The essential character and nature of the instruments that Mike Delaney makes will not change. His guitars are made individually by hand at a studied pace. Each guitar is without an equal or equivalent. Each is a piece of art of unquestioned quality.

Unsatisfied with the irregularities in quality and workmanship which he found in the computerized and cheaper mass-produced guitars available in stores, Delaney began experimenting with the guitar building process more than thirty years ago.

In fact, talking with Delaney about making guitars it seems the same words and phrases pop up in conversation that would likely dominate a friendly chat with an engineer or mathematician, like circumference, radius and surface. Not so surprising considering that Delaney is a bit of an engineer himself, as well as a woodworker, a hybrid craftsman of a different kind.

Indeed, Delaney has been involved with the act, art, or trade of working with wood for as long as he can recall. His tinkering with guitars started in the 1970s, and his fondness and curiosity with playing music is something inextricably related to his childhood.

“My guitar making, really, is the melding of my two loves, the music and the woodworking,” says Delaney, who’s been repairing guitars for many years, but only recently turned his backyard shop and business into a full-blown undertaking.

Most of the guitars Delaney, a man of extensive musical experience himself, creates are developed from wooden bodies comprised of carved swamp ash or alder. Sometimes mahogany derivatives or exotic woods are used. Most of his guitar necks are made of maple. While Delaney applies the craft and skill of a carpenter, making music from where there was once wood, his productions aren’t planned, constructed, or fashioned according to a model.

While mass-produced guitars are controlled by machinery routers, Delaney uses templates, thin wooden plates with cut patterns, as his prototype and gauge, which serve as a guide in making instruments accurately, similar to the carvings of an architectural profile.

“Every piece of wood is different,” says Delaney. “And every piece of wood has its own character. Even though you’ve got two pieces of swamp ash sitting next to each other, and you build two guitars from them, both will be different.”

A self-professed student of the blues, Delaney has over four decades of experience playing everything from rock to funk, in cities ranging from Los Angeles to Atlanta, and has shared the stage with many notables in the industry, including Big Joe Turner and the uproarious Paul Butterfield. In fact, he is building a guitar for the Bitterroot Smokin’ Blues Festival, which will be raffled off at the event, with the proceeds going to Hurricane Relief funds.

“My understanding is that a lot of the artists playing at the show are going to sign it. That’ll be cool. It’s a great way to get involved and help people.”

Guitar making is a little bit like riding a bicycle, he says, because once you know exactly “where to put the parts, it never changes.”

By taking the older traditional elements of a classic guitar, like its quality tone woods, and adding today’s technology, including newer, cleaner electronics, Delaney creates instruments of “uncompromised tone, beauty and playability.” Often other musicians approach Delaney about him building them an instrument that amplifies vintage guitar sounds.

“Knowing musicians throughout the years, I’m lucky to have learned what they do and don’t like,” says Delaney, marked by modesty in attitude and spirit.

Vintage guitar characteristics can be the type of wood that’s used or the way its fret boards are crafted with a little more crown. Some musicians request vintage style measurements or vintage style tuners. Today’s guitars, says Delaney, use thinner necks and are composed of better wiring and tuners, which often bears a better quality instrument.

“I try wiring my guitars as neatly as possible. Older guitars were wired like a spaghetti factory. Electrical components, like switchers, need to be of fine quality. I can upgrade the electronics of a guitar to make sure it lasts a lifetime.”

Creating a fine guitar sometimes even involves the changing of contours and the adding of different dimensions. One current project on Delaney’s plate: he’s working on removing the graphite nut from a guitar which he built for bluesman Daniel Castro and replacing it with a bone nut, a hard material with a vintage look.

“Daniel Castro is known to be a picky musician. And to hear someone the caliber of Castro playing one of your instruments is pretty incredible,” says Delaney, who repeatedly points out that every guitar is different.

“Plus, every artist has different requirements, giving a huge list of wants. From the fret wires and nuts and bolts used, to different gauges, you have to build something that the individual wants.”

