www.LovellChronicle.com December 24, 2009 I The Lovell Chronicle I 3
Speech team shows promise for 2010
BY BRAD DEVEREAUX
The 2009-10 speech
season began Dec. 12 at
the "Thershoni" Invite,
hosted by Thermopolis at
Thermopolis High School.
The Rocky Mountain/
Lovell Speech team start-
ed the season on a positive
note, taking first place in
their class at the opening
tournament.
Peter Moncur took
first in novice drama and
fourth in novice poetry,
Randy Carter sixth novice
humor, Chaelynn Averett
fourth in humor and Eliz-
abeth and Emily Borkholz
fifth in duet.
Coach Deb Fink said
the team returns a lot of
talent from last year, and
she is looking forward to
the rest of the season get-
ting under way. But the
team has some waiting to
do, with their next contest
Jan. 8-9 at Northwest Col-
lege in Powell.
i Six students are re-
turning to the speech
roster this year, Emily
and Elizabeth Birkhoklz,
Candace Orton and se-
niors Stepfanie Thomp-
son, Chaelynn Averett
and Jack Farwell. New
speech team members in-
clude Traci Averett, Ran-
dy Carter and Peter Mon-
cur, Fink said. Thompson
is the team captain.
The team has been
practicing since Novem-
ber, and everyone on the
team is working on their
own original material in
the areas of student con-
gress, humor, oratory, po-
etry, drama, duet and de-
bate. Every student on
the team is involved in at
least two different catego-
BRAD DEVEREAUX
The 2009-10 speech team members are (back row, l-r) coach Deb Fink, Emily
Birkholz, Chaelynn Averett, Candace Orton, Traci Averett (next row, l-r)
Stepfanie Thompson, Jack Farwell, Elizabeth Birkholz, assistant coach Patti
Hutchinson (front row, l-r) Peter Moncur and Randy Carter.
ries, Fink said.
The team competes in
Class 3A, because students
from Rocky Mountain and
Lovell are eligible to join
the team. Patti Hutchin-
son joins coach Fink as an
assistant coach this year.
Coaches say the team
is looking good already,
and that students are get-
ting better at taking and
giving constructive criti-
cism to their teammates.
Getting feedback about
their spoken pieces and
about the way they pres-
ent themselves is crucial
in a sport where appear-
ance and hand move-
ments are crucial to a stu-
dent's score.
Fink said the team
is looking for volunteers
from the community to lis-
ten to the speech team's
material and give feed-
back to help students im-
prove their delivery. If in-
terested, contact Fink at
Lovell elementary School.
The team lost Kris
Hutchinson and Stepha-
nie Cuch to graduation
at the end of last seasdn.
They will be missed, Fink
said, but a strong core of
experienced players is
back this year, along with
some fresh talent that will
make a good team for the
2009-10 season. Fink in-
vites the public to come
watch the team at any
of their meets, or at the
open house scheduled for
March.
Jan. 8-9 - NWC in Powell
Jan. 22-23- Worland
Feb. 5-6 - Casper Natrona
Feb. 20 - Greybull
Feb. 26-27- Buffalo
March 11-13-
State in Riverton
Visitation
up at
Bighorn
Canyon
NRA
BY KATIE GRAY
Visitation to the Big-
horn Canyon National
Recreation Area was up
by nearly 30,000 visitors
through November, com-
pared to last year, with
numbers from December
still to be calculated.
Visitation numbers
from January through No-
vember of 2009 stand at
208,309, well above last
year's total visitation (Jan.-
Dec,) of 178,533.
Park Ranger Christy
Fleming said the increased
totals may be due to con-
tinuing higher water levels
in the lake.
"When the lake is up,
we usually get more visitors
to the park and visitor cen-
ter," Fleming said.
She added that new util-
ities at the Horseshoe Bend
Campground also may have
played a role in the visita-
tion increase.
