Community briefs for Dec. 5

WCVB

The annual meeting and holiday social of the Whitefish Convention and Visitors Bureau (Explore Whitefish) is Monday, Dec. 10 at the Lodge at Whitefish Lake. The meeting begins at 3 p.m. followed by the holiday social with appetizers and drinks at 5 p.m. The event is free and the public is invited to attend. For more information, please call 862-3390.

Tea

Columbia Falls Women’s Connection will have their annual Christmas Tea and program on Wednesday, Dec. 12 at 11:30 a.m. at the North Valley Hospital Community Room in Columbia Falls. Program will include special music by Dinah Leib, Britt Clark from the Conrad Mansion and Susan Stapley, a long time Columbia Falls resident will share her story of hope. Cost is $8 and all women are welcome to attend. For reservations call Candy at 387-4119 or Janet at 892-3621 by 5 p.m. Monday, Dec. 10. Affiliated with Stonecroft Ministries.

Toy drive

Flathead Valley Community College students and staff are collecting clothing and toys for local children in need this holiday season.

FVCC’s Student Engagement office is collecting gifts for children served by the nonprofit organization CASA for Kids. “Giving” trees are located in the lobbies of the Rebecca Chaney Broussard Center for Nursing and Health Science, Blake Hall, and the Arts and Technology buildings on campus. To make a donation, remove an ornament from one of the trees and purchase an appropriate gift for the gender and age specified on the ornament. Attach the ornament to the unwrapped gift, and return the gift to the Service Learning office in Blake Hall by Monday, Dec. 10.

FVCC’s Veterans’ Association is collecting new, unwrapped toys for Toys for Tots, and AICE (Appreciating Individuality, Challenges and Excellence) is collecting new socks and gloves of all sizes. Toys, socks and gloves can be dropped off in the Blake Hall lobby.

Audubon

Flathead Audubon will be holding its annual Christmas bird counts this month. Join compilers Craig Hohenberger and Pete Fisher on Monday, Dec. 10 at 7 p.m. in the United Way Conference Room of the Gateway Community Center, off U.S. Highway 2 West in Kalispell. They will provide a presentation that will give valuable tips for bird identification. They will also combine summaries of trends, some “virtual birding” and a wide variety of photos to help tell the story of early winter birds in the Flathead Valley. The Bigfork Christmas Bird Count is on Dec. 16 and the Kalispell Christmas Bird Count is on Sunday, Dec. 30. The program is free and open to the public. For more information, go to www.flatheadaudubon.org.

Wolf talk

Elke Duerr will be presenting a short film and telling about her experience in the field with wolves during a presentation at the Whitefish Community Library on Monday, Dec. 10 at 7 p.m. Duerr is an award-winning filmmaker and author. Her new book is titled “Wolves and Humans — A New Story of Coexistence.” She will do a book signing along with her storytelling.

Student research

Thirty-four Flathead Valley Community College students will present their research projects on Dec. 11 during the college’s fall Conference on Student Research. Free and open to the public, the event will provide students the opportunity to present their research, portfolios and projects to faculty, staff, students and community members. Project topics will range widely, including botany, biology, biotechnology, chemistry, psychology, agriculture, literature and theater.

Research poster exhibitions will be on display in the foyer of the Arts and Technology Building from 1 to 2 p.m. Individual student presentations will take place every half hour from 2 to 4 p.m. inside the classrooms located on the upper level of the Arts and Technology Building.

For more information about the conference, contact Dr. Christina Relyea at 756-3946 or crelyea@fvcc.edu.

Sparrow’s Nest

On Saturday, Dec. 8, Sparrow’s Nest of Northwest Montana will host its fifth annual “When the Night Comes” fundraiser. At 5 p.m., there will be a soup kitchen provided by the FVCC Culinary Arts Program. At 6:15, there will be presentation about the organization, its mission, and the students it serves. Individuals will be sleeping out in solidarity for high school students experiencing or at risk of homelessness. The event will conclude at 7 a.m. the following day.

Anyone participating in the sleep out is asked to obtain one sponsor. This event is hosted at Trinity Lutheran Evangelical Church at 400 West California St., Kalispell.

For more information, visit www.sparrowsnestnwmt.org/when-the-night-comes or call 406-309-5196.

Easement meetings

Liaison team meetings between Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, F. H. Stoltze Land and Lumber Co., and the city of Whitefish for the Haskill Creek and Trumbull Creek conservation easements are Dec. 10 in the City Council Chambers at Whitefish City Hall.

The meeting for the Trumbull Creek conservation easement is scheduled for 4:30–5:30 p.m. The Trumbull Creek conservation easement spans 7,150 acres northwest of Columbia Falls.

The meeting for the Haskill Creek conservation easement is scheduled for 5:30–6:30 p.m. The Haskill Creek conservation easement spans 3,020 acres north of Whitefish.

Liaison team meetings are held annually and provide a forum for discussion of any issues that may arise with respect to public use, land use, access issues, conditions, or other unanticipated issues related to the conservation easement lands.

For information, contact Chris Hammond at chammond@mt.gov or (406) 751-4582.