CPRD COMMENTS JULY 26, 2007
UNSUNG HEROES AMONST US
The recent terribly hot weather has taken its’ toll on more than a few people.
I’m so proud to see the efforts put forth by the CPRD staff. It’s hard to go
outside for any length of time let alone work all day in this scorching heat.
Our summer staff including lifeguards, instructors and other program staff gets
more than their fair share of sun and heat. It is tough enough to be outside for
long periods of time but the last few weeks have been brutal. Our staff has
bravely endured the scorching heat.
Our park maintenance workers and golf greens keepers work hard and take great
pride in their work. It never fails that when we get into sizzling temperatures
that is when a sprinkler decides to quit turning or a pump fails from heavy use.
The extreme heat magnifies all turf problems. It is real easy to quickly go from
green to gold colored grass. Returning to a healthy green is more challenging.
Sometimes a repair requires an unexpected trip to Billings or another location
for specialty parts and supplies. Our local merchants do a great job of stocking
many commonly used items but there are many pieces of equipment that is very
specialized and not readily available. Our community like many others in Eastern
Montana isn’t large enough to have that luxury.
What the ball field grounds crew has been nothing but amazing. We recently
hosted the Legion baseball Eastern “A” divisional tournament. Despite scorching
temperatures this group led by Jim Wilsey has made our field the envy of the
visiting teams and their fans. The pre-tournament work was meticulous and even
more impressive was the field preparation in between sixteen separate games. Our
baseball field has never been in better shape. They put in many long and tedious
hours grooming our field. As I was heading to the bleacher area last Friday, I
couldn’t help but notice that the crew was spray painting the bases with white
paint to make them stand out. In over thirty years I have never seen that kind
of attention to detail.
THE “PIN LADY” BOWLS TO GOLD
I happened to catch Blanche Craig when she returned to Colstrip with a “Big Sky
State Games” gold medal proudly in her possession for bowling. Her smile and
pride lit up the room. I read the paper the next day and looked at her score and
realized how well she had performed. I believe her series score was 711. I
looked at the other divisions and she appeared to not only win her age division
but also was higher than most if not all the women. I looked a little further
and she would have won her fair share of men’s divisions.
I can’t think of a nicer person to perform so well and I’m very proud to know
she will join CPRD this fall and will supervise the “Breakfast Club” school
children at IBCLC in the mornings before school for the Quality of Life
Corporation that funds the program
DID YOU KNOW?
The USA's highest temperature, 134° on July 10, 1913 in Death Valley, Calif., is
also the official highest temperature in the Western Hemisphere.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Folks who never do any more than they get paid for, never get paid for any more
than they do”- Elbert Hubbard: