Celebrating 90 Years of Montana Broadcast Great Norma Ashby Smith

Montana's Lieutenant Gov. Kristin Juras (R-MT) kicked it off right.

As the first speaker of the night at Norma Ashby Smith's 90th birthday party in Great Falls, she talked about being a little girl on the ranch. If they were ready for school in time, they could watch Norma LIVE on TV before going to school. First in black and white, and then in color. For the little girl who would one day became a highly respected attorney and lieutenant governor, Norma's presence in a male dominated field like TV broadcasting showed that a little girl from Montana could do anything.

What an incredible 90th birthday party for Norma Ashby Smith that was hosted by her husband Dwight Smith along with Chris and Lori Warden.

What amazes me so much about Norma is all of the history she has seen, the history she has preserved, and all the history she has made happen. She was there for President JFK when he visited Great Falls in the 1960s. And she was here for President Trump in 2018. (In fact, she even got a very nice Happy Birthday letter from President Trump that was shared at the Great Falls Rescue Mission on Saturday night!)

She covered JFK's "Ace in the Hole" and now look at how we are in the middle of the historic Sentinel missile system upgrade.

The Greater Montana Foundation shares this about Norma:

She was hostess and producer of the award-winning “Today in Montana” show and interviewed more than 26,000 guests. She is the author of “Movie Stars & Rattlesnakes: The Heyday of Montana Live Television” and co-hosted the Montana Children’s Miracle Network Telethon with Dan Snyder for several years.

 

Happy birthday Norma!

Here's her incredible live shot with the one and only Clint Eastwood: