Ledger Looking Back 25 Years: 5/14/1997

May 14, 1997

Trojan Educator of the Week was Diane Larsen, the Whitehall K-6 secretary. Mrs. Larsen has been the secretary for three years and is greatly appreciated for her efforts. Mrs. Larsen and her husband, Bruce, have two children - Kurt and Paul, a daughter-in-law, Danelle, and a granddaughter, Trystin. Mrs. Larsen enjoys hunting, fishing, gardening, and her family.

Trojan Students of the Week were the twenty new members of the National Honor Society - who are recognized for their scholarship, leadership, character, and service. Our congratulations to Chris Alley, Karl Andersen, Molly Ballard, Augie Brower, Becky Dale, Jenny Dawson, Tiffany Dodge, Jennifer Dolan, Krystin Feight, Jeremy Fleege, Kim Franich, Chandra Hacker, Kietra Mabbott, Kate Mulligan, Ryan Patrick, Misty Phillips, Kyle Ross, TJ Sharkey, Hans Tolf, and Jackson Truckle.

Trojan Athlete of the Week was Bill Battaiola, a freshman on the Whitehall High School track team. Bill was chosen for his dedication to track, weekly improvement in the weight events, and placing consistently in the discus. Bill is the son of Mike and Patty Battaiola and plans to play football for the Grizzlies.

The Whitehall Board of Trustees hired a new district school clerk, pledged to work toward an improved gifted and talented student program, and outlined a process for selecting a new high school principal at the board’s regular meeting on May 7. The Whitehall school system received letters from the Montana Office of Public Instruction which cited Whitehall for its failure to implement an education program for gifted and talented students. It marks the third straight year Whitehall has been cited for the deviation from school accreditation standards for not having a gifted and talented program.

The Whitehall Town Council accepted the resignations of both Billy Orr and Pat Peltier during the regular monthly council meeting held Monday, May 12. The tandem resignations left the council with only four of the usual six members. Of the five town elected offices on the ballot in November, only council member Chuck Buus kept the option of a re-election bid possibility. Friction amongst the council members and mayor simmered twice during the meeting: during a discussion about the size of the water meters and during another debate about engine repair work on a town dump truck. Dr. Kathy Meyer of Whitehall received permission from the council to pursue a farmers’ market in Legion Park.

Pehl Implement achieves 50 years of steady service. Agriculture and Whitehall changed dramatically since Pehl Implement first opened its doors in Whitehall in 1947, and the Pehl family adapted to those changes. George and Jane Pehl, with their son Bill and his wife Rose, steered the business through six decades of changes in farming and ranching, agriculture finances, transportation, and infrastructure.