Deer Lodge County

Located in southwestern Montana near the Continental Divide, Anaconda was founded in 1865 by Marcus Daily as a site to build a smelter to refine copper ore from local mines. 122 years later, in 1977, Anaconda merged with Deer Lodge County to form one of two consolidated city-county governments within the state. Anaconda-Deer Lodge County consisted of 736 square miles of land and 4.7 square miles of water, making it the second smallest county by land mass.

Tail Wags 4-H Dog Agility

In January, the Anaconda-Deer Lodge County (A-DLC) Extension Office partnered with Montana Clovers 4-H Club Leader, Leslie Given, to apply for funding to support the 4-H dog agility program. Ultimately, they received an equipment donation worth $300.00 from Copper Paws Dog Agility, $500.00 from the Montana 4-H Foundation through their People Partner Grants, and $1,706.97 from the Montana Clovers 4-H Club. With this funding, they were able to purchase one utility wagon, two tunnels, four jumps, eight tunnel bags, twelve weave poles and bases, 16 spot markers, and 24 marker cones. The new equipment has significantly improved the experiences of the thirteen 4-H members from Anaconda-Deer Lodge, Granite, and Powell Counties that regularly participate in lessons at the Beaver Dam Park in Opportunity and at the Powell County Fairgrounds in Deer Lodge. Additionally, the equipment was utilized at the Butte-Silver Bow County Fair in July and the Tri-County Fair in August with plans for further collaboration during the 2023-2024 4-H year. Below are comments that demonstrate the positive impact these efforts have had: Gizelle, 15 How did the dog agility project influence your 4-H year? “The Dog Agility Project positively influenced my 4-H year because I worked with my dog a lot more than I would have if I wouldn’t have done this project. I found out how much my dog Maggie loves the agility course and I feel that working with her throughout the summer strengthened our bond together. Leslie taught us how to positively reinforce our dogs when they were successful with an obstacle. I was also able to attend practices and able to see friends throughout the summer, which was fun!” How did the new equipment impact your experience with the project? “The new equipment made my experience better because set up and take down was so much easier than it was with our old equipment. That gave us a lot more time to practice!” Leslie, 60 How has the new equipment impacted the project? “We now have our own dog agility equipment and do not have to borrow from other agility clubs. We also have new interest from kids in the community that are interested in joining 4-H and participating in the dog project. Not only does the dog project help teach 4-H members how to care for, train, and be better dog owners, but it provides members and their dogs with great exercise as they train on the agility course. Since having our own agility equipment, we do not have to travel to Butte for lessons since most of the 4-H dog agility members live in the Tri-County area. This enabled us to hold lessons in Anaconda-Deer Lodge and Powell counties saving member’s time and money with further travel to Butte. Since we hold lessons at a community park it advertises the 4-H Dog Agility Program to other community members that did not know it existed. Thus promoting new members to join the 4-H program.”

Caption: Anaconda-Deer Lodge County 4-H member and her dog, Potato

Credit: Leslie Given

MSU Extension Brings Campus Specialists to Anaconda-Deer Lodge County

Montana Caregiver Respite Retreat Program In 2022, Anaconda-Deer Lodge County (A-DLC) participated in the Montana State University Extension Statewide Needs Assessment and had 120 participants, the third highest number of responses in the state. The results indicated that 89.1 and 73.1 percent of respondents felt that improving individual well-being and volunteer caregiver resources were very and extremely important. As well as that 47.8 and 54.4 percent were extremely and very dissatisfied with their community’s response to the issues. As a result of these statistics, Montana State University Extension Gerontology Specialist, Dr. Daniel Koltz, brought the Montana Caregiver Respite Retreat Program to A-DLC on October 26, 2022, and December 02, 2022. Twenty caregivers attended the two sessions which provided over 120 hours of respite. The program had an immeasurable impact on participants which can still be felt a year later. During an interview on September 29, 2023, one participant of the October 26 retreat was quoted as saying “Looking back, I think the most important things for me were the moments of stillness and quietude and reflection. With the stress of a more-than-full-time job and full-time caregiver, there’s virtually no time for even a moment’s rest apart from when you collapse onto the bed in exhaustion, so being able to set aside even a modicum of time out of a single day for that general purpose was helpful, and made me see it was possible to do so. I no longer have caregiving responsibilities, but I still very much feel the effects of them – and my work responsibilities haven’t lessened by any means – so making time for rest is something I know I must continue to be mindful of. Thank you.” Due to high demand, Dr. Koltz will be returning to A-DLC on December 01, 2023, to check-in with previous participants and to provide care and support to a new group of caretakers. Food Preservation Class The 2022 Statewide Needs Assessment also showed that 100 percent of respondents stated they would attend an Extension Program related to food preparation. Consequently, Dr. Brianna Routh, the Montana State University Extension Food and Family Specialist, taught a food preservation class to A-DLC constituents on September 07, 2023. During the three-hour course, the nine participants were given eleven relevant MontGuides, the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Complete Guide to Home Canning and had the option to purchase a copy of So Easy to Preserve from The University of Georgia Cooperative Extension. In addition to at least one 4-H member enrolling in the canning and freezing project for the 2023-2024 4-H year. The class ensured participants would be mindful while preserving food, with one participant saying: “My daughter and myself took a food preservation class here in Anaconda a few weeks ago, I was hoping to learn how to properly can and preserve fruits and vegetables safely! I am so glad that we attended , I learned that there are some things that you can not can without risk of compromising the safety and quality of that particular food, I also learned how to properly prepare the jars and how to heat up your product the correct way! This was such a fun and educational experience! I can’t wait for another class in the future!”

Caption: Onions, peppers, and tomatoes waiting to be preserved

Credit: Kayleen Kidwell

4-H Tie Blankets for Community Nursing Home of Anaconda Residents

In January, the Anaconda-Deer Lodge County (A-DLC) Extension Office supported two Antelope Gulch Wranglers 4-H Club members, Sadie, and Kirby, in applying for a People Partner Grant from the Montana 4-H Foundation. With the grant, they looked to create tie blankets for residents of the Community Nursing Home of Anaconda, an idea they came up with after being chaperoned to the Montana 4-H Foundation’s 4-H: The Gift of Learning and Service event by A-DLC Extension Agent, Kayleen Kidwell, and Granite County Extension Agent, Ben Hauptman, in December 2022. With the funding Sadie and Kirby were able to work with their 4-H club to make and distribute 22 tie blankets in Anaconda. Later this fall, they will assist the Granite County 4-H Program in using the remaining materials to make tie blankets for seniors in Philipsburg. When asked what they learned by participating in this process, Sadie stated she “learned how to write and prepare a grant” while Kirby said that “small acts of kindness can bring the largest amount of happiness to people.” When questioned about what was most rewarding, Sadie’s response was “seeing the smiles on all of the people’s faces when we gave them the blankets” with Kirby agreeing it was “getting to see the happy faces” Finally, both agreed that they will use the skills they learned from this project in the future to work on additional community projects and to apply for college and scholarships. In addition to the skills highlighted above, Sadie and Kirby’s mom, April highlighted the following impacts: “I noticed that the girls want to do more community based projects to help out their communities and fellow 4-H members. They are even in the middle of putting together another project right now. The girls really enjoyed this project and loved giving back to people and seeing the smiles. I believe it really made them feel good to do something for someone else.”

Caption: Tie Blanket Materials

Credit: Kayleen Kidwell

Contact

800 Main Street
Anaconda, MT 59711
406-563-4035
https://www.montana.edu/extension/deerlodge/