Linda Caricaburu, Brad Talcott named winners of Paris Gibson Award
Linda Caricaburu and Brad Talcott were named today as the recipients of the Paris Gibson Award for embodying the vision and excellence of city founder Paris Gibson.
Both were born and raised in Great Falls and graduated from Great Falls High School. Caricaburu attended the University of Montana School of Journalism and worked as a reporter and assistant managing editor of the Great Falls Tribune for 27 years. She was the lead editor on the series about alcholism in Montana that won the Pulitzer Prize. She is now a technical writer for James Talcott Company.
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Caricaburu was one of the original board members of the Great Falls Public School Foundation and past foundation chair. She was also winner of the Athena Award from the Great Falls Chamber of Commerce; a member of the YWCA Crimestoppers; and Adult Literacy. She served 11 years for Roosevelt School PTA and was president for five years.
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Talcott graduated from Montana State University in Bozeman with a degree in construction engineering. He has been president of James Talcott Co. since the 1980s.
Talcott’s grandfather, Burt, built his first houses in Great Falls without power tools. He also provided the wood for the boxing ring for the Dempsey-Gibbons fight in Shelby in 1923.
In the course of his construction career, Talcott built the Great Falls Rescue Mission Cameron Family Center; MacKenzie River Pizza and the La Quinta Inn & Suites on Broadwater Bay; and he has been the managing partner for the West Bank projects including Staybridge Suites, The Front, Kobe Steaks & Restaurant, Spring Hill Suites, The Peak and more.
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Talcott was past president of the Great Falls College MSU Foundation, chairman of the Great Falls Airport Authority, on the boards of the Great Falls Symphony, the McLaughlin Center, the Crisis Line, and the Dufresne Foundation. His mother’s father, Jimmy Austin, was a former Great Falls mayor who said his proudest accomplishment was appointing Alma Jacobs, the first black woman librarian in the country, as librarian of the Great Falls Public Library, according to a release.
Caricaburu and Talcott are active in the First Congregational United Church of Christ and have two daughters, Marian, 17 and Grace, 13.
Other criteria for the award included: be a long-standing resident of Great Falls; excelled in their area of expertise; contributed to the betterment of Great Falls, and been innovative and creative in their service to the community.
Their prizes include $500, provided by Jim and Debbie Filipowicz of Steel, Etc., which will be given to a local charity of their choice; a tree, donated by Steve Tilleraas of Tilleraas Landscape Nursery, planted in West Bank Park in their honor with a marker from Montana Granite Industries; a plaque, donated by Greg Hall of Access Fitness and a ride in a vehicle provided by City Motors in the Fourth of July Parade.
Previous winners are: Doug Wicks, 2010; Norma Ashby, 2011; Greg Hall, 2012; Ian and Nancy Davidson, 2013; Gene Thayer, 2014; Bill and Joan-Nell Macfadden, 2015; Arlyne Reichert, 2016 and Sheila Rice, 2017.