Visitation totals in re-
cent years:
2003:228,701
2004:149,011
2005:195,519
2006:177,414
2007:2!3,063
2008:178,533
2009:208,309
Correction
Wrong
name
printed
A photo caption in last
week's Chronicle incor-
rectly stated that Connie
Marchant and her daughter
Julie Crumrine were light-
ing a candle at the Compas-
sionate Friends candlelight
ceremony Dec. 13 in memo-
ry of Travis Marchant. The
two were lighting a candle
in memory of Justin March-
ant. The Chronicle regrets
the error.
BRAD DWRr.AVX
K. Kringle hands a candy cane to Helen Regnier during a visit to the North
Big Horn Senior Center Wednesday, Dec. 16, for the center's Christmas/
birthday party. St. Nick traveled around the room spreading Christmas
cheer while the Lovell band played Christmas tunes for the crowd and a
few raffles were held.
Swing choir to perform
on Billings TV Friday
BY DAVID PECK
Want to hear a little
Christmas music with a
local touch? The Lovell
High School Swing Choir
has been selected to ap-
pear on the Sounds of the
Season broadcasts in the
coming days on Billings TV
stations KSVI-ABC6 and
KHMT-Fox4.
The swing choir was
asked to participate in a
recording session that in-
cluded several Montana
schools, director Linnea
Dickson said. The choir
went to Billings on Dec.
8 to record the music and
had five songs ready to per-
form, four of which had
been performed at the Dec.
3 concert at LHS.
Dickson said the choir
expected only three of the
songs to be used in the
broadcast, but the produc-
er liked the choir so much
that the choir was asked to
sing all five numbers.
"They said we were by
far the best group they'd
heard," Dickson said, add-
ing that they couldn't guar-
antee that all five numbers
would be used in the pro-
gram.
Dickson said only
groups of up to 18 members
could record due to the size
of the studio, but that was
perfect for the swing choir,
which has 18 members.
The swing choir sang
Silent Night, Go Tell It
On The Mountain, Allelu-
ia, Carol of the Bells and
Down, Down The Chim-
ney.
Sounds of the Season is
scheduled to air on Christ-
mas Eve at 10 p.m. on
KSVI, on Christmas Day at
noon on KHMT, on Dec. 26
at 3 p.m. on KHMT and on
Dec. 27 at noon on KSVI.
Dickson said the choir
was invited to record last
year, as well, but was un-
able to do so.
SOUNDS OF THE SEASON
KSVI-ABC6: Christmas Eve. at10 p.m. and Dec. 27 at noon
KHMT-Fox4: Christmas Day at noon and Dec. 26 at 3 p.m.
Cowley sews
Hoarfrost crystallizes
Cowley last week
DRUE TEBBS.MEEK
548-6901
The definition for hoar-
frost is: frozen water va-
por deposited in clear still
weather on vegetation and
other objects. Last week in
the mornings when it was
so cold, the hoarfrost on
the trees was gorgeous. It
looked like white Christmas
lights and it shimmered
and clung to the limbs and
there was a mist in the air.
When the temperatures
rose, the hoarfrost floated
to the ground like falling
cold stars. It was so beauti-
ful.
Some of the outdoor
decorations are spectacu-
lar this Christmas season.
Midway between Cowley
and Deaver, the Moore fam-
ily has outdone themselves
this year.
One of my favorite fea-
tures is the helicopter hov-
ering midair with its vari-
ous colored lights flashing.
Mr. Moore places it in dif-
ferent places each year
and has added some snow-
men and a lovely manger.
His whole yard and home
shines bright as travelers
pass through the night.
When one drives from
Lovell to Cowley the first
lights are those of the Mar-
ge and late Bob Stevens'
home. Their son Rollin told
me that he went to the base-
ment this season and found
various intriguing decora-
tions and didn't spend one
dime on any of the lights,
but he also said he spent
plenty on extension cords.
Their roof has a Santa
beginning his climb to the
chimney and every window
is covered with lights. The
sides of the roof line have
icicle drop white lights, and
the bushes and trees are
covered with bright green,
red, gold and blue. Espe-
cially beautiful are the 70,
or 80-year-old lilac bushes
that have been trimmed
down and covered with net
lights. What an entrance to
Cowley.
