Articles from the Belgrade News
In retirement, actually semi-retirement, or as a friend and former reporter colleague calls it, independence, I briefly returned to reporting for the local weekly newspaper. It’s the Belgrade News in Belgrade, Montana. This part-time job started on September 1, 2108. I concentrated on feature stories while the editor handled the “fun” things, like City Council and School Board meetings. Not! I’ve done my share and gladly let him have that task.
I pulled the plug on this gig in March 2019 after Carolyn, my wife of almost 20 years, was diagnosed with incurable brain cancer (glioblastoma). She died in September 2019, and I carried on with our plans to downsize from our home in Belgrade and move to a cottage in Billings, Montana. Thus, my last newspaper reporting hitch (I think) came to an end.
Before officially drawing a paycheck, I freelanced a few special-edition pieces for the News. Sample here:
Freelance articles
Keeping Belgrade’s history alive
http://dennisgaub.me/keeping-belgrade-history-alive_june-28-2_20181124192848/
Articles written as Belgrade News staffer
All in the Family – antique/classic car show at the local Fall Festival
Belgrade’s Green Thumb – local man who grows onions and all kinds of other vegetables
Tale of the bull – part of the special-edition package about Corbett, the Belgrade Bull
Column – Remembering George Bush
Three Forks School District struggles with financial woes, government fines
Pair make soap business using bacon fat, beer
Three Forks trail gets accolades
Reader appreciation
Letter to the editor, re: Three Forks School District finances story
Bannack’s Glory Days
Article about Bannack Days, annual celebration of the heritage of Montana’s first territorial capital. This article appeared in the June 2016 issue of Trailer Life magazine.
Park City Perfection
Article that appeared in the Billings (MT) Gazette on March 22, 2015, describing an epic Montana state high school basketball championship that occurred on the same weekend 45 years earlier.
“Sandwich Generation” article
Article that appeared in the January 2012 issue of Montana 55, a special publication of Lee Newspapers of Montana
montana-55_sandwich-generation-article
Desert Dreams – outdoor adventures in Moab, Utah
Article published in the May 2012 issue of Magic City Magazine, a publication of the Billings (Montana) Gazette
moab-adventure_magic-city-magazine_may-2012
Big Timber awarded Cowboy Hall of Fame
Article from the April 30, 2012, issue of the Billings Gazette
big-timber-chosen-as-hall-of-fame-site_043012
Spirited competition for Cowboy Hall of Fame
Article from the October 18, 2011 issue of the Billings Gazette
spirited-competition-for-cowboy-hall-of-fame
Web copy – landing page & article for RightNow Technologies
RightNow Technologies_home page article_May 2010
KOA Kompass articles (2003-2005)
I wrote one to three articles per month in 2003, 2004, and in January 2005, as a freelancer for KOA Kompass, the online publication of Billings, Montana-based Kampgrounds of America. Below are links to those articles.
April 2003
Retrace the Lewis and Clark Trail During Its Bicentennial
May 2003
Lewis and Clark in Iowa, South Dakota and North Dakota
June 2003
Explore the Lewis and Clark Trail through Montana
July 2003
Lewis and Clark Reach the Pacific Ocean
August 2003
Lewis and Clark the Final Chapter
September 2003
October 2003
November 2003
December 2003
KOA introduces new KOAs to visit
January 2004
February 2004
RV Electrical-system Suggestions
March 2004
April 2004
Great Places To Visit In Southeastern U.S
May 2004
June 2004
July 2004
August 2004
September 2004
October 2004
Whale Watching from Coast-to-Coast
November 2004
Holiday Traditions Bring Friends and Family Together
December 2004
January 2005
Billings Gazette clips
I enjoyed a lengthy and rewarding career as a reporter for the Billings Gazette, Montana’s largest newspaper. I worked there on three occasions:
- As a part-time sportswriter during my senior year in high school and then full-time the following summer after I graduated, before enrolling in college (Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where I earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism);
- As a sportswriter, from 1976-78;
- Varied responsibilities, from 1981-1997.
- During this period, I was a sportswriter for four years and then covered a variety of news beats from 1985-1994. City government reporting became my lengthiest beat, but I also covered county government, business, police and courts, politics, outdoor recreation and general assignment topics in Eastern Montana – an are as large as New England
- After earning my MBA from the University of Montana, I worked from 1995-1997 in business development, as the Gazette’s online project manager, and led the initiative to put the newspaper on the Web, which occurred early in 1996
Earlier, I worked as a a reporter for daily newspapers in Colorado (Grand Junction Daily Sentinel), covering sports and City Hall) and Wyoming (Gillette News-Record, sports editor). I also was editor of a weekly newspaper in Michigan (Frankenmuth News).
As one might image, a career spanning three decades resulted in my writing thousands of articles. And, for a while, I had a lot of news article clips. But, housecleaning and multiple moves weeded out almost all of them.
I’m posting articles about two of the more enjoyable personal adventures I wrote about:
- Helicopter skiing at Montana’s Big Sky resort in 1983, when using an airborne lift as one’s ticket to backcountry skiing was still a novelty in this area
- A 45-minute trip in a Navy Hornet F1-8 fighter plane, in July 1988 when the Blue Angels highlighted Billings’ air show
- A ride from Big Timber, Montana, to Billings aboard a World War II B-24 bomber
Helicopter Skiing_Billings Gazette_1983
Further examples of my reporting versatility include articles published in the Billings Gazette about:
- Local businesses that had taken the then-pioneering step of embracing e-commerce in 1997
- A look back at Billings’ tax-increment district, which reshaped the downtown skyline during the district’s 12-year existence; this article was part of a package of articles I wrote, for which I received Northwest regional awards from a professional journalist organization
Business on the Internet_Billings Gazette_August 1997
Tax-increment district ends_Billings Gazette_1988
Old Faithful Inn at 100
I wrote this article in May 2004 when Yellowstone National Park’s iconic Old Faithful Inn celebrated its 100th birthday and opened for the season, kicking off a three-year refurbishing. I wrote it for the Billings (Montana) Outpost, an independent weekly newspaper that I helped found in 1997 and for which I worked in 1997-98.
It was especially delightful to write about Old Faithful because I was a Yellowstone Park bus driver for two summers while in college. And, for my second summer as a driver, I was based at Old Faithful. Those summers provided memories for a lifetime.
old-faithful-inn-at-100_billings-outpost_may-20041
Frankenmuth News
I was editor of the Frankenmuth, Michigan, News, a weekly paper serving a delightful community in the Michigan “thumb” region from 1980-81. Some memorable articles I wrote there include:
A B-24 crew that flew bombing missions in Europe during World War II held a reunion in town.
A California weekly won the Pulitzer Prize for its courageous coverage of the cult that held Patty Hearst hostage. That inspired this column.