One Nation, Under God
Of the over 1,200 stories posted on the Phillips County News website in 2019, 10 of them far and away had more reads than the rest. Using the story analytics from the PCN website - phillipscountynews.com - the following entries were the Top 10 most read stories, from top to bottom, in the last 365 days (and for the first time, a non-PCN staff member penned a Top 10 story last year...nicely done, Sidney Meeks.)
Thank you to the PCN readers and advertisers for making the PCN possible and here's to another great year of news from your community newspaper, entering year number 99 the first week of March.
1. Villa Theatre sets to reopen this week in Malta, November 6, 2019.
After a lengthy closure and extensive overhaul, the nearly 65-year-old Villa re-opened with Christina Riggs as manager and owner David Adams, both ecstatic to bring the movie theatre back to the Phillips County Community.
"We have kept a few things, but not many," said Riggs. "There is still the 'Have a Nice Day" small strip of carpet where some of the concessions are stored, the vintage "no smoking" signs and the old fire hose is still in the wall, but other than that, a lot has changed around here in the last three months."
New seating, bathrooms, concession stand, and floors highlighted the new and improved Villa and the opening weekend saw the animated The Addam's Family on the silver screen in tribute to David's father Garry who purchased the Villa in 1992 and the first movie he showed was the 1991 motion picture The Addams Family.
Since then, the Villa has been showing such first-run movies as Frozen 2 and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and recently retired funeral-home owner Greg Kirkwood has since purchased the theatre (see that store in an upcoming edition of the PCN.)
2. Watts' Acting Chops, June 26, 2019.
Chelsea Watts, a Malta High School Class of 2003 member, remembered growing up in Malta before eventually moving to New York City, N. Y., to peruse her acting career.
The daughter of Paige (Simanton) Juliano and Eugene Watts, and the granddaughter of Tim and Joanie Simanton, had aspirations of becoming a professional volleyball player and fondly remembered singing in the Malta Public Schools choir and returned from California to Malta in her sophomore year.
"It was the best thing that ever happened to me," Watts said. "I was on a totally different trajectory in California."
Watts had the chance to pick plays and musicals that were put on at MHS under the watchful eye and direction of former MHS Superintendent John Roberts. Watts chose Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream as one of her earliest plays.
"My grandma and I made the costumes," Watts said. "I helped make the sets."
She began modeling in Portland, which eventually led to commercials, which led to film and television and Watts moving to New York.
Watts has played several roles on popular television shows including Blue Bloods, Power, Deception, Law & Order SVU, Bull, The Verge (as a series regular), and The Enemy Within (a recurring role).
3. Brew-versary at Blue Ridge, July 27, 2019.
In just 365 days, or so, Malta's Blue Ridge Brewing has churned out 116 barrels of beer, or nearly 232 kegs, or nearly 30,000 pints served...no matter how you pour it, Brian and Brianna Shores are tickled pink, or blue, about how well their first year in business went.
"We hoped we would do this well," Brian said.
"We were holding our breath and crossing our fingers," Brianna added.
To celebrate their first year in business, Brian, Brianna, and all the gang at Blue Ridge Brewing are inviting everyone to the brewery for a celebration as a way to say thank you for everyone who has helped the couple realize their dream of owning a brewhouse.
The Shores celebrated thier first year in business with the aforementioned Brew-versary and they continue to pour-out delicious, brewed in Malta beer.
4. PCH welcomes newest Family Nurse Practitioner, April 24, 2019.
Phillips County Hospital and Family Health Clinic welcomed their newest provider Danyeil Thomas, who moved from the south in search of a place where she and her husband of 11 years could raise their family.
"I would say a lot of things brought us here," Thomas told the PCN. "We were looking for a small town where we could raise our family and have a slower-paced lifestyle and spend more time together."
Thomas is a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP), filling the final vacancy of healthcare providers at PCH. The four providers include Thomas, Dr. Edwin Medina MD, and fellow Family Nurse Practitioners Theresa Ohl and Elke Houser.
"We (Family Nurse Practitioners) see everyone from newborn to geriatric, so cradle to grave," Thomas said.
Danyeil and her husband Nick Thomas (who currently works at Ezzie's Wholesale) and their children Addison (age 8) and Paxton (age 3) arrived in Malta in January after a 1,800 mile road trip from Madison County, Alabama.
5. Truck with local ties cleans up at First State Bank Car Show, June 6, 2019.
Scott Dobson, a Malta High School graduate of the Class of 1991 who currently lives in Dallas, Texas, entered his 1950 Dodge Power Wagon in to last year's Malta First State Bank Car Show as one of the 96 vehicles on display that June day, and won three awards; Top Six Judges, the Darryl Seeley Memorial Award for best truck or tractor, and the People's Choice Award. (When Dobson was named as the People's Choice, the crowd erupted in applause.)
