Thursday
The Whitefish Theatre Company will host International Guitar Night, North America’s premier mobile guitar festival, featuring the best performing guitar composers from around the world, at the O’Shaughnessy on Thursday, Jan. 28, at 7:30 p.m. San Francisco guitarist Brian Gore put together the traveling festival in 1995. The four musicians featured in this 10th annual tour are, left to right, Brian Gore, Itamar Erez, Stephen Bennett, and Lulo Reinhardt. Tickets are $27 and $20 for reserved seating available online at www.whitefishtheatreco.org or by calling 862-5371. Box office hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and one hour before a performance. For more information on International Guitar Night, visit online at www.internationalguitarnight.com.
Friday
ArtWalk 2010 will begin with an opening reception on Friday, Jan. 29, with guided tours from 5-6 p.m. and 7-8 p.m. For the 23rd year, downtown Whitefish businesses will feature the work of local artists in their display windows for two weeks in conjunction with Winter Carnival. Maps are available at the 30 participating downtown merchants. Proceeds from ArtWalk will go towards art scholarship programs provided through Stumptown Art Studio. For more information, call 862-5929.
The Glacier Symphony will team up with the Alpine Theatre Project to present a concert version of the best loved musical “South Pacific” at the Whitefish Middle School auditorium on Friday, Jan. 29, and Saturday, Jan. 30, at 7:30 p.m. and at the Flathead High School auditorium on Sunday, Jan. 31, at 3 p.m. The 1949 musical, with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein, deals with U.S. soldiers, a Navy nurse and several South Pacific natives during World War II. Tickets are $10 to $30. For more information, visit online at www.alpinetheatreproject.org or call 862-7469.
Glacier Country Pachyderm will meet in Ballroom B at the Kalispell Red Lion from noon to 1 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 29. This week’s speaker will be Lad Barney, area director of USDA Rural Development. For more information, call Tom McElwain at 270-5764.
Bet Harim Jewish Community of the Flathead Valley will hold Tu BiSh’vat Seder on Friday, Jan. 29, at 6 p.m. at Glacier Universalist Unitarian Fellowship, 1515 Trumble Creek Road, in Kalispell. Rabbi Allen Secher the celebration is the “New Year of the Trees,” sometimes called Jewish Arbor Day. For more information, call 756-5159 or e-mail bet_harim@yahoo.com or visit online at www.betharim.com.
Saturday
A fundraiser for Rainbow’s End Preschool in Whitefish will take place at the Lodge at Whitefish Lake on Saturday, Jan. 30, from 6- 9 p.m. Tickets to the fifth annual Black Tie & Blue Jeans silent auction and prime rib dinner and fundraiser are $25, available at the Lodge at Whitefish Lake, the Hair Hut and Rainbow’s End Preschool. For more information, call 862-4606.
Missoula Children’s Theatre will present “Pinocchio” at the Columbia Falls High School’s Little Theater on Saturday, Jan. 30, at 3 and 7 p.m. Tickets are $5 per person, $20 per family and free for children 3-and-under. The production is conceived and written by Jim Caron with music and lyrics by Michael McGill and Jim Caron.
Glacier Outdoor Center, on U.S. 2 in West Glacier, will host a second annual dog-skijoring race on Jan. 30 starting at noon to benefit the Humane Society of Northwest Montana. There will be two categories — Dog-Drag, a short-track sprint with five teams per heat, and Dog- Cross, a 3-kilometer run individually. Instructors will be on hand, and while no experience is necessary to compete, participants must bring their own eager, run-ready dog. For more information, call the Center at 888-5454 or Whitefish Animal Hospital at 862-3178. Forty-percent of the registration fee goes directly to the Humane Society of Northwest Montana.
Sunday
Monday
A mandatory parent meeting for Little Guy Wrestling is slated for Monday, Feb. 1, at 6:30 p.m. at the Whitefish High School gym. The cost for participation is $30. Practice starts Feb. 15, and the season runs for six weeks. For more information, call Ryan Hoffman at 730-2906.
The Flathead National Forest and the Glacier Country Avalanche Center will offer an advanced avalanche awareness class for snowmobilers on Monday and Wednesday evenings, Feb. 1, 3, 8 and 10, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., at the Glacier Discovery Square in Columbia Falls, with Saturday field sessions on Feb. 6 and 13. The free class will include information about avalanche terrain, mountain weather and snowpack, stability evaluation and decision making, and avalanche rescue. For more information, call 758-5295 or visit online at www.glacieravalanche.org.
Trout Unlimited will offer a fly-tying class at the Kalispell Middle School library on Feb. 1 and 8 from 7 to 9 p.m. Instruction for beginners as well as advanced tyers will be available. Trout Unlimited will furnish all the necessary tying materials and hooks. Each student should provide their own tools and tying vise. Loaner equipment will be available. For more information, call 837-3210 or e-mail at sallyjim@centurytel.net.
The Kalispell Bridge Club, with 140 members from across the valley, is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year by expanding its schedule to include one or more Monday night games beginning Feb. 1 at 6 p.m. The club currently plays at the Masonic Temple, on Main Street, in Kalispell, every Wednesday and Friday at 12:30 p.m. There is no need to call in advance. A beginners game takes place on Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m., and lessons are available upon request. For more information, call Jim Swab at 250-4745 or by e-mailing jsswab@montanasky.net.
Tuesday
Dan Fagre, a U.S. Geological Survey research ecologist, will present ongoing research about climate change issues in the alpine landscape at the West Glacier Community Building, located in Glacier National Park near the Park headquarters, on Tuesday, Feb. 2, from noon to 1 p.m. He and his research assistants will discuss the Global Observatory Research in the Alpine campaign, glacier monitoring and an avalanche vegetation study. For more information, visit online at www.nps.gov/glac/naturescience/ccrlc.htm.
Wednesday