30 Years Ago

Thursday, June 7, 1990

$1500 raised for new Biddle Hall at Hubub Day

A strong wind Saturday kept the crowd size at a minimum at the Help Us Build Up Biddle Fun Day, but did little to dampen the spirits of those on hand.

The day of games and activities was scheduled to help raise funds for the new Biddle Community Heritage Center. About $1500 was raised, according to HUBUB publicity chairman Janet Rumph. The community has now reached about the halfway point of raising the needed $40,000 to build the new hall. Around $20,000 has already been accumulated, through donations and fundraisers.

Results of the contests are as follows.

In the “Papoose” division (one to three-year-olds) overall winners were Krystal Lemke, Cortney Riggs and Austin Clements. For the “Pony Express Riders” (four to six-year-olds) Jill Rumph took first, Nicole Rumph placed second and Jerrad Flint and Sarah Sacrison tied for third place. In the “Buckaroos” division (seven to nine-year-olds) Christopher Rumph took first place, Mike Allen placed second and Josh Rumph emerged in third. In the “Cowpunchers” division (10 to 12 year-olds) Jeramiah Mader placed first, Zeke Mader took second and Randy Tee emerged in third.

Contests to determine the over-all winners included trike, bike and scooter races and pole bending, balloon races, an obstacle course wheel barrow races, sack races, stick horse races, relay races, and for the one to three year-olds, a walk the plank contest.

The raw egg toss contest for the adults, the “Impossible Posse” division, was won by Ella Mae Morris and Evelyn Williams. Cindy May and Cody Morris kept their egg intact long enough to win second, while third went to husband and wife team Ted and Cathy Elgin.

In the children’s division egg toss, James and Jamie Losinski took first, Zeke and Marilyn Mader placed second and Mechelle Allen and David Scoles took third.

Three-person teams competed in the adult division four-legged race. First place honors went to Dave and Lisa Tescher and Juanita Williams. Bonnie and Stanley Powell and Charlanne Lemke captured second place, and third place honors went to Vera Clements, Ella Mae Morris and Laurie Cathey.

Kitty Riggs and Kelsey Rumph took first and second place in the bubble gum contest. The Riggs-Rumph duo went on to take first and second place honors in the wild hair-do contest. Mechelle Allen placed third.

Greg Losinski placed first in the horseshoe tournament. Second place went to Scott West.

Top honors in the adult division pie baking contest went to Connie Rumph, Cathy Elgin and Vera Clements. Lexie Clements, Josh Rumph and Mandy Rumph took the top three places in the youth division. The winning pies were later auctioned off.

In separate action, Barry Blair of Powderville captured first place honors in team roping competition and was awarded a hand-crafted saddle for his efforts.

Powder River Commercial Club members served barbequed hamburgers, hot dogs and other treats during the day, with proceeds going to the Hall project.

“The kids had a blast,” said Rumph. “We all had a good time, in fact, despite the wind.”

That evening the entertainment was moved to the old Biddle Ranch headquarters where a lamb roast supper was served and musicians played for the enjoyment of the crowd. The entertainment for the evening was provided by Teddy Elgin, Cap Williams, Kenny Rogers, Dale Benge, Cody Morris, Jean Hough and Cassy Elgin.

Toxic odor continues to cause problems at town office

Because of a toxic substance in the air, town office employees and Volunteer Fire Department members have had to all but temporarily abandon their building in downtown Broadus.

To date, the search for the source of the “rotten peach” odor, which causes serious reactions when inhaled, has proved fruitless. And, efforts to get help from the Montana Occupational Health Bureau have also been met with frustration.

Town Clerk Darlene Thompson said she first started to notice the odor in January. The odor is more prevalent on warm, still days, and seems to lie in the pockets in the interior of the building, she said.

Breathing the substance for even a few minutes causes headaches, extreme irritation to the eyes and throat, and stomach disorders.

“The symptoms begin with a headache. Then you can feel it in your throat… you can taste the odor. Your lips, mouth and eyes burn, and a stomach disorder follows. It’s not a good feeling at all,” said Thompson.

Severe light-headedness is also a symptom.

“Some days it’s much worse than others. On some days, it’s not so bad. It seems strongest on warmer days, when there is no wind,” said the clerk.

Bill Hooper of the Montana Occupational Health Bureau came from Helena and tested the interior of the building with an air monitoring device several weeks ago. However, he came on a windy day and found no toxic contamination, and has since not taken the problem seriously, town employees said. Hooper promised to send another air monitoring device by mail last Thursday. It still had not arrived from Helena by press-time Tuesday.

“Nobody seems to be getting very excited about it. I called and asked Bill (Hooper) what else we could do. He didn’t have an answer,” said Thompson. “They just don’t seem to be too concerned about it.”

Using fans for ventilation, water clerk Bill Jandt has continued to work in the office several days a week. Thompson, however, has moved her workplace to the Town Shop, despite the inconvenience of moving records and bookkeeping back and forth.

“I’ve had a sore throat all winter, but feel much better in the past few weeks since I’ve been out of the office,” Thompson said. “It’s not real convenient though.”

Other town employees and members of the Fire Department, along with visitors to the office, have complained of the same symptoms.