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"Sports are a great addition for women," Cook said. "I think it gives women a lot of confidence that (they) can do things. … My three favorite words are patience, perseverance, and persistence -- stay aer it (and) keep trying." Cook said she would rather coach a kid who wants to try really hard than a talented kid who lacks passion for the game. "We (women) had to work to get sports started," Cook said. "It wasn't just a given like it was for the boys. You had to work at it … And you played because you loved it." Bonnie and her husband Larry ran Missouri River Outfiers for over 20 years. She earned her Coast Guard license allowing her to operate their big, motorized boats on the Missouri River making her the first woman licensed to navigate the upper Missouri. "To this day, she remains the only woman holding a license on that river," Larry said. e Cooks are long time activists in the River and Plains Society, helping the effort to reconstruct Old Fort Benton and share the town's history through local museums. "Aer working at the museum and learning what women had to do in the 1800s … raising the kids, being in the fields … you (women) were multitasking everything," Cook said. Over the last several years Cook has worked on maintenance and building projects for the local museums. She helped remodel, build displays, paint, care for the lawn and pitch in wherever needed. "To this day I am still competitive, even if it is being the first one to mow our lawn in the spring," she said. SiG MT 40 Ava Nelson covered university news as an undergraduate at Montana Western. Now she writes for the River Press, the second-oldest weekly newspaper in Montana. S MT Bonnie (Morrow) Cook, #21, pictured far right alongside her 1971 Montana Western basketball teammates in 1971. She was accepted to the collegiate team without any formal basketball training, proving her hard work and love for the sport was notable. Continued from Page 38 Photo courtesy of Bonnie Cook

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