Community Briefs for March 4

WHS play

Whitefish High School Drama Club will present “MASH” by Tim Kelly for its spring show March 5, 6 and 7.

This beloved comedy shares stories of the trials and tribulations of life in an army surgical station during the Korean War.

The ensemble cast is one of the club’s largest to date and has 17 students in 25 parts.

The show runs at the Whitefish Performing Arts Center at Whitefish Middle School at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $5 for students and $8 for adults. Thursday is a preview show for students and tickets are $3.

The show is generously sponsored by the Army-Navy Surplus of Whitefish.

Chamber business meeting

The Whitefish Chamber of Commerce’s first neighborhood business meeting of the year is Wednesday, March 11 at Piggyback BBQ, bringing together chamber members whose businesses are located north of the railroad viaduct.

Business owners in the Wisconsin Avenue corridor are encouraged to join us for a cup of coffee and a wide-open discussion of the unique issues and opportunities which face businesses on the “other side of the tracks.” The event will also explore the formation of a standing committee within the chamber to focus on this important and rapidly growing business district.

Chamber Board member Reeves Stanwood will host the 8:30 a.m. meeting at Piggyback BBQ, located at the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and Edgewood Place. For more information, call the chamber at 862-3501.

What is a Soroptimist?

That question and much more will be answered at a wine and cheese membership event Thursday, March 12, hosted by Soroptimist International of Whitefish. This “meet and greet” gathering runs from 5 to 7 p.m. at the new Unleashed Winery, 20 Spokane Ave. in Whitefish.

Soroptimist International is a global organization whose mission is to improve the lives of women and girls in local communities and around the world. The Whitefish Soroptimists have been a part of the local community since 1951, and operate the Soroptimist Thrift Haus in Whitefish to raise money for a variety of programs that meet the organization’s mission.

If you’re interested in joining Soroptimists or learning more about the organization and its flagship programs for women, please join the group on March 12, or call Lynn Grossman at 406-471-8458 for more information.

Ireland program

Kathy Borchers will present a program entitled Beautiful Ireland at the Whitefish Community Library on Saturday March 14 at 1 p.m. Irish guitarist Maggie Ferguson will be playing and signing Irish music before and during the program. Borchers provides a tour of Ireland with a visit to the Stone Age ruins in Europe, the home of Thomas Francis Meagher, the Irish patriot who died in Montana while serving as acting territorial governor, many castle ruins and a visit to the Kilmainhan Gaol to see where the patriots from the 1916 Rising were executed. The Irish National Anthem will be played, and there will be chance to learn some Irish words and sample some Irish soda bread.

WCVB meets

The Whitefish Convention and Visitors Bureau (Explore Whitefish) will hold a meeting of the Board of Directors on Monday, March 9, at the Whitefish City Hall (Conference Room), 418 E Second St. The meeting begins at 2:30 p.m. The public is invited to attend. For more information, please call 862-3390

Auditions workshop

Whitefish Theatre Co. is holding an auditions workshop on Saturday, March 21 beginning at noon.

Do you get anxious and nervous when auditioning? Do you feel your audition doesn’t represent what you are capable of? Want some tips on how to get that part? Learn basic techniques to help you be your best when you audition. WTC Artistic Director Kim Krueger is teaching a class on the basic techniques to help you when you audition. Plan to spend two to three hours for the class. Bring a notebook, pen, water and a monologue or scene you are interested in (one will be provided for you if you don’t have one you like). Cost is $50 for the first-time workshop and only 10 spots are available. To signup, contact Kim Krueger at 862-5371.

Audubon

The Flathead Audubon Society meeting will feature guest speaker Laura Katzman, who will share her African experience traveling to the Okavango Delta in Botswana and the Victoria Falls area of Zimbabwe at the Monday, March 9 Flathead Audubon meeting from 7-9 p.m. at the Gateway West Meeting Room in Kalispell. The meeting is free and open to the public. She will talk about the colorful and unique birds seen on her trip. In addition, she will tell stories of her adventures with lions, leopards, elephants, giraffes, zebras and other animals encountered in her travels. Even though she did not travel to Africa specifically to bird, she was amazed by the 120 species of birds she did see.

Laura has been working for the last 10 years as a Land Protection Specialist for the Flathead Land Trust. She earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and her master’s degree in Fish and Wildlife Management from Montana State University. Prior to her work with Flathead Land Trust, she worked as a fisheries biologist. Laura has always loved birds and has volunteered on many bird surveys throughout her career. She has focused her work on conserving bird habitat as evidenced by a successful campaign to preserve sandhill crane habitat in the West Valley. Recently, she began a bird education program with seventh-graders in cooperation with Flathead Audubon.

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

Plant society

The Montana Native Plant Society and the Center for Native Plants invites the public to landscaper Kathy Ross’ discussion of “The Dynamic Relationship of Native Plants, Insects and Birds,” focusing on why we need our native insects, the vital role native plants play in their survival, and how to use native plants in landscaping to create healthy environments for humans and birds. The talk is Wednesday, March 18, at 7 p.m. at the North Valley Community Hall, 235 Nucleus Avenue, Columbia Falls.

Youth softball

Spring youth softball is open for Whitefish and Columbia Falls students in grades kindergarten through eighth. TO register, visit www.wildkatsoftball.org. To avoid a late registration fee, log on and register by March 1. Coaches will be selected and teams formed before spring break and practices will begin March 30.