The sound each guitar creates varies depending on what type of hardware is being used (for example gold and chrome amplify differently), and guitar necks, trem arms, pickguards and back plates all influence sound waves, too.

“Everything that you do is going to affect the sound of the guitar,” says Delaney.

For Delaney, electric guitars are where it’s at; acoustic guitars are a bit too thin and delicate for his liking and require a different building process altogether.

In fact, in his backyard workshop, a half dozen guitars rest on workbenches in different stages of completion from almost finished to a raw body in thorough need of transformation. Undoubtedly, Delaney will put the necessary touches on each instrument, imparting his own spirit and know-how into this nuanced craft, and ship out each classy and stylish instrument with artisan pride.

“Every time I send one of my guitars out of here a little piece of me goes along with it. Sometimes I don’t even want to let go. But, fortunately, people have enjoyed the instruments that I’ve made for them. That’s most important.”

There’s plenty of time to dust off your saddle and put a spit shine on those pointy boots! On Friday, June 16 and Saturday, June 17, Montana’s oldest town, Stevensville, becomes transformed into the days of old when it celebrates its 165th birthday with the sixth annual Western Heritage Days.

Western Heritage Days will coincide with the start of Father’s Day weekend. Events scheduled at the Fort Owen Inn/Maverick begin with a crowd pleaser that includes a junior rodeo at 6 p.m.; a ranch rodeo Calcutta at 7 p.m.; and at 8 p.m., there will be a street dance to boogie to. An ongoing outdoor barbeque is also happening to energize folks for the festivities.

On both Friday and Saturday, art enthusiasts can take in the Western Heritage Days Open Art Show, which is combined with a Native American Art Show, with both located at the historic St. Mary’s Family Center.

One of Friday’s features is the “Quick Draw” competition, which should prove to be quite interesting. At 7 p.m., artists fire off their brushes and have but an hour from their first stroke to completion (including framing their masterpiece)! Subject matter ranges from photography to painting to 3-dimensional artwork. Spectators can watch the art in motion and later bid on their favorite artist’s work. Twenty-five percent of the funds generated from the auction will be split between the Main Street Association and St. Mary’s Mission, with the rest for the artist to pocket. While there, meet the talented artists at the reception, held from 6:30 to 9.

What is probably the Bitterroot’s largest rummage sale will occur all weekend at Stevensville Museum. Donations of “good stuff” come from all over. Those who desire donating can drop off their items at the museum, or, subject to approval, the Lion’s Club will pick them up. Proceeds benefit the Museum and the Chantilly Theatre.

But, the “big” day of the festival is Saturday.

At 11 a.m., the Western Heritage Parade begins meandering down Main Street. Sorry, there’ll be no grown men in little cars buzzing about - or any modern vehicles for that matter. This parade is geared to be strictly western, Native American or old-fashioned in style. But, would you have it any other way? After all, Stevi’s celebrating its heritage! Spectators can expect to see many of the participants boasting plenty of derby hats, vintage clothing, and Native American dress. The crowd will no doubt smile over the procession of clever historical floats, the Forest Service mules, antique tractors, trucks and automobiles, and so much more. With the parade’s theme of “Celebrate Montana’s Oldest Community,” there should be some exciting visual treats. Those interested in entering in the parade are encouraged to do so by June 8. The Main Street Association is excited to announce that there is no entry fee for the parade.

When the parade winds down, most of the action can be found at St. Mary’s Mission. There, goers can partake in a delectable barbeque while they enjoy live music, dancing, cloggers, and kids’ games. Throughout the area street vendors will be selling oodles of unique crafts. The site will also be featuring hands-on living history with demonstrations of rope making, butter churning, making ice cream, soap making, and so on.

Be sure to check out the American Legion Post 94’s duck race at 1:00, where you can bet on a duck to the tune of $5.

