Community briefs for May 1

Concert

The Crown of the Continent Choir is holding its season finale concert on Saturday, May 11 at 7:30 p.m. at the O’Shaughnessy Center. Guest artists are Betsy Finch and Mike Eldred. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Complimentary sweets, silent auction, wine pull, Mother’s Day gift drawing are part of the event.

Driver course

NW Montana AARP will hold a Smart Driver Course on May 7 at the North Valley Hospital from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Call 863-3627 for a reservation.

Memorial ceremony

The Glacier Jewish Community of B’nai Shalom on the Eve of Holocaust Memorial Day/Yom HaShoah, Wednesday, May 1 at 7 p.m. is holding a gathering at the Whitefish Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The event will include a memorial ceremony to commemorate the Holocaust as well as a memorial prayer for Lori Gilbert Kaye, who was killed April 27 at the Chabad of Poway synagogue near San Diego.

Rabbi Francine Roston says the event will include prayers of healing for the shooting victims and prayers of healing for the country.

The event is open to the public and the church is located at 6330 U.S. Highwy 93.

Audubon

Long-time Flathead Audubon member Dan Casey will be the guest speaker at the Flathead Audubon Society meeting on Monday, May 13 at the Whitefish Community Center, 121 Second Street. Doors open at 5 p.m. with a potluck dinner at 6 p.m. Casey joined seven other folks from Montana and Oregon on a 15-day tour of Ghana with Ashanti African Tours in January 2018. The trip was organized and co-lead by Jeff Marks of Montana Bird Advocacy, with part of the cost helping to fund work on Montana bird species. The group found more than 380 species of birds, focusing on the endemic species of the Upper Guinean forest. Casey will share photo and video highlights of the trip, along with information regarding the culture, history, wildlife, and role of ecotourism dollars in this “Gold Coast” country. Be sure to arrive early to look over and bid on silent auction items. Officers and board members will be elected. Bring a dish to share, your own plates, utensils, and cups. The meeting is free and open to the public.

AFS hosts

Would you like to broaden your horizons and bring the world to your family? Consider inviting another culture to your home by hosting an American Field Services high school exchange student for the next school year. AFS is now placing exchange students in the Flathead Valley. It is an opportunity for your family to experience another culture in your own home. If interested contact, Bruce Aronson at (406) 250-4248 or brucecraib@gmail.com or Kendra Hope at (406) 250-5532 or kendraehope@gmail.com

Play festival

Flathead Valley Community College’s Theatre Arts Department will present the 10-Minute Play Festival May 2-4. The festival is the culmination of this semester’s Beginning Directing II class, in which students learned about directing techniques, script analysis and casting. As part of the required capstone project, each student in the class selected a script from a collection of more than 900 original scripts, auditioned actors and worked with cast members to produce and direct the performance.

Free and open to the public, performances begin at 7 p.m. each night in the campus theatre, located inside the Arts and Technology Building. Although there is no charge to attend the festival, cash donations will be accepted at the door. For more information, contact FVCC Speech and Theatre Arts Professor Joe Legate at 756-3906 or jlegate@fvcc.edu.

Life Raft Debate

Flathead Valley Community College’s Mask & Hammer Theatre Club is hosting the first annual FVCC Life Raft Debate on Monday, May 6.

Modeled after the annual event held at the University of Montevallo in Alabama since 1998, the Life Raft Debate challenges the audience to imagine a world where North America is no longer inhabitable and the remaining members of society must set sail to establish a new home. Seats on the boat are limited, however, and the audience must determine which college professor is most worthy of the last seat.

FVCC’s Life Raft Debate will feature four faculty members vying to convince the audience that his or her discipline is the most critical to the success of the new civilization. Audience members will choose from Associate Professor of English Conrad Rauscher, Associate Professor of Natural Resources Christina Relyea, Associate Professor of Anatomy and Physiology Karla Ryan and Culinary Institute of Montana Program Director Shannon Hayashi. The winner of this year’s FVCC Life Raft Debate will receive a trophy oar to keep for one year and will compete against a new set of challengers at the second annual debate in 2020.

Free and open to the public, the debate will begin at 7 p.m. in the campus theatre, located inside the Arts and Technology Building. For more information, contact FVCC Associate Professor of Theatre and Music Rich Haptonstall at rhaptonstall@fvcc.edu or 756-3962.

Art show

Flathead Valley Community College’s Art Department will host an art show opening and awards ceremony on Tuesday, May 7 featuring pieces made by FVCC students. Free and open to the public, the opening will begin at 4 p.m. in the gallery on the lower level of the Arts and Technology Building on campus. Light refreshments will be served. Guest juror Amanda Guy from Wheelie Creative will award Best of Show prizes at 4:30 p.m.

The FVCC Art Club will hold its annual Mother’s Day sale May 6-8 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the second-floor lobby of the Arts and Technology Building. A variety of mediums will be available for purchase, including ceramics, paintings, drawings and jewelry. Proceeds from the sale benefit the activities of the club and also support the artists.

For more information, contact FVCC Assistant Professor of Ceramics David Regan at 756-3993.

Join Flathead Audubon for several upcoming field trips.

Every Thursday in May, you can enjoy a stroll with Anne Morley on the Swan River Nature Trail. Meet at 10 a.m. in Bigfork by the bench between the Playhouse and Showthyme Restaurant. It is a fun morning adventure filled with native plant information and many opportunities to identify birds. Bring binoculars, appropriate clothing and walking shoes. For more information contact Morley at 406-886-2242.

Flathead Audubon will offer another opportunity to view spring bird arrivals in the Smith Lake area on Saturday, May 18 from 8 a.m. until noon. The group will drive the Smith Lake Road looking for recently arrived sparrows, orioles, warblers and other breeding migrants. They will proceed to Smith Lake to look for waterfowl and other wetland species. There should be a good diversity of habitats and birds. This is primarily a driving trip with several stops to get out and bird. Bring binoculars and scopes and appropriate weather gear. For details and to sign up contact Cory Davis at 406 471 3314 or email piranga99@gmail.com. This trip is limited to 20 participants, is free and open to the public.

For more information, visit the Flathead Audubon website: www.flatheadaudubon.org