New version of landmark Somers sign installed

Howard Ruby and Francis VanRinsum may never find out what happened to a Somers landmark that disappeared more than two decades ago.

The longtime Somers residents fondly remember a sign that used to hang at the boat launch south of town.

It detailed the town's history as a "company town," created when the Great Northern Railway finished a spur line from Kalispell to a lumber-mill site on Flathead Lake.

The sign hung at the boat launch for about five years, then disappeared. Ruby and VanRinsum haven't seen it since.

But on Saturday, the men helped erect a new sign on the side of Sliters Ace Lumber and Building Supply in Somers. It isn't an exact replica of the one that vanished so long ago, but it tells Somers' story exactly as the original sign did.

Gary Collier, who owns Kalispell Neon, volunteered to make the new sign after reading about the missing sign in the Daily Inter Lake in February 2007.

"He called me and said, 'I'll make a sign for you,'" Ruby's wife, Fran, said.

Collier said he got involved because his wife, Sharon, went to school in Somers and remembers the original sign. Her father worked at a sawmill and tie plant in Somers.

With help from his employees, Collier constructed a new 8-foot by 4.5-foot sign out of redwood.

They cut the letters on a computer, sanded the sign and finished with about six coats of varnish, VanRinsum said.

"It's going to be pretty tough," he said. "This stuff lasts a long time."

Despite its tough finish, the men worried the sign would be damaged if they hung it in its original location at the boat launch.

"It was kind of in a vulnerable spot down there, with boat trailers backing in and out of there," Ruby said. "We kind of think that's what happened to the old one."

The original sign was erected after then-state Sen. Bob Brown found funding for it. He gave a short speech in Somers the day it went up, and the community celebrated with a potluck in the fire hall.

The sign was similar to historical highway markers but wasn't an official marker, VanRinsum told the Inter Lake in February 2007.

"This was a private thing just for Somers," he said.

About five years later, the sign was damaged. Ruby said he thought someone had accidentally backed into the original sign, cracking its lower right-hand corner.

When VanRinsum went to repair it, he found a group of government employees taking the sign down. They told him they were going to fix it, so he didn't protest.

The employees, who possibly were from the state Department of Commerce, never returned the sign. VanRinsum and Ruby suspect it has been sitting in a warehouse for the last 20 years.

Hoping to avoid losing the new sign, they set out to find a safer location. They also wanted to put it where many people would see it.

Inspiration hit one day after lunch at the Somers Bay Cafe, which is located next to Sliters, VanRinsum said.

"We came out of the restaurant and saw lots of people standing around," he said.

Sliters willingly donated the wall space, Ruby said.

"We think it's a good spot, by Somers Bay Cafe," he said. "People are in and out of there. People are in and out of Sliters."

VanRinsum said he's glad the search for the sign is over - even if they never did find the one they were looking for.

"We probably will as soon as this one is up," Ruby said, laughing. "Probably someone will go, 'Oh, I know where that's at.'"

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.