No shortage of help

It has come to my attention that some residents of the Bigfork area believe that we have a lack of community spirit and unity. I beg to differ. For a place of only about 1,500 people, we have a regular volunteer base of about 175 for Tamarack Time! every October since 1988. We have around 60 volunteers for the Riverbend Concert Series — 26 years — plus at least 25 sponsors for the concerts each summer. The Rotary Club has 30-40 members. The Bigfork Boosters have 100 regular members. The Bigfork Steering Committee has 20-50 regular attendees, and even more specific jobs, while the elected Bigfork Land Use Advisory Counciil has seven. The Bigfork School Board has seven members, and the Bigfork Museum Board has 10 members and 270 regular members. The Bigfork Chamber of Commerce has 310 regular members and many attend the monthly Sundowners.

The Community for a Better Bigfork is comprised of 250 members; the Water and Sewer Board (semi-voluntary) has 5 members. The QRU and Fire Department, mostly volunteers, serve our urgent needs.

All these groups also turn out for special events meant to provide enjoyment for the valley, and especially for the people of Bigfork. All are volunteers, and certainly I've left out many groups. Goodness, how have I neglected the 200+ elves, and the Community Players who depend on 25 or so players and backstage people per show, and the Childrens' Theater with about 50 players and backstage people per show? There are several women's groups who raise about $8,000 a year for scholarships. The list would be too long for anyone to read.

If you add all this up, you can see that almost 1,400 volunteers consider themselves part of "community unity." There are also many special focused clubs.

The Bigfork community regularly attends and supports community auctions and fundraisers for the benefit of neighbors. We happily cheer at the Homecoming Parade and the 4th of July Parade, and laugh when the Flathead Lake Lodge fire trucks spray us with cold water from our beloved Flathead Lake.

Anyone who thinks we lack cohesion has only to pick up the phone to get connected and get several community opportunities to participate. If you don't like one direction, there are 10 others to choose from. You can even organize your own event. This is the most "together" place I can imagine, and I'm happy to live here and be a part of it.

Elna Darrow

Vote for the library

In 2003 the Flathead County Library Board (FCLB) commissioned a library consultant to study and make recommendations to the needs of the libraries in the Flathead County Library System (FCLS). The libraries in the system consist of the main library in Kalispell, libraries in Bigfork, Columbia Falls, Whitefish and a joint use library in Marion.

The consultant recommended a new library in Bigfork of 4,000 sq. ft. The existing library is 1,440 sq. ft. and is located in the Bigfork Museum of Art and History in downtown Bigfork. The FCLB proceeded to look for a location that would meet the library needs with the caveat from the County Commissioners that the library be located on land owned by the county. The location that met the needs of the library and the caveat of the County Commissioners was Potoczny Park. The FCLB brought this location to various community organizations and the community response was they did not want the library to be located in Potoczny Park.

At this point the FCLB did not have another location for a library and decided to wait until the community could provide a location for the library. The Bigfork School Board (BSB) approached the FCLB with the possibility of a joint use library in the proposed remodel of the High School. The FCLB looked into this and agreed with the BSB that this would be a good solution to a new library for Bigfork. The proposed joint use library would be 4,800 sq. ft. and would meet the needs of both the high school and the library. It will also be a good use of taxpayer dollars. The BSB has added $200,000 to the proposed bond issue for a joint use library. The cost of a new library would be in the neighborhood of $1 million.

The library will have a meeting room with the FCLB believes is necessary and with a joint staff will be able to offer expanded hours to what is in effect at the existing library. The BSB has agreed to provide dedicated parking places for the library and this will be a vast improvement over parking in downtown Bigfork, especially in the summer tourist season. The library will be better able to offer and expanded the many services that are now offered. The collection of books, CD's DVD's, periodicals and magazines will be expanded and more computers and internet connections will be available.

I urge you to vote for the bond issue for the high school, which will include the joint use library. We are given the right and responsibility to vote for the needs of the community. I can think of no better use of my tax dollars then an adequate library and high school. Thank you for your support.

David W. Hilde

Flathead County Library Board Member

Bigfork, MT

Detention work

The Lake County Detention Officers Association would like to express our thanks to the people of Lake County for your continued support. Lake County Detention has the critical task of detaining and caring for the needs of inmates standing accused and awaiting the adjudication process. Some inmates are actually serving out sentences already handed out while some inmates are awaiting transfer to treatment programs or incarceration with Montana Department of Corrections.

Detention Staff recognize that their jobs are not to determine guilt or innocence of inmates but to treat each inmate equally. Detention Staff must deal with persons under the influence of alcohol, physical distress and often physically violent people. This is for the most part a very thankless but essential task.

Detention Officers are highly trained and motivated individuals. With the unprecedented growth in Lake County, there is an unprecedented growth in the needs for Detention Services. In 1998, Detention Staff took 900 people through the booking process. In 2007, there were 1535 people that went through the Lake County booking process. This increase is being handled by the same amount of detention personnel with the same funding in the same facility as 10 years ago.

To say that the Lake County Detention Facility and personnel are being stretched to the limits would be an understatement. This is equally true of the Lake County Law Enforcement Officers and the Lake County Judicial Facilities.

Some people that are booked through the Detention Facility are only there for a few hours while others can spend days, weeks, and even months. Lake County Detention Staff will continue to provide professional services to the best of our abilities.

Our goals have been, and will always be, public protection and safety, inmate protection and safety, and staff protection and safety.

If you have comments or questions, please email us at: lakecountydeputies@gmail.com

Thank you sincerely for your continued encouragement and support.

Sincerely,

Sgt. Lonnie Erickson

Lake County Detention Officers Association