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Broadwater bygone set ablaze

By Dean Rhyneer

The Townsend Star

A local abandoned ranch house was torched this past Saturday in an effort to serve two different purposes. First, the house had been uninhabitable for about twenty years and needed to be demolished to make way for other uses of the land on which it sat. Secondly, the controlled burn allowed the local volunteer fire departments to conduct useful training exercises.

Charly Ragen, current owner of the property, wanted the unusable structure removed from its location, north of Townsend, so she approached the local fire department about doing the controlled burn.

Townsend Fire Chief Martin Mingay explained that his department likes to do controlled burns of this type every few years to provide needed training for its newer members. He said that this structure was particularly useful because it was still sound enough that the crews could conduct practice exercises in the interior of the building before completely burning it down.

New members of the local fire departments that participated in the training exercises included Rebecca Jones, Katie Jones, Bill Jones, Nikki DeMartin, Kim Watne and Brandon Burns. Other fire fighters assisting with the burn included Ed Shindoll, Tom Shindoll, Walt Weedle, Tim Pool, Phil McMurdie, Brandon Flynn, Doug Ellis, Doug Longfellow, Rick DeMartin, Scott Ward, Karen Honey, John Dennison and Chief Mingay.
The house was originally built around 1875 by George McFadden, one of the original homesteaders in the area. An article in an 1876 issue of the Helena Herald described the residence as “one of the finest in the territory, where the wearied traveler can find rest and refreshment.”

In 1898, McFadden sold the property to Ed Ragen and his wife, Mary Gurnett Ragen. The Ragens added onto the house in 1907. After Ed died in 1950, Mary and Ed, Jr., continued to reside there for some time. Since their departure from the property, there have only been a couple of temporary residents there. The house has stood empty since the late 1980’s.
The Ragen home, formerly the residence of the George McFadden Family, stood as a regional icon for over a century.
The abandoned house on the Ragen Ranch property north of Townsend goes up in flames, as part of a controlled burn training excercise conducted by local fire crews this past Saturday.

Photos by Betty Mockel
Leprechaun pays a visit to Townsend second graders

By James Green

The Townsend Star

Mrs. Gravely’s second grade class found itself at the end of a proverbial rainbow on Friday, March 14th. Rachel Horne’s birthday falls on St. Patty’s day which sparked a special visit from would be Leprechaun, Buddy Mergenthaler.

Though his height is not much more than that of most of the second graders Buddy Mergenthaler uses his full height every year to grab his own little pot of gold, in the form of making young children smile. He shows up in full Leprechaun garb, including a real beard and eyebrows that turn a pleasant shade of green near St. Patty’s day every year, top hat with a lucky clover and topping it off is a smile for all.

Buddy usually makes his rounds in Helena Schools every year but made a special trip to Townsend for Rachel Horne’s big day.

Rachel received a pot of gold (in the form of chocolate coins), her classmates also scored a bit of coinage as well. Buddy followed the candy up with the treat of performing some magic tricks. Based on the smiles on the faces of the second grade audience, his visit was a big success.
Leprechaun Buddy Mergenthaler gives birthday girl Rachel Horne a big, luck-o-the-Irish hug during his visit to Townsend Elementary School this past Friday.
Local 4th graders perform play at courthouse

By James Green

The Townsend Star

Thirty plus local youth and spectators were ushered into the Broadwater County Courthouse as the youngsters were seen before the judge. All of the children were members of Mrs. Bakkum’s 4th grade class and were called to testify in some interesting cases, such as the case of the Pilfered Peppers, Sleepy Boy Blue, A Sticky Case of Trauma, The Old Shoe Lady, The Broken Egg and more.
The children were performing a play called “Fairy Tales Go To Court” and were permitted to utilize the court room at the courthouse in several standing room only performances. The performance was a spin on the once popular television show “The Peoples Court” and featured plaintiffs such as the Three blind Mice, Sleepy boy Blue, Miss. Muffet and one very large spider, Humpty Dumpty and all of the Kings Men, as well as others.
The court room was filled with laughter and smiles as the kids acted out the play. The kids (and Mrs. Bakkum) have spent the past several months rehearsing after school in preparation for the event. The play went off without a hitch and both spectators and children alike appeared to have great wholesome fun.
A jury of 4th graders hear fairy tale court cases.
Tami Cazier portrays Humpty Dumpty.