History Museum Features Glacier Exhibit

Two exhibits at The History Museum in Great Falls, MT are related – one is of trains and specifically the Great Northern Railroad, the other is of Glacier National Park whose existence would have been vastly different if the railroad had not come through the area. The railroad follows closely along US Highway 2 and pretty much skirts the southern border of Glacier. I love seeing the Great Northern memorabilia, especially the mountain goat. Jim … Read more

Buffalo Hide at The History Museum

One very prominent display I saw at The History Museum in Great Falls the other day was very captivating. The tanned buffalo hide certainly tells a story, many stories in fact. It’s a beautiful way to depict Native American ways of communication, storytelling and expression. Jim Meinert, executive director of The History Museum, pointed our different designs on the displayed hide. There is also a nice display of arrowheads, or points, used for harvesting the … Read more

Great Weather for Art Walk

The monthly First Friday Art Walk in Great Falls this weekend had great weather, perfect for strolling along Central Avenue. We decided to stop first at one location we had never been to, Studio 706, about three blocks off Central. It’s a small house with most of the furniture removed, and it worked great to showcase several local artists. From Studio 706, we started our way down Central Avenue, stopping first at Ben Chovanak’s new Uptown Gallery. I … Read more

More Quilt Shops

I’ve been out and about visiting a few of the quilt shops on Russell Country’s quilting trail, camera in tow! What a day-brightener to stop in and visit these beautifully decorated shops. The Quilt-Away, located in Great Falls, was recently selected by Better Homes & Gardens as one of the top 10 quilt shops in the United States. That’s pretty impressive! I visited with Toni when I was there and also bought a copy of the magazine featuring their … Read more

Visit to The Quilting Hen

For those who don’t know, The Quilting Hen is an incredibly unique quilt shop located one mile north of Carter, MT. The location is…well…in the middle of a grain farm, and very easy to find. When I stopped in the other day there were several customers and the staff was scurrying. Once they took care of business we sat and talked about what makes this quilting shop unique. Certainly, the location, a mile off the highway. … Read more

Scarecrow Photos – Almost Final!

I couldn’t let this photo go unpublished. The folks who staff the West Yellowstone Visitor Information Center take a trip each year to learn about an area of Montana that they aren’t familiar with. This year central Montana was their destination. When they realized there was a Scarecrow Festival in Stanford scheduled for the weekend of their trip they began to think about doing an entry. And, how they  would transport it from West Yellowstone to Stanford. … Read more

Final Scarecrow Photos

It’s fun doing a blog when you have a ton of photos to share! Let’s keep looking at all of the scarecrows from Stanford MT’s Scarecrow Festival. Here’s a scarecrow witch done by, of all places, the local beauty shop!           Well, if the beauty shop does a scarecrow it’s only fair that the local barber shop does one too! This guy looks like he could use a haircut or possibly … Read more

More Scarecrow Photos

I couldn’t resist taking photos of just about all of the Scarecrow Festival entries in Stanford last Saturday. I had tossed the idea around to do an entry, then struggled with what to do. It is amazing how people come up with these ideas. This entry was at the Judith Basin Press, Stanford’s weekly newspaper. The scarecrow is obviously a reporter/photographer and I liked it. To top it off, the entire side of the building was … Read more

Firearms Collection at Russell Museum

Several years ago the Browning Firearms Collection was tucked away in the basement in a far corner of the C. M. Russell Museum in Great Falls, MT. Now it’s one of the first installations you see after you leave the reception desk in the lobby. The other day I had a chance to visit and marvel at the display one more time. The firearms collection is part of the Russell’s permanent collection and I really … Read more

Russell Museum Impresses Journalist

One of the best parts of my job is escorting journalists around north central Montana. We recently hosted someone from the United Kingdom who had never been to Montana before. He had spent some time at a Montana guest ranch right before coming to Great Falls so he was thinking cowboy! Our visit to the C. M. Russell Museum romanticized his view of the cowboy lifestyle even more. Charlie Russell came to Montana when he was just … Read more