As a photojournalist, I have the privilege of witnessing history being made daily in the Flathead Valley and the opportunity to share it with Beacon readers. My work offers me a glimpse into the heart of our community as I try to capture storytelling images of not only the prominent events, but also quieter scenes. It is the people in these photographs who make them important. Learning their stories and discovering how they shape our community is the best part of my job. Here are the fleeting moments, both breathtaking and heartbreaking, that defined 2015.
Greg Lindstrom
Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
Jeff Ulsamer gets a kiss from Zeus before running his dogs on Feb. 5, 2015. Ulsamer has been running dogs out of his Olney-based Dog Sled Adventures for nearly four decades. About one-third of his 130-dog team are either rescues or trouble dogs no one else wanted or could handle. “It doesn’t take a pure breed,” he said. “It just takes a heart.” Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
Melissa Hulvat faceplants as she pushes Pierre Kaptanian off the starting line during the Barstool Ski Races at the 37th annual Cabin Fever Days in Martin City on Feb. 14, 2015. The Trapline Association is a nonprofit organization established in the 1990s that puts on the annual festival. The event raises money for local charities in Bad Rock Canyon. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
Jeremy Juntunen, right, hugs his daughter Takara Juntunen as supporters release balloons during a candlelight vigil in honor of Takara's son, Forrest Groshelle, on Feb. 20, 2015. The 2-year-old boy died from a laceration to his small intestine. His mother's boyfriend, Brandon Newberry, pleaded not guilty to charges of deliberate homicide. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
Friends and family console Takara Juntunen during a candlelight vigil in honor of her son, Forrest Groshelle, on Feb. 20, 2015. The 2-year-old boy died from a laceration to his small intestine. His mother's boyfriend, Brandon Newberry, pleaded not guilty to charges of deliberate homicide. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
Jacob Ereth flies off a jump at the Smoking Aces Freestyle Tour at Whitefish Mountain Resort on Feb. 28, 2015. More photos at flatheadbeacon.com. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
Jackson Henio, 7, reacts as his car, "Swamp Buggy," takes the lead during the Pinewood Derby at the Kalispell Center Mall on March 7, 2015. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
Former Arkansas governor and 2016 presidential candidate Mike Huckabee speaks at Stillwater Christian School’s annual For Such a Time As This dinner on March 19, 2015. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
After three years, Kenny Guzman was a rising star in Montana with a 14-7 record and a Golden Glove championship. Guzman is pictured at The Summit in Kalispell on March 31, 2015. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
Columbia Falls High School sisters Cydney, left, and Ciera Finberg helped lead the Wildkats to a 22-2 season where they placed third in the Class A state tournament. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
Flathead High School's Trae Vasquez won the Class AA state tournament at the 113-pound division, finishing his stellar freshman season with a 22-1 record. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
Rep. Frank Garner walks into a mostly House floor during the 64th Montana Legislative Session in Helena on April 24, 2015. Beacon File Photo
Gene Boyle receives a kiss from his wife, Barb, as he is honored before the Flathead High School softball game on April 28, 2015. During a special ceremony, the Bravette softball field was dedicated to the former coach and longtime educator. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
Jordan Reese poses with his clarinet at Whitefish High School on April 30, 2015. The school sent about 60 students to the Montana High School Association State Solo and Ensemble Festivals. “That’s one out of every eight kids walking through the hallways at Whitefish High School,” Principal Kerry Drown said. “That’s pretty impressive.” Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
Competitors cast shadows on a muddy puddle as they climb a rope during the Spartan Beast obstacle race in Bigfork on May 9, 2015. The Beast featured over 12 miles of harsh terrain and more than 30 challenging obstacles, including mud bogs, uphill climbs and other creative tests of endurance and agility. Nearly 7,000 people competed two races at the third annual Montana Spartan Race. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
Elise Aldrich gives Sonny a kiss after a session on May 13, 2015 with Lynnette Holmes at SAMS Riders, a therapeutic horse-riding program off Farm to Market Road. Holmes took the business over from Bob and Timi Burmood in April. “Horses don’t understand disability. They see each person as they are, and accept them as they are,” Holmes said. “If you treat them with respect, they will respect and love you.” Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
