SEELEY LAKE — The Seeley Swan Community Book Project aims to make sure the valley can always turn back the page and dive into local history. People from across the valley are coming together to create one book of their shared stories.
“Find out what this town is all about,” Seeley Lake Senior Center Vice President Barbara Knopp said. “I think it's gonna be a bestseller, actually.”
All proceeds from the book will go to the Seeley Lake Senior Center. Project Coordinator Michelle Wretling thought of the fundraiser while working with Seeley Lake elementary schoolers on a book of their own.
“All of the kids wrote a little story for their for a book, and we printed it up. Being on the board here at the senior center, I thought it might be a good idea,” she said. “It's been very exciting to see the community so excited about this, railing around a fundraiser for the senior center like this.”
The book’s working title is “Folks, Forest and Water,” each a topic that will receive its own section. Work on the book has been underway for eight months. Wretling said the project comes at a pivotal time for the valley.
“This period of time right now is kind of a period of a lot of change, kind of a junction for Seeley Lake right now. With the mill closing, our industry is changing here. You know? We've got some progress in the sewer system and so that could really change things,” she said. “So, we're kind of getting a record of life before a couple of those big changes have happened and it’s really nice to capture that.”
In addition to the senior center, Wretling said the project’s benefits extend across the valley and its communities. Local children, photographers, historians and community groups have been contributing stories and money for months.
“From that, it’s kind of evolved into this project where the whole community is involved,” she said. “And it's been really good for getting engagement in the senior center. We've gotten some new members who came to write a story and ended up playing cards or coming for lunches.”
Submissions for the project are already pouring in from all over the valley. John MacLean, son of “A River Runs Through It” author Norman MacLean, is writing a story. Knopp is working on one about the history of the local VFW and Ladies Auxiliary.
“Good reading material for one thing,” Knopp said. “There's some awesome people up here that we're gonna find out about. The whole book in general is going to be awesome.”
Groups like the Lions Club and the Seeley Lake Historical Society have been helping with the project. The Seeley Lake Community Foundation provided a grant to help with printing costs.
Wretling said they are still looking to raise $7,000 by mid-summer to cover the printing process, ahead of a book launch in the fall.
They are accepting stories and high-resolution images through May 1st. Submissions can be email to seeleylakecommunitybookproject@gmail.com.
“Anyone who wants to be involved, we would love to have them submit something,” Wretling said. “All of the stories that they tell around the table here at lunchtime, we're getting those recorded. Some of that history that would be lost is being recorded.”
