Readers Are Leaders: Montana Authors Join Together To Celebrate National Reading Month
March is National Reading Month, a time to motivate families and people of all ages to read every day. At Distinctly Montana Magazine, we like to celebrate reading all year-round by bringing you thought-provoking, fun and interesting stories and articles so you can learn more about what makes Montana unique.
Designated as a time to celebrate reading, three local authors joined together to kick-off National Reading Month and shared their stories on Montana’s popular 100.7 XL Country radio station.
Local authors include recently voted 2020 Bozeman’s Choice, ‘Favorite Local Author’, Dave Wooten for his book, ‘Crazy Horse: Where My Dead Lie Buried’, Kyle Steiner, award-winning author for his children’s book series including, ‘Patched’, ‘The Legend of the Squiger’, and ‘Snow Ghost’, and Joe Flynn, author of, ‘The Miracle of Bubba’, a heart-warming story about his beloved Black Lab, Bubba that has been quickly grabbing hearts nationwide.
The three authors discussed the positive benefits of reading regularly and their individual paths of becoming authors. All agreed that reading regularly was the key to becoming writers and authors. Each with a unique background, Dave Wooten’s passion is for history, Kyle is writing creative children’s books and Joe’s love of dogs and the outdoors led him write Bubba’s story. All three wrote their books in Montana.
‘The path for authors is so unique. I’d encourage anyone who loves to read and has an interest in becoming an author to start writing. Just start’, says Joe Flynn.
The benefits of reading include expanded vocabulary, stronger analytical skills, memory improvement and stress reduction, even from as little as 15 minutes of reading a day.
‘There’s so much access to content now days,’ says Dave Wooten, ‘You can digest stories books in audio version, from your kindle, magazine, or my favorite, an old-fashioned book’.
For young children and students, reading is critical for comprehension, education and entertaining. There are even apps available for kids to track their reading, test their comprehension of the book they read and set goals!
Among parents of children 6-17, almost three-quarters (71%) agree, “I wish my children would do more things that did not involve screen time.” The child who is a ‘frequent reader’ reads an average of 44 books per year versus a child who is considered an ‘infrequent reader’ who reads an average of 22 books per year (source: Forbes).
Adults average less than five (5) books per year. Yikes! A great way to get your kids reading is to model the behavior! Make reading enjoyable and find a genre you like or a specific author or series. Many movies also start as books and it’s always fun to compare the book version to the movie version.
To encourage reading and learn more about these Montana authors, Dave Wooten and Joe Flynn will be sharing their stories at the Belgrade Library on Tuesday, 3/31 from 4 p.m. – 6 p.m.
For ideas on how you can celebrate reading or if you need tips on how start good reading habits, here are a few easy and fun ways to keep reading fun:
Use a Reading App: Listed as one of the ‘Top 23 Life-Changing Apps’, Bookling is a mobile app which helps you keep track of your reading habits and motivates you to read more.
Authors Kyle Steiner, ‘Patched’ (left), Joe Flynn ‘The Miracle of Bubba’ (center) and Dave Wooten ‘Crazy Horse’ (right)
‘If you’re dedicated to print books, Bookling is a fun way to see your progress overtime and keep a personal log of the books you’ve read. It’s like a personal Goodreads for introverts! You can set alarms to remind you to read several times a week or daily, which is a fantastic feature for people who claim they’re “too busy” to read. I love the bright, animated interface and that it keeps me accountable to crack open a book instead of opening Facebook.’ BuzzFeed staff member (source: https://misterbumbles.com/bookling).
Choose a theme: Whether you enjoy history, animals, biographies on interesting people, fairytales, outer space, or sci-fi, pick up a book on a theme and enjoy reading!
Read for 15 minutes a day: Set a little time aside, it doesn’t have to be a lot, and read for 15 minutes a day to start a habit. Before you know it, you’ll be finishing that new book!
Visit the library: Libraries are a beautiful place for the community to gather with a wide selection of books and resources. It’s a fun place to spend time with family or hide away and read a good book. Library visits are on the rise and also give you that sense that you're contributing to your civic duty within the community. Enjoy the incredible resources our city has to offer, get a library card and check out some books for the family!
