Living

ST. REGIS - They laid Jerry Parrick to rest in a snowstorm Monday, conditions all too similar to those that led to his death. More than a hundred volunteer firefighters from as far away as Spokane and Columbus were among the 250 people who crept into town on winter-slickened highways to pay tribute to Parrick. Sherrell Christensen, an emergency medical technician who served with Parrick in the West End Volunteer Fire Department, hoped there would be no emergency calls during the 30-minute memorial service inside the St. Regis High School gym.

By MICHAEL MOORE of the Missoulian

ST. IGNATIUS - Randy Trudeau has been practicing medicine here for 13 years.

Lately, he's been practicing common sense, as well.

Not that the two don't necessarily go together, but Americans, in their headlong push for immediate solutions to medical problems, often want the former without the latter.

By KEILA SZPALLER of the Missoulian

In September, Traci Scharfe's partner found Boots convulsing and bleeding on the floor of their lower Rattlesnake home. The white-footed, gray-haired feline died, and Scharfe said an X-ray showed a pellet stuck in her stomach.

This weekend, Scharfe and Wayne Mostad came home to find Simon, their 7-month-old kitten, stretched out on the bed with a bloody rear leg.

Dave Beck called it his “Welcome to Montana moment.”

It was the week of Thanksgiving 2000, when his daughter brought home a note asking all the kids to dress up like pilgrims and Indians the day before the holiday.

“What happens when the teacher points to someone with a paper vest and turkey feathers and says, ‘You look like a real Indian?' ” Beck asked. “My daughter dresses up like an Indian every day.”

By MICHAEL MOORE of the Missoulian

Organizations that take care of the elderly will have a tougher job if Gov. Brian Schweitzer's budget passes in the next legislative session.

The budget proposes cutting $3 million - money that was added in the last session - from aging programs statewide. That cut would affect groups like Missoula Aging Services, which provides a vast array of services to the elderly in western Montana.

By KIM BRIGGEMAN of the Missoulian

HAMILTON - Snow, soft and fluffy, piled up outside a home in a southside Hamilton neighborhood Tuesday morning.

Inside, stockings hung on the chimney with obvious care. An elephant and a giraffe were painted on the wall of the jungle room.

Emma, 5, and Aksel, 3, two of the cutest kids you'll find on Santa's circuit, were bug-eyed by the pile of presents under a tree dressed with lights and ornaments.

“Kaylin, come on,” said Dave Mihalic to one of the young Civil Air Patrol cadets. “Let's go do the special one.” Kaylin Smith, 13, was on a special assignment - to uncover the gravestone of Steven Slusher, a decorated combat medic who died in 1969. The flat marker in the far corner of the cemetery was hidden beneath 2 inches of snow. Once uncovered, Smith laid a wreath on the ground next to the stone with a red ribbon directly at the top.

By CHELSI MOY of the Missoulian

Watch Tuesday's send-off festivities for the Grizzlies

Subzero temperatures didn't deter hundreds of Missoulians from spilling into the streets on Tuesday to cheer on the University of Montana Grizzlies as they made their way to the airport, en route to Chattanooga, Tenn., for the Football Championship Subdivision title game.

By KIM BRIGGEMAN of the Missoulian

They'll call it “Paint the Town,” and if it all comes together it'll be quite a salute to Elizabeth Larson.

Stylists and nail techs from the Missoula and Frenchtown valleys will congregate in Frenchtown sometime after Christmas to “do nails” in memory of Larson, who died last Wednesday in a Spokane hospital of a cancer called neuroblastoma. She was 8 years old.

By VINCE DEVLIN of the Missoulian

CAMAS PRAIRIE - It was a hot July day the first time Dave Hedley came across this herd of horses.

Two of the 17 were dead in a neighboring landowner's field.

A third died within an hour of Hedley's arrival.

A fourth - a 6-week-old colt - was so sick, and suffering so much, it had to be put down by a veterinarian within two days.