Case Metzler kicks a soccer ball by himself in the gym at Pleasant Valley School west of Kalispell on May 21, 2015. Metzler celebrated his graduation from kindergarten as the lone student at the last remaining one-room schoolhouse in Flathead County. There are fewer than 400 operational one-room schoolhouses in the country, and Montana has the most in the nation at 62, boasting at least one in each of its 56 counties, according to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
Makena Morley celebrates with teammates Mattison McAnally, Haile Norred and Bryn Morley after the 1600-meter run at the state track and field championships at Legends Stadium on May 23, 2015. The Bigfork girls set a new Class B record with a time of 4:01.71. One of the greatest distance runners in Montana history, Morley won seven individual state titles in track and four in cross country in her high school career. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
Steve Rolfing leads his llamas across a creek while training the animals for pack trips at the Strawberry Lake trailhead on June 4, 2015. When Steve and Sue Rolfing bought their first llama in 1979, there were only a few thousand in the United States and information on breeding and packing was scarce. “There was no one to tell you you were doing it wrong, and there was no information so we just did it,” Steve said. “We didn’t have to study up on a bunch of stuff because there was nothing to study.” Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
The rising sun illuminates the peaks surrounding the Many Glacier Hotel in Glacier National Park on July 3, 2015. The Many Glacier Hotel celebrated 100 years as one of the crown jewels of Glacier National Park. For more than a century, the massive hotel has withstood the ravages of time, floods and fire, all the while enticing people with its legend and lore. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
A mountain goat is silhouetted as it walks along the Highline Trail on July 3, 2015. Glacier National Park is home to one of the largest populations of mountain goats in the lower 48, with an estimated 1,500-2,000 goats roaming the high-alpine environment. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
Spectators are doused as Doug Averill fires a water cannon at the crowd during the Fourth of July parade through downtown Bigfork on July 4, 2015. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
"Good morning, beautiful," says Glenn Mueller as he leans over to kiss his wife Helen after seeing her for the first time on the morning of July 9, 2015. Helen suffers from dementia, but that doesn't stop Glenn from spending every morning with his wife of more than 60 years. “That’s the one smart thing I did in my life, was marrying that lady,” Glenn says. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
Sunset along Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park on July 14, 2015. The Crown Jewel of the Continent has attracted more visitors than ever this year with an estimated 2.35 million people through November, according to National Park Service statistics. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
Ivan Peters pushes a 1949 Studebaker flatbed truck to an open area on his property with the help of his grandson, Kasey Lee, as they prepare to evacuate Peters' home along Lower St. Mary Lake, where smoke from the Reynolds Creek Fire filled the sky on July 22, 2015. Peters built the house on his property in 1983 and has been living there since 2000. “When I see flames, I’ll boogie out of here,” Peters said. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
Bruce Davidson Jr. rides The Apprentice during the dressage portion at The Event at Rebecca Farm on July 24, 2015. The Event at Rebecca Farm is the largest of its type in North America. New this year is an international CCI 3-star division, the second-highest level of competition in the sport. Riders can only compete at this level at three other events in the United States this year. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
Tyfini West carves serpentine lines while wakesurfing on Echo Lake with Flathead Wakeboard Academy on July 29, 2015. In the past few years, wakesurfing has taken the watersports world by storm, and inland Montana, with its plethora of lakes and prominent water culture, is no exception. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
The Great Northern Type Two Initial Attack unit walks in line as the Reynolds Creek Fire burns near the Rising Sun General Store in Glacier National Park on July 30, 2015. At one point there were 670 personnel assigned to the incident, including eight hot shot crews, eight 20-person crews and seven helicopters. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
Halladay Quist, pictured at Whitefish City Beach on July 30, 2015. The 30-year-old musician has embarked on a most ambitious journey, chasing her dreams fully and following her passion as far as it takes her. This includes playing three to four live shows a week across western Montana, performing in Alpine Theatre Project’s month-long musical production of “Chicago,” recording multiple musical projects and releasing her first solo album, which took a year to produce in Nashville. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