Enjoy an audiobook: Audiobooks are another creative way to get into reading, especially if you’re in the car a lot (spring break road trips, etc.). Introduce your kids to the joy of audiobooks or radio theatre.
Montana is full of independent bookstores and resources, making it enjoyable to dive into a new genre or topic, read an autobiography or go back in time with a historical novel. Get the whole family reading together. Share with us your favorite book or author in our Facebook group.
The story of the “black robes” coming to western Montana in the mid-nineteenth century at the request of the Bitterroot Salish is well known. The Jesuit delegation, lead by Father Pierre-Jean De Smet, founded their mission of St. Mary’s in 1841 in the area of what is now Stevensville. Shortly after establishing St. Mary’s, De Smet went on to establish missions with the Couer d’Alenes and Kalispels in Idaho, as well. Among the other early mission sites in Montana was the St. Ignatius Mission, north of Missoula, which was established in 1854, about 7 miles south of Fort Connah. Fort Connahwas a Hudson's Bay Trading Post established in the Mission Valley in 1846. Following the treaty of Hellgate in 1855, this fledgling mission assumed greater importance when the Salish relocated to the Flathead Reservation.
In due course, the St. Ignatius Mission evolved into quite a large complex that included: the first Jesuit theologate and industrial arts school in the Northwest, the first Catholic sisters and Catholic school in Montana, and the first sawmill, flour mill, printing press, carpenter shop and blacksmith shop in the Mission Valley. There was also a hospital in the convent-school and a wood-constructed church on site. By the end of the nineteenth century, it was decided that the church should be a larger, more permanent brick structure. Of the buildings that comprised that early mission, only two small log cabins now remain of the original homes of the priests, which also served as the first chapel and a home for the Providence Sisters. They have been relocated next to the church on the north side, and both now serve as museums. The original wooden church was moved to Arlee in 1961. Much of the land surrounding the church where the Mission complex was located was later donated to build the town of St. Ignatius.
Construction on the church started in 1891 and took about two years to complete. It was a joint effort of the missionaries and the local Indian community. It was built of bricks made from local clay and wood from trees cut locally and sawed in the Mission’s sawmill. It was the first building in Montana to be wired for electric lights.
A short time later, at the turn of the century, one of the Jesuits was tasked with decorating the new sanctuary and began painting the murals for which the church is famous. His name was Brother Joseph Carignano, and he spent many years at the Mission as a cook and general handyman. He had no professional training in art but dedicated his spare time between his jobs to painting the murals inside. His paintings depict scenes from the Bible, as well as some saints, very much in the style of his native Italy. Behind the altar, he painted three scenes from the life of St. Ignatius Loyola, who founded the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and to whom the church is dedicated. Above this is a mural of the Last Judgement and pictures of Mary and Joseph grace either side. Along the vaulted ceiling are paintings of various saints and Biblical scenes. All in all, Brother Crignano painted 58 murals, frescos and medallions during 1904 and 1905. This is, in fact, Montana’s very own “Sistine Chapel.”
Using local materials from an isolated frontier community over 100 years ago means there are to be some expected issues with longevity. Minor earthquakes and just the aging process has taken its toll – not only on the building itself but Brother Carignano’s paintings as well. The plaster, which in some places included bison hair in the recipe, was cracking, delaminating from the supporting lath and sagging. These religious, historical and cultural treasures were at a real risk of being lost.
After an extensive fund-raising effort, a 3-year restoration project was begun in 2018. For the past two summers, a skilled team from Boise-based Custom Plaster, with experience in restoring historically-sensitive plaster and artwork, has been hard at work on the restoration process. They set up necessary scaffolding in the church and painstakingly re-fasten the plaster to the lath, seal its cracks and re-touch paintings with historically accurate materials. It is an intense, long, detail-oriented process, but the results speak for themselves. The murals have regained the vibrancy they had when they were first painted over 100 years ago. In addition to the murals, there is another uniquely Native religious artwork, such as portraits of Jesus and Mary as Native Americans.
