March 5, 2012

Plentywood, Montana

We Serve Extra Lean

Ground Beef

Nite Specials

DINING ROOM ONLY

Chicken to go (potatoes included) 2 pc – Barrel 200 pc

MONDAY – Chicken Strip Dinner w/ coleslaw & fries

TUESDAY – TACO TUESDAY - $1.00 Tacos

WEDNESDAY – Shrimp in a Basket w/ coleslaw & fries

THURSDAY – Pablo’s Mexican Dinner– OR - Full Menu FRIDAY – Chicken Fried Steak w/ fries, toast & salad

SATURDAY – Hamburger Steak w/ baked potato, toast & choice

Randy & Bonnie Matzke Owners

1.50/copy Issue 133 Volume 7

Chocolate & Vanilla Soft Serve

Located in Plentywood, MT

Sometime in the fall

of 2007, Lorna Lager-

quist, a member of the

local quilt guild, was

searching the cup-

boards in the confer-

ence/exercise room in

the Westby Commu-

nity Center for a little

space to store some

quilt patterns the We

Bee Quilters had won

Lorna took the forlorn

little bundle home to

decipher and salvage

what she could of the

mysterious quilt.

The quilt, approxi-

mately 5 ½ X 7 feet,

was badly in need of

repair. Much of the

embroidered threads

were rotted and the

alternating solid red

in a national contest. As she rummaged through

yellowed papers, brown paper bags, and boxes of

mostly obsolete material from long forgotten clubs

and organizations, call it fate, luck, or whatever

you wish, there in the corner she spotted it. The

most unpretentious treasure of Westby history in

the form of a wadded up, tattered and faded, long,

long forgotten quilt one could ever imagine.

Lorna exclaimed, “When I found it, I couldn’t be-

lieve my eyes. I couldn’t think where it came

from, how long it had been there or who would

have so nonchalantly discarded such a piece of his-

tory. I knew we had to preserve it.”

cotton squares had started to disintegrate as well as

the red borders on either side. Lorna and her hus-

band, Bob, painstakingly disassembled the 433

pieces all the while drawing an exact replica to

scale, so the treasure could be put back together

just as it had been discovered. The pattern in-

cludes 36 rows of 2 ½ X 5 inch blocks surrounding

a larger center square which gives the biggest clue,

to the origins of the quilt. The center block is hand

stitched “Westby Ladies Aid, Westby, Montana,

11-17-1921”.

(continues page 7)

Westby Border News

Page 2

Your local source for: Bulk Fuel, Gas & Oil

Fertilizer, Chemicals, Feed & Salt Custom Spraying & Fertilizing

Vet Supplies Phone: 406-385-2472

Terminal Phone: 406-385-2630 Danny Moore

Westby Manager

IMMANUEL TO HOLD DISCUSSION

MEETING Immanuel Lutheran Church will hold a meeting on

March 11th after church services to discuss the

direction the congregation would like the building

committee to focus their efforts in regards to a fel-

lowship hall. Prior to this discussion, a vote will be

held on whether to have volunteer members re-do

the Sunday School rooms this spring so the rooms

will be available for use when Sunday School re-

sumes in the fall.

Immanuel council and building committee mem-

ber Eric Nielsen will lead the discussion and mem-

bers of the fundraising committee will be on hand

to answer questions as best they can.

The discussion will focus on whether the fellow-

ship hall should be re-built as is, re-built in base-

ment with handicap assess ability, or build a

ground level handicap assess ability addition. No

specific plans for any of these options will be pre-

sented. The committees are only asking permis-

sion to pursue one option over another.

A congregational vote will be held on March 25th

to guide the building committee on which of these

options to pursue and different plans for the de-

sired option will be presented at a future meeting.

FOR SALE

2005 HONDA ACCORD

2 door with

Remote Start and Sirius Radio

Less than 74,000 miles.

Contact Ashley Moore 406-489-2231 or

Danny Moore 406-385-7439

CHRISTY WINS TOP HONORS Verizon Wireless has named John Christy, indi-

rect account manager in Bismarck, ND, to the

company’s prestigious President’s Cabinet. The

honor is reserved for those ranking in the top one

percent nationally in sales during 2011,

placing him as one of the company’s top perform-

ers from among its more than 25,000 sales people

nationwide.

