Submitted by Paula Darko Hensler- Kootenai Valley Quilt Guild
Carol Rosenquist: generous, kind, positive, tireless worker, favorite teacher, musical, creative, quiet strength, and fun. These are all words that describe this talented lady. She also now has a new role as Kootenai Valley Quilt Guild’s Quilter of the Year. Carol Rosenquist, a member of the guild since the 1990’s has been honored and will be featured at the 2023 KVQG Quilt Show, to be held at Memorial Center September 8 & 9, 2023.
When asked how long she had been sewing and quilting, she said she started sewing on her grandma’s treadle machine at the age of 6…. about 80 years ago. Throughout her life she has sewed in home economics classes and in 4-H. She made her own clothes as well as those of her children. She stated her kids never had a store-bought pair of “jammies”. When her husband died, at the recommendation of her friend and co-quilter, Chloe Adamson, she started quilting and never stopped. She attends about 8 retreats a year at places like Flathead Lake, and Seeley Lake as well as local retreats. Carol does mission work with her church, and they make quilts year-round to be distributed all over the world. After Hurricane Katrina, Carol went with her mission group and a load of quilts to Biloxi, Mississippi, to aid victims. She has done many trips with her mission groups and armfuls of quilts. She stated that during covid she made about 20, 60” x 80” quilt tops for the mission project.
She loves quilting, which suits her type A personality. The color and feel of the fabric, the creative possibilities, the new ideas that everyone comes up with are some of the reasons it has become her passion. She likes the way quilters share ideas and time with each other.
Carol was a classroom teacher who loved every day of her career, which was 42 years in length. She retired from teaching but didn’t retire from life. She still mows her 5-acre lawn about 1 hour every day and keeps up with her busy life. The members of KVQG are glad she shares her time with them.
Come and see Carol’s work as featured quilter at the annual KVQG Show along with many other beautiful creations. There will be vendors, a Quilter’s Boutique with items available for purchase, along with cookies to purchase. Remember September 8 and 9 at the Memorial Center.
Fire Restrictions Lifted Across the Kootenai
National Forest
Submitted by LaRona Rebo, USFS
Effective Thursday, August 31st at 12:01 a.m., all fire restrictions will be lifted from lands administered by the Kootenai National Forest (KNF) in Flathead, Lincoln, and Sanders Counties and KNF lands in Bonner and Boundary Counties in Idaho. Recent rain and cooler temperatures have brought needed moisture to forest vegetation and lowered the fire danger across northwest Montana, specifically to High fire danger for the KNF.
As the weather continues to cool and we move into fall, camping and outdoor recreation are popular activities. Be prepared and have the proper tools to extinguish a campfire before you light it. Bring a bucket, water, and shovel to drown and stir the campfire until it is completely out. If it’s too hot to touch, it’s too hot to leave. Reminder that debris burning remains closed and does not open until October 1st, 2023. However, if you are within the Libby Outdoor Burning Control Area, residential burning opens April 1st, 2024.
New to You Donates Backpacks
Submitted by Libby Elementary School
New To You donated over 70 backpacks to the Libby Elementary School, filled with school supplies. They were available at the open house for any families in need.
Libby Friends of the
Library Book Sale
Submitted by Susan Horelick
The Libby Friends of the Library will have its next Book Sale on Friday, Sept. 8th from
10 am to 5:00 pm in the Book Sale Room downstairs at the Library.
Come and see what we have on our Monthly Specials shelves! Purchase of items is by donation, with all money received going to support programs for the Library.
Automotive Ministries
Donates Car in Troy
Submitted by David Beckingham
At a recent all church service in Troy, Beth Garcia was awarded a refurbished vehicle donated by Automotive Miniseries of Love INC Southern Lincoln County.
EPA Clears Libby’s Air Quality Health
Submitted by Department of
Environmental Quality
The Montana Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) request to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to designate the Libby area as meeting national air quality standards has been approved. The state submitted monitoring data from 2014 to 2021 demonstrating that the air is meeting national standards.
When an area is meeting standards, it is referred to as attainment. The redesignation from nonattainment to attainment means the Libby area is in compliance with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for particulate matter with a diameter less than or equal to 2.5 micrometers (PM-2.5). According to EPA, the fine particles in PM-2.5 can be inhaled deep into the lungs and cause serious health problems.
