Glimpses of 1979
Among other things
At Polson's centennial play a couple weeks ago, one of the cast members gave me a Sept. 13, 1979, issue of the Flathead Courier that he had found during a cleaning project. There are lots of interesting items and comparisons I'd like to share with you.
Among front page artwork was a spectacular photo by Janet Grinde showing Glacier Raft Company operator Onno Wieringa making a high dive from a cliff into a deep pool on the Flathead River. A four-column Ron Noble photo headed "Here come the Pirates" shows center Brad Havlovick ready to snap the ball to quarterback Randy Howell, who is flanked by running backs Toby English and Steve Valentine. The cutline told of the upcoming Polson-Ronan football game. Another three-column picture shows Donna Rolfson displaying her prize-winning "Poppy" stained glass entry in the Western Montana Fair. Another three-column picture shows Gene Marcille, new director of the Polson Community Development Agency.
If it seems like a lot of art work for Page One, it's because the page size was more like a saddle blanket compared to the size of newspapers today, pared down by increasing costs of newsprint. The only saddle blanket-sized paper left in Montana today is the Roundup Record-Tribune.
On page two was a reprint of a Tobacco Valley News piece by editor Carl Rieckmann alleging that the Flathead Lake monster was dead, based on a Canadian scientist's theory that sightings were nothing more than illusions caused by "surface temperature inversions." Rieckmann then pushed for a Dickey Lake Monster.
Of course, I sneered at the whole idea in my column and suggested "if someone conjures up a sighting for Dickey Lake, give it a fearsome sounding name like the Dangerous Doohinkus of Dickey Lake, or something like that."
On inside pages were photos of Elaine Meeks and Mary O'Brien predicting that the hike-bike would be the biggest ever and Community Concert Drive workers taking reservations for season tickets. A photo and story told of a new art gallery showing by Nedra Sterry and Mary Harlan.
Sports pages included a picture of race boat driver Paul Bloomquist, who had represented Montana in tunnel boat championships in Alabama, and an action photo of Peggy Lebrun attempting a basket in the Pirateers' (now the Lady Pirates) season debut against Frenchtown. David Kis reported that Polson football was off to a good start with a 32-16 win over Choteau. David also had a weekly fishing report. A co-ed softball tourney raised funds for a new baseball and softball complex. Softball action photos showed Dave Kestings, Lois Noble, Lyn Fricker and Steve Vert.
A lengthy history feature showed photos of all of Lake County country schools.
Classified ad pages revealed a four-bedroom home plus heated shop in a park-like setting was priced at $69,750; a lakeshore three-bedroom home and one acre, $39,500; rents were quite low compared to today, too - $200 a month for partly furnished two-bedroom house close to downtown; $135 a month for two-bedroom home in the country.