Happy Fourth!

By Micah Drew, Jordan Hansen and Keila Szpaller

🇺🇸 Happy Fourth of July from the Daily Montanan 🇺🇸

From our sister outlet, the Nevada Current, a reminder of the words of Frederick Douglass. “The optimism Douglass expresses and his praise of the ‘great principles’ of the Declaration of Independence are perhaps particularly noteworthy as the nation observes the 250th anniversary of that document’s adoption.” Here’s “What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July?”

From Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, a call to action: “For 250 years, our elected officials, and even our founders, debated and argued, but they all agreed that America is worth it. Despite a Civil War, global conflicts, and a changing economy, America endured and became the greatest country in the world.

“To celebrate that truth, I encourage all Montanans to step up and get involved in their state and communities. Whether it’s voting, volunteering, running for office, testifying on legislation, or writing letters to your elected official, this is your government: for the people, by the people.”

Ruth Ben-Ghiat, an author I mentioned earlier in The Hook Book 📚, writes about patriotism this year and reminds us of her words from 2021, still relevant today:

“The Declaration of Independence ‘sounds like a fairy tale,’ said Russian state television host Dmitry Kiselyov, engaging in the favorite Kremlin habit of mocking American democracy. In one way, Kiselyov’s correct. Freedom, including freedom of the press, can only be fantasized about in autocracies such as Russia, which encourage collective dreams about national greatness but stifle, or co-opt for state aims, individual autonomy and initiative.”

But this, from Ben-Ghiat:

“It is this freedom to dream, and the idea that it is possible to transform one’s life and the destiny of one’s family, that has distinguished America in the global imagination and made it a destination for millions of impoverished, oppressed, and ambitious individuals. The America of immigrants’ aspirations was and is a place where everyone could find their community and everyone, in theory, could have a chance, with dizzying improvements in standards of living possible within the scope of one or two generations — both for immigrants and for people born here, of every race and religion.”

~ Keila Szpaller

Jeremiah Shinn, the new University of Montana president, started this week.

Shinn took time right out of the gate to talk with reporters, which I interpret as a sign he will be accessible to the public.

The thing that struck me is the way he speaks about students, not like they’re just consumers of goods, but like they’re real people who need to pay their rent and eat decent meals.

He talked about his own struggles in college — not academic, but trying to figure out how to navigate things like financial aid.

This focus on helping students as people won’t necessarily be new for UM, but it seems especially important as people struggle to afford groceries, much less college.

In his video introduction as president, Shinn wore a spiffy new maroon jacket, and he told me he didn’t have much maroon gear already, but he’s stocking up.

~ Keila Szpaller

Well, if you read last week’s weekend newsletter entry about Montana ultra runners taking on the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run and thought, “Hmm, last I’ll hear about that weird thing,” PSYCH.

Last Saturday, all three Missoula-based pro trail runners had top-10 finishes at the most prestigious and oldest ultramarathon in the world.

Adam Peterman finished 6th, about an hour faster than his winning time from 2022, and Jeff Mogavero was close behind in 7th.

And in her 100-mile debut, Jennifer Lichter won the race and set a new course record by 88 seconds in 15 hours, 28 minutes and 5 seconds.

For 100 miles.

Just imagine … after 100 miles of hard running, being yelled at by your crew of friends, family and coach to run faster because you’re too close to a course record to let up.

That’s exactly what happened (I was among those yelling) and it was one of the greatest days in the world of U.S. trail running, which I admit is a niche, but it’s a great niche that Montana is crushing at.

If you are bored this Fourth of July, or just really want to watch something other than the World Cup, here’s a link to the 15-hour live stream.

~ Micah Drew

It’s been a long time coming, but I think I’ve finally got hooked on aquatic recreation again. Recently my buddy and his girlfriend brought their paddleboards out to Lake Alva, near Seeley Lake, and let me have a go.

I’ve always liked being on or around the water, specifically fishing and canoeing, but just haven’t got out on a watercraft in a while. I think that’s going to change. For whatever reason, getting on that paddleboard just felt right. I also like the relative simplicity and all of the things that it opens up to do.

It also feels like it could open up a lot of recreational stuff moving forward, and would be a fun thing to have when going to some of the lakes near Polebridge, which is on my list to get back to this summer.

Also was fun getting out to the Seeley Lake area. It’s always good driving over that way from Helena, because it’s about four different state highways and runs through some of my favorite country in western Montana.

I hope you’re all having a safe and good Fourth of July weekend, and if you have paddleboard suggestions, definitely send me an email — we’re in the market for one now.

~ Jordan Hansen

“Three To Get Lei’d” is a goofy murder mystery based on Kauai.

It features cocktail recipes in the back, and a troupe of incompetent hula dancers in the narrative.

I picked up this book in Kauai at Talk Story Bookstore, the “westernmost bookstore of the United States.” It has a cat, hand-cut bookmarks, and old records.

I asked the Talk Story worker for a book by a local author, and he offered up this one by Jill Marie Landis.

This book is part of her Tiki Goddess mystery series, and I think it’s No. 3. The first one is “Mai Tai One On.”

Landis seems like someone it’d be great to chortle with on a beach walk.

Happy reading.

~ Keila Szpaller

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