County plans to celebrate park with license plate
Tim Leeds
The Hill County Park Board is trying to spread the enjoyment its county park across the state with a license plate commemorating Beaver Creek Park.
The Hill County Commission is accepting entries for designs for a specialty plate to commemorate the park. Some proceeds of the plate will come back to fund its operation.
Board member Robbie Lucke said Thursday that he got the idea to have a Beaver Creek Park specialty license plate when he went to get new plates recently — he couldn’t believe there wasn’t more from this region.
“I didn’t want to put that new ugly plate on that they made us get with ‘The Treasure State’ on it, and so I thought, well, why don’t we have a Beaver Creek Park (license plate,) ” he said. “People would brag that up more than Glacier Park because there is such a tremendous pride of ownership for that park. ” 
Commission Chair Mike Wendland said the first plate entry already came in Thursday. The listed deadline for the contest is Jan. 31. 
Entries can be a photograph or stylized plate, and must follow required specifications, including having the words “Beaver Creek Park” and “Hill County” somewhere on the plate.
The specifications are available on the Internet at www.doj.mt.gov/driving/forms/mv115mv117.pdf. Rules and entry forms for the contest are available at the County Commission office in the Hill County Courthouse on 3rd Avenue and 4th Street.
Lucke said a donor volunteered $100, and the park funding foundation is adding another $100, to offer a $200 prize to the contest winner.
The lack of local specialty plates inspired him to suggest the plate to the park board.
“Where was Beaver Creek? Where was the Bear Paw Mountains? ” he said.
He said the demand would be from more than Hill County. Many people who enjoyed the park have left the area, but might want to buy the plate.
“People would love to drive around with a beautiful plate for that park, ” he said.
Commissioner Kathy Bessette agreed.
“People have such ownership of the park, ” she said. “They really enjoy it. It’s their park and they totally take ownership in it, such pride in it, ”
“The local people, they almost think like they’re alumni of Beaver Creek Park, ” Wendland added. “I think they will support the license plate. ” 
Specialty license plate require the person licensing their vehicle to pay an additional charge, with part of the charge going back to the sponsor with the remainder to administrative and production costs.
According to a webpage on the state Department of Justice’s Motor Vehicles Division, most plates return $20 to the sponsor organization.
Sponsoring groups must submit a qualified design, and pay a $4,000 initial cost to get the plate into production.
Lucke said he had worked with the Glacier National Park foundation, and saw the benefits of the license plates there.
“Once they got their initial (charge paid,) it was just money from heaven that came trickling in all the time, ” he said. “You want to do things out in the park that you need more money for, and this would be a good funding source for all sorts of things. ”
He added that, if the contest is done and the winning entry approved by the Motor Vehicle Division early enough next year, the plates could be available by next July. If it is too late, it would not be available until the end of next year.

The Hill County Park Board is trying to spread the enjoyment its county park across the state with a license plate commemorating Beaver Creek Park.

The Hill County Commission is accepting entries for designs for a specialty plate to commemorate the park. Some proceeds of the plate will come back to fund its operation.

Board member Robbie Lucke said Thursday that he got the idea to have a Beaver Creek Park specialty license plate when he went to get new plates recently — he couldn’t believe there wasn’t more from this region.

“I didn’t want to put that new ugly plate on that they made us get with ‘The Treasure State’ on it, and so I thought, well, why don’t we have a Beaver Creek Park (license plate,) ” he said. “People would brag that up more than Glacier Park because there is such a tremendous pride of ownership for that park. ” 

Commission Chair Mike Wendland said the first plate entry already came in Thursday. The listed deadline for the contest is Jan. 31. 

Entries can be a photograph or stylized plate, and must follow required specifications, including having the words “Beaver Creek Park” and “Hill County” somewhere on the plate.

The specifications are available on the Internet at www.doj.mt.gov/driving/forms/mv115mv117.pdf. Rules and entry forms for the contest are available at the County Commission office in the Hill County Courthouse on 3rd Avenue and 4th Street.

Lucke said a donor volunteered $100, and the park funding foundation is adding another $100, to offer a $200 prize to the contest winner.

The lack of local specialty plates inspired him to suggest the plate to the park board.

“Where was Beaver Creek? Where was the Bear Paw Mountains? ” he said.

He said the demand would be from more than Hill County. Many people who enjoyed the park have left the area, but might want to buy the plate.

“People would love to drive around with a beautiful plate for that park, ” he said.

Commissioner Kathy Bessette agreed.

“People have such ownership of the park, ” she said. “They really enjoy it. It’s their park and they totally take ownership in it, such pride in it, ”

“The local people, they almost think like they’re alumni of Beaver Creek Park, ” Wendland added. “I think they will support the license plate. ” 

Specialty license plate require the person licensing their vehicle to pay an additional charge, with part of the charge going back to the sponsor with the remainder to administrative and production costs.

According to a webpage on the state Department of Justice’s Motor Vehicles Division, most plates return $20 to the sponsor organization.

Sponsoring groups must submit a qualified design, and pay a $4,000 initial cost to get the plate into production.

Lucke said he had worked with the Glacier National Park foundation, and saw the benefits of the license plates there.

“Once they got their initial (charge paid,) it was just money from heaven that came trickling in all the time, ” he said. “You want to do things out in the park that you need more money for, and this would be a good funding source for all sorts of things. ”

He added that, if the contest is done and the winning entry approved by the Motor Vehicle Division early enough next year, the plates could be available by next July. If it is too late, it would not be available until the end of next year.