Community news
Talk on fraud
Flathead County Sheriff’s Det. Lance Norman will present a talk about fraud at the North Valley Senior Center on Friday, May 4, from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. The center will hold its monthly potluck at noon. For more information, call 892-4087.
Chamber lunch
The Columbia Falls Area Chamber of Commerce will hold their general membership meeting in the North Valley Community Room, 235 Nucleus Avenue, on Tuesday, May 8, from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. As part of their tourism celebration, there will be a brochure exchange between members. State maps, visitor guides and the Chamber’s new brochure will be available. Lunch is $10. Reservations are not necessary.
Arbor Day
The Columbia Falls Arbor Day Celebration will take place at the corner of U.S. 2 and Veterans Drive on Friday, May 4, from noon to 2 p.m. with a commemorative tree planting and appearances by Woodsy Owl and Sprig Squirrel. Tree City USA information will be handed out along with free seedlings and a planting demonstration. Attendees can enter to win a gardening set and prizes from Western Building Center and Dollar Plus.
Candidates speak
Two Republican county commissioner candidates, Ben Stormes and Kirk Gentry, will speak at the Friday, May 4, meeting of the Glacier Pachyderm Club at the Red Lion Hotel in Kalispell from noon to 1 p.m. Each will offer their thoughts regarding the issues facing Flathead County and take questions from the audience as time permits.
Gold panners
Northwest Montana Gold Prospectors will present its Gold, Mineral and Recreational Show at the Flathead County Fairgrounds on Saturday, May 5, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, May 6, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. There will be demonstrations, vendors, panning for gold, kids activities, raffles for a gold nugget, a silver bar or a metal detector, and door prizes. For more information, call 406-253-6200.
Open house
The Glacier Outdoor Center, 12400 U.S. 2 East in West Glacier, will host an open house on Thursday, May 10, showcasing its newly remodeled outdoor center and fly shop. There will be prizes, food and drinks from 5 to 7 p.m. for all Columbia Falls Chamber Business After Hours attendees. For more information, visit online at www.Glacierraftco.com or cal 888-5454.
Talent show
Ruder Elementary School students will present a talent show with 25 acts at Columbia Falls High School’s Little Theater on Thursday, May 3, at 6:30 p.m. Tickets for the talent show are $5 adults and free for students.
Candidate forum
The Glacier Pachyderm Club will host a forum for three Republican candidates running for the Flathead County commissioner seat formerly held by Jim Dupont at the Red Lion Hotel, in Kalispell, on Friday, May 4, from noon to 1 p.m. They include Chris Hyatt, Ben Stormes and Kirk Gentry.
Judge race
The Northwest Montana Bar Association will sponsor a forum for the five candidates for two contested Flathead County District Court judge positions at the Glacier High School auditorium on Wednesday, May 9, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. A panel of three local attorneys with retiring District Court Judge Katherine Curtis and James Ness, of Glacier Bank, will ask the questions. Incumbent District Court Judge Ted Lympus, who is running unopposed for the third seat, will also be present to answer questions. The top two vote-getters in each race in the June 5 primary will go on to the Nov. 6 general election.
Native landscaping
The Flathead Chapter of the Montana Native Plant Society will present a talk by Laura Law on tips, tricks and inexpensive ways to add native plants to landscaping at Glacier Discovery Square on Wednesday, May 16, at 7 p.m. After a 30-minute presentation, participants may walk a short distance to Law’s house to view the work she has done incorporating native plants into her own small yard.
Habitat fundraiser
Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, 401 Seventh Street West, in Columbia Falls, will sponsor its fifth annual pie and perennial plant sale and raffle to benefit Habitat for Humanity and Thrivent Builds from Saturday, May 12, from 8 a.m. to noon. Drop off times plants and pie donations are Friday from noon to 7 p.m. and Saturday starting at 6:30 a.m. For more information, call Elizabeth at 892-7789 or Our Savior’s Lutheran Church at 892-3784.
Fundraiser dinner
Human Therapy on Horseback will host their ninth annual dinner and auction, “Making Miracles Happen,” at the Hilton Garden Inn, in Kalispell, on Saturday, May 5, with the doors opening at 4:30 p.m. and dinner at 6:30 p.m. There will be live and silent auctions, a raffle, door prizes, a cash bar and music by Roy Wilhelm and the Sundowners. Tickets are $50 per person available by calling 406-881-4192 or online at www.fthflathead.org.
Family Forestry
The Family Forestry Expo will take place at Stoltze Land and Lumber Co.’s Trumbull Creek Educational Forest, north on Half Moon Road from U.S. 2 and Highway 40. On Saturday, May 12, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., there will be a free loggers lunch, a logging demonstrations, wildlife and forestry exhibits, a demonstration by the Flathead Valley Community College Logger Sports team and a forest walk with many different educational stops.
Summer music
The Columbia Falls Lions Club Summer Concert Series begins this year on June 21 Anyone or business interested in being a sponsor can call committee chairman Mark Johnson at 314-0200. The one-hour concerts will be held at the Don Lawrence Amphitheater in Marantette Park, in Columbia Falls, beginning at 7:30 p.m.