Around the region: Conrad in bloom, Harlem kids excel

CONRAD – Things are really blooming in Conrad right now. And I'm not just talking about the flowers.

At Pondera Medical Center, what was once a boring plot of land behind the Extended Care wing of the hospital has been transformed into a garden, outdoor classroom and social center. The whole project started in 2012 with a memory walk — an outdoor walking path for nursing care residents — and has bloomed into much more in just a few years.

Most recently, JoAnne Cobb, marketing specialist and life enrichment coordinator for Pondera Medical Center, applied for and received a $15,000 grant from the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation to plant 200 mostly native, pollinating plants on the grounds of the hospital.

"We are a resident-driven facility," Cobb said, which is why residents had a say in the type of plants that are going into the pollinator grant.

There are more than 200 plants in varieties such as echinacea, elderberry, chokecherry and white maple, Cobb said. People in the community donated equipment and time to help plant the pollinator garden and landscaping.

The pollinator garden is the latest in a list of things that are being done to bring life to this area. In 2012, the sidewalk was installed and people donated money for the installation in behalf of a loved one, Cobb said. She then wrote mini grants from the Natural Resource Conservation District and the Pondera County Conservation District to install a native plants garden, a vegetable garden, and herb and raised bed gardens as well.

Cobb said she received the grants because of the outdoor education component folded in along with the soil and plants. Prairie View Elementary School brings its fourth-grade students over in May — they were there last week — to plant the vegetable garden and learn about the native plants. Agents from MSU Extension are on hand to teach kids about those plants and other gardening techniques. Throughout the summer different community organizations — such as 4-H and FFA — help water the plants and tend to the garden. In the fall, those fourth-grade students come back as fifth-graders and help harvest the garden.

"It's fun and at the end you have a party," fourth-grader Brayden Stordahl said. "I think they like it."

Residents make zucchini bread, salsa and more and share their recipes with the kids.

"It is integrating the elderly into the community," Cobb said. "One of the ways to continue engaging the elderly in life is plants and kids. Why not put the two together?"

Last year, 13 of the residents showed some of their harvests and plants at the Pondera County Fair.

"You start putting stuff in the ground and they start talking and getting excited," Cobb said.

Because Pondera County Medical Center is a nonprofit, Cobb said any expansion of the gardens or space has to come through donations. The memorial sidewalk is shaped like a butterfly wing and Cobb said she'd like to see another "wing" for the walk added on — one that reaches out closer to the pollinator plants.

Along the sidewalk rose bushes and other flowers have been planted in honor of several residents and Cobb said they are kept up and maintained by people in the community.

"It's become this place that people gather," Cobb said. "It's full of life."

And on Friday, the garden was full of life in more ways than one. Margurette Ottum, 87, kept her eyes trained toward the vegetable garden as the fourth-graders prepared the soil for planting. She's growing a strawberry garden again this year. She had a strawberry garden when she lived in Shelby. She was happy to be outside in the sunshine watching the kids.

"When I was in Shelby, I was always out walking," she said.

Vivian Keil loved watching the kids learn about soil, native plants and more. Last year, she shared her frozen zucchini was some of the kids.

"I think it's wonderful to be able to walk out here and see things grow and enjoy it," she said. "Hopefully they'll all have the chance to come back and pick a garden."

Harlem kids get national attention

The Harlem High School students I previously wrote about who won the state Formula 1 Tech Challenge have now earned national recognition, too. The students weren't the overall winners in the competition, which challenges students to design fast cars and also build marketing plans through a portfolio design and make a display and public presentation, according to their adviser Craig Todd.

"We were watching these teams from places like Texas and they're using up entire freight elevators to load their stuff," Todd said. "And here we are carrying a little science board display."

The Harlem High School team did end up getting first place in the portfolio design competition, which was a huge honor for a high school that just started its program this year. But Todd said what came after the competition was even more impressive.

A few of the team members had never traveled outside of Montana and found themselves packed into two vans, traveling 28 hours straight to get to the competition in Michigan. Senior Franki Taylor, who plans to study engineering, knew he was going to miss his high school graduation to attend this competition.

Before heading home, Todd and the students stopped in Chicago to attend a Cubs game at Wrigley Field. Back home, the school had set up a webcam so Taylor could at least watch graduation. But he needed a wireless Internet connection. Knowing the time of the game and the timing of graduation, Todd tried working with officials at Wrigley Stadium to get Internet set up a few hours ahead of time. He was told since they were in the midst of renovations, the wiring was not in place.

Taylor and Todd decided they would have to skip part of the game and go across the street to Starbucks for an Internet connection. While in line, they met the director of fan services for the Cubs, Nancy Sullivan, who immediately went to work for Franki and the Harlem kids once she heard their story, Todd said. The wires were connected and Taylor got to watch his high school graduation.

He also got a Cubs T-shirt with his name printed on it, photos and video with mascot Clark the Cub, Cubs hats for all his teammates and coaches, and after the game was over the Harlem kids got to run the bases at Wrigley Field.

"It was just pretty much amazing," Todd said.

Throughout the school year, Todd said his students exhibited a strong dedication to this new program which incorporated science, engineering, technology and math into a competitive event. They only had 10 days after winning at state to turn around and raise $10,000 to get to nationals. That's a hard thing to do in a rural, high-poverty community.

"You kind of think if you live in rural Montana you can't be competitive," he said.

In addition to Franki giving up graduation, other students had to forgo track and tennis competitions to attend the national event, Todd said.

"We were going there expecting to just participate," he said.

What they came away with? Well, Todd said they're ready to challenge themselves again when school starts in the fall.

Reach Tribune Staff Writer Kristen Cates at 791-1463 or kcates@greatfallstribune.com. Follow her on Twitter @GFTrib_KCates.