Evergreen votes for safer future

Inter Lake editorial

Voters in Evergreen have approved a $4.4 million bond issue to fund a new fire station by a margin of about 62 percent to 38 percent.

Considering how many demands are being placed upon taxpayers these days, that is a generous recognition of the importance of emergency service to the community.

There was never any doubt that improvements were needed to ensure that the Evergreen Fire Department will continue to meet the needs of the area. But some voters obviously were not convinced this was the right plan.

One fire-department official told the Inter Lake that he was sensitive to the desire of the public for accountability, and he said every effort would be made to shave dollars off the expense of the project. With lower energy prices and a tightening economy, it?s just possible the project will come in under estimate.

We hope so, but in either case, we are glad that voters saw the value of funding their fire department to save property and lives in the future.

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If you?re looking for inspiration, Liz Gedlaman has a lesson for all of us.

The young Columbia Falls mother of four nearly died from a massive stroke five years ago when her youngest child was just 2 weeks old. She battled back and still struggles with the effects of the stroke. Sometimes she gets confused; sometimes the organizational part of her brain has trouble sorting things out.

Yet through it all, with love and support not only from her family but also the Columbia Falls community, she says she?s ?so lucky.? Her sense of humor is still intact and she chooses to focus on what she can do, not what she can?t.

Hometown hero, role model, an inspiration ? take your pick. Gedlaman is all of them.

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Those specialized license plates adorning vehicles across Montana are more than just pretty fixtures ? they serve a valuable fundraising role.

A recent example is the Flathead Lake ?Keep It Blue? license plate that produced more than $20,000 in less than a year for the Flathead Lake Protection Association.

The association, in turn, recently gave a $20,000 check to the Flathead Lake Biological Station for the Yellow Bay station?s water-monitoring work on the lake.

Other organizations that benefit from specialized plates range from the Glacier National Park Fund to local high schools.