Community news

The Glacier Gateway Elementary School fourth-grade classes will present a musical, “The Adventures of Lewis and Clark,” in the Columbia Falls High School Little Theater on Friday, May 8, at 1:45 p.m. A complimentary reception for students, parents and guests will follow the afternoon performance. A morning matinee will be presented for Glacier Gateway students at 9:30 a.m. at the same location.

Endowment

The Columbia Falls High School Alumni-Community Academic Endowment will hold its spring fundraiser at Truby’s Restaurant at Meadow Lake Resort on Thursday, April 30, starting at 6 p.m. with hors d’oeuvres, a cash bar, a live auction of local art and pies, a silent auction and presentations of music and speeches by students.

Canyon dinner

A free Canyon Community dinner will be offered at the Canyon Elementary School on North Street in Hungry Horse on Thursday, April 30, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. with roast beef, baked potato topped with cheese and grilled onions, vegetable medley, salad, roll and key lime desert.

Graduation matters

School District 6’s Graduation Matters program will host a Speak Out presentation at the Columbia Falls High School’s Little Theater on Thursday, April 30, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. with a mix of several essays written by students in conjunction with Graduation Matters and the English department on why students show up to school and why graduation matters to them.

Arbor Day

The Columbia Falls Arbor Day celebration will be held at River’s Edge Park on May 1 at noon. Fifth-grade classes from Glacier Gateway Elementary School will be there along with the Forest Service, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, members of the Columbia Falls Tree Board and the mayor Don Barnhart. Two trees will be planted using funds from the DNRC Arbor Day Grant award. Students will be taught tree planting techniques and tree facts by the Forest Service ad DNRC and will plant saplings provided by the Forest Service that will be theirs to keep. The public is invited to join the celebration.

Mother’s Day ballet

The Northwest Ballet Company in Kalispell will present its 35th annual Spring Show Production, Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” with music by Mendelssohn, at the Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts on Mother’s Day weekend, May 9-10. Saturday’s 2 p.m. show will include face-painting in the lobby prior to the show, and the popular Fairies Parade in the theater after the show. Performances will also be held on Saturday at 8 p.m. and on Sunday at 4 p.m. Tickets for reserved seating are available at the Kalispell Grand Hotel at 406-755-8100 or at the box office one hour before each performance. Tickets are $20 adults and $15 children 12 and under. For more information, call  406-755-0760 or visit online at www.northwestballet.com.

Plum Creek donation

The Plum Creek Foundation recently provided a grant to the Hockaday Museum of Art that will be used to install solar light shades to protect artwork from ultraviolet light degradation. The project is a step forward in the museum’s long-term plan to achieve national accreditation. The Hockaday Museum of Art, 302 Second Ave. East in Kalispell, is open year-round on Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, visit online at www.HockadayMuseum.org or call 406-755-5268.

Burn permits

Free burn permits are required for debris burning in Flathead County starting May 1 and are good for the entire burning season. They are available online at www.firesafekalispell.com or at the Flathead Environmental Health office or by calling 752-7376. Escaped debris and agricultural burns are the top causes of human-started wildfires in the Flathead area, and burners can be held responsible for the cost of suppression. Air quality compliance is required for every burn by calling 751-8144 or checking online at www.flatheadhealth.org/environmental-health/burn-restrictions/ for the daily ventilation and burning forecast.

Chamber meets

The Columbia Falls Area Chamber of Commerce will hold their general membership meeting and tourist celebration at the Teakettle Community Room, 235 Nucleus Avenue, on Tuesday, May 12, from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. Lunch is $12. For more information, call Carol Pike at 892-2072 or e-mail cpike@centurytel.net.

Retirement

A retirement party for Carol Pike, the outgoing executive director of the Columbia Falls Area Chamber of Commerce will be held at Truby’s at Meadow Lake Resort on Thursday, May 14, from 5 to 7 p.m.

Salvation Army gala

The theme of the Salvation Army’s second annual gala fundraiser will be Country & Western. The event will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn on Saturday, May 16, with  music by Rob Quist & Great Northern and Rob’s daughter Halladay Quist and entertainment from April Howard’s Steppin’2 Rhythm Country Western Dance Team. Tickets are $50 per person. Proceeds will support the local Salvation Army, which last year served 30,000 hot meals and provided shower and laundry facilities to the destitute. For more information, visit online at www.salvationarmygala.com or call 257-4357.

