Page 22 - Flathead Beacon // 7.22.15

OSTROM OVER THE YEARS
JULY 24, 1928
Glenn George Ostrom is born in Missoula to Logan and Hazel Ostrom.
1934
Logan takes a job working at the Flathead Mine near Kila and the family moves to a cabin in the woods.
1946
George leaves Flathead County High School midway through his senior year to join the U.S. Army during the latter stages of World War II. He serves in Europe for three years.
1950
Back home in the Flathead Valley after a brief stint at the University of Montana, George becomes a smokejumper. He fights wildfires for almost five years.
1956
George takes a job at the new KOFI radio station in Kalispell. He reads the news and plays music during the mornings.
APRIL 12, 1958
A year after their first date, George Ostrom and Iris Wilhelm are married.
1961-62
George works as a legislative assistant for Montana U.S. Sen. Lee Metcalf in Washington, D.C. George helped write what would become the Wilderness Bill, which Metcalf later spearheaded in Congress.
1962
While in D.C., George begins writing a weekly column for Mel Ruder’s Hungry Horse News.
JULY 1974
George purchases the Kalispell Weekly News. The newspaper becomes the largest in the state and wins numerous awards.
1981
George receives Kalispell’s Great Chief Award, the oldest and most prestigious local honor, for his community efforts, including establishing United Way and other organizations.
1984
George joins the “Over-the-Hill Gang,” a group of hikers that meets regularly and adventures in the outdoors. George’s best friend from high school, Ivan O’Neill, is a longtime member.
1986
George resumes writing regular columns for the Hungry Horse News
1990
George and partners purchase KOFI radio.
1996
George wins a first-place national award for Best Humorous Column.
JULY 24, 2015
George celebrates his 87th birthday on the same day The Museum at Central School unveils its exhibit honoring his lifelong adventures.
IOstrom, second from the left, served from 1961-62 as a legislative assistant for Montana U.S. Sen. Lee Metcalf. COURTESY PHOTO
ndeed. To hear him tell it, it would although he has never asked for any of it, seem inconceivable, more fairy tales including this latest museum exhibit and the than fact. stack of awards he has accrued over the years.
Growing up on a ranch in Sanders “I’m not a guy who has a lot of trouble with County and then a mining camp near his ego,” he says. “You’ve got to have self-confi-
Kila in the heart of the Depression, “hauling dence so you’re not daunted by things.”
every drip of water we used seven miles.” Trav- eling the new Going-to-the-Sun Road when it was barely a dirt pathway ascending Glacier National Park. Starting his first newspaper — the Hog Heaven Gazette — in sixth grade. Fib- bing his age at 15 to get a job fighting wildfires in the rugged mountains of Northwest Mon- tana. Skipping out of Flathead County High School at age 17 to train as a paratrooper in World War II. Sabotaging the Germans and guiding the Allied forces across Europe with a complex communication system he helped operate. Running to the top of the Eiffel Tower, and running away from cops chasing him for sitting on the railing of the Empire State Build- ing. Diving out of airplanes as a squad leader in America’s first generation of smokejump- ing, and performing the lone jump at the ded- ication of the center in Missoula in 1954 in front of 40,000 people, including President Eisenhower.
And that was only during his first 20 or so years.
The endless stories are as legendary as the man, who is turning 87 on July 24 and is the inspiration for a new exhibit at The Museum at Central School in Kalispell. The exhibit debuts on Ostrom’s birthday with a public grand opening from 5 to 8 p.m.
The museum is showcasing a treasure trove of memorabilia from Ostrom’s life, evidence of his legendary adventures and exploits.
He has been celebrated many times before and is not one to shy away from the spotlight,
The exhibit, which includes only a fraction of Ostrom’s collection, offers an exciting jour- ney into the life of an icon and institution.
He has chronicled life in the Flathead Valley for over 60 years as a hall of fame radio broad- caster, award-winning columnist, photogra- pher, newspaperman, television host, author and public speaker.
“George Ostrom is a legend in the Flat- head, and for a good reason,” author Tom Law- rence wrote in his book, “Pictures, a Park, and a Pulitzer: Mel Ruder and the Hungry Horse News.”
Ostrom has motivated generations of explorers to travel out of bounds to the high- est peaks and furthest vistas, on his own and as a member of the “Over-the-Hill Gang” along- side his best friend, Ivan O’Neill, and a group of hikers that for years has met once a week for adventures around the region.
“George Ostrom was one of my inspirations to start climbing in Glacier National Park. The tales and photos of his adventures in the high country spurred me to seek the summits,” said Blake Passmore, a noted local author and hiker who has published a series of hiking guides.
“Just his passion and knowledge of the out- doors and the park; if I could know a quarter of the stuff George does, that would be great.”
His love of the outdoors extended to the legislative realms, and he spent two years in Washington D.C. as an assistant for Montana U.S. Sen. Lee Metcalf, who spearheaded the Wilderness Bill, designating certain forests
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JULY 22, 2015 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM