| Hollandsworths
are Border Days Grand Marshals
Idaho County Free Press 
“We’ve been working together most all our lives; it’s what we’re used to and it works,” she smiled. Lew and Polly Hollandsworth have been chosen to serve as the Grangeville Border Days grand marshals for 2009. The annual Forth of July celebration is set for July 2, 3 and 4. The couple worked on cattle ranches on the Snake and Salmon rivers most of their lives. Now, they are settled about halfway between the towns of Cottonwood and Keuterville. Lew was born in Cottonwood and raised on the Salmon River on a cattle ranch his parents purchased in 1926. In 1963 he was living and running cattle on the Snake River. It was there he met Polly. Polly was born in Cottonwood and as an infant brought onto the family’s Snake River ranch by horseback. She later graduated from Cottonwood High School in a class of four. The two were married June 5, 1965. During their ranch life they not only built “miles and miles of fence,” said Polly, but also raised a daughter, Becci. Becci is married to Brian Gehring and lives just a couple miles up the road from her parents. She and Brian have three children: Brandi, 13, Bailie, 10, and Ben, 5. Becci rode many miles on horseback with her parents throughout the years and later stayed in town with her grandmother during the week to attend school. The Hollandsworths sold their cattle a few years ago and Lew said he hasn’t looked back since. “I don’t miss it,” he said. “We’re more on a different schedule now and I like it.” Lew now works part-time for the Keuterville Highway District and Polly spends her days helping with animals, including their two old mules, three dogs, two cats and the neighbor’s animals. She also braids a variety of pieces including halters, belts, reins and head stalls. When not working, Lew and Polly spend their time on the quiet, end-of-the-road residence owned by the Jungert family that sits by a pond and overlooks the prairie. “What, are they scrapin’ the bottom of the barrel?” Polly laughed about when she and Lew were approached with being grand marshals. “But it’s a real honor and we’re looking forward to it,” Lew added. The two plan to ride matching sorrel horses in the parades. For a full Border Days schedule log onto www.grangevilleborderdays.org |
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