Community briefs May 2

Mushroom hike

Join Whitefish Legacy Partners on a Wild Mushroom Hike on Sunday, May 6 at 2 p.m. at the Swift Creek Trailhead.Search for wild mushrooms and learn general classifications and identifying characteristics. Dale Johnson, who has been exploring the woods for wild mushrooms for over 25 years, will be leading this event. Bring a basket to collect mushrooms. Guide books will be provided. Meet at Swift Creek Trailhead. This event is free and open to the public.

Audubon talk

Join Flathead Audubon on Monday, May 14, from 7-9 p.m. at the Whitefish Community Center for the annual potluck and a program about Montana Audubon.

The doors open at 5 p.m. The potluck dinner begins at 6 p.m. followed by the meeting at 7 p.m. Be sure to arrive early to look over and bid on silent auction items. Please bring your own plates, utensils, and cups. A special program will be presented by Larry Berrin, the new Executive Director of Montana Audubon. He will share what is new with the State organization and the innovative projects focused on expanding the organization’s reach state-wide.

The potluck is free and open to the public. For more information, visit the Flathead Audubon website: www.flatheadaudubon.org.

Theater cleaning

The Whitefish Theatre Company is hosting a spring cleaning day at the O’Shaughnessy Center on Saturday, May 5 from 9 a.m. to noon. Join the theatre staff for a fun day of camaraderie while helping the O’Shaughnessy Center shine inside and out. Call 862-5371 to help for this family-friendly event and then stay for lunch of a taco bar at noon.

Gear Swap

The city of Whitefish Parks and Recreation will be hosting their fifth annual Spring Gear Swap on Saturday, May 5. This sale begins at 8 a.m. and ends at 2 p.m.

Those interested in consigning spring and summer gear can stop by the Roy Duff Memorial Armory on Friday, May 4 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. to drop off their gear. Any gear not sold must be picked up on Saturday, May 5 between 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. or Monday, May 7 between 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. All items not picked up will be donated to the Soroptimist Thrift Store in Whitefish.

Consignors receive 80 percent back from all items sold with 20 percent of sales supporting the Whitefish Parks and Recreation’s youth programs.

Roundup for Safety

Flathead Electric Cooperative’s Roundup for Safety Board awarded grants for the following safety related community projects, bringing the total awarded at the April 12 meeting to $11,158: Boys and Girls Club of Glacier Country- $821 for First Aid training; Human Therapy on Horseback- $250 for riding helmets; Whitefish Christian Academy- $2,000 for defibrillators; Whitefish High School- $400 for safety glasses and storage; Glacier Twins-$2,000 for safety netting;The Salvation Army-$4,687 for fencing, gates and a defibrillator.

Roundup for Safety is a voluntary program for Flathead Electric Cooperative members who allow their electric bills to be rounded up to the next dollar, with the extra money going into a fund for community nonprofit safety projects. The Co-op is grateful to all who participate in enhancing the safety of our community. For additional information about the program, call Mike Radel at 406-751-4429 or visit www.flatheadelectric.com/roundup.

FVCC student presentations

Flathead Valley Community College students will present their research projects during the ninth annual FVCC Student Research Conference on Friday, May 11. Free and open to the public, the event will begin at 1 p.m. in the large community room inside the Arts and Technology Building on campus.

The event will provide approximately 70 students the opportunity to present their research, portfolios and projects to college faculty, staff, students and members of the community. Project topics will range widely in such categories as agriculture, biology, botany, ecology, biotechnology, natural resources, mathematics, chemistry, physics, energy policy, history, photovoltaics and more.

The research poster exhibitions will be on display inside the large community room from 1 to 2 p.m. Individual student presentations will take place every half hour from 2 to 4 p.m. inside the second-floor classrooms.

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

State parks

The Montana Parks in Focus Commission will host a public meeting May 10-11 in Kalispell. The public meeting is the second of four held at state parks across Montana intended to gather public input and develop recommendations to sustain and strengthen Montana’s state park system.

The Flathead Valley is home to 10 parks in the Montana State Parks system. Flathead Lake, the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River, has five parks dotting its shores, along with 2,000-acre Wild Horse Island. Kalispell is home to Lone Pine, and Whitefish has Les Mason and Whitefish Lake state parks. Lake Mary Ronan, near Dayton, has incredible fishing all year. These parks provide recreationists with critical access to world class opportunities.

The Parks in Focus Commission was created in January 2017 by Governor Steve Bullock to strengthen Montana’s state park system and to ensure the Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks has the resources, capacity, and expertise to implement the Montana State Parks and Recreation Strategic Plan. The Commission consists of 12 volunteer professionals with backgrounds in business, local government, education, tourism, and healthcare.

The Commission is tasked with providing recommendations to the Governor, state legislature, and Fish, Wildlife & Parks on three strategies that emerged from the state parks strategic planning effort: growing strategic partnerships, building an engaged constituency for state parks, and diversifying revenue. The Commission is expected to provide final recommendations to the Governor’s office by December of this year.

The Montana State Parks Foundation, a nonprofit partner to state parks, is hosting a get-together Thursday, May 10 at Lone Pine State Park from 5:30-8 pm. Food trucks, drinks and music will be on site, and the Foundation will showcase recently park improvement projects at Lone Pine State Park.

The agenda for Friday, May 11 includes morning tours of Wayfarers and West Shore State Parks followed by the afternoon Commission meeting from 12-4 pm at the Fish, Wildlife & Parks regional office in Kalispell. To view the full Parks in Focus Commission meeting agenda, visit: http://www.chartinganewtomorrow.com/parks-in-focus/