1999-2000
The second year of OFT, 2000, started by having the students participate in a fly fishing expedition. As much as they enjoyed the trip the year before, they had decided they didn't want the teachers to teach to them on OFT. As a result, Don Kast, Kenny Williams, Dan Freeman, Rick Ruoff and several of Rick's friends from Florida were brought in to spend time with the students teaching them casting techniques, fishing ethics and etiquette, and studying of water ecology to choose flies. The group then got actual fly-fishing experience on our own blue-ribbon stream, the Willow Creek. We also had a casting contest in the gym. Three groups of fishermen caught fish. The expedition concluded with popcorn and the movie "A River Runs Though It" and a few 'hooked' fishermen. Later in the year, we went on a second trip to Livingston. This trip was focused on different career opportunities available to us in Montana. The group went to Heckman Specialties and Rocky Cushman Gunsmith and Repair in the morning to learn about the craft of gun manufacturing. We then got a fantastic tour of RY Timber, where we watched every step of the milling process from the logs being dropped in the bin to the final packaged lumber and pallets. The students then stepped out of their culinary boxes to experience an early Italian dinner at Uncle Looie's Ristorante. There the students learned what it takes to be a chef, run a restaurant, and be part of a wait staff. Some of them really had to stretch their taste buds because it was way different than Chicken Nuggets!