Does fecal really matter? Well it does at the Cow Pie Bingo contest. Suzie “the cow” will be happily grazing about, and sooner or later she’ll have to return her digested contents back to the earth. She’ll be dining on randomly numbered grids at a field at St. Mary’s Mission, and wherever her first “pie” lands will bring the grid’s owner a split of the 50/50 pot. (The other half of the funds benefits St. Mary’s Mission and the Stevensville Main Street Association.) With tickets at $10 per grid, the winner is sure to go home a very happy camper! Tickets can be purchased at St. Mary’s Mission and the Main Street Association until 1:30 p.m., June 17. You need not be present to win - but why would you miss something like that! It’s utterly mooooorific!

There will also be tours of Stevensville’s pride, the St. Mary’s Mission. And, for a unique way to get around, goers can catch a ride to destinations on tractors. Main Street will be buzzing with loads of sidewalk sales all day.

Western Heritage Days is a great way to experience the bounty of Stevensville - where Montana began!

To obtain information about entering in the parade, having a booth at the Arts and Crafts Fair, presenting artwork at the Open Art Show, purchasing Cow Pie Bingo tickets, or any other Western Heritage Days event, call the lady “in the know,” Joan Prather, Program Manager of the Main Street Association at 777-3773. Its office is located but where else? - 102 Main Street.

For years since the late 1970s, Hamiltonians looked forward to large sidewalk sales put on by the downtown merchants which was known as Crazy Days. The sales took place in late July, which was undoubtedly a good shopping experience, but it was lacking something.

Hamilton was buzzing with joy in 1987 when the Daly Mansion’s renovations were completed. The renovation sparked renewed enthusiasm of town pride and it became apparent that honoring two of Hamilton’s most beloved founders, Marcus and Margaret Daly, was something important to do. Fortunately, Hamilton folks had the good sense to follow some wise visionaries, Paul and Joyce Frader, who had a very desirable concept - to expand Crazy Days into something more. They felt its essence should be more of a celebration of Hamilton’s heritage, and a way to acknowledge the contributions the Dalys had made. The noble idea’s roots began to take shape.

Later, under the direction of HUB (Hamilton United Businesses), a subcommittee of the Chamber of Commerce, Daly Days’ formation was slowly molded into the good time that it is today.

The next Daly Days celebration occurs July 28 - 29, with a host of activities and events planned.

For the celebration, HUB blocks off some of Main Street, from Second to Fourth Street. They will be selling HUB dogs and Daly Brauts, but there will also be plenty of food vendors throughout the area. The band hired for the Friday street dance (which is free of charge), is none other than fabulous Dusty Klink and the Jailbirds, who performs a variety of music from country western to pop and rock music.

Car enthusiasts can oooo and ahhh over the Bidder Rodders’ auto show, which will be set up on Main and Fourth Street on Friday and Saturday. Later, on Saturday at 4:00, there will be an award ceremony for various cool cars.

The Kiwanis will have their annual pancake breakfast to fuel up folks on Saturday at 7 a.m. underneath a canopy at the Bell-McCall auto dealership on Main Street; from 9 - 12 the vendors in Farmers Market will be selling their items by the Ravalli County Museum; and there will be an old-fashioned fashion show.

There will be plenty of kids around with painted faces that they got when they went to the play zone. The play zone is entirely geared for kids, and will feature plenty of activities to expend the little ones’ energy, such as the tramp jump.

The two biggest events are the Pinewood Derby and the Brewfest.

There is no age limit for contestants to enter into the non-sanctioned derby. The only requirement is the car kit purchase from the Chamber, for a nominal fee of $5. The derby starts at 2:00 on the 3rd block of Main Street, and lasts about two hours. Everyone gets a participant ribbon and has a chance to win some cool prizes. Prizes will be awarded by the fastest, slowest, the most original and the funniest car. Qwivals is donating a loaded goodie basket for the “funniest car,” and Mom & Me, McDonalds, Big Sky Candy, and Copacetic Wood Floors are sponsoring the other prize categories.