Strong afternoon winds pushed fire across a dry field on Aug. 5, 2015 as it destroyed at least two homes and multiple outbuildings in an Evergreen neighborhood. At least three vehicles burned at one residence. While firefighters battled the 6.5-acre blaze from the ground, two helicopters were dropping water from the Flathead River. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
Kalispell's Tyrell Toren rides Apple Pie at the 15th Annual Blue Moon Bull Bash in Columbia Falls on Aug. 7, 2015. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
Dan Fagre hunts for a precise GPS location along Upper Grinnell Lake as he takes repeat photographs of Grinnell, Salamander and Gem glaciers on Aug. 17, 2015. Fagre is one of the foremost climate change scientists in the United States. For the last 25 years, he has led a group of scientists studying one of the most iconic examples of that change in North America: the melting glaciers in Glacier National Park. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
A Chinook helicopter drops retardant as the Sheep Fire burns near Essex on Aug. 20, 2015. As of Aug. 24, fire crews had used 55,400 gallons of fire retardant and 1.1 million gallons of water to fight the Sheep Fire and others in the Thompson-Divide Complex. The Sheep Fire burned more than 1,000-acres to within about 120 yards of BNSF Railway’s main line and about a half-mile from the community of Essex. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
Clayton Miller and Hank Hollenbeck compete in the team roping competition at the PRCA Rodeo at the Northwest Montana Fair on Aug. 20, 2015. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
Bob Brown, right, laughs as U.S. Sen. Steve Daines celebrates with fishing guide Irv Heitz after landing and releasing a rainbow trout on the North Fork Flathead River on Aug. 24, 2015. Daines float trip celebrated the passage of the North Fork Watershed Protect Act, a measure to ban new energy development on 430,000 acres of wild and scenic river corridor. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
James Androuais, with Americlock, installs the hands on new clocks at the Old Courthouse's tower on Sept. 14, 2015. The county received $9,800 from an anonymous donor to purchase the clocks, and it’s the first time in the building’s 113-year history that there are clocks in the tower. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
Trego's Bernice Ende smiles as she sneaks between her horses, Montana Spirit, left, and Essie Pearl, after greeting some friends outside the Blue Moon Nite Club as she passes through Columbia Falls on Sept. 17, 2015. Ende has learned to ride through pain and discomfort while covering nearly 22,000 miles on horseback in the past decade. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
Conrad Mansion, pictured on Oct. 2, 2015, celebrates 120 years as an historic landmark and 40 years as a revered museum open to the public. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
Kootenai Falls on Oct. 8, 2015. Academy Award-winning cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki selected Kootenai Falls for epic river scene in “The Revenant,” the upcoming Alejandro González Iñárritu film starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
Community member gather at Peterson Elementary School to honor Autumn Hawk, the 8-year-old girl killed in a motor home fire near Foys Lake, on Oct. 9, 2015. The fire investigation team looking into the incident reported on Oct. 8 that due to the hot, fast nature of the blaze, there wasn’t enough evidence to identify a cause. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
Wolfpack senior Thomas Trefney runs past a diving Flathead defender. Glacier beat Flathead 41-26 during the crosstown game at Legends Stadium on Oct. 23, 2015. Trefney finished his stellar senior season with 279 carries and 1,656 yards, both school records. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
Brandon French, center, and Ben Graham catch air while kiteboarding along the north shore of Flathead Lake on Nov. 11, 2015. French turned to kiteboarding after a rare heart condition sidelined him from his endurance racing career. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
Former Whitefish standout Derek Crittenden celebrates after a defensive score in 2015 at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
Fans cheer on the Whitefish High School football state champions during a parade through downtown on Nov. 24, 2015. The Bulldogs triumphed over the Dillon Beavers 17-13 to win the Class A football state championship, capping their remarkable 11-1 season with the first title in 36 years. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
December - Richard Raugust is greeted by his sister, Mary Webster, left, and mother, Marci Jones, upon being released on Dec. 4, 2015 after serving more than 18 years in prison for the murder of his best friend, a crime he insists he didn't commit. Raugust, whose 1998 conviction for the murder of Joseph Tash was overturned on Nov. 16 by a district court judge, was released from prison following a bail hearing Dec. 4, and will live in an apartment in Missoula awaiting his day in court and the state’s appeal to the Montana Supreme Court. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