This particular Power Wagon has a long history in Malta and about six years ago, after the passing of some family members who used to run Dobson Motors in Malta, Scott was lucky enough to obtain the old, green, Power Wagon, originally owned by his grandfather, Pete Dobson (who was also the Mayor of Malta from 1953 to 1960) ... though the vehicle had seen better days. Dobson's father, Dan Dobson, asked his son if he wanted to rebuild the Power Wagon and return it to its former glory...Scott was obliged.
"It has been here in Malta since 1950," Scott said. "They used it to haul hay and lumber and it had a plow on the front of it to plow snow."
Scott's stepfather, John Wilke, who retired from ranching a few years ago, did the majority of the restoration work.
6. Randy Rogers Band co-heads PC Fair Concert, July 27, 2019.
Randy Rogers Band co-headlined the 2019 Phillips County Fair Concert in Dodson in 2019 with the Casey Donahue Band and talked to the PCN a week before the concert.
"My favorite song for me to play live on stage is 'In My Arms Instead' because it is a song that I wrote and I can see people connect to it and cry to it because of someone they miss and I've also seen people fall in love to it...I love singing songs that are a part of people's lives and I see that when I play that one," Rogers told the PCN. "The best part of playing in concert is that it is still fun. It's still challenging and I still get butterflies, I still get a rush from it and I am kind of addicted to it. I love being on stage and we have had the same five guys in the band for 17 years and together we have played over 2,000 shows together, so we enjoy it."
Total attendance at the 2019 Phillips County Fair clocked-in at 4,500, up 600 from 2018, and the concert drew nearly 1,000 people.
7. MOI to begin remodel of facility, March 13, 2019.
It was announced in March of 2019 that Malta Opportunities Inc. (MOI) would start a refurbishment of their building in Malta and once the project is complete, the MOI thrift shop will double from its current size which will allow the staff more floor space to appropriately display items for sale in a more coherent manner. Donations to the thrift store, which which used to take place in the front of the building and tend to pile up, will soon be accepted in the back of the structure.
As 2020 rolls out this week, the MOI building looks to be nearly complete and PCN Construction Reporter David Veseth will report more on the future grand-opening.
8. Rodeo school bucks through Malta, January 30, 2019.
Nearly 60-students showed up on an early Saturday morning in January to the Milk River Pavilion in Malta to take part in Rodeo Hall of Fame's Tom Reeves free bronc-riding class, coming from as far away as Oregon and as close as Dodson.
Included in the 60 students on hand was Les Jones, a Dodson resident and 2018 grad from Dodson High School. Jones said he started riding ranch-bronc last year and his first time ever competing was at the Phillips County Fair ...he said it didn't go well. He said he has gotten better since that time, admitting he had yet to score a ride, and decided that he would try switching to saddle bronc when he learned of Reeves class in Malta.
"I hope I can be better at this," he said. "I will be here all day and I hope I learn a lot."
9. Mr. King, May 22, 2019.
Scott, long-time teacher, coach, principal, and activities director at Malta High School, retired at the end of the 2018-19 school year and Malta High School student Sidney Meeks penned Mr. King for the MHS Gazette and the PCN.
Mr. King received his teaching degree from North Dakota in 1981. He then furthered his education and attained his graduate degree in educational leadership from the University of Montana in Missoula. His career began in 1981 in Harlem, Mont., where he was hired to teach industrial arts.
In 1985, he moved to Malta to become the middle school principal, industrial arts teacher, head wrestling coach, and assistant football coach. Then in 1989, and continuing over the next four years, Mr. King served as the assistant track coach as well as the Mustang's head football coach in which he won three state championships in both. In 2012, he gave up all other teaching responsibilities to become the high school principal and athletic director.
Mr. King has had total belief and pride in everything that MHS represents. "I believe that we are one of the best high schools in Montana and that our students have the opportunity to experience different areas academically and through our activities and programs as well. Our music program is the best with great directors, and our athletics and activities speak for themselves," Mr. King voiced proudly.
9. Lordy, Lordy, he's been there for 40, January 16, 2019.
If you know him, you love him (and he has likley given you a hard time about something, playfully of course.)
In January of 2019, Westside Self-Service employee Tom Golik celebrated 40 years of service at the Malta establishment and celebrated with a cake and a party.
Shortly after that, he was dealing with heart problems and had a massive surgery...but if you know him, don't count him out for long.
Shortly after his heart surgery, Golik was once again seen working at Westside Self-Service, or about town on his moped or dropping off donation checks to any of the dozen or so organizations he generously gives to each year....All of the above acts done so with a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye.
At the time of his 40-year party, Golik said he would work for at least another year. In just 15-days from the time of this publication, Golik will have fuffilled that prediction. Stick around Tom, this place need more people like you.
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