Looking Back: James R. Bakke Nature Reserve is born
Whitefish Pilot | UPDATED 2 days, 1 hour AGO
Mrs. Jean Burns loads up another cart of packages for sorting and distribution to patrons as the Whitefish Post Office goes into high gear to cope with the peak volume of Christmas mail in 1975.
A look back at past Pilot articles by Julie Engler
50 Years Ago
Dec. 4, 1975
New city sewer rates effective January 1, 1976, were established at the Whitefish City Council meeting last Monday. Following months of evaluating different methods, the council decided the most equitable would be a $0.60 per 1,000 gallons on metered water users with a $2.70 minimum charge; $3.30 flat rate for unmetered water users, and those few residents on city sewer outside the city limits will be charged 100% more than comparable user rates inside the city limits. Councilman Fred Stacey explained the change in sewer rates as necessary to maintain the present sewer system and to help facilitate the building of a new sewage plant in the future.
40 Years Ago
Dec. 4, 1985
The months of September and October were unusually chilly. A large portion of the 1985 Flathead Valley potato crop was lost due to the unseasonable temperatures, said Cliff Harris, local climatologist. “The winter of 1985-86 will long be remembered as ‘the year when January arrived two months early,’” Harris predicted. “Actually, November turned out to be even more frigid than I had earlier predicted,” Harris said. “We finished the 30-day period with a bone-chilling average mean temperature of 17.5 degrees. This compares to the normal of 33 degrees in November, and a normal January mean of 21 degrees in Whitefish. It's hard to believe that November of 1985 was 3.5 degrees cooler than a typical January. January is usually our coldest month of the winter season,” Harris noted.
30 Years Ago
Nov. 30, 1995
The Whitefish congregation denied its request to build a church by the Whitefish City Council last week, was still in business and still in search of the promised land. Pastor Don McNeely of the Church of the Rockies searched more than a year for the perfect spot on which to build. He thought he had it earlier this month when the city-county planning board approved a conditional use permit for a 6,000-square-foot facility on land zoned for agricultural use southeast of the city. However, the neighbors pulled the rug from under McNeely when they complained they didn't want the church in their backyard, mainly because gravel roads leading to the site are already overcrowded.
20 Years Ago
Dec. 1, 2005
An ambitious master plan for downtown Whitefish was completed by Portland based planning consultant Crandall Arambula and passed off to the city for public review and implementation. Triggered by the upcoming US Hwy. 93 reconstruction project, the Downtown Master Plan received input from government, downtown merchants and the general public. Principles include protecting downtown businesses, creating a pedestrian friendly environment, ensuring the U.S. 93 project enhances downtown businesses and does not fragment downtown, creating additional parking, protecting and utilizing the natural environment, and identifying opportunities for more affordable housing.
10 Years Ago
Dec. 2, 2015
An artist who captured the beauty of nature in his paintings bequeathed four acres of land off West Seventh Street to the City of Whitefish to use as a natural park. James Bakke donated his property in the southwest corner of town that features large trees and open fields where wildlife make common appearances. It's one of the few slices of open land within walking distance to downtown, and yet still retains a rural character. “He wanted it maintained in open space that could be used by the community,” said family friend Donna Hopkins. “He wanted people to enjoy the quiet and be outdoors.”