07/22/2024
“Helena This Week” is reported and written By JoVonne Wagner. Send your Helena news and tips to jwagner@montanafreepress.org.
Flora Lee Wong has lived a dynamic life. As a local businesswoman, athlete, author and family matriarch, the 95-year-old overcame adverse beginnings to achieve a lifetime of success while making Helena her home.
That’s partly why, during a Helena City Commission meeting last Monday, Wong’s friends and family members across multiple generations filled the chambers to celebrate a proclamation declaring July 15 as Flora Wong Day.
“I want to thank you [from] all my heart for all the effort you had done for me,” Wong told the commission. “I’ll never forget Helena. It [will] always be [where] I call home.”
In 2011, Wong published her book, “Long Way Home: Journeys of a Chinese Montanan,” which detailed her life in the United States and China. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1928, Wong was 7 years old when she moved with her family to her parents’ home in China. In the midst of World War II, Wong’s mother arranged for her to marry and move back to the U.S., specifically to Helena.
She married Charles Yin Wong and together they owned and operated the Wing Shing Grocery store in downtown Helena from the late 1940s until Charles’ passing. Wong closed the grocery in 1970 but opened The Chinese Kitchen and Oriental Gift Shop with some family members in 1973, all while raising her five children.
But it was in her retirement that she began a new chapter and added to her growing list of achievements. At age 50, Wong became a competitive runner and swimmer. She was named the 1999 Montana Big Sky Athlete of the Year and ultimately earned a spot in Helena’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2009.
“Flora Wong serves as an inspiring role model demonstrating that it is never too late to pursue your passions and achieve great success even in one’s senior years,” Helena Mayor Wilmot Collins read from the proclamation during the ceremony. “ … She has inspired generations of our city residents to be the best they can be.”
Helena History
Public Notice
City officials are encouraging residents to participate in the Helena Forward Land Use Plan questionnaire and provide feedback on how the city should grow. To access the survey and for additional information, visit the Helena Forward community engagement website.
5 Things to Know in Helena
Another malfunction at the junction: On Sunday, July 14, an electrical box for the traffic lights at the five-point intersection of Last Chance Gulch, Neill Avenue, Helena Avenue and Cruse Street burnt out along with the traffic lights at the intersection of Cruse and 11th Avenue. All-way stop signs have been placed at the locations until the city can fix the issue. Transportation Director David Knoepke informed the city commission about the light failure during a meeting last week and said the city is working to put temporary signals in place. However, Knoepke said he was hesitant to move forward with replacing the lighting infrastructure because the city is searching for alternatives for the intersection.
Firing up fees at the firing range: The city commission passed a resolution last week to increase the cost of using the firing range at the Helena Regional Airport from $10 per person to $100 for half a day and $200 for a full day. The Helena Police Chief Brett Petty told the commissioners that the increases were needed to pay for the maintenance of the range. Local, county and other third-party public safety officials regularly use the firing range. Petty said that the fees could help prevent the range from spending money from the city’s general fund for the upkeep.
Helena’s sister city update: The city commission passed a memorandum of intention to establish friendly relations with the Stepanavan community of Lori Marz in the Republic of Armenia. Helena will consider the Armenian community a sister city with opportunities for both cities to exchange ideas about local democracy, trade, education, tourism, economy, culture and infrastructure. Mayor Wilmot Collins told Montana Free Press that officials from Lori Marz will be invited to Helena to observe how the city operates, meet with the city manager and watch city meetings. They will also meet with the chamber of commerce and business leaders. Collins said Helena will look at how Lori Marz preserves its history and advocates for tourism.
63rd Last Chance Stampede: Helena’s annual Last Chance Stampede and Fair is back, beginning on Wednesday, July 24, and concluding on Saturday, July 27. The fair will feature performances by musical artists Chase Rice, Bret Michaels, Scotty McCreery and Flo Rida. The fair will have more than 20 food vendors, 4-H events and a carnival. All events will be held at the Lewis and Clark Fairgrounds, 98 W Custer Ave. Visit the fair’s website for more details.
Habitat for Humanity Grant: Last week, the Otto Bremer Trust awarded the Helena Area Habitat for Humanity $120,000 to expand the nonprofit’s home improvement and furniture store, Restore. The nonprofit will also renovate its driveway for safer donation drop-offs.
3 Questions For
The city of Helena is revising its sign ordinance, which hasn’t been updated since 1997. Last week, the city commission initially approved an ordinance that addresses electronic message centers, billboard and sign sizes and permit fees. Michael Alvarez, the city planner for the community development department, facilitated the year-long revision and spoke to MTFP about the changes and what concerns some stakeholders had about them.
MTFP: What were the main reasons for the revisions?
Alvarez: The first attempts at this started with the Supreme Court decision in 2015 called Reed vs. Town of Gibson, and that really changed things for municipalities. That decision said that the way that municipalities across the country had been writing their codes wasn’t content-neutral enough. We used to say political ads can be this size and your yard sale sign can be this size, but that was pretty common for cities to do. The Supreme Court said what you’re doing is essentially prioritizing different kinds of speech. You’re prioritizing political ads over a meeting being held at a church. In 2015, we changed our code just to address temporary signs and then basically started work on a much larger revision of the code to address all the other elements that weren’t necessarily content-neutral.
MTFP: What were some of the updates?
Alvarez: We’re updating the code to address newer technologies as well as those electronic message centers. Something we’re hoping for in addressing them, and one of the biggest changes, is we’re going to regulate how bright they can be. They should fit in seamlessly to the eye with the rest of our signage, whereas right now we have some real outliers around town that are demonstratively brighter. Also, [some signs] have things like animations that draw the eye that we’re looking to reduce. We’re doing scaling wall signage now as opposed to having an upper limit. We used to set a 200-square-foot upper limit for all signage on a building.
MTFP: Who was involved in the revision planning?
Alvarez: The zoning commission. [In] September, got the word out to some local business people and some of the sign industry, caught some traction and got a lot of people in the room all at once. Then we did some breakout one-on-one sessions with local, on-premise sign companies and off-premise sign companies. We held some open houses where people stopped by and gave us their thoughts on the sign code.
Might Be Fun
Science of Bikes: The local science museum ExplorationWorks’ latest exhibit, “Gear Up: The Science of Bikes,” is up through Monday, Sept. 2. The exhibit, intended for all ages, teaches the scientific principles and materials of bicycles and the history, evolution and cultural impacts behind them. For more information, visit the ExplorationWorks website.
Drag brunch on Front: Helena will host the Montana Pride Drag Brunch on Sunday, July 28, on Front Street. The show will feature drag performances, Bad Betty’s Barbeque will cater the brunch and Anchor G will have alcoholic beverages available. The show begins at 11 a.m. and requires a $45 ticket. Visit the Montana Pride website for more information about the brunch and other pride events.
