Community news

Park alumni

The annual Glacier Park Alumni Picnic for past and present National Park Service employees, along with friends and families, will take place at the Community Building in Park Headquarters on Sunday, Aug. 17, from noon to 4 p.m. with a potluck lunch at 1 p.m. Park superintendent Jeff Mow will be the speaker. Attendees are asked to bring a favorite potluck dish to share. Beverages, dishes and utensils will be provided. For more information, contact Sue Buchel at 406-788-8923 or retireinmt@yahoo.com.

Farmers market

Rudy Mendez will be the featured performer at the Columbia Falls Farmers Market, held at Pinewood Park next to the City Pool on Thursday, Aug. 7, from 5 to 7:30 p.m. The Thursday markets host local vendors offering fresh produce, baked items, crafts, arts and various eats and treats. Next week’s music will be provided by Neal Lewing.

Dance classes

Whitefish Dance has relocated from the Mountain Mall in Whitefish to the Windmill Business Park on U.S. 2, or La Salle Road, south of Highway 40. Enrollment for 2014-2015 classes will take place on Monday, Aug. 18, from 4 to 6 p.m.

Sheriff’s classes

The Flathead County Sheriff’s Office will offer two free citizens courses this fall. In cooperation with volunteer fire departments, a Community Emergency Response Training class will be held at the Badrock Fire Hall on Highway 206 every Monday in September from 6 to 9 p.m. starting Sept. 8. Limit is 25 participants. The 10-week long Sheriff’s Citizens Academy will be held on Wednesdays from 6 to 9 p.m. from Sept. 10 through Nov. 12. Limit is 30 participants. For more information on either course, visit online at www.flatheadcountysheriff.com under “Programs and Services.”

Quilt display

A new display of quilts and needlework by Flathead Valley quilters and seamstresses will be exhibited at the Museum at Central School, 124 Second Avenue East in Kalispell, through the end of October. More than a dozen hand-sewn quilts, some with tops from the late 1800s through the 1930s, will be featured. Many of the quilt designs are based on traditional quilt patterns. Also on display are knitted dresses and a variety of period needlework.

Coffee music

Glacier Coffee House, located in the Crown of the Continent Discovery Center on U.S. 2 in West Glacier, will host guitarists Solomon Hicks and Kevin Van Dort on Friday, Aug. 15, from 5-7 p.m. as a benefit for the Crown of the Continent Guitar Foundation. There is no entrance charge, but people are encouraged to leave a donation. Glacier Coffee House will donate a percentage of their sales. Hicks, a 16-year-old who studied at Harlem’s School of the Arts, plays jazz to classic rock and once performed at a New York Knicks game. Van Dort is a blues and soul musician from Montana who has performed with Jimmy Rogers and Lukas Nelson. For more information, visit online at www.glaciercoffeehouse.com or call 406-871-0601.

Celtic music

The Montana House in Apgar Village will host Willson & McKee, a nationally touring award-winning duo specializing in traditional Irish and Scottish and original acoustic music, on Thursday and Friday, Aug. 21-22, at 7 p.m. The concert will feature material from their nine recordings, including music from a recent tour to Scotland, with the sounds of dulcimers, guitars, Irish bouzouki, harp, accordion and bagpipes. Cost is $5 per person. Seating is limited so reservations are needed by calling 406-888-5393 or e-mailing 1960mthouse@qwestoffice.net.

Community meeting

Community Action Partnership of Northwest Montana will hold a strategic planning meeting at Imagine Health Wellness Center, 305 First Avenue West, in Columbia Falls, on Wednesday, Aug. 20, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. The Kalispell-based nonprofit, established in 1976, helps residents in four counties with rental vouchers, assistance in building their own homes, energy payments and other housing needs. For more information, visit online at www.capnm.net.

Class of 1956

The Flathead County High School Class of 1956 will hold their annual dinner and get-together at the Elks Club in Kalispell on Thursday, Sept. 4, starting with an open bar at 5 p.m. and smorgasbord dinner at 6 p.m. Entree and cost are yet to be determined. The class has held the annual get-together for the past seven years, and last year’s event was attended by 160 class members and guests. RSVP at 752-2959 by Aug. 25. For more information, contact Patty Slack at 752-2959.

Gravestone preservation workshop

Nationally known gravestone conservator Jonathan Appell, of Hartford, Conn., will conduct a hands-on workshop at the Demersville Cemetery, in Kalispell, on Tuesday, Sept. 16, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The workshop is sponsored by the Montana Historical Society and the Museums Association of Montana. Appell will talk about monument types, gravestone repair, materials to use, how to reset and conserve monuments and maintaining historic cemeteries. Cost is $75 per person, which includes box lunch, handouts and supplies. Pre-registration is required online at http://tinyurl.com/ll3ll9a. For more information, e-mail Diana Carson at dcarson@flathead.mt.gov or Deb Mitchell at 406-444-4789 or e-mail dmitchell@mt.gov.For more information about Appell, visit online at www.gravestoneconservation.com.