HUB is sponsoring the Brewfest, which will be held at Legion Park. It is one of HUB’s major fundraisers. For $10, a wristband, a glass, and two tickets can be purchased.

Finally, the whole event wouldn’t be complete without a tour of the Daly Mansion. To make it extra special, catch a wagon ride to get there!

To walk the streets of this ghost town is to step back in time, free from intrusions of modern society.

Montana’s most intact ghost town was never built to last. Garnet endures along with the spirits of the rugged gold miners and their families who carved a community in the heart of the Garnet Mountain Range at the end of the nineteenth century. In 1898, some 1,000 people knew Garnet as home. The town was a union town, with a strong miners’ union, the Garnet Western Labor Union, negotiating with mine owners for fair pay, working hours and safety rules. The union hall doubled as the town’s dance hall and resonated with dances, theater, harvest festivals and union meetings.

But, by 1905, the gold was playing out and only 150 people remained. A raging fire in 1912 and hardships on the home front during World War I sent most of the remaining miners, wives and children packing. Garnet slowly slipped into obscurity, despite a brief renewal of mining in the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Today, Garnet’s fame lies not in its gold, but in the rich history of the town and its emblematic hard-scrabble character.

Garnet is quite different from the rip-roaring frontier gold-mining towns in Montana such as Bannack and Virginia City with their lawlessness, vigilantes, and extra-legal hangings. The ghosts of Garnet sleep well. For one thing, Garnet was settled three decades after these early placer-mining towns. The gold mines that gave rise to the town of Garnet were hard-rock mines that demanded entrepreneurs with access to industrial equipment. Hundreds of miners brought their families to live at the top of the long, steep grade from the Northern Pacific Railroad stop at Bearmouth. Many businesses thrived on Main Street. More than 50 children attended the school.

The men worked hard, without electricity, with only steam engines and hand tools, removing more than 60,000 ounces of gold, 50,000 ounces of silver, and 60,000 ounces of copper before the rich veins of minerals were tapped out. Garnet was mostly left to the memories and the ghosts when the town’s remaining merchant, Frank Davey, died in 1947.

The Bureau of Land Management and the Garnet Preservation Ass-ociation worked together to preserve many original buildings, including the stately Wells Hotel, for posterity. Behind the scenes at Garnet, workers stabilized the old buildings to keep them from falling down. Their goal was to retain the ghostly nature of the abandoned buildings while preserving the roofs from caving in and the walls from giving way.

This summer brought visitors from every region of the United States, plus tourists from France, Holland, Germany, Japan, the UK, and other countries.

When to visit:

Garnet is open year-round. Wheeled vehicles are allowed on the road from May 1 through January 1. Please note that visitors may want to park in the designated parking lots and ski or snowmobile to the town instead of driving on snow-bound roads in late fall. In winter, the tour to Garnet is a popular snowmobile and cross-country ski trip.

Access:

From Montana Route 200.Turn south at the Garnet Range Road located between mile markers 22 and 23, about 30 miles east of Missoula. Follow the Range Road approximately 12 miles to Garnet where the parking area is located.

From Interstate 90.Take either Drummond or Bearmouth exit. Then follow the North side frontage road to Bear Gulch Road which is located 10 miles west of Drummond or 5 miles east of Bearmouth. Approximately 7.5 miles up Bear Gulch Road is the Cave Gulch Road Junction. From here, Garnet and the parking lot are 3 miles up Bear Gulch or 4 miles up Cave Gulch.

Visitor Center Hours:

Summer: daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Winter: weekends from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

$3 a person over 12 years of age. The BLM uses entrance fees to help protect, preserve and interpret Garnet Ghost Town.

For additional information call: 329-3914.

Gestation generally for dogs is 62-64 days. A whelping box is good to have with edges , allowing a tired mother to roll over without injuring or smashing a pup. In the winter a whelping pad provides warmth.The normal temperature for a dog is around 101. Some professional breeders such as myself, will try to narrow down the time of whelping based on the bitch’s temp. Most of the time the mother’s temp will drop when it’s approaching the whelping period. Once the temp bottoms out and begins to climb, the mother generally will birth the pups within 12 hours.

