Horse Play
VA grant funds new therapeutic equine program that partners veterans with horses to learn and teach while healing
By MOLLY PRIDDY
EVERGREEN – Jim Vincent stood in the arena, in temperatures below freezing, trying to coax a large horse named Magpie into stepping sideways.
The horse could do it, therapist Natalie Norrell said while watching from the sidelines, but didn’t know it; it was a matter of Vincent working with Magpie to foster a relationship in which she trusts him to show her how.
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Teenage Girl Donates Smoke Detectors to Homes in Need
Bailey Lake uses 4-H award money to help improve safety for vulnerable senior population
By TRISTAN SCOTT
Every year, Bailey Lake’s award-winning market lambs earn her a tidy profit at the state fair, funds the 15-year-old high school freshman diligently deposits in a savings account for college.
This year, however, Lake decided to use the money a bit more capriciously — she spent it on charity.
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Making Ends Meet at the End of the Year
Chris Krager has led Kalispell’s Samaritan House for 16 years and is thankful for the annual influx of holiday generosity
By JUSTIN FRANZ
Last week, Chris Krager looked out his window, saw snow and worried. Krager, the executive director of the Samaritan House in Kalispell, immediately thought of someone who had probably just spent a frigid night alone in a car.
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Generosity Rises from the Ashes
Montanans help one another during and after historic wildfire season
By JUSTIN FRANZ
COLUMBIA FALLS — A few weeks ago, Mike Sandel and Matt Folz of Xanterra Parks & Resorts walked into Lake McDonald Lodge and were inundated with a familiar smell from the past summer.
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Giving the Good Stuff
Maranda and Michael Johnson donate products from their company, The Good Stuff Botanicals, to organizations throughout the valley
By MYERS REECE
Three-year-old Everest Johnson was excited about his potential gift haul this Christmas, as any child would be, and parents Michael and Maranda saw in their son’s eagerness a chance to explain the true meaning of the season. There is no receiving without giving, and they sat him down for a lesson in the value of selflessness.
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Smiles Abound at Shop With a Cop
Columbia Falls Police Association buys holiday gifts for local students at annual event
By ANDY VIANO
Nine-year-old Serenity Shyann Brummett reunited with a familiar face last week at Target in Kalispell: the Columbia Falls police officer who, as she recalled it, gave her his badge earlier this fall while he was temporarily stationed at Ruder Elementary School.