Karl's Korner

On Saturday September 9, my company, KLM Contracting, celebrated our one-year anniversary. We have a great crew who work hard every day and I want to thank them for all they do. I want to thank the elders who we took over the business from, Bob Lorengo, Roy Lorengo, Cliff Lorengo, Ken Kanduch, and Joe Kanduch. To my business partners Bryan Lorengo, Hammy Mitchell, and Kevin Kanduch, thank you.

Around the first part of August, my crew moved to a new job close to home. It was a smoky day, and as we were preparing to unload the processor off the lowboy next to the highway, a few machines cruised by on their way up to the Bowles Creek Fire. Everyone knows that summers in Montana usually mean fire season and I was hoping that wasn't going to be the case for this summer. Around Philipsburg, it was mostly smoke free despite the fire southeast of town, but with August starting, I didn't know what to expect. Thankfully, this summer was mostly cool and rainy with only a week of hot weather.

The summer went by fast, so I was excited when I got to bring my daughter, Eliana, to work one day. Even though I was excited to have her come to work with me, I let her know that it wouldn’t be a lot of fun as I had to do some maintenance on a couple of machines. While I was working on the machines Eliana was on her own adventure in a book.

A glimmer of something outside the door caught her eye and she hopped outside to investigate. She found a little stream, but I was surprised she came back to the pickup so fast as she loves to explore nature. Watching Eliana explore reminded me of a time when I was younger, sitting in the Hahn Harvester cab with my aunt Patti. There was a pond nearby, so during a break, we went and caught a frog, exploring just like my daughter. Eliana spent the rest of the day sitting behind me, reading away, while I enjoyed the time I had with her. School and sports have started for her, but I hope she will come back to work with me next summer.

As I’m writing this, the day before 9/11, I want to remember the people who sacrificed themselves on that day, 22 years ago, the first responders, firefighters, and policemen. I also want to thank all the volunteer first responders and firefighters out there doing a thankless job.

Until next time,

Karl