When Bridget Trimble Simonson and her husband Ryan Simonson started TRIM & TAILOR in 2016, Bridget realized a lifelong goal of designing and owning her own fashion line. TRIM & TAILOR’s classic, contemporary apparel has since gained a following through its Gallatin Valley store, as well as its wholesale and online sales. Having outgrown their current location, the Simonsons are moving to a new storefront in Bozeman that will allow them to increase wholesale operations and maintain a storefront for local shoppers. TRIM & TAILOR will open at 875 Bridger Drive – just north of the Cannery District, across the street from Story Mill Park – in mid-May.

At a young age, Bridget had dreams of owning and designing her own clothing line. She studied fashion design at the Art Institute of Colorado and has worked in the industry since 2009. Her professional experience includes work in retail buying, styling, pattern making, fabric and trim sourcing, overseas purchasing and apparel product development for companies such as Von Maur Department Store and Allen Co. She also helped Bozeman-based Simms Fishing relaunch its women’s collection.

The Simonsons started TRIM & TAILOR after moving to the Gallatin Valley in 2016, with Bridget running the design side of the business and Ryan managing the financial side. Less than a year after they opened a retail storefront in Belgrade, TRIM & TAILOR’s operations outgrew the space. The Simonsons decided to move to a new location in Bozeman, where they could maintain a retail storefront and more efficiently meet wholesale demand. The new location will feature TRIM & TAILOR’s contemporary apparel and jewelry, with every clothing item priced below $100.

“We are so excited to open our doors in Bozeman and become part of this vibrant and creative retail community,” said Bridget. “We’re also grateful the Montana & Idaho Community Development Corporation was there to help when we decided we needed to move and expand.”
 
Like many startups, TRIM & TAILOR was challenged to obtain traditional bank financing despite its strong initial growth. Bridget and Ryan turned to the Montana & Idaho Community Development Corporation, a financing company that specializes in helping businesses at a key moment when they aren’t able to qualify for a bank loan. Montana & Idaho CDC provided nearly 100 loans to small businesses in 2017, almost 40% of them startups.

“It’s amazing to see all that Bridget and Ryan have accomplished in less than two years,” said Montana & Idaho CDC President Dave Glaser.  “It’s a testament to the high-quality designs, but also the way they’ve built their business to be successful across retail, online and wholesale channels. We’re thrilled to provide the financing they need to take their business even further.”

Montana & Idaho CDC loans range from $1,000 to $2,000,000 and can be used for purposes such as purchase of real estate, equipment, inventory, business purchase, remodeling or working capital. Loan clients also receive one-on-one technical assistance in financial management, marketing, sales and other areas of business management.

For more information about Trim & Tailor, visit https://www.trimandtailor.com. 

The Montana State University Library has acquired a collection of letters written to and from one of the university’s most famous employees, the author Robert Pirsig.

Pirsig was an author and former Montana State English instructor who inspired a generation to look inward to the "high country of the mind" with his book "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance." Published in 1974 to wide acclaim, “Zen” was inspired in part by events that started between 1959 and 1961, when Pirsig was an English professor at what was then Montana State College.

The collection, which is available to the public to view in MSU Library’s Special Collection and Archives, includes correspondence between Pirsig and a graduate student with whom Pirsig corresponded for more than a year. The collection also includes two signed and inscribed copies of “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,” monographs, audio cassettes and CD-ROMs.

The student, Anthony M. McWatt, began to correspond with Pirsig in 1993 after sending Pirsig a copy of his master’s thesis, which drew heavily on Pirsig’s work. McWatt earned a master’s degree from the University of Sheffield in 1990 and a doctorate from the University of Liverpool in 2005.

The letters between Pirsig and McWatt provide insight into the philosophy Pirsig wrote about in “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,” including how he developed that philosophy, according to Heather Hultman, curator in MSU Library’s Special Collections.

“Dr. McWatt would ask about something from the book, and then (McWatt and Pirsig) would have a lengthy discussion about it,” Hultman said. “It gives a unique insight into Pirsig’s creative process.”

Individuals interested in Pirsig and late 20th century American thought will likely find the collection interesting, said MSU University Archivist Kim Scott.