John, the son of Westby residents Charles and

Frankie Christy, has won an all expense paid week

long trip to Paris, France. John’s wife Liz will be

accompanying him.

Westby Border News

Page 3

MIDDLE SCHOOL TOP SPELLERS

Pictured are Katie Nielsen, daughter of Eric and

Cindy Nielsen, Hunter Olson, son of Kevin Olson,

Farrah and Fallon Garman, daughters of Shane and

Jill Garman, Madison Pulvermacher daughter of

Loren and Jennifer Pulvermacher, Brandon Garces

son of Al and Vicki Garces. All of these Westby

Middle School students qualified for the County

Spelling Bee held in Plentywood on February

28th.

PLAYERS HONORED As is tournament tradition, the Brockton Warriors

honored those around them with a Star Quilt Cere-

mony. Three Rangers were lucky recipients at this

years ceremony during the championship game of

the 2012 District tournaments in Sidney. WHS

junior Brady Olson, freshman Cooper Olson, and

senior Brett NIelsen are pictured. Brady and Coo-

per are the sons of Kelly and Shari Olson; and

Brett is the son of Eric and Cindy Nielsen.

PUBLIC FORUM

Monday, March 5th, 2012

7:00 PM

New Century Ag

Grain Terminal

The Westby Development Corporation is holding a public meeting for those

with ideas, suggestions and/or the desire and ability to invest in community growth and expansion in and around the Westby area.

LUKE KOTERA has volunteered to lead the discussion and present information on different construction options available for growth and

expansion in Westby.

Westby Border News

Page 4

CLOSED

MONDAYS

RANGERS WRAP UP SEASON

The Westby-Grenora Rangers were happy

to be part of the Eastern C Divsional tour-

naments for the first time in several years.

They fought the good fight and went out

in a heartbreaking overtime loss to Saco-

Whitewater finishing their season. Brady

Olson was named to the 2-C all-

tournament team, as chosen by the confer-

ence coaches. Second team selection was

awarded to junior Kori Gunlickson.

Westby Border News

Page 5

For all your construction needs

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Building Contracting

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Remodeling

Bobcat Work

Garages

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Landscaping

Licensed & Insured

FREE ESTIMATES

Basic Dimensional Lumber Available,

call Rob at: 406-788-4913

WESTBY, MT

I am excited, pleased, apprehensive, scared, all of

these emotions and then some, about the prospect

of community growth. I know it is hard for many

to imagine- why we care, why we even have the

concern about growth one way or another, or how

we think we have any more control over it now

than we did over the years of decline, but hope and

optimism and dreams for our community and

school, and their future is what gives us pride and

builds loyalty and makes it ours. I have been on

the WDC board for years where our mission state-

ment is “to encourage, further and enhance local

development, economic viability, quality of life

and opportunity for all citizens of the greater

Westby community”. For most of those years it

has been like beating your head against a wall and

many times the beating would have been easier.

We have tried everything imaginable from semi-

nars (wild rice, dried flowers), guest speakers

(Tom Rolfstad & seed potatoes), experiments

(kobosha squash, baby’s breath) to annual events

(hunters dinner, Prairie Fest) to grant writing and

publishing a newspaper to show progress; to prove

to the rest of the world, if not ourselves, we aren’t

going down without a fight. A buffalo commons?

No way! but at times you could almost hear the

sound of their hooves and feel their breath on your

neck. So, despite it all, I am excited about the

prospect of community growth, particularly, if we

can proceed in some sort of organized fashion.

We are very fortunate to have Luke Koterba vol-

unteer his expertise and open the discussion about

our desires and needs for a viable community long

into the future.

While the oil boom has allowed us the opportu-

nity, I don’t think the industry wants to push their

way into our communities without adequate ac-

commodations or lead the way in community

growth any more than we want them to. It is up to

us. As a farming community, we all know you

have to make hay when the sun shines which is

what the oil companies are attempting to do and

what we need to do to rebuild our little corner of

the world.