Early in December Lila
Steed flew into Boston and
drove to Lakeville, Mass., to
help celebrate the 50-year
reunion of the first gradu-
ating class of Apponequet
High School, which opened
its doors to students in
1960.
One of the highlights of
the celebration was the pro-
duction, or revival, of the
play "Arsenic and Old Lace."
Lila, as a senior, played
Aunt Abby in the 1960 ren-
dition, and two other origi-
nal cast members were able
to attend to watch the new
version, put on by the 2010
senior class.
The new cast took their
bows after the third act and
the three original charac-
ters joined the 2009 cast
onstage, coming from the
cellar to take their bows
with the cast. A reception
was held after the play and
Lila said that it was total-
ly a blast. She mentioned
that the 1960 characters all
came in costume and Lori
Sibbett sewed Aunt Abby's
clothes for her. Lila sure
knows how to have a good
time.
Christmas Day is near
and families gather. We are
fortunate to live in America
and be free to celebrate how
we choose. The year 2009
is coming to a close. Let us
remain connected to one
another with our close ties
and our blessings. Let us
be more charitable, pray for
those who are lonely and try
to ease their loneliness, and
endeavor to try to comfort
those who are in mourning
at this time. Let us pray for
our soldiers and our country
as we live in these harrow-
ing times, and embrace our
families and find peace and
jqy. Merry Christmas.
Town hall holds
holiday hours
GARY GRUELL
548-2220
This past Saturday, the
Byron Bar hosted a benefit
for Randy Keyes. The auc-
tion was well attended and
lasted for several hours.
When I asked approximate-
ly how much money was
raised on the event, I was
declined that information.
I can say that participants
were very generous, and
since I must speculate, the
money raised was substan-
tial.
Randy made a brief ap-
pearance and seemed to
be overwhelmed with the
support of his co-workers,
friends and the community
on his behalf.
In observance of Christ-
mas and New Year's,
the Town Hall will close
Wednesday, Dec. 23, and
reopen at 7:30 a.m. on Mon-
day, Dec. 28. Town Hall will
be closed again on Wednes-
day, Dec. 30, at 3:30 p.m.,
and will reopen Monday
morning on Jan. 4, 2010.
By now, the hustle and
bustle of Christmas shop-
ping should be done unless
you are like me and still
need to take care of your
soul mate, companion or sig-
nificant other. Then there
is the inevitable assembly
on Christmas Eve that still
awaits us all. That's when
those treats for Santa come
in handy. All the hard work
in preparing for Christmas
Day seems not to matter
when you see the smiling
faces of the little ones and
the joyous look of each oth-
er.
For those traveling
this holiday season, may
your journey be happy and
safe. For those entertaining
guests, may you enjoy their
company and the Christmas
cheer be shared by all.
Although this week's
column is short with little
news presented, I person-
ally would like to extend a
Merry Christmas to all.
Have a great and safe
week.
Seior center chater
Thanks for Christmas
tunes and cheer
The staff at the Senior
Center would like to say
thank you to everyone who
either attended or enter-
tained at the recent
Birthday/Christmas
party, held last Wednesday,
Dec. 16. The Lovell High
School Band gave up their
lunch hour to entertain at
the event, playing several
numbers and leading the
packed house in a number
of Christmas carols.
A huge thanks to band
director Dane Mickelson
and all his band members.
A big thanks also to Santa
Claus for putting his toy
making on hold in order to
pass out candy canes to at-
tendees.
Gifts were given to all
seniors who had a Decem-
ber birthday. Two special
door prizes of a Christmas
wall hanging and a lovely
cake also went to two lucky
people.
The center staff wish-
es all of you a most joyous
Christmas. The center will
be closed both on Christ-
mas Eve Day and Christ-
mas Day itself.
Newcomers Club met for
cards the next day for their
final time before Christmas.
Arlene Ross again took high
score in bridge, while Car-
oline Boltz snapped up the
highest score in pinochle.
