My grandmother was Dorothy Johnson

a If ever there was a year to tell tales, it will be the upcoming year. With a hundred years of history to relay, 2005 provides a unique opportunity for residents to understand the past that made this little town. A chance to appreciate the color, grit and splash that was and is Whitefish.

Whitefish is more than just a great place. Central to our upcoming coverage, and the town itself, is the people of Whitefish. We will be talking to the old timers of the town, and seeing Whitefish that once was through their memories.

My great-grandmother's maiden name was Dorothy Johnson. Not the famed writer, Dorothy Johnson that only Whitefish can claim. Rather, my grandmother was a buxom and feisty five feet of woman, with a penchant for big purses that she would swing at people with whom she didn't agree. She divorced a blues singer/traveling salesman before divorce was socially accepted, and raised two children as a single mother during the Depression.

My grandmother remembers giving her rationed carrots to her brother who suffered from polio, and who is now a professional accordion player who is happy she shared her vegetables.

For those of you lucky enough to have a Whitefish connection, grandmother and grandfather stories like these must run like water through your lives and households. If you have living relatives that remember Whitefish as it was, we'd love to feature them in a regular 2005 section we will call "the Centennial Pages."

If you have only memories and stories, please share them with us - the taller the tale the better - in a space called "Grandfather/Grandmother Tales," we'll have a forum for memories of the people and places of Whitefish. Call, e-mail or write to us with the stories your grandparents or great-grandparents used to tell.

I have a big year ahead of me. There are 100 years of Whitefish Pilot issues for me to read, and I plan on reading all of them. Exactly how I will present that information has yet to strike me, but with that sort of story gold mine, I will not lack in material.

While the town's history helps to root us solidly in its past, this is a town with a very vibrant here-and-now, which, not surprisingly, is made up of equally exceptional people.

In 2005 we will be running a monthly feature called "Here and Now," which will focus on the daily lives of Whitefish residents; the auto mechanics, the teachers and the people that might not make daily news, but nevertheless have a story to tell.

The Pilot will also be striving for ways to recreate some of the magic and niceties of days of yore: In our pages you'll see columnists, like Ida Hunnewell, who brought life to simple pleasures - like bingo and church socials. Or columnist Mrs. Edwards, who covered social occasions but found the time to meet every train at the Depot and interviewed every passenger to find out where they were going and where they had been. A true journalist at heart, she qualified rumblings she wasn't entirely sure of with three simple words "it was rumored…"

This year we will be holding a contest for columnists to reproduce their likes - writers who can capture the small town charms that still exist among us.

So put on your thinking caps, and start seeing and listening for the events that make Whitefish the town that it is. We will inform you of the official contest in the New Year.

We'll also bring back a space called "the Good News," where the smaller niceties can be recognized. Chris Wambeke, whose family is originally from Whitefish, will be helping collect that news. Feel free to send those along.

Of course, we'll still cover the news, sports and features as always. But in 2005, we'll reflect on those stories and happenings that might not always make the news, but are an essential part of our Whitefish existence.

Whitefish is still a small town, but one that is grappling with growth. The more we can be aware of the existentials that made us and make us who we are, the better chance we have of preserving it.

If you know anyone who has a long Whitefish memory, or if you'd like to tell any Grandfather/Grandmother Tales or the Good News, we're listening. Please email us at editor@whitefishpilot.com or write to us attention Editor, Whitefish Pilot PO Box 488, Whitefish, Mt 59937. Or call us at 862-3505.

If ever there was a year to tell those stories, 2005 is it.

Christine Hensleigh is the editor at the Whitefish Pilot and is looking forward to reading 100 years worth of Whitefish news.