A Letter to our members from Leandra Hill:
 

Hello fellow chamber members,

We are at the halfway mark for 2020, an extraordinary and unusual year, a year unlike anything experienced before for most of us.

Our chamber was established in 1964 and other than the part time Executive Director/Secretary position (myself) and some other part time specialists here and there, our chamber and events are run completely by volunteers.

We are individuals, businesses, organizations and nonprofits "dedicated to the promotion of positive balanced business and Industrial growth, with programs to meet the evolving needs of our community and to promote our quality of life here in Three Forks.”

For example, one of our past board members (including being a past President) Diane Phillips has been voluntarily heading up and solely managing the Farmer's Market every summer for 8 years.

The Visitors Information Center was run by Linda Noble for many years with most of the effort going unpaid. 

Rodeo Dayz, Christmas Stroll and many other community events are all organized by our Board Members and our community volunteers.

Many of you receiving this email have been on the board in the past and are very much the reason why we have succeeded and accomplished so much over the years. I am learning so much from all of you and have much gratitude for the advice and help.

So what are we to do this year when so many of our valued community events, that bring business and connection, are canceled?

With the current covid-19 situation and the given restrictions, how do we best support our chamber members?

And what is a gap that we as a chamber can help fill in supporting our community during these times?

Thursdays in Three Forks could be one of these opportunities.

As most of you know by this point, I have been an advocate of creating a buzz around our local community by encouraging (and advertising) residents and visitors alike to come and enjoy downtown Three Forks on Thursdays from 4 p.m. to 7 pm.

Starting on the North end of Main Street at the Farmer’s Market in John Q Adams Park (AKA Railroad Park) and moving South the few blocks of Historic downtown Three Forks, businesses will be open and many of them will have sidewalk tables out with specials.

The hope is that Thursdays in Three Forks will help us support our businesses, organizations and nonprofits by bringing people downtown to shop, connect, and interact with each other while adhering to social distancing restrictions.

If you would like a table or space on Main Street from 4pm to 7pm, please email tfchamber@gmail.com or call 285-4753.

As I see it, my job is to execute the decisions of the Chamber.

The Chamber's job is to promote our members, business and Industrial growth, to meet the evolving needs of our community, and to promote our quality of life here in Three Forks.

The chamber consists of the board and all members (you!)

So come, email, call, vote and if you can, take on one little thing and volunteer. We need all of us. 

The load is lighter when more of us are taking on one little part.

And I will see you downtown at Thursdays in Three Forks.

Cheers,

~Leandra

Leandra Hill

Three Forks Chamber of Commerce

tfchamber@gmail.com

406-285-4753

A little history...

The 1918 Pandemic in Montana

During the influenza pandemic of 1918-1919, Montana was one of the four hardest hit states in the nation. More than 5,000 people — about 1% of the state’s population — died during the outbreak.

In their 1987 article in Montana The Magazine of Western History, historians Pierce C. Mullen and Michael L. Nelson wrote that Montana reacted to the 1918 influenza pandemic in a manner similar to that of other states. Their observations might reflect what appears to be playing out today across the nation.
 

“There was confusion, conflicts between business interests and authorities, and indecision by those entrusted to safeguard public health,” Mullen and Nelson wrote. “In all fairness, however, there was little more than what was attempted at the time that could have been done.”

“… In Montana, influenza’s swath was broad, swift, and devastating.”

"Esther Thorson and Christine Carberry in the hospital ward at Sidney Hospital, Sidney, Mt." 
Photo Montana Historical Society

In one three-month period including October, November and December 1918, at least 35,500 people in Montana alone reportedly were infected. Census figures state that in 1920, Montana’s population was about 548,900. 

The mortality rate was particularly high in Butte, which with 91,000 residents in 1917 had the state’s largest population. About 1,000 Butte residents died during the pandemic. At its worst, Butte undertakers would leave their wagons in the street instead of putting them in a garage because the calls were so frequent.
 

A mild form of the virus first moved through Montana in the spring of 1918 with little fanfare. However, a second, deadlier wave hit in August, followed by the third wave in late December that lasted until the spring of 1919. Most of those who died were between 18 and 40 years old.

State and local leaders urged churches, restaurants, saloons, schools and other gathering places to close, but that was met with hostility. Still, the closures took place, although some food and drink sales were allowed if the items were consumed off site.

The University of Montana in Missoula closed in the fall of 1918, but only after considerations about what the impact might be if the students returned to their homes across the state and inadvertently spread the virus.

Meanwhile, Montana State College in Bozeman allowed students to register for the fall term, then furloughed them until after Christmas. The students were credited for the full year after their work was accelerated and less important material was removed from courses.

Rural areas of Montana also were hard hit, since medical aids and caregivers, especially nurses, were scarce. For example, a family of five near Miles City starved to death after becoming too weak to feed themselves after falling ill.

No vaccines were available until an experimental one in December 1918, and treatment was mainly palliative care and the pandemic subsided in Montana by mid-1919.

Yet the stories of Montanans pulling together are legendary, not just by medical providers but also by businesses. For example, a banker in Lewistown took over operations of a bank in Winnett when that bank’s staff fell ill, and ministers held services over the telephone wires.

Schools returned to holding classes after Christmas, and when the third wave of the flu hit in 1919, it wasn’t as severe as the second wave but claimed 1,266 more Montana lives.

Looking back, Mullen and Nelson note that it’s “difficult to evaluate the overall impact of the great influenza pandemic on Montana.” While it ran its course, Montana was focused on the conclusion of World War I and the peace negotiations.

“It appears as if people saw the influenza first as a nuisance, then as a local disaster, and finally as a nagging worry,” the two history professors wrote. “But it is just possible that the influenza experience reinforced Montana’s desire after the war to isolate itself, to look inward, to find a sense of balance, to see a place from which to survey a broken world.”

*Most of this was taken directly from an April, 2020 article in the Missoulian from the Montana Historical Society.

NorthWestern Energy

NorthWestern Energy is proud to service and support
Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska, with Montana being their largest territory.

Check out these Numbers!

NorthWestern Energy 

VISION
Enriching lives through a safe, sustainable energy future 



MISSION
Working together to deliver safe, reliable and innovative energy solutions.  



VALUES
They live their values through a strong and binding commitment to safety in their work practices, excellence in service to their customers, treating everyone with respect, creating value for their stakeholders, and conducting their business with the utmost integrity, community involvement, and environmental responsibility, each and every day.








Check out the entire Community Report HERE


~Welcome NorthWestern Energy to the
Three Forks Chamber of Commerce~

_________________________________