“Pirsig’s book appears on (many lists) of the most influential books of the 20th century,” Scott said. “Anyone interested in pursuing what goes into that philosophy and how he explained those ideas to others will be interested in this collection.”

The book is, on the simplest level, a narration of a father and son's summer motorcycle trip across America's Northwest, including a stop in Bozeman and Cottonwood Canyon outside the city to visit Pirsig’s friends, the late MSU art professor Bob DeWeese and his wife, Gennie.

On another level, however, "Zen" is a blend of philosophy, literature and religion that is still taught in classes throughout the world. More than 5 million copies have been sold since it was published.

Scott also noted that visitors from throughout the world – informally nicknamed “Pirsig’s Pilgrims” – still come to MSU every summer to see the office Pirsig once occupied in Montana Hall as well as other places Pirsig mentions in the book.

The new collection complements a collection of correspondence the MSU Library holds between Pirsig and Bob and Gennie DeWeese, Scott said. Both were close friends with Pirsig and mentioned often in “Zen.”

“The DeWeese collection shows a friendship developed here in Bozeman,” Scott said. “The (McWatt) collection then shows a friendship based on a correspondence that came years afterwards. In other words, you see Pirsig grow. He was writing to the DeWeeses because they were old friends. With Dr. McWatt, he was essentially making friends with somebody who was studying him. It’s a different perspective to understanding who he was.”

A proposal written by researchers at Montana State University’s Western Transportation Institute has resulted in a $10.3 million federal grant for improving safety and traffic flow on the road leading to the Big Sky community.
 
The funding comes from one of the most highly coveted and competitive sources of federal transportation dollars: the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery program, known as TIGER.
 
“I think everyone in Big Sky is thrilled, because everyone knows the issues on that road and the need for improvements,” said David Kack, a program manager at WTI who played a leading role in drafting the grant proposal.
 
The TIGER grant will be used for a variety of roadway improvements as well as expanded public transportation, all with an aim to alleviate the stresses that have been placed on Montana Highway 64 — also called Lone Mountain Trail — as Big Sky has grown around the major mountain resort, Kack said. The funding, which will be awarded to Gallatin County, lasts until 2025 but it is anticipated that the project will be completed as quickly as possible, he said.

 
The project will install seven left-turn lanes, expand the existing pedestrian trail system, build a pedestrian underpass and add four buses and six vans to the existing Skyline public transportation system that runs within Big Sky and between Big Sky and the greater Bozeman area.
 
Without the grant, Kack said, it would be difficult to fund such an ambitious package of improvements because the 9-mile-long stretch of Highway 64 straddles two counties and primarily serves Big Sky, which is an unincorporated community that can’t levy taxes.

“This is a great way to get all these things done and not have to figure out which county or other entity is going to pony up the money,” Kack said.
 
Fewer than 6 percent of applicants receive TIGER funding, Kack noted. He said WTI’s proposal was an outgrowth of a long partnership with the Big Sky community.
 
In 2002, the Big Sky Transportation District asked Kack and other WTI researchers to provide guidance about operating and expanding public transportation. That grew into regular consultations. In 2015, the Big Sky Chamber of Commerce hired WTI to conduct a series of listening sessions about the community’s transportation needs and draft a report, which outlined some of the improvements in the TIGER project.

 
That report became the basis for a more detailed study conducted by Sanderson Stewart, a major engineering firm founded by MSU alumnus Robert Sanderson. Kack collaborated with Sanderson Stewart and had hard numbers to back up his recommendations in the grant proposal, which Gallatin County submitted on behalf of the Big Sky community, he said.

 
“It was kind of a perfect timing, getting these things done in succession and ultimately getting the funding,” Kack said.
 
There is no direct gain to WTI or himself for getting the grant, Kack said. When he read the call for grant applications, his and WTI’s longtime work with Big Sky seemed like a natural fit, he said.
 
“We think this really highlights that part of the land-grant mission at MSU — to improve the community and the state that we work in,” Kack said.

Three Park County men were sentenced Tuesday in Justice Court for the illegal hunting and wasting of three bull bison in the Gardiner area on February 28.