In the spirit of St Patrick’s Day, I present a strata

with the flavors of a classic Reuben sure to please

the Irish (or not) in all of us. If you’re short of

corned beef, deli meat will work just fine. Again,

the beauty of strata, besides it being a one dish

wonder, is it is best built the night before so the

bread can absorb all the egg mixture.

Westby Border News

Page 6

212 Main Street

Westby, MT

385. 2349

Pork Whole or Half $1.39/lb.

Cut & Wrapped

In town butchering available.

All kinds of curing!

Check out our Extra Lean Hamburger on sale all the time!

RUEBEN STRATA 1 Tbsp butter

1 ¼ lb sliced pumpernickel bread, sliced

3 cups diced corned beef (1 lb deli)

3 cups sauerkraut, rinsed & well drained

4 cups shredded Swiss cheese

1 ½ cups Thousand Island Dressing

Salt and pepper

10 eggs

2 ½ cups whole milk

2 Tbsp Dijon mustard

Preheat oven 350 degrees. Coat bottom and sides

of a 9 X 13 pan with butter. Cover bottom of dish

with a layer of bread slices. Top with 1 cup each

corned beef, sauerkraut and cheese. Drizzle ½ cup

dressing over top, season with S & P. Repeat lay-

ering two more times. Blend eggs, milk and Dijon

until combined; pour over layers in baking dish.

Sprinkle remaining 1 cup cheese over top. Cover

strata with plastic wrap and press down. Refriger-

ate at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours. Remove plas-

tic wrap and bake until puffy and cooked through

about 1 hour. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

12 servings

Here is another version of strata, this one just in

time for the Lenten season.

BUTTERY CRAB BREAD

PUDDING 10 ounces lump crabmeat, picked over

1 tbsp finely chopped parsley

1 tbsp finely chopped chives

2 tsp fresh lemon juice

Pinch of cayenne pepper

Freshly ground salt and pepper

1 stick butter plus 2 more for buttering dish

One 24-inch day-old-baguette-ends trimmed,

bread cut in to ¾ inch slices

4 eggs

1 cup milk

1 cup ½ & ½

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9 X 13 in ch

glass pan. In a medium bowl, toss the crabmeat

with parsley, chives, lemon juice and cayenne.

Season with S & P. Butter baguette slices and

stand up I the prepared baking dish. Using a

spoon, tuck the crab mixture evenly between slices

of bread. In a bowl, whisk the eggs with the milk

and ½ & ½ . Add 1 tsp salt and ½ tsp pepper. Pour

the custard evenly over the bread and let stand for

10 minutes. Bake the bread pudding for 30 min-

utes until top is lightly browned and the custard is

set. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. 8

servings

Enjoy! For

Life is Good

Page 7

Westby Border News

The surrounding quilt blocks held signatures of

what is assumed were ladies aid members and their

families. Men, women and children had signed

them, 216 in all, and each signature was embroi-

dered in red on a natural muslin cloth. To finish it,

every other square was tied with tan wool thread.

Although both Bob and Lorna were excited about

the project, it was very tedious work and because

the wool batting was so old and dusty, it was very

hard to do for any length of time.

Some of the signatures were hard to decipher,

too, either because the thread was gone or the writ-

ing was illegible. Bob and Lorna spent hours re-

searching the local historical Sheridan Daybreak

books and questioned our oldest residents to fill in

the blanks. All but two or three of the signatures

were identified and guild members did their best to

replicate those without compromising their authen-

ticity.

The dismantling and identifying process was com-

pleted in 2009, Lorna incorporated the help of her

fellow quilt guild members to re-embroider all the

signatures. It took over a year to complete this

phase of the restoration. During the next year, the

members began the painstaking process of reas-

sembling the delicate squares using the prepared

diagram.

Red cotton was used for sashings around each sig-

nature square and to replace the worn and frayed

original alternate squares. An ivory backing was

incorporated and batting was added. Former Wee

Bee quilter Jennie Nordhagen shared her expertise

in hand sewing the binding to encompass the bor-

der and finally, the quilt would be tied to complete

the historical masterpiece and restore this piece of

history as close to the original as possible.

