Proud in Phillips County

The Ranchers Stewardship Alliance (RSA) and Phillips Conservation District joined forces last Saturday night to host the 4th Annual Phillips County Proud event in Malta on a night which featured a free dinner and salutes to members of the community for volunteerism and contributions to the community.

“This is a really nice turnout to come out to celebrate our community,” RSA President Leo Barthelmess said. “The (RSA’s) mission statement says ‘ranching, conservation, and community…a winning team to work together and help our communities’. Thank you all for coming out tonight.”

The Lucky Bullet’s basement — the Bullet Hole — was the site of the 4th annual event and following a good-will offering meal feeding about 140 people (cooked by Side Hustle with proceeds to go to Phillips County organizations at a later date). Phillips Conservation District’s Administrator Jenifer Anderson presented Malta’s Craig and Conni French with the organization’s award for Conservationists of the Year and Kelsey Malloy honored them in being named as finalists for this year’s Montana Leopold Conservation Award.

Those who were honored this year at the Phillips County Proud event for “Making a Difference” were Riley Abrahamson, Shane Anderson, Katie Brown, Bridgett Ereaux, Vince Mace, Kelsey Malloy, Laura Pankratz, Robert and Betty Plouffe, Travis Rhoads, and Jo Tharp. (The Plouffes and Pankratz were unable to attend, and later in the night, Pankratz was named the People’s Choice pick for “Making a Difference” as those in attendance voted.) Each of the 10 recipients of the “Making A Difference” award had brief biographies read about them by the night’s emcee, Perri Jacobs.

She said Abrahamson, the coordinator of the Phillips County Volunteer EMT and Ambulance Service, “Has completed a multitude of education to further his knowledge to provide the most effective, competent, and evidence-based care to his patients.”

About Anderson, Jacobs said “Shane spends a lot of time volunteering with our community” and “his true passion is working with kids, mostly in sports."

Jacobs said that Brown is a fifth-generation rancher in Phillips County and that it is important to Brown that she “continues to keep their roots (in Phillips County) and to continue to put back into the community” as the Northwest Director of the Phillips County CattleWomen and other organizations.

Jacobs said that Ereaux was being honored for her service to the Partners In Education (PIE) organization as well as years as a volunteer for many years with such organizations as PTA, the Malta Elementary Science Fair, and the Scholastic Book Fair.

Mace, Jacobs said, has been a volunteer with the Phillips County Volunteer Ambulance Service since 2010 and though his main employment is a chef at the Crossroads Bistro, he still tries to go on as many ambulance calls as he can.

Malloy, said Jacobs, is involved with the RSA where she is active with the conservation committee and is the vice president with the Phillips County CattleWomen where she assists with their scholarship committee.

Jacobs said Rhoads is proud to be a part of the great community that is Phillips County adding that his credo is “if we chose to make this place home, we might as well try to make it one of the coolest places to live on the planet.”

Tharp was the last of eight in advance to be honored on the night and Jacobs said she is a volunteer EMT, serves as the President of the Phillips County Ambulance Association and a member of that outfit’s board. She added that Tharp and her husband, Rhei, who moved back to Malta in 2015, love living in a community that knows how to support and care for its members as well as create new opportunities for all ages.

The event went until 10 p.m. with Rhoads acting as DJ with music.