Our readers write: Tales from longtime subscribers of the Daily Inter Lake

SUBSCRIBER SINCE 1945

Grand Prize Winner: Les Mahugh

OLDEST SUBSCRIPTION ENTERED FOR CONTEST

I subscribed to the Daily Inter Lake in 1945 after my father passed away, and my wife and I are still receiving it, for 68 years.

Our carrier, Brian Hattel, has been outstanding and very dependable.

I actually grew up with the Inter Lake from the 1920s on, as my folks were subscribing then, and I virtually learned to read from the Inter Lake and the few books available.

The paper has been a good source of news, both local and national; and now in retirement, we really appreciate it. —Les and Mary Mahugh, Kalispell

SINCE 1947

Editor’s Choice: Jerry A. Oftedahl

Our family started receiving the Daily Inter Lake the summer of 1947.

The family ranch house is over a mile from the one-room schoolhouse and all of the mailboxes, for anyone beyond the school, were located there.

It was a ritual to hear from father, “Run down and get the mail.”

That is exactly what he meant; “run down.” It didn’t matter if there was three feet of snow, 30 degrees below zero, 95 degrees above zero or a monsoon. When you heard “run down,” you were out of the door heading for the mailbox.

I remember father saying, “Get going, it is only a mile.” I commented that it is two miles, because when you get there you have to come back. His response was, “Then get going, I don’t want to wait all day for my paper!” —Jerry A. Oftedahl, Kalispell

SINCE 1950s

Editor’s Choice: Bob Neitzling

In regard to my reading the Inter Lake, I’ve done so since I was a boy.

My first recollection of the paper was around 1938 to 1939 because I became interested in baseball and the World Series. Before that I looked at the “funnies” and not much else.

I remember always turning to the sporting page first to check out the scores and other sporting events during various seasons. I still do.

All told, I’ve read the Inter Lake from 1938 and still am a subscriber. While in college and the Army in the late ’40s and early ’50s, my parents would send the paper as it related to news I’d be interested in.

Guess I could say I’ve been a devoted reader for at least 74 years.

Thanks. —Bob Neitzling, Kalispell

SINCE 1967

Editor’s Choice: Howard Stockwell

I am a second-generation native, born May 27, 1925, in a midwife house at the south end of the present Smith’s grocery service station.

I attended the same one-room rural school (Spring Creek) as my mother did, and had the same world history teacher (Edith Geck) at Flathead County High School.

I have a very vivid recollection of my first knowledge of the Daily Inter Lake.

The Palace Bar on Main Street, between Safeway and Anderson Style Shop, was owned by two gentlemen, Austin Smith and Babe Boetcher, and was the meeting place for most beer drinkers and pool players.

Around 1940 to 1941, while in high school, we weren’t of legal age but the owners allowed us to play pool in the back room. I distinctly recall that on several occasions a ragged little towhead (couldn’t have been over 6 years old) would come through hawking his newspapers, “Inter Lake, five cents! Inter Lake, five cents!”

After high school I was away for the next 34 years for Army duty and a 30-year stint with the State Department. I moved back with my family in April of 1967 and have subscribed to the Daily Inter Lake continuously since, 46 years.

P.S.: Frank Miele for president. —Howard A. Stockwell, Kalispell

SINCE 1970: 'A Necessary Luxury'

Editor’s Choice: Mary Tombrink Harris

My husband and I moved to the Flathead in 1970. We had just bought a small tract of land with a small one-room cabin. One front door, one light bulb, no bathroom and a shallow well enabled us to live there temporarily.

It was our intent to purchase the place, start improving it and return that fall to our regular jobs, mine teaching and his, construction, in Oklahoma. But even that summer with tight pockets, we subscribed to the Inter Lake.

Late summer came and with it, a big decision. Would we stay or return to our good jobs. We stayed. Very little capital and a lot of improvements lay ahead. Hubby hand dug the hole for a septic tank, hand dug a deeper well and a crawl space under the structure. Then he had to have elbow surgery to repair the damage from so much shoveling.

No matter how slim the income, we always subscribed to the Inter Lake though. Some may have thought that the newspaper was a luxury, but to us the daily was a necessity. How else would we know the latest county news, know who had died or see ads for less expensive materials we needed?

Today, 43 years later, I look forward every morning to reading the paper. Granted, newspapers have diminished in size but often the content is valuable, especially the C1 page in the Sunday issue, often by Lynnette Hintze. It was even my privilege one week to do that page.

Last winter, in my old age, when it was so difficult to get to the paper tube, the carrier brought it right to the door for me.

Oh, yes, I read the Daily and shall as long as I can see. It is a necessary luxury. —Mary M. Tombrink Harris, Columbia Falls