Local group brings 'L' back to life

The “L” on the hill near Libby is going to look a little brighter after a fresh coat of paint.

Early morning on Sunday, Aug. 10, Dee Teske and six others climbed the hill lying northeast of Libby to re-paint the “L” that beams from the hill. The “L” had lost its luster and had slowly become less visible from the city grounds after a high school tradition of painting it yearly faded along with the white paint.

“I’d been thinking about it for a couple of months,” Teske said. “I’d wake up in the morning, make myself a cup of hot tea and sit on the front steps. And then once, I looked up, and I don’t see it. I don’t see the “L.” I said, ‘Am I looking at the right hill?’”

She was looking at the right hill — but it had completely faded out.  To Teske, it was one more thing that had fallen into disarray in Libby, and she wanted to do something about it.

“I thought, ‘You know what, I want to see if there’s something I can do.’” Teske said.

The hill is near land owned by Dr. Glenne Gunther and her husband, Christian. Visitors to the “L” have to walk through their land to get to the hill. Christian said those who use their access point are usually respectful. He said visitors should call him to get to the hill, and he will even tell them how to get to the “L.”

Teske got permission from the Gunthers, and they flagged the side road for the group. Thursday night, two young men, Drew and John McLaury, carried up six 5-gallon buckets of paint and water. Teske carried the sprayers. Western Building Center and the Igniters Club donated the paint, Ace Hardware donated three sprayers, and McLaury Aviaries donated painting supplies.

At 6:30 on Aug. 10, Teske, Kim Peck, Heidi Sichting, Don and Laura Cox and Peggy and Eric Rayome hightailed up the hill against the morning light to paint the 60-by-25 marker made of small stones.

Don Cox, one of those who painted the “L” Sunday, remembered when his high school classmates would go up the hill and paint the “L.” Decades ago, there was the “L club,” a group of seniors from Libby High School who would hike up the hill and paint the “L” before they went their separate ways after school.

“When I was in school, people would go up there to paint,” Cox said. “I didn’t paint, but I would watch. There would be so many people there. It was great. It was just something that always happened.”

Cox said Teske spearheaded the motion to paint the “L,” and she deserves most the credit.

“I just came along,” Cox said. “It’s good to be a part of it. It’s a worthwhile thing that we wanted to do. You have to maintain something like that — something that’s been a part of the community for so long.”

Although tradition has worn off, and even though the “L” hadn’t been painted for a few years, Sunday’s pilgrimage to the top of the hill may reinstate the old-time tradition of “L” painting, Teske said.