Committee Member. Kim grew up in a house near the Mullan Road where he acquired a love of history and a special interest in this early Montana transportation route. He discovered and painstakingly cataloged the 1600 photos in the Jack L. Demmons Collection of Historic Photos and served on the committee to reprint the Bonner history book A Grass Roots Tribute: the Story of Bonner, Montana. He shares his love of history with others by leading history bike tours and walks, portraying historic figures including Daniel Bandmann at Stories and Stones, and presenting and participating in several Roundtables. Now retired, Kim covered transportation, history, and outlying counties for the Missoulian newspaper. Kim is a recipient of the Missoula Historic Preservation Committee’s Dorothy Ogg Award for Historic Preservation, the Lt. Moss Award for Outstanding Service from the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula, and the Montana Historical Society’s Heritage Keeper Award.

Cheryl Hughes is a retired 9-12 English teacher from Missoula, Montana where she created a niche for her students in the world of placed based education. She also explored the world of Native American literature and then taught in an interdisciplinary freshman transition team where she was allowed to take students to explore the places and people that the authors of their assigned literature wrote about throughout Montana.. In 2016 she retired and began doing consulting work for educational programs with the National Museum of Forest Service History, the Montana Conservation Elders and now the Warrior Spirit Project. She served as a Master Teacher for NEH Landmarks workshops ”Richest Hills” (2011,2013, 2014) with the Montana Historical Society and in 2015 received an award from Western Literature Association for her teaching in the Selway Bitterroot Wilderness.

Committee Member. Lee was born in Missoula and, except for a short time in North Dakota, grew up here. On September 20, 1961 he was hired as an edgerman at ACM. His aspiration was to be a head rig sawyer and he learned the skill from experienced sawyers on his own time while working at the mill. Lee worked for Anaconda in Bonner for the first seven years of his working career, 1961-1968. He spent the next 30 years working in millis in seven states before returning to Bonner, working his last seven years for Stimson from 1997 – 2004. Lee provides insights into the working of a sawmill as well as regularly contributing packages of Pecan Sandies for meetings.

Committee Member. A native of Minnesota, Tony is a retired forester who graduated from the University of Montana School of Forestry and started his career working for the Anaconda Company in 1971. Following military service, Tony returned to Bonner and began working as a forester for Champion International until Champion sold to the Plum Creek Timber Company in 1993. Tony then served as Area Manager of the Montana Department of Natural Resources, Southwestern Land Office until he retired in 2014. Tony has donated many items and maps relating to the management of the timberlands and he has extensive knowledge of timber management in the Blackfoot. He participates in Roundtables, school history field trips, and contributes valuable knowledge to the “Old Roads and Rabbit Holes'' group.

Committee Member. Andy is a retired forester who graduated from the University Of Montana School of Forestry. He worked professionally for the U.S. Forest Service, the U. S. Peace Corps, and the State of Montana prior to joining Champion International. He was hired by Champion as a Planning Manager in charge of long range planning. He became a district forester. After Stimson Lumber Company bought the mill, Andy worked for Stimson until he retired in 2005. Andy has organized or participated in several Roundtables and has presented basic forestry lessons to Bonner School children.

Co-Director. Judy is a founding member of the 2003 Milltown Reservoir Superfund Site Working Group and its History & Culture Committee which she chaired. She led the project to digitize the 1600 photos in the Jack L. Demmons Collection of Historic Photos, now a part of the Montana Memory Project and served on the committee to reprint the Bonner history book A Grass Roots Tribute: the Story of Bonner, Montana. Judy received the 2009 Missoula Historic Preservation Commission’s Dorothy Ogg Award for Historic Preservation. She currently contributes to the Milltown State Park Interpretive Committee. She and her husband Gary were awarded the 2017 Lt. Moss Award for Outstanding Service by the Historic Museum at Fort Missoula. Judy is the 2022 Museums Association of Montana Jack Lepley Muesum Person of the Year,

Committee Member. Amateur historian and life-long resident of Missoula, Dennis is a retired mill and woods worker, logging road maintenance and building contractor, and union shop steward. He worked 24 years combined for the Anaconda Company and Champion International Corporation. Dennis has compiled a glossary of local lumbering terms and is producing maps and descriptions of logging camps and roads. He created three to-scale award winning dioramas of logging equipment for the BMHC and he organizes and leads tours of the lumber camps. Dennis is a member of the Model Railroad Club and gives presentations on logging camp and railroad history to area schools and organizations.

