Local woman feels people are Glendive, Montana’s great asset. "Good People Surrounded by Badlands"
| February 21, 2008 |  View for printing |
Glendive http://www.glendivechamber.com/ may not have big city shopping or some of the facilities of a major metropolis, but it has wonderful people who look out for each other and make it a great place to live
Long-time resident Jane Mast recognized that special quality of life when she, her husband Bob and their four young children moved to the Glendive area in 1954. The 50-plus years since then have only deepened her appreciation.
“People don’t recognize what a good community we have,” she said.
By Cindy Mullet Ranger-Review Staff Writer http://www.rangerreview.com/digest/
Jane, Bob and their children came to Glendive from Illinois. They had decided they needed something different than work in a seed corn plant there, and when she saw an ad in the Des Moines, Iowa paper for a rural school teacher position at the Three Mile School in Dawson County, she wrote letters to the county superintendent of schools and the school board inquiring about the position, she said.
She received a call in response to her letters and after a telephone interview, she was hired for the position. The family arrived in Glendive in the late afternoon of Aug. 31, 1954. “It was hotter than sin,” she recalled.
The heat was their first culture shock. They stopped at the county superintendent’s office to get directions to the school and pick up a key to the house the school board had prepared for them.There they got another shock. “Three Mile School” was actually 20 miles from town, she said.
Their house was furnished but did not have indoor plumbing and did not have a telephone. Not long after they arrived, Bob went to work for Don Culver at Culver Motors. During the winter there were times he couldn’t make it home. He couldn’t call to tell Jane he wasn’t coming, but KXGN radio made an announcement several times during the evening to let her know that the roads were too bad for him to leave town, she said.
During the next 50 years, she discovered that spirit of looking out for people and taking care of each other was just something people in this area did. During Bob’s illness and after his death, their friends and neighbors, the staff at Glendive Medical Center and hospice volunteers all gave her much needed support, she said.
She was reminded of how good people can be again this year when she fell and broke her hip. Her daughter-in-law and a neighbor responded to her call for help and got her to the hospital. The care she received there was excellent. Friends with whom she had worked at Eastmont Human Services Center took care of her dog while she was in the hospital. During her recovery time, other neighbors walked the dog for her, checked on her regularly and were just always there for her.
“If I needed someone, I knew I could call on them,” she said, adding, “I am truly thankful to all the people who have been so good to me.”
When she hears people putting down Glendive or whining because there is no place to shop, she wants to remind them of all the good things Glendive has going for it.
The town may not have a Walmart, but it has good businesses, excellent schools, a beautiful new senior center, a great medical facility, lots of volunteer opportunities and many active service organizations. Above all, it has wonderful people.
“We all need to count our blessings,” she said, adding, “I can never repay the years of support and kindness I have received. Thank all of you so much.”
http://www.rangerreview.com/digest/
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