A wide-ranging blog on new businesses, events and other happennings in the Flathead Valley.
What would people do for a year's supply (or 52 cases) of Black Star Beer? More than a thousand spectators, some from as far away as the South Pacific, found out Saturday during the Whitefish Winter Carnival and Black Star Beer Barter, hosted at the Great Northern Brewing Company.
Everything from an old bus to a fire dance were judged by a five-person panel, which included pro skiers Andy Mahre and Lynsey Dyer.
In the end, three entrees scored the top prize of a year's supply of beer. The winners: Troy Nooroa, who traveled all the way from the Cook Islands, to present his fire-dancing skills; pro skaterboarders Al Partanen and David Gravette who wowed the crowd with endless tricks and jumps; and Parker Beeson, who offered his vintage 1970 Volkswagon Bus, dubbed the “ultimate party bus.”
A fourth offering also captivated the judges panel. Cancer survivor Peggy Miller pledged to walk 52 laps in an upcoming Relay for Life and the brewery offered a $5,000 donation to the American Cancer Society in her name.
To see what you may have missed, check out this video from the weekend's festivities.
Everything from an old bus to a fire dance were judged by a five-person panel, which included pro skiers Andy Mahre and Lynsey Dyer.
In the end, three entrees scored the top prize of a year's supply of beer. The winners: Troy Nooroa, who traveled all the way from the Cook Islands, to present his fire-dancing skills; pro skaterboarders Al Partanen and David Gravette who wowed the crowd with endless tricks and jumps; and Parker Beeson, who offered his vintage 1970 Volkswagon Bus, dubbed the “ultimate party bus.”
A fourth offering also captivated the judges panel. Cancer survivor Peggy Miller pledged to walk 52 laps in an upcoming Relay for Life and the brewery offered a $5,000 donation to the American Cancer Society in her name.
To see what you may have missed, check out this video from the weekend's festivities.
Comments (0) TotalIf you've ever wanted to sing your heart out or show off a bizarre talent, and you're a student or employee at Flathead Valley Community College, then you'll want to mark Feb. 16 on your calendar. That's the day of auditions for the third annual "FVCC's Got Talent" competition. The event is sponsored by the community college's student government and is scheduled for March 16. Prizes are awarded to the top performers.
The deadline to register for auditions is Feb. 14. For more information contact Sharon Randolph at 756-3981 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
And for a preview of who you may be going up against, check out this video from last year's competition.
The deadline to register for auditions is Feb. 14. For more information contact Sharon Randolph at 756-3981 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
And for a preview of who you may be going up against, check out this video from last year's competition.
Comments (0) Total
Whitefish Winter Carnival is picking up speed in its fun and funny ways, and the revelers have crowned their King Ullr and the Queen of the Snows for this year's festivities.
(If you need a primer on what I'm talking about, read this article on last year's carnival.)
Richard and Carol Atkinson were crowned as this year's king and queen of the carnival. Here's a little more about the Whitefish royalty.
King Ullr
Queen of the Snows
By the way, this year's theme is "Fiesta Pescado Blanco." For more information on upcoming events, check out the website.
(If you need a primer on what I'm talking about, read this article on last year's carnival.)
Richard and Carol Atkinson were crowned as this year's king and queen of the carnival. Here's a little more about the Whitefish royalty.
King Ullr
Born in Middletown, CT, Rich graduated from College High School in Montclair, NJ. He attended Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT and flunked out after his first semester of his junior year. Rich joined the U.S. Army and graduated from the Army Language School in Monterey, CA. He served as an Intercept Operator in Bad Aibling, Germany. After completing his military service, he graduated from the University of Colorado in Boulder, CO. Married, he and the family (sons Douglas and Michael) moved to Bowie, MD where his daughter Sharon was born. He worked at nearby NSA as a cryptologic mathematician and cryptanalyst from 1963-1981. There he met his current wife Carol and they now have 11 grandchildren and 1 great-granddaughter.