Lorna and Bob have made inquires, but has

learned little of the 90 plus year journey of this

forsaken little quilt. Although some of the signa-

tures are recognizable (Dora Enger, P. G. Ander-

sen), many appear unfamiliar (Mable Meyer, Mr.

Miller, Rev A. O. Ness) and as far as her and Bob

can tell, none of the 216 is alive or at least not liv-

ing in Westby. Lorna and Bob, along with Elaine

Onstad, will continue to research the persons on

the quilt and their unique history with Westby.

Their findings will be published and made avail-

able to display with the quilt.

Regardless, if anyone is alive to relay its history,

“the lost, but now is found and reborn” little quilt

has told quite a story all on its own. What a won-

derful gift this is for posterity and a real showstop-

per for Westby’s centennial in 2013.

(continued)

FOR RENT Westby Manor, Inc. has one-bedroom

apartments for rent in Westby. Very nice,

utilities paid and free laundry. Eligible

tenants will not pay more than 30% of

their adjusted income. The Westby

Manor, Inc. will be temporarily renting

apartments to all persons without regard

to income restrictions. The Westby Manor

Inc utilizes Telecommunication Device for

the Deaf (TDD) 1-800-253-4091

(TTY)/1-866-253-4090 (Voice)

"This institution is a Equal Opportunity

Provider, and Employer."

Call Brenda at 385. 2577

Westby Border News

Page 8

WESTBY TO HOST MIDDLE

SCHOOL MUSIC FESTIVAL

The District Middle School Music Festival will be

held at Westby School on Friday, March 16th.

Westby students in grades 4-8 will be performing

in full band and choir, as well as vocal and instru-

mental solos. In addition to Westby, participating

schools will include Bainville, Culbertson, Froid,

Medicine Lake, Plentywood, and Scobey. A

schedule of events will be posted at area busi-

nesses by Thursday, March 15th. The public is in-

vited to attend.

WANTED: If you have a piano that we could borrow for our

festival, please contact Jill Garman or Peggy

Bowman at the office at Westby School, # 385-

2258. Arrangements can be made with the school

to pick up pianos at your convenience any days

before Wednesday, March 14. Transport to the

school and return of pianos when the festival is

over will be supervised by Mike Gebhardt and

assisted by WHS students.

IMMANUEL LUTHERAN

CORNED BEEF FEED You may not be Irish, but it doesn’t mean you

can’t dance a jig. You provide the jig and Imman-

uel Lutheran Church will provide the feast. On

Saturday, March 17th, a corn beef and cabbage

feed, along with potatoes, carrots, soda bread and

dessert will be held at the Westby School cafeteria

from 5:00-7:00 PM. Meal ticket prices are $10.00.

A child’s plate including a hot dog instead of

corned beef will be priced at $5.00.

To cap off the evening, beginning at 7:00 PM, a

parent/child basketball game will be held in the

school gymnasium, which promises to be very en-

tertaining. A free will offering will be taken. The

community is invited to attend.

The drawing for the “Cooks on Vacation” raffle

will also be held. All proceeds go towards the

fellowship building project.

Westby Border News

P.O. Box 227

6408 Highway 16 South

Medicine Lake, MT

59247

Phone: 406-789-2231

Fax: 406-789-2234

Page 9

IMMANUEL LUTHERAN CHURCH

CORN BEEF AND CABBAGE

FEED

SATURDAY, MARCH 17TH

5:00-7:00 PM WESTBY SCHOOL CAFETERIA

Corn beef, cabbage, carrots, potatoes,

soda bread, and dessert

Coffee and lemonade will be served A child’s plate will be available with

a hot dog subbed for the corn beef.

Tickets $10.00 Child’s plate $5.00

A PARENT/CHILD BASKETBALL

GAME WILL FOLLOW THE MEAL

A free will offering will be taken.

The drawing for the “Cooks on Vacation” raffle

will be held at the end of the evening.

All proceeds to Immanuel Lutheran Church

building fund.

Westby Border News

Page 10

Regular Meeting

February 13, 2012 7:00 P.M.

