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Newton Helms New Documentary

Hometown boy Shawn Newton has penned an affecting documentary segment for the Montana Television Network depicting the raising of Our Lady of the Rockies in Butte. The statue itself is the focus of 30th anniversary celebrations this year, but the story is fresh and captivating.

Framed in part as a story of faith, On the Mountain recounts the efforts of a team of unlikely craftsmen, artists, volunteers and minor heroes and heroines as they first conceive a humble vision of a small statue in a beautiful place and then grapple with the realities of erecting a 90-foot statue near the top of a mountain peak.

The tale begins with Butte's Bob O'Bill, who made a promise to build a statue in honor of Virgin Mary if his wife Joyce was cured of cancer (a diagnosis she received in 1979). Needless to say, she got well and Bob set about putting his money (and seemingly everything else) behind the difficult task ahead.

The statue, which sits atop the Continental Divide overlooking Butte, is presented as an engineering feat that was nearly beyond the capabilities of the good people who came together to see its construction through to completion.

Most participants cite instances of faith and even divine intervention as primary causes for their success, and given the sheer improbability of their task, it's not surprising that they would want to acknowledge a power greater than themselves. When the films focuses on Lt. Colonel Marc Comstock's dramatic flights to and from the East Ridge in a CH-54 Tarhe helicopter supplied by the Army National Guard, it's not hard to empathize with the white knuckles of virtually everyone involved.

Things proved difficult from the beginning, in fact, and there are more instances of obstacles overcome by friendship and community in the 30-minute film than can be recounted here. Anyone in need of an object lesson in the stick-to-itiveness of everyday Montanans will find more than enough to make them a believer on that score.

Thanks to grant from the Greater Montana Foundation and matching funding from MTN, future generations will be able to learn how such an inexplicably beautiful statue ended up in such a inexplicable place. All told, the crew shot 300 hours of footage and logged 60 hours of interviews in producing the short film.

Newton, who graduated from GHS and has a family name known throughout the region, co-directed and co-produced the program with Carley Rainey and Andrew Preston respectively, on top of being credited as its writer.

On the Mountain was aired on CBS affiliates in seven markets throughout the state over the Christmas weekend and can be purchased on DVD. For more information, contact the OLR Foundation gift shop at (406) 782-1221.

 

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