In 1979 he and his brother started the highly successful, upscale travel publication, Andrew Harper's Hideaway Report. In 1981 they added The Harper Collection. That same year, tired of government service, he and Carol devoted full time to nurturing and expanding the publications while traveling the world. In 1985 they discovered Whitefish, MT, purchased a home and moved there in 1986.
Rich has been involved in several fundraising projects in Whitefish, starting with the outdoor Ice Rink in 1988 and ending with the completion of a $5.2M Performing Arts Center in the Whitefish Middle School in 2011. He served on the Glacier National Park Fund Board and the Beacon Advisory Board. He also started the girls' soccer program at Whitefish High School and coached in 1992 and 1993. His first real introduction to Winter Carnival was 2007 when he and Carol were the Grand Marshalls of the Winter Carnival Parade after receiving the Great Whitefish Award in 2006.
Queen of the Snows
Born in Catasauqua, Pennsylvania, Carol graduated from Penn State University with a BA in Liberal Arts and from the University of Maryland with a Masters in Educational Technology. She spent close to twenty years at the National Security Agency as an Education and Training Officer and Cryptanalyst. Her second career took her all over the world as a writer and copy editor for Andrew Harper's Hideaway Report. She and her husband Richard moved to Whitefish in 1986.
With over twenty years of fundraising and philanthropic endeavors in this community, Carol is honored to take on the title of Queen of the Snows. Her fundraising efforts have included both ice rinks, the WAVE and the Whitefish Middle School Auditorium Project. Previous Board appointments have been to the Flathead Festival, Glacier Symphony and Chorale, Glacier National Park Fund and Flathead Beacon Advisory Board.
Currently, Carol serves as the President of the Whitefish Community Foundation and she chaired the Grants Committee for five years. She is the founder of the Whitefish Arts Council and volunteers for the Whitefish Theatre Company and Tamarack Grief Resource Center Summer Camps. In addition, Carol has served as a fundraising consultant for Glacier Symphony and Chorale, Tamarack Grief Resource Center, Shepherd's Hand Clinic, Alpine Theatre Project, Whitefish High School Campus Redevelopment Project and the Anaconda Community Foundation. Carol and Richard were given the Great Whitefish Award in 2006 and served as Grand Marshalls of the Winter Carnival Parade in 2007.
By the way, this year's theme is "Fiesta Pescado Blanco." For more information on upcoming events, check out the website.
Comments (0) Total
Whitefish isn't the only place celebrating winter this weekend as the Lakeside/Somers Chamber of Commerce and Blacktail Mountain host the annual Winterfest on Saturday. From a pancake breakfast to live music, sleigh rides and a pig roast, there is something for everyone.
Festivities will kick off bright and early at 7 a.m. with a pancake breakfast at the Lakeside Chapel. Tickets are $5 per person or $15 for a family and all proceeds from that helps the Lakeside Chapel Youth Group.
After that people can register and participate in the 10th Annual Family Cup Ski and Snowboard races on Blacktail Mountain. Registration takes place at the mountain lodge between 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. and races start at 11 a.m. on Emmons Ridge. Besides races up on the mountain, there will be sporting clays in Somers and, depending on weather, a snowmobile poker run from the Lake Mary Ronan Lodge to Muley's at Blacktail Mountain. And once competitors arrive at Muley's they can enjoy music by Danielle Oliver at 2:30 p.m. Sleigh rides will be available up on the mountain throughout the day.
The entire day wraps up at the Tamarack Brewing Company for a pig roast at 5 p.m. and live music by 20 Grand at 7 p.m. For more information about the event call the brewery at (406) 844-0244, Blacktail Mountain at (406) 844-0999 or the Lakeside/Somers Chamber of Commerce at (406) 844-3715.
Festivities will kick off bright and early at 7 a.m. with a pancake breakfast at the Lakeside Chapel. Tickets are $5 per person or $15 for a family and all proceeds from that helps the Lakeside Chapel Youth Group.