The final year of the restoration work begins again in April and will last through September this year to finish the project by working on the ceiling medallions. The project will require constructing a moving scaffolding the length of the aisle to reach the vaulted ceiling. It will be very difficult to view the artwork during these times, so if you haven’t taken the time to detour off Highway 93 to see this Montana landmark, or if you haven’t been to see it in years, it is well worth the stop. Also worth the visit are the “sister” churches – St. Mary’s, outside of Stevensville, and the Cataldo Mission in northern Idaho, just off I-90. It is the oldest building in Idaho still standing and was built by Father Ravalli, from the Montana St Mary’s Mission - without a single nail!
Montanans as a whole are an outdoorsy bunch. We are outside given whatever is thrown down from the heavens. Be it rain, shine, or snow. The age-old saying of, “Montana has two seasons, winter and July,” doesn’t give us a lot of options anyways to be picky about the weather. However, we all have those lazy days. Those days that we woke so comfortably that we want the laziness to last all day. Montana’s winters can do that to even the hardiest of individuals. However, work still needs to be done 12 months a year and the snowplow drivers work 24/7 and at times 300 days a year to keep our favorite roads open for our use. We are leaving out some great ones, but for those open year-round, here are our favorite drives to enjoy in winter.
Highway 191-West Yellowstone to Bozeman
Now for those that commute daily from Bozeman to Big Sky and back may disagree fully with the choice as the lines of traffic during a given workweek or fresh powder day at Big Sky may think that the road is a living hell. But if you gaze beyond the taillights of the car in front of you, creating the grip on the steering wheel to tighten and teeth to grind, the road winds its way following one of the most beautiful rivers in Montana. Slithering its way through the Gallatin National Forest and into a section of Yellowstone National Park is one of the only byways that connect us to Idaho and Wyoming. Through some thick forested and wildlife enriched corridors is a winter wonderland drive to be had. (Note: I wasn’t joking about the traffic. Enjoy the drive midday or on a weekend for a more pleasurable experience.)
Highway 287- West Yellowstone to Ennis
Cruising next to the giant frozen ice rink of Hebegen Lake, then further carving its way past Quake Lake and ultimately following one of the greatest trout streams on the planet, Highway 287 is a show stopper with scenery from any window of the car. A gaze over to the river or up into the Madison/Gallatin Range and out of the peripheries a moose gallops across the road. In the field, a herd of elk grazes on the grass sticking out of the snow and the town of Ennis beckons the old cowboy life. With another ice-skating rink of a lake at the end to top it all off, this may be one of my personal favorite drives to make in winter.
Highway 86- Livingston to Gardiner and beyond
This highway cruises through a place called Paradise Valley…enough said. A highway adjacent to the mighty Yellowstone River with the magnificent Absaroka-Beartooth Mountains to the east, making for a dangerous highway for the driver to focus on the road. With wide-open vistas and wildlife everywhere, for any Montanan, this place is still as jaw-dropping the first to the thousandth visit. With it being the only highway that gives access to Yellowstone National Park in winter, enjoy the splendors of the Lamar Valley onward from the highway and into Cooke City for those that wish to keep driving.
Highway 93 – Missoula to Sula
Leaving the college town of Missoula and meandering through Lolo, Highway 93 sits nestled along the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness. With sweeping mountain views, a wildlife refuge, hot springs, and the Bitterroot River, few drives in Montana offer this many attractions and distractions to keep the driver and passengers occupied.
Highway 2 – Whitefish to East Glacier Park Village
Didn’t get the chance to explore Glacier National Park this summer? Well, the good news is that it is still open, and it is much quieter than summer. Highway 2 from Whitefish to East Glacier Park Village is a stunning drive offering mountain views with every curve and a good chance at spotting wildlife. Be advised before your drive as road conditions can change rapidly, exposing them to immediate closing. But if they are open, it will surely be an unforgettable road trip.