“This redesignation is a reflection of the work the Lincoln County Environmental Health Department has done to ensure clean air in Libby,” said Bo Wilkins, bureau chief of DEQ’s Air Quality Program. “Our air quality team worked closely with Lincoln County to gather monitoring data and develop the limited maintenance plan. We are excited to announce Libby is meeting air quality standards.”
Libby was designated as nonattainment by the EPA for the PM-2.5 standard in 1993. Since then, the area has implemented measures to attain the air quality standard. These measures include regulating solid fuel burning devices, implementing road dust requirements including sanding and sweeping, and enforcing outdoor burning regulations.
The process for demonstrating that an area should be redesignated requires extensive data gathering and analysis. The data demonstrated the Libby area has attained the PM-2.5 air quality standard and that the area will maintain compliance into the future, based on emission growth estimates.
The Libby area will remain under an EPA approved limited maintenance plan for the next 20 years to ensure protection of air quality. Due to years of healthy air monitoring data in Libby, DEQ was able to use a streamlined analysis to demonstrate that the area is meeting air quality standards. Libby is the first area in the nation to be redesignated using this approach.
While DEQ celebrates achieving long-term clean air in Libby, the department also reminds Montanans that wildfires, winter inversions and other factors can cause temporary high concentrations of PM-2.5. Individuals should still monitor air quality and take appropriate precautions to protect their health.
Since 2019, DEQ has successfully redesignated 10 nonattainment areas across Montana. Areas that are designated nonattainment can face barriers to economic development as companies and visitors may choose alternative locations with clean air designations. Redesignation formally removes the stigma and helps communities thrive. At the Montana DEQ, our mission is to champion a healthy environment for a thriving Montana. DEQ is charged with maintaining and improving Montana’s air, land, and water. For more info about DEQ please visit: https://deq.mt.gov/
Nurses at Cabinet Peaks Medical Center Honored With Daisy Award
Submitted by Paula Collins, CPMC
Nurses at Cabinet Peaks Medica Center (CPMC) will soon be honored with The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses ®. The award is part of the DAISY Foundation’s mission to recognize the extraordinary, compassionate nursing care they provide patients and families every day.
The DAISY Foundation is a not-for-profit organization, established in memory of J. Patrick Barnes, by members of his family. Patrick died at the age of 33 in late 1999 from complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP), a little known but not uncommon auto-immune disease. (DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System.) The care Patrick and his family received from nurses while he was ill inspired this unique means of thanking nurses for making a profound difference in the lives of their patients and patient families.
Nurses may be nominated by patients, families, and colleagues. The award recipient is chosen by a committee at [Healthcare Organization] to receive The DAISY Award. Awards are presented throughout the year at celebrations attended by the Honoree’s colleagues, patients, and visitors. Each Honoree receives a certificate commending her or him as an “Extraordinary Nurse.” The certificate reads: “In deep appreciation of all you do, who you are, and the incredibly meaningful difference you make in the lives of so many people.” Honorees also receive a DAISY Award pin and a beautiful and meaningful sculpture called A Healer’s Touch, hand-carved by artists of the Shona Tribe in Zimbabwe.
Said Bonnie Barnes, FAAN, Doctor of Humane Letters and Co-Founder of The DAISY Foundation, CPMC’s Chief Nursing Officer, Tonya Teegardin, stated “We are proud to be among the healthcare organizations participating in The DAISY Award program. Nurses go above and beyond every day. It’s important that our nurses know their work is highly valued, and The DAISY Foundation provides a way for us to do that.”
In addition to the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses, the Foundation expresses gratitude to the nursing profession internationally in thousands of healthcare facilities and schools of nursing with recognition of Nurse-led Teams, Nurse Leaders, Nurses Advancing Health Equity, Nursing Ethics, Nursing Faculty, Nursing Students, Lifetime Achievement in Nursing and through the J. Patrick Barnes Grants for Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice Projects, Medical Mission Grants and their new Health Equity Grant programs. More information is available at http://DAISYfoundation.org.