After that people can register and participate in the 10th Annual Family Cup Ski and Snowboard races on Blacktail Mountain. Registration takes place at the mountain lodge between 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. and races start at 11 a.m. on Emmons Ridge. Besides races up on the mountain, there will be sporting clays in Somers and, depending on weather, a snowmobile poker run from the Lake Mary Ronan Lodge to Muley's at Blacktail Mountain. And once competitors arrive at Muley's they can enjoy music by Danielle Oliver at 2:30 p.m. Sleigh rides will be available up on the mountain throughout the day.
The entire day wraps up at the Tamarack Brewing Company for a pig roast at 5 p.m. and live music by 20 Grand at 7 p.m. For more information about the event call the brewery at (406) 844-0244, Blacktail Mountain at (406) 844-0999 or the Lakeside/Somers Chamber of Commerce at (406) 844-3715.
Comments (0) Total
For folks looking for a new winter activity, the Izaak Walton Inn in Essex will be the place to be this weekend. The historic inn is hosting Ski Fest on Saturday and Sunday, and people can get free cross country skiing lessons on area trails.
“It's just a weekend to introduce folks to cross country skiing and is for people who may not know much about it,” said the inn's Amanda Kern.
Festivities will start at about 10:30 each day and go until mid-afternoon. Sportsman and Ski Haus will be on hand with demo gear that people can use free of charge and the Izaak Walton's gear will be available to rent at reduced rates. Trail passes are free all weekend. Kern said the event has been going on for more than a decade and is always popular.
“It's usually a busy weekend and we're excited to see so many people,” she said.
For more information call the Izaak Walton Inn at (406) 888-5700.
“It's just a weekend to introduce folks to cross country skiing and is for people who may not know much about it,” said the inn's Amanda Kern.
Festivities will start at about 10:30 each day and go until mid-afternoon. Sportsman and Ski Haus will be on hand with demo gear that people can use free of charge and the Izaak Walton's gear will be available to rent at reduced rates. Trail passes are free all weekend. Kern said the event has been going on for more than a decade and is always popular.
“It's usually a busy weekend and we're excited to see so many people,” she said.
For more information call the Izaak Walton Inn at (406) 888-5700.
Comments (0) TotalOn July 6, 2010, Valicity Lee Faith lost her battle with Leukemia. She was only 5 years old.
To remember their daughter, the Faith family is hosting the second annual Princess Ball at the Hilton Garden Inn in Kalispell on Jan. 21. The semi-formal to formal event will include a dance, as well as a live auction to raise money the Montana Hope Project. The project was established in 1984 by the Association of Montana Troopers to help critically ill children realize their dreams. For Valicity Lee in 2009, that dream was to meet some real live princes and princesses and she realized it when her family traveled to Disney World, thanks to the Hope Project.
Last year, the ball attracted 500 people and raised $15,000 for Angel Flight, a nonprofit organization that helped the Faith family go from Seattle to the Flathead during their daughter's treatment.
For more information call Josh Faith at (406) 250-6144.
To remember their daughter, the Faith family is hosting the second annual Princess Ball at the Hilton Garden Inn in Kalispell on Jan. 21. The semi-formal to formal event will include a dance, as well as a live auction to raise money the Montana Hope Project. The project was established in 1984 by the Association of Montana Troopers to help critically ill children realize their dreams. For Valicity Lee in 2009, that dream was to meet some real live princes and princesses and she realized it when her family traveled to Disney World, thanks to the Hope Project.
Last year, the ball attracted 500 people and raised $15,000 for Angel Flight, a nonprofit organization that helped the Faith family go from Seattle to the Flathead during their daughter's treatment.
For more information call Josh Faith at (406) 250-6144.
Comments (0) Total
A big 2012 hello to Levi Jace Gove, North Valley Hospital's first baby born in the new year.