Imagine being born within a family of not one or two, but more like 7-12. The average litter of pups for a med breed is 7-8 . Therefore, a large litter will produce more pups than there are mammaries.; this is where survival of the fittest comes in to play. The first 24 hours is a blind struggle for survival .

During the first 24 hours is critical, as is when the new born pup  obtains from its mother the colostrum, which provides antibodies which fight infection and or a virus such as parvo or distemper. Most new born puppies will not open their eyes till 10 days old. In between that time the pups struggle to feed and nourish.

Once the eyes are open the pup begins to be much more active within the litter.  In many cases depending on the amount of teats available or active mammaries it’s at this point where the more dominant pups or in some cases “runts” are beginning to develop. Runts are more likely to develop in a large litgter versus a smaller litter where teats are plentyful and always available. From the pups’ perspective a runt might be that one pup which spends most of its energy fighting for “its spot.” Its spot is where it receives regular or constant nutrition from mother’s milk, which it requires to make it through each day.

A pup with skin that is slow to retract when slightly pinched is experiencing hydration problems. A fat pup in the early stages of development (10 days -16 weeks ) is a healthy pup. If any unusual signs become present consult your veterinarian.

 

Between 5-12 weeks is when most pups are weaned , depending on the mother and the size of the litter. Most females will indicate when it is time to wean. During this time it is required to begin feeding the pups semi-solid food. A blender or food processor comes in handy in making the food with an oatmeal consistency. This usually consists of 1/3 milk or water and 2/3 of a high quality, high protein puppy food. (consult with your veterinarian to find which food is best suitable) A flying saucer puppy feeding pan works well for feeding.

Your local PetSmart has necessary supplies for whelping a litter of puppies; feeding pans, whelping pads, hydration and puppy formulas etc. I recommend starting the pups on the semi-solid food gradually, say at the start once out of a four feeding times a day. then the next day perhaps twice.

Allow the mother to have down time without the pups being present and always make sure she has access to fresh water. Feed the mother separately from the pups. Always make sure the mother is eating and drinking. If the mother quits drinking or eating, consult with your veterinarian immediately. Do not be alarmed if you see the mother drop in body weight or experience hair loss. In my opinion and based on my experience of assisting in whelping 16 litters, it shows that the mother has given its physical best to her litter. She will bounce back with proper nutrition and care.

 

When the weaning process is complete, you should have active healthy pups. To test the pups’ health there are obvious tests to check for visual and auditory such as clapping and movement, but one way I check for physical fitness is to hold a pup’s underbelly with palm   behind the  head and neck , the pup if strong will push against your hand and look like it is stretched out to fly.

Don’t let go because we know dogs or pups can ‘t fly... but as a result you probably have a healthy pup ready to go home provided the other areas are checked clean. For those having a summer litter, hats off to you and good luck!

David “Dogman” Riggs is the owner of Montana Retrievers. If you have any questions regarding dog training or other related topics, you may contact him via email at riggs@montanaretrievers.com or call 406-859-LABS (5227). Visit his web page www.montanaretrievers.com

As the parents used to say, ‘It’s time for the adults to talk.’

Earlier this spring, Montana Attorney General Mike McGrath held that insurance companies must provide coverage for prescription contraceptives and related medical visits within their prescription drug coverage. Not providing said coverage, according to the AG’s statement, constitutes sexual discrimination.

I applaud Attorney General McGrath as well as the state senator who sought the opinion, state Senate President Jon Tester. This opinion is two generations in the making.

Tester pursued the opinion in the context of Montana’s so-called “unisex” insurance law, arguing the omission of contraceptives violates the law’s proscriptions against sexual discrimination in insurance policies. In McGrath’s reply, he likewise cited a Montana Supreme Court ruling in which the omission of pregnancy coverage is ruled unlawful.