The Regular Meeting of the Board of Trustees of Westby School District #3 was held on Feb-ruary 13, 2012. Brenda Ryals, Vance Meyer,

Brant Cartwright, Jim Sundsted, Aldon Joyes, Mr. Holecek, Mr. Somppi and Donna Sorenson

were in attendance. Chairman Ryals called the meeting to order at 7:01p.m.

The Chairman recognized the visitors, Nate Olson and Suzi Ekness.

Donna read the minutes of the January 9, 2012 meeting. Following no corrections or ad-ditions, these minutes were approved and

placed on file. The Board reviewed the Clerk’s December fi-

nancial report. Public Comment:

Nate Olson presented information to the board on a website the Westby Development Corp is proposing to set up for the commu-

nity. They would like the school board to consider co-sponsoring the website with the

WDC and possibly the Town of Westby. Committee Reports:

Buildings & Grounds: Meyer reported that Jensens’ work on the new housing project is nearing completion.

Carpet has been ordered, but installation has not been scheduled yet, and the water sof-tener should be installed next week. The Ce-

ment work will need to be finished by Kanning Concrete this spring.

Mr. Holecek reported that the baseboard units in the school had been inspected and repaired

by Sax Electric. Representatives from Mon-Dak, Prairie Engineering and Sheridan Electric have all been working on resolving the tem-

perature fluctuation and electrical cost issues. Unfinished Business:

A. After consulting with the Montana Teach-ers’ Retirement System, the retirement pro-

posal presented to the board at a previous meeting was re-worded to meet the guide-lines of TRS and re-submitted to the board.

Meyer moved to approve the revised pro-posal, Joyes seconded the motion; AIF.

New Business: A. Revisions of Board Policies BP2510 (School Wellness), BP3612P (Acceptable Use

of Electronic Networks) and BP5328 (Family Medical Leave) were given a first reading. B. Sundsted made a motion to approve Jour-

nal Voucher 2012-8 to expend Education Jobs Grant monies from the proper line item. Cart-wright seconded the motion and all voted in

favor. C. The following 3-year Sports Co-ops are due for renewal: Boys’ Basketball, Girls’ Bas-

ketball, Girls’ Volleyball (with Grenora) and Boys’ Football (with Plentywood). Joyes

made a motion to approve renewals of these co-ops if acceptable agreements with the co-operative schools can be reached. Meyer sec-

onded the motion for renewal, AIF. Brenda Ryals and Brant Cartwright will represent the Westby School Board at meetings to discuss

these renewals.

Westby Border News

Page 11

Announcements/Discussion Superintendent’s Report:

Mr. Holecek reported that a recent en-ergy audit resulted in some recommendations for improved efficiency and cost savings. The

first priority will be to re-route the wiring for the new heating units through the heat me-ter. Sheridan Electric has already begun this

process. An inspector for MT DPHHS performed

a Health and Safety inspection of the school on February 10. His report should be re-ceived soon and Mr. Holecek will inform the

board of the results. Mr. Holecek and Susan Meyer attended a District 2C meeting on Feb. 12. At that

meeting Sidney was chosen as the District 2C Tournament site for 2013.

Westby will host the Middle School Music

Festival on March 16, 2012.

Meyer moved to approve payment of Febru-ary payroll warrants #10882 - 10890, and

February claims warrants #16776 - 16815. Sundsted seconded the motion for payment approval, AIF.

The January Extracurricular Financial Report was reviewed followed by a motion by Cart-

wright to approve; Joyes seconded the mo-tion, AIF.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:44 p.m.

Donna Sorenson, District Clerk Brenda Ryals, Chairman

THESE MINUTES ARE UNOFFICIAL AND SUBJECT TO BOARD APPROVAL.

WESTBY HONORS ARNOLD'S MEMORY A group of twenty-nine runners (walkers) braved the elements and -10 degree temperatures to honor the

memory of missing Sidney teacher Sherry Arnold and show their support to her family. The February

11th virtual run was organized by Arnold's cousin Beth Risdon, of Denver and had participants from 47

states and 5 countries. The Westby contingency raised $450.00 to be donated to her family.

Page 10

Westby Border News

2013 WESTBY

CENTENNIAL UPDATE Plans are, as time is, moving along in preparation

for the 2013 Westby Centennial. We are closing

in on the one year mark and some things need be

addressed sooner than others as we approach the

anniversary date.