After hours

The Columbia Falls Area Chamber of Commerce’s after-hours social event will take place at Freedom Bank on Wednesday, May 20, from 3 to 7 p.m. to celebrate the bank’s birthday.

Day of Reason

The Flathead Area Secular Humanist Association will hold its first-ever National Day of Reason Celebration at the Museum at Central School in Kalispell on Tuesday, May 5, with doors opening at 5:30 p.m. and the program starting at 6 p.m. The event will be free and open to the public. Presentations will be “Science: Its Means, Purpose and Value” and “The Fifteen Commandments.” The talks will be followed by open discussion and a potluck buffet with a cash bar. For more information, visit online at www.flatheadsecular.com.

Farmers market

The Columbia Falls Farmers Market will take place at Pinewood Park in Columbia Falls on Thursdays from 5 to 7:30 p.m. from May 14 through Sept. 17. The market offers locally grown plants and produce and a wide variety of handcrafted items, including certified Made in Montana items. Music will be provided by local bands, including Dan Dubuque, the Montana Marimba Ensemble and others. For more information, visit online at www.columbiafallschamber.org/farmers-market.

Drum class

A class teaching the rhythms of the African hand drum, or djembe, will be given by master drummer Bob Sherrick at Imagine Health in Columbia Falls on Saturday, May 2, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. No prior djembe drumming skill is required. Participants without a drum can contact Marti Kurth at martik@centurylink.net. Cost is $5-10. For more information, call Leslie Yancey at 748-6778.

New farmers market

The Columbia Falls Community Market will kick off on U.S. 2 next to O’Brien’s Liquor & Wine on May 21. The market will be held on Thursdays through Sept. 24 from 5 to 7:30 p.m. featuring locally grown produce and plants from more than seven farmers, handmade local crafts, artists, food caterers and local microbrewed beers. Local musicians will perform on stage in The Coop behind the store. The market is an official 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and all sponsorships are tax deductible. For more information, visit online at www.cfcommunitymarket.com or call 871-6440. 

School musical

The Glacier Gateway Elementary School fourth-grade classes will present a musical, “The Adventures of Lewis and Clark,” in the Columbia Falls High School Little Theater on Friday, May 8, at 1:45 p.m. A complimentary reception for students, parents and guests will follow the afternoon performance. A morning matinee will be presented for Glacier Gateway students at 9:30 a.m. at the same location.

Endowment

The Columbia Falls High School Alumni-Community Academic Endowment will hold its spring fundraiser at Truby’s Restaurant at Meadow Lake Resort on Thursday, April 30, starting at 6 p.m. with hors d’oeuvres, a cash bar, a live auction of local art and pies, a silent auction and presentations of music and speeches by students.

Canyon dinner

A free Canyon Community dinner will be offered at the Canyon Elementary School on North Street in Hungry Horse on Thursday, April 30, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. with roast beef, baked potato topped with cheese and grilled onions, vegetable medley, salad, roll and key lime desert.

Graduation matters

School District 6’s Graduation Matters program will host a Speak Out presentation at the Columbia Falls High School’s Little Theater on Thursday, April 30, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. with a mix of several essays written by students in conjunction with Graduation Matters and the English department on why students show up to school and why graduation matters to them.

Arbor Day

The Columbia Falls Arbor Day celebration will be held at River’s Edge Park on May 1 at noon. Fifth-grade classes from Glacier Gateway Elementary School will be there along with the Forest Service, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, members of the Columbia Falls Tree Board and the mayor Don Barnhart. Two trees will be planted using funds from the DNRC Arbor Day Grant award. Students will be taught tree planting techniques and tree facts by the Forest Service ad DNRC and will plant saplings provided by the Forest Service that will be theirs to keep. The public is invited to join the celebration.

Mother’s Day ballet

The Northwest Ballet Company in Kalispell will present its 35th annual Spring Show Production, Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” with music by Mendelssohn, at the Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts on Mother’s Day weekend, May 9-10. Saturday’s 2 p.m. show will include face-painting in the lobby prior to the show, and the popular Fairies Parade in the theater after the show. Performances will also be held on Saturday at 8 p.m. and on Sunday at 4 p.m. Tickets for reserved seating are available at the Kalispell Grand Hotel at 406-755-8100 or at the box office one hour before each performance. Tickets are $20 adults and $15 children 12 and under. For more information, call  406-755-0760 or visit online at www.northwestballet.com.

