Community calendar
Community dinner
Fellowship Baptist Church will be hosting a free community dinner Thursday, Feb. 23, serving a collection of homemade soups, stews and desserts. Please join us for good food and fellowship from 6-7:30 p.m. Our church is located at the corner of Main Street and 7th Avenue, across from the HCP building. We hope to see you there!
Pachyderm club
“Bakken Shale Oil Field Reserves and Methods for Extracting the Oil” will be the topic of the Feb. 24 Lake County Pachyderm Club meeting in the conference room of the Polson Rural Dept. Hall on Airport Rd, with a social time of 11:30 a.m. and meeting time of noon. Boyd Henneman, with 41 years of experience as a petroleum geologist, will be the guest speaker.
Big Arm potluck
Big Arm’s next potluck will be Friday, Feb. 24 at the Historic Big Arm School. The potluck will start at 6 p.m. with an interesting presentation at 7 p.m. Rick Nickless, from the National Weather Service out of Missoula, will talk about the La Nina and El Nino phenomena and their effect on weather in western Montana with a look back at the 2010-2011 La Nina event and its effect on flooding in parts of western Montana. Please bring your favorite dish, your family and friends. For more information, call 849-6628.
Gallery exhibit
Sunday, Feb. 26, the Red Poppy will open a gallery exhibition of paintings by Juanita Small Salmon and pottery by Betty Duncan. At 2 p.m., Drew Hartung will present a program of new age piano music, including many of his own compositions.
As always, the afternoon is free and open to the public and a reception will follow the program. The Red Poppy, open from 1-4 p.m. on Feb. 26, is located on U.S. Hwy. 93 in Ronan at the south stoplight across from True Value Hardware. Call 676-3010 for more information or go to our website, www.theredpoppy.org, to inquire about the schedule for the wide variety of classes and workshops offered throughout the month.
Chess night
A community chess night is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 27 from 4-7 p.m. at the Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church on 2nd St. West (across from Polson High School). Basic chess instructions and refreshers will be offered for those new to the game or those who are a little rusty. Free snacks, meal and beverages will be provided. Ages 10 and under must be accompanied by an adult or guardian. Please bring your game boards and your best strategies. For more information or questions call 406-552-0944.
Spelling bee
The Mission Valley Home Educators’ Spelling Bee will be held Monday, Feb. 27 at 4 p.m. downstairs at the New Life Christian Center in Polson. Students in grades 5-8 are welcome to compete. The top two participants, along with one alternate, will have the opportunity to participate in the County Spelling Bee, March 6. For more information, please contact Judy Smith at sewcrazy@slashcomma.com.
Choral concert
The 22nd Annual Ronan-Polson Choral Concert will be held on Monday, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. at the Ronan High School Auditorium. Admission will be by donation only and the proceeds will be split between the schools to help pay for music festivals, meals and the show choir trip. Everyone is invited to come and enjoy a great evening of music! You don’t want to miss this one!
Film screening
Please join us for a screening of the documentary “Bullied: A Student, a School and a Case That Made History” on Feb. 29 at 6 p.m. at Mission Valley United Methodist Church. Refreshments at 5:30 will precede the 40-minute film. Students, families, teachers, counselors and administrators are especially welcome. For more information call Cheryl at 406-890-6289 or Cathy at 406-745-4259.
Four-wheel fans
Four-wheel drive enthusiasts and those interested in family-oriented outdoor recreation using 4x4 vehicles are invited to the Skyliners four-wheel drive club meeting, Tuesday, March 6 at the Polson VFW. A representative of the U.S. Forest Service will be there to speak about the new trails on the Blacktail National OHV trail system. For more information, call 270-5423.
Beauty and the Beast
The Ronan High School Drama Department will perform “Beauty and the Beast” on March 9, 10, 15 and 16 at 7 p.m. at the Ronan Performing Arts Center. The production is an original work by Rita Tingey, with lyrics by Karla Martinson. Don’t miss the enchanted telling of this famous fairy tale.
ASIST training
The next ASIST training on the Flathead Reservation is scheduled for March 19 and 20 at Ninepipes Lodge on U.S. Hwy. 93. You can register for that by phoning Roxana at 406-270-8631.
Our Feb. 22 Partners in Suicide Prevention meeting (previously the Suicide Oversight Committee), was cancelled and re-scheduled for Wednesday, March 21 12-2 p.m. at the Big Sky Art Bar and Bistro in Polson. If you would like to present at this or future meetings, please contact Rebecca Ereaux by email or phone, (406) 675-2700, ext. 1027.
School district goals
Your feedback as a community member is needed to help develop objectives that will help us achieve the goals developed by the Polson administration team and approved by the Polson board of trustees. Your time and contribution to this process is appreciated as the Polson School District continues to move forward in developing measurable objectives that will help determine whether or not progress is being made toward meeting our adopted goals.
Please provide us with your input using the survey at the following link, which can be found either on the school district web site: www.polson.k12.mt.us or at www.surveymonkey.com/s/F56B6ZV. The survey will remain open until March 9.
Hunter ed
Spring hunter education classes have been scheduled for some communities in Northwest Montana. All hunter education classes are free of charge. By state law, anyone born after Jan. 1, 1985 must have completed the hunter education course to buy a hunting license in Montana. To become certified, you must be at least 11 years old. If registering in person, a parent or guardian must accompany students under 18 to sign the registration form. Register online at fwp.mt.gov.
Classes are held at Polson Middle School and run from 6:30-9:30 p.m. on April 10, 16, 17, 18 and 19. Field course is held on Saturday, April 21. Call Williams Witts, 883-4307 for more information.
Baseball sign-ups
Mission summer rec baseball will be having sign-ups for ages 5-15 on Monday, March 5, Tuesday the 6th, Monday the 12th and Tuesday the 13th at 6 p.m. next to Stuart’s NAPA in St. Ignatius. All interested volunteers and coaches are urged to attend. For more information, contact Peter Matt at 824-2556 or Stuart Morton at 745-2190.