Good Deeds Bring Great Rewards

 

The group, led by English teacher Meghan Regan-Loomis and art teacher Chris Love, set up camp in a field within the southeastern Montana reservation overlooking three mountain ranges. They shared their experiences, when internet access permitted, through a photo-laden blog, maintained primarily by Regan-Loomis.

Saturday, their first day: “We are on the land and living with respect for things we take for granted - running water, bugless beds, and just an overall awareness of ourselves and nature,” blogged Regan-Loomis. “We are tired and about to set with the sun, so until tomorrow…”

Sunday: “A beautiful morning…the boys alerted everyone to the beautiful sunrise! (Thanks, guys?) We have loads to learn, do, and see, and the group is already a functioning, effective team. Painting and weeding in the plans today. Seven happy campers and two appreciative, slightly stiff leaders!”

Monday: “The boys are up early but the rest are sleeping late in the newly established teepee-tent village after a long day of work yesterday, weeding the gravel driveway, beginning outdoor painting projects, and constructing the teepee.”

Monday evening: “Things are great here in Montana,” wrote Dylan. “We have been doing a ton of work from cleaning up the sandbox to painting fences, buildings, and gardens. It’s unbelievably beautiful here, like something you would see out of a movie. For me, the most amazing thing is when I woke up at 5:00 a.m. and saw the sunrise. Overall, we’re having a ton of fun, making memories, and getting a lot of work done.”

Tuesday: “A full Tuesday,” commented Bradley. “Today not only were we in Montana, but also the great state of Wyoming. We started off the day by waking up at the best time of the day–7:00 a.m.! We then all made our way down to the Prayer Lodge to make ourselves sandwiches for lunch and bagels for breakfast. We then traveled all the way to Spring Creek Coal Mine… We got a good look at all the huge trucks and shovels they used. To give you a mental picture of the size of these things, I felt like a mini action figure next to these things. After the mine we traveled to Medicine Wheel. On the way to the Wheel, we stopped and hiked to eat lunch. Medicine Wheel was so cool and the views were spectacular! We then traveled back to Dayton for dinner, ice cream, and a stop at a cool candy store. Exhausted and a little bit hyper we traveled back to camp for a good night’s sleep!”

Wednesday: “We made some great new friends today at the Boys’ and Girls’ Club at Lame Deer, on the Cheyenne reservation.”

Thursday: “We traveled the entire reservation today, re-stocking and repairing the ‘free library’ boxes that dot the reservation and on which Cheyenne folks rely for reading material. It was satisfying to stock them with the very books we collected back home and shipped out. [The students held a book drive on campus in June in preparation for this service project.] We then stopped at the Tongue River Reservoir for a swim before heading home through the gorgeous gloaming. So many square miles of untouched, dramatic views. The abject poverty we saw today stands in such stark contrast with the luscious landscape. The long evenings with their stretched shadows are stunningly beautiful here. Sunset was at 9:20 tonight. Everyone who is missing a pet at home has slathered attention on the many dogs we’ve met this week, including a little pup rescued by our new friend Lauren, who is a Vista volunteer here. Everyone was in great spirits today, and we are closing the evening with another campfire.”

Friday: “POW-WOW! We had a blast tonight at the Busby Powwow…these kids are game for anything…the videos of all of us dancing at the powwow are really fun! We ran into some of the kids from the Boys’ and Girls’ Club, who looked spectacular in their native costumes and danced a lot better than we did.”

Saturday: “Today was packed. We saw Indian Races (bareback races with quick switches between horses…unnerving as they all seemed to come crashing together at the exchange). Then went to a re-enactment of Custer’s Last Stand in the 100 degree heat. It was nearly Our Last Stand. We all loved the hundreds of horses in the show. Then on to a professional rodeo in Hardin before we finished the night with a fireworks show over Crow Native Days!

On Sunday, with the service portion of their trip completed, the students and leaders headed off to Yellowstone National Park to take in the dramatic natural wonders for a few days. They went on a trail ride, caught glimpses of buffalo and bears, hiked to Cascade Lake, and watched Old Faithful obligingly erupt after just six minutes of waiting. Best of all were the showers and real beds everyone enjoyed before heading back east, full of good will and good memories.