Plum Creek donation

The Plum Creek Foundation recently provided a grant to the Hockaday Museum of Art that will be used to install solar light shades to protect artwork from ultraviolet light degradation. The project is a step forward in the museum’s long-term plan to achieve national accreditation. The Hockaday Museum of Art, 302 Second Ave. East in Kalispell, is open year-round on Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, visit online at www.HockadayMuseum.org or call 406-755-5268.

Burn permits

Free burn permits are required for debris burning in Flathead County starting May 1 and are good for the entire burning season. They are available online at www.firesafekalispell.com or at the Flathead Environmental Health office or by calling 752-7376. Escaped debris and agricultural burns are the top causes of human-started wildfires in the Flathead area, and burners can be held responsible for the cost of suppression. Air quality compliance is required for every burn by calling 751-8144 or checking online at www.flatheadhealth.org/environmental-health/burn-restrictions/ for the daily ventilation and burning forecast.

Chamber meets

The Columbia Falls Area Chamber of Commerce will hold their general membership meeting and tourist celebration at the Teakettle Community Room, 235 Nucleus Avenue, on Tuesday, May 12, from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. Lunch is $12. For more information, call Carol Pike at 892-2072 or e-mail cpike@centurytel.net.

Retirement

A retirement party for Carol Pike, the outgoing executive director of the Columbia Falls Area Chamber of Commerce will be held at Truby’s at Meadow Lake Resort on Thursday, May 14, from 5 to 7 p.m.

Salvation Army gala

The theme of the Salvation Army’s second annual gala fundraiser will be Country & Western. The event will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn on Saturday, May 16, with  music by Rob Quist & Great Northern and Rob’s daughter Halladay Quist and entertainment from April Howard’s Steppin’2 Rhythm Country Western Dance Team. Tickets are $50 per person. Proceeds will support the local Salvation Army, which last year served 30,000 hot meals and provided shower and laundry facilities to the destitute. For more information, visit online at www.salvationarmygala.com or call 257-4357.

After hours

The Columbia Falls Area Chamber of Commerce’s after-hours social event will take place at Freedom Bank on Wednesday, May 20, from 3 to 7 p.m. to celebrate the bank’s birthday.

Day of Reason

The Flathead Area Secular Humanist Association will hold its first-ever National Day of Reason Celebration at the Museum at Central School in Kalispell on Tuesday, May 5, with doors opening at 5:30 p.m. and the program starting at 6 p.m. The event will be free and open to the public. Presentations will be “Science: Its Means, Purpose and Value” and “The Fifteen Commandments.” The talks will be followed by open discussion and a potluck buffet with a cash bar. For more information, visit online at www.flatheadsecular.com.

Farmers market

The Columbia Falls Farmers Market will take place at Pinewood Park in Columbia Falls on Thursdays from 5 to 7:30 p.m. from May 14 through Sept. 17. The market offers locally grown plants and produce and a wide variety of handcrafted items, including certified Made in Montana items. Music will be provided by local bands, including Dan Dubuque, the Montana Marimba Ensemble and others. For more information, visit online at www.columbiafallschamber.org/farmers-market.

Drum class

A class teaching the rhythms of the African hand drum, or djembe, will be given by master drummer Bob Sherrick at Imagine Health in Columbia Falls on Saturday, May 2, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. No prior djembe drumming skill is required. Participants without a drum can contact Marti Kurth at martik@centurylink.net. Cost is $5-10. For more information, call Leslie Yancey at 748-6778.

New farmers market

The Columbia Falls Community Market will kick off on U.S. 2 next to O’Brien’s Liquor & Wine on May 21. The market will be held on Thursdays through Sept. 24 from 5 to 7:30 p.m. featuring locally grown produce and plants from more than seven farmers, handmade local crafts, artists, food caterers and local microbrewed beers. Local musicians will perform on stage in The Coop behind the store. The market is an official 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and all sponsorships are tax deductible. For more information, visit online at www.cfcommunitymarket.com or call 871-6440.