Jesse Darr, Ryley Heidt, and Peyton Simmons pled guilty to unlawful possession, waste, and hunting during a closed season.
The dead bison were discovered March 2 by agency personnel in Beattie Gulch, an area of U.S. Forest Service land near the border of Yellowstone National Park. All three bison had their heads removed and all usable meat was left to waste. The bison skulls had been skinned and hidden nearby.

Solving the case was a matter of a collaborative enforcement effort. U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and National Park Service (NPS) officers aided FWP game wardens in the identification of the suspects.

“We’re thankful for the help of our enforcement partners,” said Warden Sgt. Coy Kline. “The value of extra sets of eyes and ears on the ground can’t be overstated.”

Also significant in this case, was the use of FWP canine, Kikka, who was integral in the discovery of evidence linking the men responsible to the case.

The FWP enforcement division is currently engaged in a research and trial period using trained canines in very limited applications. FWP currently only has two canine teams as part of this statewide trial program.

Enforcement Chief Dave Loewen said using canines to detect critical evidence at wildlife crime scenes is an incredible tool that can greatly reduce staff time and increase the chances of locating evidence.

“It is doubtful the evidence in this case would have been detected and located without the canine.”

The judge in this case ordered each of the men to pay $2,605 in fines and restitution with a 18-month suspended jail sentence. The men also lost their fishing, hunting and trapping privileges for 54 months with the added restriction of not being able to apply for permits for an additional five years after their privileges are reinstated. Remedial hunter education was also ordered.   

Today, the Montana Mint announced the 2018 Montana Brewery Championship Bracket.

The Bracket features 60 breweries from 44 Montana cities and towns (and unincorporated areas!).  The bracket also features a write-in spot for the first round of voting. The brewery with the most write-in votes will secure a spot in the Sweet 16. 

The first round of voting will take place March 12-18.  Voting for the the Sweet 16 round will take place March 19-25.  And the voting for the Final Four will take place March 26-April 1.  We will crown Montana’s favorite brewery on Monday, April 2.

As in year’s past, there will be three ways for Montanans to vote: (1) via www.montana-mint.com; (2) via twitter poll; and (3) and on the Montana Mint’s Facebook Page. That means you can vote THREE times for your favorite spot.  Voting ends at 8pm Sunday.

“We all agree that Montana brewers make great beer.  But which brewery makes the greatest beer and provides the best atmosphere?  That’s what we are trying to determine. Success in this tournament will require a loyal fan base and some darn good beer” said Bear Tycoon, the editor of the Montana Mint.

The Montana Mint hosted brackets in 2015 and 2016 to name the best pizza place in the state.  After tens of thousands of votes were cast, Eugene’s Pizza in Glasgow won both competitions. 

The full list of breweries in the bracket can be found below.

Montana State University Extension is seeking host families for 25 Japanese youth and two adult chaperones from July 22 - Aug. 17. The youth and their chaperones are part of an international exchange program with the Labo Language and Cultural Institute and with LEX, or Language Experience, Experiment and Exchange.

Host families can be located anywhere in Montana and should have a child at home who is between the ages of 9 and 18. Families hosting chaperones do not need to have children in the home or may have children of any age.

The Japanese youth will know some English, but are not fluent. The purpose of the program is for both the family and their guest to enjoy cultural immersion while learning from one another, according to Stephanie Davison, citizenship, sustainable communities and international programs coordinator with MSU Extension and Montana 4-H.

“In general, the youth who come to Montana as part of this exchange are 12-16 years old, though they may be slightly younger or older,” Davison said. “Their families usually start saving for an exchange trip when the children are quite young. The students study English in school, but are not yet fluent. These parents want their children to have the opportunity to be immersed in American culture and language to help them learn.”

Davison said that the American host families also benefit from the program.

“When we have asked host families about the best part of their experience as hosts, most have a similar reaction,” Davison said. “They cite examples such as learning about another culture while having fun; bonding with someone from another country; experiencing our own culture from a different perspective; and simply seeing the guest student smiling and having fun.”

The MSU exchange program is organized by Montana 4-H, the youth development program of MSU Extension, and has been active in Montana since 1972.

The application deadline for host families is May 15. To apply, go to https://www.states4hexchange.org/apply/host/ or contact Stephanie Davison at 406-994-3502 or sdavison@montana.edu.