Pilot calendar: Clean the Fish is April 26

The annual Clean the Fish cleanup day around Whitefish is planned for April 26 beginning at 8:30 a.m. Breakfast will be served to all of the community “litter gitters” at the Glacier Bank parking lot downtown. Trash bags and gloves will be provided. Large trash containers will also be available at the Glacier Bank parking lot for those that wish to bring trash there. A barbeque lunch is planned for 11 a.m. with kids and adults prizes. For more information contact 863-6300.

The annual Project Whitefish Wine and Food Festival is set for May 7 at Grouse Mountain Lodge from 6-9 p.m. The annual event raises funds to support kids in the community through sports and the performing arts. All proceeds go to Project Whitefish Kids, the organization that maintains the Smith Fields Sports Complex for several sports teams, and the Whitefish Theatre Company. Seating is limited to 200. Tickets are $60 per person or you can sponsor an entire table for ten for $600. Purchase tickets at The Village Shop, Towne Printer, Imagination Station and the O’Shaughnessy Center. You can also purchase tickets online at www.whitefishtheatreco.org.

The Whitefish Theatre Company is hosting a spring cleaning day at the O’Shaughnessy Center on Saturday, April 26 from 9 a.m. to noon. Join the theatre staff for a fun day of camaraderie while you help the O’Shaughnessy shine. Call 862-5371 if you can help and then stay for lunch. WTC will offer food, drinks, and a glimpse of the 2014-2015 theatre and music season.

The Whitefish Bulldog Booster Auction will be held at 6 p.m. on Friday, April 25 at The Lodge at Whitefish Lake. Tickets for the event are available at the Whitefish High School office.

An estate sale of “Cowboy” Gerald Daymude’s Western wear and collectibles will be held Saturday, April 26 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Backdoor General Store in downtown Whitefish. Daymude passed away Dec. 16 after a year-long battle with cancer. Proceeds from the sale will benefit hospice care and go toward the creation of a memorial downtown in Cowboy’s honor. Items for sale include Cowboy’s boot and hat collection, ceramics and other Western collectibles. Call Trini Carreon with questions at 270-6686.

The Soroptimist Thrift Haus in Whitefish will hold a spring bag sale from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 26. Fill a plastic grocery bag for $5. All proceeds will be donated to local nonprofit groups with a focus on helping women and girls. The Thrift Haus, located at 303 First St. in Whitefish, is operated by volunteer members of Soroptimist International of Whitefish.

The Whitefish Chamber of Commerce’s annual awards banquet is set for April 30 at 6 p.m. at Bar W Ranch. The banquet is going Western this year as the chamber celebrates and honors the community’s top businesses and community leaders. Awards are presented for business of the year, tourism business of the year, volunteer of the year, chamber ambassador of the year and the Great Whitefish award. The event will include a Montana-style barbecue, music, dancing and door prizes. Awards are set for 7:15 p.m. with the hoedown beginning at 8 p.m.

Marge Fisher will lead a genealogy workshop April 26 at 10 a.m. at the Whitefish Library. She will discuss genealogy travels, good websites and exploring your DNA. Jerry Hanson will present “researching your Norwegian ancestors.”

Ticket are on sale for the 2014 Mountain Madness Air Show featuring the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds. The event, planned Aug. 30-31 of Labor Day weekend, is expected to attract about 30,000. Tickets for the two-day event are available at www.montanaairshow.com. Advance ticket prices are $20 for adults or $15 for children ages 6 to 13. Tickets purchased at the gate will be $25 for adults or $20 for youths. Children 5 and under will be admitted at no charge. VIP tickets also will be available for $75 and include front-line seating, access to the VIP area and complimentary food and beverage.

The Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem spring meeting hosted by the Flathead National Forest is April 23 at 10 a.m. at the district office located at 10 Hungry Horse Drive in Hungry Horse. There will be an update on the time line and next steps for the conservation strategy plan, efforts to provide a new grizzly bear lesson plan for high schools, bear mortality rates for 2013 and bear management spring activity.

The Glacier Institute is holding its annual volunteer work day on Saturday, May 3. The workday will begin at 9 a.m. Volunteers are needed for cleaning, painting, light carpentry, and outdoor work. Volunteers are needed at both the Glacier Park Field Camp and the Big Creek Outdoor Education Center. Lunch and a group dinner will be provided. Tools are not required, but are extremely helpful. Interested volunteers should RSVP by contacting the Glacier Institute at 755-1211 or register@glacierinstitute.org.

Deadline for the Huckleberry Days Arts Festival poster contest is May 1 at 5 p.m. The poster can be created in the media the artist thinks best exemplifies the festival — think summer, art, huckleberries, mountains, Montana and Whitefish. The artwork must contain the following text: 25th Annual Huckleberry Days Arts Festival, August 8-10, 2014 and Depot Park, Whitefish. The poster will be used in print and online to promote the festival. In addition to the $200 prize for the winning artist, a “People’s Choice” award will also be given out to the poster/artist voted on by the public during the festival. For complete contest rules visit www.whitefishchamber.org or call 862-3501.

Montana is home to 15 different owl species. Learn more about these fascinating birds at the Whitefish Community Library at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 26. Doug MacCarter and his team from Montana Wild Wings Recovery Center will present “The Owls of Montana – Whoooo Are They?” They will have several live owls and maybe a hawk or two and will talk about the raptors’ habits and ecology. The program is sponsored by Montana Wild Wings Recovery Center and Flathead Audubon Society.  For more information, contact Ashley Mason at AudubonAshley@gmail.com.

Join Flathead Audubon on Saturday, April 26 to celebrate the quality of life in the Flathead as Ferne and Marty Cohen taught — by getting outdoors and leaving a small carbon footprint. The group will stroll along the Whitefish River bike path, looking for waterfowl on the pond and riparian species in the wetlands. Meet at 9 a.m. at the pond northeast of the North Valley Hospital in Whitefish. The two-hour trip is accessible for wheelchairs and strollers. Call trip leader Bruce Tannehill at 862-4548 for information.

The Whitefish Education Foundation, the National Honor Society and the Whitefish Chamber of Commerce are supporting the Whitefish Reading Partnership.

The program is a business and community driven effort to encourage the development of a lifelong love of reading among K-12 students. The partnership seeks to foster reading by building on-site libraries in school with dozens of tubs of books arranged by genre. The Whitefish Reading Partnership and the National Honor Society are asking the Whitefish business community for help. Any citizen, business, or organization can become a member. Members can donate books or funds, or become a “reading buddy” in the classroom.

If you would like to become a Whitefish Reading Partner, or would like more information, call the Whitefish District Office at 862-8640.

There will be a meeting of the Flathead Valley Genealogical Society on Thursday, May 8 at the LDS Chapel on Whitefish Stage Road. The business meeting starts at 6:30 p.m.and the program by Richard Hardesty starts at 7 p.m. Free and Open to the Public

Whitefish Therapy and Sport Center will hold a free presentation on migraines, sinus headaches and TMJ on Wednesday, April 23. For more information contact 862-9378.