Letter to the Editor - Topic - Havre Has It

Editor,

This June the Havre community played gracious host to the MSU Northern Traffic Education Program, as it has each year for nearly three decades.

While here, licensed teachers from around the state work with local high school students from the Havre High School summer traffic education program to cut their teeth as both behind-the-wheel and in-classroom instructors. Our MSU Northern students rely on your students to learn, and the high school’s generosity helps aspiring drivers across the state.

This summer highlighted even more generosity from businesses in your town. Two traffic educators went out to scout new driving routes as an assignment for our college class.

Unfortunately, a combination of inaccurate GPS directions, rain and adults not from the area set the scenario for a muddy, gumbo disaster with a Ford Fusion buried to its axles.

Two Havre natives tried to rescue the stuck vehicle to no avail. Finally, E-1 Towing thankfully sucked the Fusion from the mud prison. The car owner drove to the college only to hear terrible noises coming from the undercarriage. Luckily, Tire Rama immediately opened a scheduled slot, fixed the car and donated all the labor to send the MSU-N student on his way.

A similar gesture of Havre kindness was performed days later as the class instructor’s car screeched with metallic grating while backing up during parallel parking practice. Havre Ford’s service department agreed to inspect the troubled Ford Edge an hour later. A rock was removed from a tire shield at no charge after an hour’s work.

That small-own feel where people are willing to help each other is refreshing, and helps us set a tone in the class our instructors will take with them as they fan back out across the state to pay it forward. Over the last couple of weeks our students were helped on the roadway numerous times by well-meaning Havreites. Over the next several years, our student instructors will teach their students to behave in the same way, spreading these positive traits across both geography and time.

We’d like to thank the community for sharing their roads, their help, and being our host. Here’s to 30 more good years ahead. Havre has it.

Sincerely,

Steffani Grogan

MSU Northern Traffic Education Instructor

Peregrine Frissell

Traffic Education Instructor