Ledger Looking Back 25 Years: October 10, 1996

OCTOBER 10, 1996

With extremely dry conditions in Southwest Montana causing very high fire danger, Forest Service officials were warning that grave problems could be on the horizon.

“If things stay as dry as they are, we could have some serious problems when rifle season starts in two weeks,” said Jack de Golia, spokesman for the Dillon Interagency Fire Dispatch Center. In areas around Whitehall, firefighters battled two blazes over the weekend and were facing three more by Tuesday night.

For the second consecutive year, the Great Pumpkin is coming to visit Whitehall. No, it’s not the fantasy character made famous in Peanuts comic strips. This Great Pumpkin is the Great Pumpkin Food Drive. Started last year by Whitehall Chiropractor Kathy Meyer as a way to celebrate the one-year anniversary of her move to Whitehall, the event gathered more than $700 worth of food and donations for the Whitehall Food Pantry. Meyer said she is looking forward to being even more helpful to the food bank this year when the event is held Oct. 18.

Trojan Educator of the Week is Ken Kinzer, Whitehall’s Chemistry and Physics teacher. Kinzer has been with the district for 20 years. He was nominated by Mrs. Thronson because “he is a very gifted teacher.” When students return from college they are very complimentary of the outstanding background they received in Chemistry and Physics from Kinzer, she noted.

Trojan Student of the Week is Maria Vogel, a foreign exchange student from Germany. Maria was nominated by Mr. Kelly for her outstanding work in Social Studies. She is the daughter of Hannelore and Michael Vogel.

Trojan Athlete of the Week is Robin Dean. This junior at WHS was nominated by Diane Dolan for cross country. Dolan said Dean was nominated because of her hard work, never-give-up attitude and willingness to keep going when the going gets tough. She is the daughter of Judy and Howard Dean.