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Northwest Montana Posse of Westerners (a history organization) presents a program Monday, March 18, titled “Morton J. Elrod, Montana’s Pioneer Naturalist” by Tom Bansak, assistant director for the Flathead Lake Biological Station, University of Montana.

Elrod (1863-1953) was an educator, researcher, ecologist, biologist, naturalist, author and poet, and an avid photographer. He was hired by the University of Montana as their first professor of biology shortly after its founding. He founded the Flathead Lake Biological Station and he helped established the National Bison Range for the American Bison Society. In the early 1890’s, he made scientific excursions into the area now known as Glacier National Park and later argued for the designation as a national park as the only way to preserve it. He was the park’s first naturalist and wrote its first guidebook and many scientific papers.

Meet at the Red Lion, 20 North Main St., Kalispell, at 5:15 p.m. for Grab ’n’ Greet

and book signings, 6 p.m. for dinner, and 7 p.m. for the history presentation.

Dinner costs $19, which includes the presentation. Non-dinner, walk-in seating will be available free to all Posse members and youth under 16, and $5 each for nonmembers. Call 406/752-9642 (leave message with names and phone number); or send email to kbrittonrn@gmail.com with the same information.

Professor to discuss food insecurity

Flathead Valley Community College will host Montana State University professor Alison Harmon’s presentation of “$3 a Day — Building Empathy and Compassion for the Food Insecure” at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 12, in the large community room of the Arts and Technology Building.

According to Harmon, nearly 13 percent of U.S. households experience food insecurity during any given year. Harmon will provide a snapshot of both global and local hunger and detail the results of the “Food Insecurity Experience,” an empathy-building project in which she and her students put themselves on a very limited food budget in order to understand some of the physical, mental and emotional consequences of living with food insecurity.

Harmon is dean of the College of Education, Health and Human Development at Montana State University, where she is also a professor of food and nutrition and sustainable food systems. Her research is related to curriculum development and educator guidance around food systems and sustainability. She has provided leadership in the development of innovative curricula at MSU, including the Sustainable Food & Bioenergy Systems degree program, the Montana Dietetic Internship, Towne’s Harvest Garden, and Hospitality Management & Culinary Arts, with an emphasis on farm to table, food enterprise and rural hospitality.

For more information about the presentation, contact Gerda Reeb at 756-3889 or greeb@fvcc.edu; or Heather Estrada at 756-4182 or hestrada@fvcc.edu.

Volunteers needed for Creston Auction

Volunteers are needed for the 53rd annual Creston Auction & Country Fair and the accompanying Auto, Marine, RV & Equipment Sale.

The 2019 auction will be held the weekend of April 5-7 in Creston, 12 miles east of Kalispell on Montana 35. The three-day event is run entirely by volunteers and raises money for the rural Creston Fire Department.

This year, all proceeds will go into the fund for a new fire station.

It takes more than 200 volunteers to make the auction a successful event. People interested in volunteering are invited to attend a meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 19, at the Creston Fire Station, 4498 Montana 35, Kalispell, to learn more about how they can participate.

During auction weekend, help is needed after 10 a.m. Thursday, April 4, for Set-Up Day, and all day on Consignment Day, Friday, April 5, to unload trucks and trailers as items are dropped off at the sale site. Intake runs from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., so community members can help for the morning, afternoon or even just a couple of hours after work.

Volunteers are also sought for every aspect of the auction, which starts at 9 a.m. Saturday, April 6, and 11 a.m. Sunday,

April 7.

Creston Fire Department welcomes auction attendees to volunteer for part of the event. With food stations, an indoor rummage sale and the outdoor auction, there are areas for everyone to help out. The fire department particularly needs people who can hold up auction items, like to work with food, and those who can help with set up and clean up.

Food and drink will be available to volunteers throughout each day. Volunteers are reminded to dress warmly and for the weather; work gloves are also advisable, particularly Friday.

For more information, call 406-250-7396, visit the website at crestonfire.org or find Creston Auction on Facebook.

Breakfast for Supper is scholarship fundraiser

The Eastside Grange annual Breakfast for Supper and silent auction will take place from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, March 15, at the Creston Volunteer Fire Hall, 4498 Montana 35 in Creston.

The menu features all-you-can-eat pancakes, oven Denver omelets and Belgian waffles with fruit and whipped cream topping.

A silent auction for various gift baskets and spring decor will also be held during the event.

A red wagon food drive for the Montana Veterans Food Pantry will be available for donations.

This is a donation-based fundraiser with proceeds benefiting the Eastside Grange Scholarship Fund.

Flathead Electric scholarship applications due March 15

Flathead Electric Cooperative offers over $117,000 in scholarships each year and applications are due by March 15.

The scholarships are funded by unclaimed capital credits. Despite the co-op’s best efforts to return capital credits to members, many go unclaimed. (Some people move and don’t provide a forwarding address, for example.) As a not-for-profit, member-owned cooperative, the state allows Flathead Electric to use capital credits that go unclaimed for five or more years for educational purposes in its service area, rather than allocating those dollars to the Montana general fund.

Individual scholarships range from $1,500 to $6,000. The applicant or their parent/legal guardian must be a member of Flathead Electric Cooperative, served by the Co-op at their primary residence. Students eligible to apply for scholarships include:

• Seniors graduating from accredited high schools in the co-op’s service territory;

• Graduating home school students

• Current undergraduate college students

Scholarship money must be used to attend an accredited post-secondary education institution in Montana.

For more information or to apply, visit www.flatheadelectric.com/scholarships.

Training in pesticide application offered

Montana State University Extension is offering an Initial Private Applicator Training in Kalispell on April 9.

This seven-hour training will qualify the attendee for a pesticide applicator license to purchase restricted pesticide products for use on land that they own or lease. Current license holders can earn six credits.

Registration is required. Space is limited. Call Amy Bowser at 406-994-5178 or email amy.bowser@montana.edu; or call Pat McGlynn at 406-758-5554.

Flathead Valley Bridge Center results

March 1

North/South pairs

Cathy Brown – Tanya McCully 1st A

Bill Pellett – Barbara Pellett 2nd A

Linda Petersen – Carole Koch 1st B

Melissa Martin – Alden Boreson 2nd B

Susie Moore – Deb Johnson 1st C

East/West pairs

Jim Swab – Robert Walstad 1st A

Shirley Dean – Andrew Koch Jr. 2nd A 1st B

Judith Stewart – Ann Fey 2nd B

Bob Gerhard – Bob Sleadd st C

March 4

North/South pairs

Bill Pellett – Mary Ann Chestnut 1st A

Janet Weiss – Dan Shura 2nd A

Wendy Fregerio – Charrisse Bourquin 1st B

Linda Petersen – Carole Koch 2nd B

East/West pairs

Robert Walstad – Annie Alex 1st A 1st B

Kaye Hoffmaster – Barbara Pellett 2nd A

Marjorie Simpson – Shirley Dean 2nd B

March 6

North/South pairs

Wendy Fregerio – Paulette Fopp 1st A 1st B

Nuala Uhde – Jim Swab 2nd A

Kaye Hoffmaster – Marion Kibbe 2nd B

East/West pairs

Bill Pellett – Tanya McCully 1st A

Annie Alex – Barbara Pellett 2nd A 1st B

Charrisse Bourquin – Marjorie Simpson 2nd B

March 6 evening results

1. Alden Boreson - Trish Eaton

2. Shirley Dean - Delane Duffy

3. Bob Gerhard - Bob Sleadd