Campus Views: The good ol' days

Lifelong Whitefish resident Mark Duff says his hometown is different than it used to be.

“I am not certain if that is good or bad, but I know for sure that Whitefish is different,” he said.

Duff was born in 1947 in a “hospital that is now a parking lot” and later returned to teach in Whitefish. There have been significant changes to his hometown across his 68 years.

From color television to Big Mountain, my high school experience here is very different than that of Duff’s era. He remembers life in his high school years as being “simpler and less hurried” compared to how he sees high school now.

“Gas was 20 cents a gallon, movies were 40 cents, everybody knew everybody, and the high school had way less activities to offer,” he said. “If I were to be told that nowadays high schoolers could be involved in about 50 school sponsored activities, I wouldn’t have thought it was possible.”

Marlene Burkey, who has lived in Whitefish for 44 years, also speaks of simpler times.

“Whitefish used to be more of a peaceful little town,” she said. “There were less people and more friendly chats.”

Burkey, diagnosed with epilepsy at age 5, says her high school days were full of horse riding, fairs, embroidery and juggling the stress of epilepsy.

“As soon as people found out about my condition, I felt them distance themselves from me,” she said.

Although she views the growth of Whitefish’s population as bittersweet, she also says that “more qualified doctors have moved in,” which has made epilepsy a less significant part of her life.

Another Whitefish native, Mary Harris, views the most momentous change to Whitefish as the addition of Big Mountain.

“When Big Mountain finally was complete, that marked the turning point from Whitefish shifting away from the lumber and railroad industry and really valuing the importance of tourism,” she said. “Tourism has brought a new kind of person to Whitefish, but it has always been the fun town of the valley.”

Harris grew up during the heart of the Great Depression and had to look for cost-free ways to have fun.

“I remember playing pinochle with the neighborhood kids,” she said. “We didn’t have the big fancy ski boats that kids now have, so we had to make our own fun.”

Although Mary left Whitefish for a time at the age of 17, she eventually found her way back.

“Whitefish is the kind of place that people leave for a time, but usually end up coming home to.”

It’s difficult for high schoolers to relate to life before cell phones, ski boats, or high-speed quads, but if history continues to follow its pattern of vicissitude, my generation will someday too look back on these times as the good ol’ days.