Whitewater News & Opinion for March 11, 2020

3-4. A late happy birthday to Phillips County News publisher Mark Hebert who is a Leap Year baby!

Get better soon to Allie Olson and all else who are sick.

It is hard to believe it is already March. Happy birthday and anniversary to all celebrating this March.

Could someone explain to me about "cash backs?” Since I don’t always get to banks, sometimes I write checks for over the amount (maybe while buying groceries and I didn’t realize this was “cash back".) The local grocery store has trouble cashing checks through their computers. I finally found out why; because I was writing some checks over the grocery amount (live and learn.) I guess I will get a debit card. Life is much more complicated than when I grew up in Whitewater.

The Keystone Pipeline is scheduled to begin work east of our Whitewater (close to Turkey Track Road) between here and Saco. Folks at local businesses were hopeful that the workers would eat at and stay in Whitewater but we were informed the Keystone workers will bring their own “man camps” which include cook camps and cook shacks.

Personally, I am worried about the pipeline exploding and contaminating water and land. Also, there is dire danger on the prairie and I wonder how it will affect wildlife. (If anyone feels differently about this, call or write me.)

Looking ahead, Whitewater Lutheran Church will have a free soup supper and Lenten Services Wednesday’s starting at 5:30 p.m. from now until Easter. All are welcome to attend.

Daylight savings time starts on March 8 (I wish they would just leave the time alone.) Now it is “spring forward” after we fell back.

In our Whitewater, it snowed again, but not too cold.

Joyce D., my niece, gave me a joke calendar, and here is one of the jokes:

Question: Why do skunks love Valentine’s Day?

Answer: Because they’re “scent-imental” creatures.

As always,

Helen A.

4-11. Sympathy to victims of tornadoes in Tennessee and Alabama. There are no tornadoes in Montana that I know about.

Get well wishes to all who are sick including Margie Olson and Bonnie McMullen.

Happy birthday to all March babies including the Siewing twins, Seth and Jonathan. On Sunday I went to a 15th birthday party for them. It included a shrimp dinner and birthday cakes. It was very nice.

Jeanie Green’s granddaughter Mya visited family in the Whitewater area recently and she is growing up so fast.

Again, congratulations to the basketball teams who competed in the recent tournaments. They were good games and I listened to them on the radio on KMMR. Congratulations to M-ettes on their first-place finish and their advancement to the state tournament in Butte this weekend. Good luck girls.

Recently I saw Bill Henderson (a former Penguin from Whitewater) and he told me Ben Math was also in basketball back in 1957 when Whitewater won third at state. Thanks for telling me, Bill, and sorry I missed your name, Ben. (I do remember Ben playing, now.) Ben now lives in Fort Peck, Mont.

Joyce (Austin) Donovan was visiting Sally (her mother) last weekend. Joyce teaches school and she and Dennis farm near Kremlin, Mont.

“Hello” to Linda Berg’s family who was here in Whitewater and working on Linda’s house. We all miss Linda, who is now deceased. Her family lives in Canada.

Bobby and Pat Anderson were in Glasgow, Mont., on business recently.

Here in Whitewater, a chinook wind is really blowing hard and melting the snow, which was great, but we all woke up to snow on Saturday morning. But the water is flowing underneath the Whitewater Creek bridge and the ice is melting.

Think spring!

Helen A.