Tester, in the early stages of a bid for Conrad Burns’ U.S. Senate seat, declared the opinion “a victory for women and equality.” He added, ‘‘consistently support common-sense policies that protect and improve women’s health,’’ according to the Associated Press.

Another commentator, NARAL’s Allyson Hagen, stated in a press release later quoted by the AP, ‘‘McGrath’s opinion means that insurance companies can no longer cover Viagra but then refuse to pay for birth control [….] Today’s decision marks an end to a loophole that allowed insurance companies to discriminate against women in prescription drug coverage.’’ The AP wrote that Hagen called the opinion a “victory for women’s healthcare.”

According to the AP, insurance companies have expressed concerns about how providing contraceptives would boost premiums for all customers, including “those who have no interest in the coverage.” (Nothing was added, however, about whom said uninterested parties would be.)

But if the practical implications of this opinion don’t hit close to home for you, you might be wondering ‘why the talk of victory?’ Such legal opinions, especially in traditionally “red” states, are substantial victories in what has become ideological trench warfare surrounding contraception, women’s health and sex education in this country.

This trench warfare mentality, I believe, grows from our cultural inability to have a substantive conversation about sex and sexuality. For all of the sex on television, in films, music and in our daily politics, we have an uncanny block on substantive conversation about sex and sexuality. We too often avoid frank public policy debates about abortion, teen sexuality, homosexuals’ significant role in American culture, and many other, sex-related subjects. So while peripheral, more superficial issues of sexuality dominate public entertainment, we’ve somehow managed to consistently avoid meaningful conversations about the meeting place between sexuality and public health.

Now, such public exchanges take on many forms. The latest incarnation of American public health policy, as it pertains to sex education, is alien to me.

Two days after McGrath issued his March 28 opinion, the Wall Street Journal published a report on how a “steady increase” in federal funding has bolstered support for sex education programs “that promote abstinence until marriage and discuss contraceptives primarily in terms of their failure rates.”

Having passed through Montana’s public-school system during the period from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, my experience with sex education was quite different than the trend being increasingly funded by the federal government. In an increasingly conservative political culture, I’m wondering where the public-health verities of my youth have gone.

For instance, I’m wondering when adults actually started believing teenagers would abstain from sex, and when did teaching abstinence become construed as an actual sex-education policy and/or program. In a culture as preoccupied with sexuality as our own, abstinence amounts to a policy of avoidance.

As someone who became sexually aware as the AIDS epidemic came of age, I’m a big believer in widely disseminated facts and copious amounts of information regarding sexuality. Then again, I believe that public health policy has always benefited more when informed by science than when informed by religious belief or social superstition. And I’ve been less than impressed with the privatization of public health education, especially in the arena of youth sex education. The same federal funding bolstering support for abstinence advocacy groups is responsible for dramatic growth of federally funded non-profits advocating abstinence.

I’d love to see all of the funds from these non-profit abstinence groups folded into one large fund devoted to the needs of Planned Parenthood and other organizations devoted to the facts of American sexuality.

Above, I implied McGrath’s opinion is overdue. This makes more sense when we remember that the birth-control pill was introduced in 1960. It’s not so much a poke at McGrath as a question about why we’re still debating basic issues of women’s health funding two generations after the introduction of the pill.

So, acknowledging the proper amount of farce in suggesting anything to our current President, who could restore the proper candor to this conversation?

In an age of useless bureaucratic additions, I would love to see a truly useful addition to the President’s cabinet—Secretary of Uncomfortable Public Discussions. I hereby nominate Dr. Ruth Westheimer.

Remember Dr. Ruth? “The more we talk, the less we will have problems,” said the doctor, recently, at Carnegie Mellon University’s annual gender issues conference. Think back twenty years to the image of a middle-aged woman discussing every detail—comfortable and uncomfortable—of sexuality from the pulpit of cable television and radio talk shows, and then imagine her updated to a cabinet-level position, regularly introducing initiatives.

Who seconds Dr. Ruth’s nomination?