City Council adopts Timely Trio's 'Havre Song'

Havre City Council voted Monday to make the “The Havre Song,” written and performed by Havre’s own Timely Trio, as the official Havre song.

“I think it’s a great idea and a great song,” council chair Terry Lilletvedt said. “I’ve always loved it and I think it makes perfect sense to make it the Havre song.”

“The Havre Song” was originally written and performed by Kim Callahan, Mavis Filler Farnham and Dena Tippets in the 1980s, and, almost 35 years later, community member Bill Lanier brought it before the council to be voted on as the official Havre song, to commemorate Farnham, who died Aug. 13, and the other members of the Timely Trio. 

Lanier said after the council meeting that it felt great to have the song officially established as the Havre song. It keeps the song alive, as well as the memories of the people who sang it, he said. He added that the song shows a great amount of pride in the community and is something that needed to be properly displayed.

He said he knew Farnham from when they both worked at Montana State University-Northern where they became close friends. He added that even after her passing he still remains friends with a number of her family members. But Farnham was not the only one in the Timely Trio.

“It’s just a nice tribute to all of them,” he said.

He said he first proposed the idea for “The Havre Song” to be established as the official Havre song last year, but at the time it was unsure if the city could establish an official song. Lanier said that after Farnham died he pushed harder to have the song approved as the official song, writing a resolution for the council. The council used much of that language in their resolution which passed Monday.

He said the idea of his resolution was to just get the ball rolling, give a starting point for the council.

Lanier added that the most meaningful lines to him in the song are, “But there’s one thing, you never stay long there without a friend, without making a friend.”

“To me, that sums up a lot of it,” he said.

The song originally was sponsored by the Havre Chamber of Commerce in 1986, after a local business owner suggested Havre has its own song, Lanier said.

“Now, 35 years later, it’s time to make it official and make “The Havre Song” the official song of Havre,” Lanier said.

He added that Havre has a strong community pride and “The Havre Song” showcases that pride.

“The Havre Song” can be sung anywhere, at any time, Lanier said. A Havre Middle School teacher had her class sing it and a group sang “The Havre Song” in memoriam of Farnham in September during the KNMC Rock Lotto Festival Days event.

It’s not the “Star Spangled Banner,” but it adds pride when people hear it, Lanier said.

“It is something that’s uniquely Havre; it was written for Havre,” he said.

He added that the song has no copyright issues and the city has the blessing of the Farnham family to name it Havre’s official song.

Council member Denise Brewer said that the city needs to think of ways to display the song at more community events, get it back into the public eye. 

“It really fits,” she said. “It really fits the community.”

Council member Caleb Hutchins said that the song is special for the community.

“It’s worth remembering, it has been out there for many years,” he said.

The council also passed an ordinance amending the city’s qualifications for firefighters within Havre City Code Annotated on second and final reading, making it part of city code.

Council member and Ordinance Committee Chair Caleb Hutchins said the committee sent the ordinance to the council after Havre Fire Chief Mel Paulson informed the committee the city’s code had an issue with the hiring process for firefighters. Hutchins added that under city code, firefighters had to have three major qualifications, that applicants cannot be older than 34, applicants have to pass a physical examination and applicants have to live within city limits unless exempted by the city. The age restriction conflicts with state law.

The new ordinance would take out the age restriction and refer to the state code, Hutchins said. He added that the state requirements do not have an age restriction.

The Ordinance Committee will also be looking at something similar for Havre Police Department in the future.

The City Council set the next Ordinance Committee meeting for Nov. 18, following the regular council meeting.

Streets and Sidewalks Committee member Sarah McKinney said the Special Improvement Districts presentation by Montana State University Extension Local Government Center Director Dan Clark last Wednesday was very informative and provided a lot of good information for the community.

Brewer said that she would like to keep the momentum from the meeting moving forward and would like to see more people get involved with the issue of Havre’s infrastructure.

“I would like to continue to capitalize on this. I thought his presentation was great,” she said.

She said she wants to have a community meeting Monday, Nov. 25, at 7 p.m. to discuss SIDs further and talk about how the community can make infrastructure improvements.

“I think it’s important,” she said.