It’s quiet here; away from the hussle and bussle of the city. Cars pass nonchalantly down the streets and the drivers offer a single wave to passers by, whether they know each other or not. Kids run around or ride bike all over town parentless and carefree, just because they can. As kids, we always knew we just had to make it back in time for dinner when the daily town siren sounded it’s horn at 6pm.
The one blinking red light is a watchful eye, swinging above the busiest intersection. I’m sure it sees much more action than it cares to see, being located in the heart of the bar scene. This is a place where seat belts are forgotten unless you are driving out of town, car doors are rarely ever locked, and it isn’t uncommon to see a big tractor driving down main street from time to time.
Scobey is one of the few fortunate rural Montana towns to have the businesses and economy that it does have. It’s located 15 miles from the Canadian Border, making it the prime location for Homeland Security (a Border Patrol Sub-station complete with the border jail); it provides supplemental housing for the area oil field and road construction crews and is home to a large rural area telephone company that employs over 70 people. With under 1000 residents, it supports one of the biggest schools in the area, has a hospital and nursing home, 5 churches, 6 bars, 2 grocery stores, a few hair salons, a bank and a credit union, a hotel, a motel, a county weekly newspaper, a clothing store, a hardware store, several small shops, an auto dealership and a few auto service shops, 2 gas stations, a bowling alley, a movie theater, and a 9-hole golf course. I would say this is all pretty awesome considering the closest big city in Montana (the ONLY city over 100,000 people) is over 350 miles away. I’m not sure that many of the residents will realize how lucky they are to have many of these offerings until they possibly lose some of them one day due to minimal support. I know I see it all through different eyes every time I return and hope that things stay strong.
You will find though that many of these communities do come together to support each other in a way that is unknown to most larger cities. Whether it’s a death in a local family, a fire that destroys an area crop land, or a family just needs a little extra support, these types of communities truly come together, step up and shine in times of need.
When it comes to food around these parts, there isn’t a shortage of bar food, pizza, steak and potato dinners, and burgers and fries. In the summer, you’ll even find an old school “drive up” joint that I can proudly say employed me in one of my first jobs, carhopping and taking orders. (No, I wasn’t in hotpants and rollerskates but I just may have sported the side pony and pegged jeans.) On your way out of town on the east side, you will also find a small little place that serves up the best fresh Chinese food EVER, if she feels like making it for you that day;) The cook is originally from Taiwan and I can truly say I haven’t found any Taiwanese-Chinese cuisine that I have liked better in all my foodie years.
Places to eat out aren’t necessarily the issue though. Access to whole healthy food, nutrition education, and healthy cooking classes to show the techniques are a bit of a problem in these rural areas. Besides the abundance of milk, eggs, wheat and beef, rural Montana would probably be considered a food desert. Every time I come back, I struggle to find ingredients I often use or the fresh produce I am used to and take for granted. The grocery stores do the best they can but are limited to what they can get access to and there is always that tricky economic game of supply and demand. That goes for both produce and packaged goods. It’s nice to see new items and options pop up in the store from time to time though. Every little change makes a difference.
Farmer’s markets are plentiful and able to thrive in the bigger Montana cities but rural communities struggle to create and maintain them. The closest Scobey comes to having one is a small booth next to the post office in the fall where one older man sells corn, cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, beets, onions, and carrots that he grew in his enormous garden on the edge of town. At least, it’s something! Several other green-thumb townspeople grow their own veggies in the summer and can tomatoes, bag potatoes, and freeze peas and raspberries so they have a small amount of local produce for the winter. During my garden exploration, I discovered gardens large and small and others that were creatively and artistically planted.
***One of the smaller
***Probably the biggest
A wonderful new project in town here is the use of an empty land plot for a community garden. A local boy scout troop is putting it together and the planting boxes can be used by community members to provide fresh produce and plants, encourage youth education, provide a sharing environment to gardeners, and improve and enhance the neighborhood. Perhaps this first garden will lead to several others in the future, once the benefits come to life and are recognized by many.
Another do-it-yourself food source you might find here is raising your own chickens for fresh eggs or meat. One of my aunties just purchased 15 baby chicks for $30, ON SALE, with free shipping (apparently it’s late in the season). They were hatched at a hatchery in the Midwest Region on Sunday, shipped on Monday and arrive on Wednesday. They will lay eggs in 6 months or could be butchered for meat in about 15 to 16 weeks. She is probably one of the best mother hens these chicks could ask for as she made them a large mansion in her basement, where they run and hide around pieces of tree bark and an old wooden candelabra and are warmed with the heat of one lamp in the corner. They get to ride in little dump trucks and train cars and are fed a variety of fresh bugs when her grandkids come around; she babysits them to protect them from cats and dogs while they run around the yard outside; and she is growing some grass JUST for them to have a place in their box home to go to the bathroom instead of on old newspaper. It doesn’t get much more free-range and loving than that. Her benefit?....Besides entertainment for her grandkids, she will know exactly what they were fed and how they were treated, which makes for more comfortable eating of local, fresh, clean eggs and/or meat. You just never know what you are going to get from some of the larger commercial production companies in the country these days.
As my time in Scobey is coming to a close, I'm continuously reminded of all that I am thankful for and appreciate that I probably didn't appreciate much when I was younger. I guess that comes with age. It's been fun to have a mission in my travels; a mission that I haven't had before on prior visits to Montana. As a journalist for Thyme 2 Travel, I’m always seeking out the local food experiences in the areas I visit and you can find them everywhere, even in little Scobey, Montana. I did the best I could in my search this time. It’s too early in the year for me to take part in an elk hunt, the wheat harvest or choke cherries picking to make syrup or jam but have no fear! You can be sure I will be participating in these local foodie activities on one of my many return trips to this place I am proud to call home.
