Falcons, food and firemen

RONAN — The fifth annual One Book/ One Community project promoted reading and community, and Flash Point author Sneed B. Collard was the “one book” that everyone was reading.

Librarian Janey Salomon said that the book was chosen for its small town setting, forest fires, ethical dilemmas and falconry.

“All of our kids can relate to forest fires in a small town,” Salomon said.

Sneed has written over 50 books. He visits schools all over Montana to discuss his work, but this is the first time one of his books has been chosen for a One Book/ One community project.

“I was very honored to be chosen,” he said. “When you write a book like this with complex themes you don’t know how it will be received. But, I’ve had a great response from this community. It is a writer’s dream for their book to get this kind of thought and attention.”

Real life raptor expert Kate Davis was the inspiration that Sneed needed for one of the characters in the book.

“I was putting together a non-fiction book when I met Kate. I was so impressed with how beautiful the birds are that she works with that I had to get them into a book,” he said. “So, I used Kate as one of the characters.”

Davis is the executive director of Raptors of the Rockies. She also visits schools all over Montana and birds are her main focus. And since Davis was featured as a character in the book she came to the Ronan school district to show the students what the character was based on.

“Sneed asked me to go through the book and make sure he had everything right about falconry. The character was based on me so I guess that qualified me. He had everything down, even the fact that I don’t like to brush my hair. And, he worked really hard on changing the name ‘Kate’ to Kay,” she said with a laugh.

Davis talked to the students about the history of falconry, how much each bird eats and how she became interested in it.

“I read a book when I was a kid and it inspired me to pursue my interest in birds,” she said. “So reading is important.”

Davis and Sneed hope to continue to work together.

“We are planning on putting another book together soon. I hope we get the time to get that going,” Davis said.

The Ronan Fire Department hosted a relay race at the school to coincide with the book’s theme. The students were only required to travel the length of the gym in a fireman’s gear and then give the gear to the next person in line. The students stumbled to move in the heavy gear and they made it evident that the firemen don’t have it easy.

Later, the community joined in on the fun with dessert and a visit with the author. The Ronan library has a few copies of the book that are available for checkout.