Group looks to cast a community vision
By LAURA BEHENNA
Bigfork Eagle
In its quest to keep the best of Bigfork alive, the Vision Committee of the Bigfork Steering Committee is making plans to create a DVD that will educate newcomers to this area about how to be good neighbors.
The group viewed a DVD titled "Path to Eden" at its July 9 meeting. Hosted by news anchor Tom Brokaw, the 25-minute video shows new-to-Montana landowners the essentials of managing a large property and how to be neighborly in a culture that values integrity and hard work and counts on neighbors helping each other. Both newcomers and lifelong Montana residents speak on camera about what works and what doesn't when trying to fit into Montana.
"Montana is a beautiful place, but you have to live here on its terms," Brokaw says in the film. "This is a place that has not yet been ruined, and it's up to us to make sure Montana retains its special qualities now and forevermore."
"Path to Eden" aims mostly at buyers of large ranch properties, which are more common in eastern Montana. People attending the July 9 Vision Committee meeting agreed they'd like to see a northwestern Montana version of the film that addresses issues that crop up in an area more oriented toward recreation, tourism and second or third homes. Maintaining the area's natural beauty, architectural integrity and water quality are among the top concerns of many Flathead Valley residents.
Committee chair Edd Blackler asked others at the meeting - Sally Janover, Brett Thuma and Chuck Gough — to submit photos of other communities and places that have preserved their historical integrity and natural beauty. All who attended will ask around for more photos that could be used to illustrate exemplary practices that Bigfork could use.
Blackler will accept e-mailed photos at blackler@acrossmontana.net.
The DVD may address topics such as billboards and appropriate signage, architecture that fits Bigfork's character, transportation and housing solutions, wildlife management and pursuing making Bigfork a designated historic site.
Janover is a three-year Bigfork resident and film-making student who expressed interest in helping make the DVD. The working title will be "What Makes a Great Community?"
The committee is
considering other ideas for improving Bigfork's future:
? Working with the county to create a county-wide land trust with housing that middle-income people could afford.
? Hold a cherry harvest festival.
? Recording oral histories from Bigfork's living history: its oldest long-time residents.
? Encouraging more artists and other "creative class" people to live in Bigfork.
? Inviting universities to establish scientific research centers near Bigfork.
The Vision Committee will meet again Monday, July 23 at noon at Community United Methodist Church. The group will continue its discussion about making a DVD. Everyone is welcome. For more information, contact Edd Blackler at 837-5196.