Jayn and Cody Gove, of Evergreen, welcomed Levi at 2:59 p.m. on Jan.1, 2012. The little boy weighs 7 lbs. 11 oz. and is 20 1/2 inches tall. His grandparents include Rick Gove and Darlene Danielson of the Flathead Valley, and Ted and Jacquie Cuffe of Whitefish.
North Valley Hospital celebrated the birth by giving Levi's parents a basket full of baby items.
Being born in the afternoon on Jan. 1, Levi took his time becoming the first baby of the New Year compared to other recorded births throughout the world. For example, the first 2012 baby in British Columbia - Isabella - came just three minutes after midnight on Jan. 1.
Congratulations to Levi's parents and grandparents!
Jayn and Cody Gove, of Evergreen, welcomed Levi at 2:59 p.m. on Jan.1, 2012. The little boy weighs 7 lbs. 11 oz. and is 20 1/2 inches tall. His grandparents include Rick Gove and Darlene Danielson of the Flathead Valley, and Ted and Jacquie Cuffe of Whitefish.
North Valley Hospital celebrated the birth by giving Levi's parents a basket full of baby items.
Being born in the afternoon on Jan. 1, Levi took his time becoming the first baby of the New Year compared to other recorded births throughout the world. For example, the first 2012 baby in British Columbia - Isabella - came just three minutes after midnight on Jan. 1.
Congratulations to Levi's parents and grandparents!
Comments (0) Total
Local band Marshall Catch was in Hawaii to help commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attacks during a ceremony on Dec. 7.
We wrote about the band and its attempts to raise money to get to Honolulu and play "The Ballad of the USS Arizona" for the event, and it looks like they were able to make it.
Here's a bit of an update from the band:
We wrote about the band and its attempts to raise money to get to Honolulu and play "The Ballad of the USS Arizona" for the event, and it looks like they were able to make it.
Here's a bit of an update from the band:
The band celebrated the release of their patriotic single “The Ballad of the USS Arizona”, a tribute song composed with the Pearl Harbor attacks in mind, from the perspective of the ship herself, with two performances near the Memorial. They first performed on Sunday, December 4th for Military Day. Their second performance was on the anniversary date, December 7th, just after the official Commemoration Ceremony. Both appearances brought them face to face with a number of the survivors and their families.
"We were honored, humbled, and left speechless at the stories of sacrifices told by the brave soldiers of Pearl Harbor,” reflected Marshall Catch singer, Luke Lautaret. “To play our song for these men and their families has been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that we will cherish forever. We sincerely hope we were able to bless and honor those who have sacrificed so much for us and our country."
Comments (0) TotalRead More Main Street Wire
Gabby Johnson said: "New poll out today: A roaring 10 percent of the American people think Congress is doing a good job. Denny Rehberg picked a bad time…
waterman said: "It might mean that some just do not like successful people or accomplishments."
RIGHTOFCENTER said: "Yea, just look at what Unions have done in this Country. They have just about bankrupted local and State governments all across this great country. …
ponymt said: "I’m not sure why it cut my statement short but the following is the complete sentence.. Additionally, consider how “responsible” society has…
RIGHTOFCENTER said: "I have to agree with Craig moore, I too was a big supporter of Gallagher, but I would have been a big supporter of anyone…
Yudamni said: "I would not trust Tester. He is supposed to represent Montana. When over 60% of us were against Obama Care he still voted for it! …
waterman said: "It might mean that some just do not like successful people or accomplishments."
Gabby Johnson said: "New poll out today: A roaring 10 percent of the American people think Congress is doing a good job. Denny Rehberg picked a bad time…
JB said: "Oh, joy…more taxpayer dollars being spent for a worthless circle jerk, to benefit a minority of folks that don’t believe in God."
ponymt said: "I’m not sure why it cut my statement short but the following is the complete sentence.. Additionally, consider how “responsible” society has…