A couple things which have been addressed in

prior issues need now be stressed. First of all, the

fundraising committee is compiling recipes for a

Centennial Cookbook. The recipes need be in to

this committee by July 1st, 2012, to allow adequate

time for printing. The committee would like to

have the finished book available for Christmas

2012. There are several options available to get

your previously unpublished (in a Westby cook-

book) recipes to the committee. They may be

mailed to 2013 Westby Centennial, P O Box 61,

Attn: cookbook, Westby, MT 59275; submitted

online at www.westbycentennial.yolasite.com or

put in a drop box at Al’s Meat or Westby Commu-

nity Center.

Next, a group on the entertainment committee is

compiling a power point presentation to represent

a century of Westby. They are requesting pictures

of sites and sounds of the area including, but lim-

ited to, old businesses, Main Street, advertising &

logos from past businesses, school related items,

and people or groups of people with universal ap-

peal.

Along with the photos, any information telling or

describing the event and names of people in the

picture should be included. Pictures from the en-

tire century will be considered. Once again, there

are several ways to get the photos to the commit-

tee. They may be mailed to 2013 Westby Centen-

nial, P O Bow 61, Attn: Photos, Westby, Mt,

59275, scanned and emailed to Westbycentenni-

al2013@gmail.com or dropped with Robin Sol-

berg, Jennifer Pulvermacher, or Gayle Overgaard

at the high school. Original photos will be returned

ASAP.

The last request from the Centennial Committee at

this time is, if you know you are coming please

register. There is no cost involved and it will help

immensely in securing a caterer and meal plan-

ning. We have tried to make each of these proc-

esses as simple as possible so the same two op-

tions as above apply They may be mailed to 2013

Westby Centennial, P O Box 61, Attn: registration,

Westby, MT 59275; submitted on the centennial

web site at www.westbycentennial.yolasite.com or

put in a drop box at Al’s Meat or Westby Commu-

nity Center.

To simplify things even further, recipes, photos

and registration slips may all be mailed in the

same envelope and they will be given to the appro-

priate committees.

On a final note. Of great concern has been the

availability of housing for the centennial. Aside

from staying with friends and family, there will be

some in town RV parking available and other ideas

are being worked on. The Sherwood Inn and Gold

Dollar Lodge in Plentywood have also been con-

tacted and both have agreed to make all of their

rooms available for rent during the 2013 Westby

Centennial. Their only request is to refrain from

calling until mid-July. They do not take reserva-

tion more than one year in advance and because

they are dealing with Plentywood’s Centennial on

July 4th of this year, they ask reservations not be

made until theirs has wrapped up. The Sherwood

Inn may be contacted at 406-765-2810 and Gold

Dollar Lodge at 406-765-2730.

www.westbycentennial.yolasite.com

It’s not too late to make a tax deductible donation to the Westby Centen-nial. Although there will not be a registration fee, donations are appreci-

ated. Individual and Business 2013 Centennial Donors will be recognized

at the following levels and periodically published (unless specified as

anonymous), as well as displayed on a donor board at the 2013 Centennial.

$100 - Bronze $250 - Silver

$500 - Gold $1000 - Platinum

$5000 - Platinum Plus

Donations may be sent to 2013 Westby Centennial, P. O. Box

61, Attn: Gene, Westby, MT

59275

Editor:

Val Moore

P.O. Box 36

Westby, MT 59275

E-mail: dvmoore@nemontel.net

Publisher:

Tracy Johanson

P.O. Box 124

Westby, MT 59275

E-mail: loopy_fruits@hotmail.com

Letters to the editor are welcome but must be signed.

Subscriptions are $30.00/year.

Mail your check made payable to:

Westby Development Corporation

% Val Moore or Tracy Johanson

Westby, MT 59275

Personal Ads—$5.00 for all ads up to 2

inches, and $1.00 extra

per each additional inch

Business Ads-

1/4 page—$10.00

1/2 page—$15.00

Full page—$25.00

6 P.M. FRIDAY before

Publication

Westby Border News

P.O. Box 36

Westby, MT 59275