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President's Message, by Robert LuppiIn the past year, our Friends organization continued to expand its membership, with members now residing in all of the major geographical areas of the country and also internationally.
Benches have been purchased by the Friends and now have been installed at the Big Hole and Bear Paw Battlefields for use by visitors who wish to enjoy a moment of rest and relaxation while touring the Battlefields. Brass plaques with pertinent quotations from Nez Perce and soldier participants in the battle, along with a reference to the Friends donation of the benches, have been emplaced on each bench.
Substantial progress has also been made on the installation of a Traveler’s Information Station (TIS) on Highway 2 in the Chinook, Montana area. The Friends raised substantial funding for the station and as of this publication, it is expected that the system will be operational and in use, thus allowing a recorded message about the Bear Paw Battlefield to be audibly played to travelers along the highway.
The Friends is currently involved in endeavoring to raise funds for the installation of an easy to operate InFoMax System, consisting of a low power A.M. radio transmitter at the Bear Paw Battlefield that can be utilized to broadcast clear messages to car radios within 1,000 feet on any A.M. frequency. The message would be loaded onto a five minute digital chip or, alternatively, a professionally produced message could be downloaded into the system via a tape or CD player. The message would then be broadcasted in a continuous loop. As cars would drive up to or stop in the vicinity of the Battlefield, an attractive sign or banner would encourage the drivers to tune their car radios to a specific A.M. frequency to listen to the message. A greater awareness, information and enjoyment in learning about the Bear Paw Battle and its site, would thus be facilitated. It is contemplated that once the message system is purchased through the acquisition of funds necessary to do so by the Friends, then a National Park Service member(s) or a combination of NPS staff and Friends members, would install the system at the Bear Paw Battlefield.
As we enter the new year, we expect that our organization will continue to augment its membership and to engage in discussions and planning of future projects for the betterment of the Big Hole, Bear Paw and Canyon Creek Battlefields.
January 2008
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