d like to see improvements made to the city’s parks, more sidewalks and bike paths in town and the like.

Overall, he likes the way the city is headed, but as Nucleus grows, he’d also like to see a downtown business group form.

He noted the old arch that was over Nucleus Avenue was a project done by the downtown businesses coming together years ago.

But he also acknowledges that the city doesn’t always move as fast as people would like.

“It takes a while, you have to be patient,” he said.