Committee Member. A resident of area since age seven, Glenn is retired after a 45 year career working for the Anaconda Company, Champion International Corporation, and Stimson Lumber Company. He served as Champion International Corporation mill historian and helped organize the first mill safety committee. Glenn writes articles recalling Bonner town and mill history and has compiled an atlas of the Bonner houses which supplements the Bonner Company Town National Historic Nomination. Glenn prepared a history of the Western Lumber Company and an atlas of the historic photos on display at the River City Grill as a reference for the restaurant patrons. He has participated in many History Roundtables and has presented lessons on Bonner home life to Bonner School children

Co-Director. Minie is an independent researcher who prepared scripts for four separate exhibits for the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula including Just Add Water (the Milltown Dam, a project partially funded by the Matthew Hansen Endowment) and When the Mountains Roared (the 1910 Fire) and is the author of The Missoula Mercantile: The Store That Ran an Empire, (a company with close ties to the mill at Bonner). She served on the committee to reprint the Bonner history book A Grass Roots Tribute: the Story of Bonner, Montana. Minie is an advisor to the WG History & Culture committee. She received the 2011 Missoula Historic Preservation Commission’s Dorothy Ogg Award for Historic Preservation. Minie currently contributes to the Milltown State Park Interpretive Committee.

Committee Member. Rick’s parents lived in Milltown but returned to their homeland of Sweden for Rick’s birth. His family returned to Milltown when Rick was still a baby and he grew up there. Rick started at the mill for Anaconda, working on the tramway handling mining timbers. He finished his career in the Warehouse working for Champion International. Rick has donated many photos and items of mill and Bonner history including a display of model stulls. Rick has participated in several Roundtables. He has also shared his Swedish heritage by providing cookies made from his mother’s recipes and performing a hymn sung in Swedish at the “History of Bonner Churches” Roundtable.

Kali grew up an Army brat moving from state to state and fell in love with the Missoula area after graduating from the University of Montana with a degree in History, a minor in Political Science, and a certificate in Public History. She interned for the State Historic Preservation Office and is associate producer of the PBS documentary “Hidden Stories: Montana’s Black Past”. After hearing stories from her father about working briefly in the mill and taking countless walks at Milltown State Park, Bonner became a special place to conduct local public history. Besides being a student at Grand Canyon University pursuing an MA in History, Kali works as an interpretive historic tour guide for Missoula’s downtown area.

Committee Member. Willie is a lifelong resident, retired from the mill after working 43 years under the Anaconda Company and Champion International Corporation. Willie is an amateur historian specializing in Native American studies, geology, and local history. Willie provided extensive information on the stull mill, once the heart of mill operations, and other mill departments and has written an autobiography Memories and Short Stories.

Committee Member. A native Montanan, Norman moved to Marshall Grade where he developed an interest in the trail over Marshall Grade and the brickyard located there. After retirement from many years of teaching in the Science Department at Hellgate High School, Norman used his teaching skills as a docent at Travelers’ Rest State Park. He developed a program for youth called Native American Toys and Tools. His interest in Lewis and Clark led him to discovering and leading history walks on portions of the Road to the Buffalo traversed by Meriwether Lewis in 1806. An accomplished photographer, Norman created a unique collection of photographs of the Milltown Reservoir area before, during, and after the Superfund cleanup. He has also joined those who have developed theories about the exact locations of Canadian explorer, fur trader, and map maker David Thompson’s visit to the Missoula Valley resulting in an article on Thompson’s visit for “Archaeology in Montana.” Norman works on photography projects for BMHC and has presented his Native American Toys and Tools program as a Roundtable and also to Bonner School students.

We deeply miss Bob's stories and his knowledge. Bob was a retired forester who graduated from the University of Montana School of Forestry and started working for the Anaconda Company in 1953. He retired from Champion International Corporation in 1992. His title at that time was General Manager of Montana Region Timberlands which included 870,000 acres of timberlands. Through Bob we have received many items, manuals, and maps relating to the management of the timberlands and he has organized or participated in several Roundtables. Bob was available to provide insights into the history of forest management since 1953.

It is with great sadness that we mark the passing of Founder and Committee Member Jimmie Willis. A lifelong resident born in Milltown, Jimmie retired from the mill shipping department after working 43 ½ years for the Anaconda Company and Champion International Corporation. Jimmie contacts and coordinates History Roundtable program participants and oral history interviewees and specializes in outreach. He regularly volunteers at the History Center and hosts a popular Tuesday morning coffee session which often boasts a full house with folks coming for good conversation and Jimmie’s home baked cookies. Jimmie wlll be forever missed.