Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Valley News at a Glance

Relay For Life celebrates 10th year anniversary

Back Country Horsemen do trail work for National Trails Day

Pachyderm Club initiates Art Book Drive

Poppy poster contest results

Annual Montana Municipal Institute held

Riders to bike across Montana for CASA

Rapp Foundation grants available

Valley Notes By Louise Langton

Time flies when you're working to find a cure for cancer, and having a little fun along the way. This year celebrates the 10th anniversary of the American Cancer Society Ravalli County Relay For Life.

This summer's event will be held on Saturday and Sunday, July 21-22, 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., at Haynes Field in Hamilton.

:In the past, the Ravalli County Relay For Life has not only raised thousands of dollars for the American Cancer Society, but just as important, it has raised awareness of the disease and the value of prevention and early detection," says Bonnie Wickham, chair of the 2007 event.

This year, the planning committee for the Ravalli County Relay For Life has set a goal of registering 25 teams to raise at least $55,000.

"These are some pretty significant goals. As a result, our committee is actively recruiting teams from around the area," says Wickham.

Relay For Life teams are typically comprised of friends, family members, cancer survivors, co-workers, students and active senior citizens. After the teams have registered, the members usually go out into their communities to seek donations for their efforts. The day of the event, the teams arrive at Haynes Field and set up their campsites. Then, following the opening ceremonies and traditional survivors lap, the teams are asked to have one member walking the track throughout the course of the event. When they aren't walking, the team members can usually be found visiting other campsites, participating in any number of games or activities, listening to the music, or enjoying the many food venues.

"Every dollar the teams raise, both in the past and every dollar they raise this summer, will go directly to the American Cancer Society to help it continue its funding of cancer research, state and national legislative advocacy, and its many educational and patient service programs offered nationally and right here in Ravalli County," says Wickham.

Anyone wishing to form a team for this summer's American Cancer Society Ravalli County Relay For Life, or to learn more about the event, contact Bonnie Wickham at 360-4373 or Gina Wilson at 363-3630.

National Trails Day was June 2 and the Bitter Root Back Country Horsemen kicked off their annual trail work projects on that day, with a project on the Larry Creek Trail.

The National Trails Day project included trail clearing, cleaning water bars, and repairing tread and drainage structures on both the upper and lower Larry Creek Trails.

The Bitter Root Back Country Horsemen's spokeswoman Karen Philips said that the Bitterroot chapter of Back Country Horsemen was one of the first established in the nation and is over 30 years old.

"Our goal is to ensure that stock users continue to be able to access backcountry and wilderness trails," said Phillips. "As part of this, we do trail maintenance projects with the Forest Service each year, and we invest our resources in educating people about how to enjoy the backcountry while taking proper care of stock and of the natural resources."

Stevensville District Ranger Dan Ritter praised the group. "The importance of the work that the Bitter Root Back Country Horsemen accomplishes each year increases as our agency's own trail crew numbers dwindle. In a typical year, the BCH contributes over 1000 hours of volunteer trail work on this Forest, and their work benefits all trail users, not just stock users."

Additional work projects planned for this summer include work on the Moose Creek Trail in the East Fork drainage and on the Little Rock Creek trail near Lake Como. The Moose Creek trail was heavily impacted by fallen trees this past year, and the BCH plan to spend June 8 and 9 sawing and clearing the trail. The June 30 work project on Little Rock Creek will include tree clearing and trail maintenance.

For additional information about the project, or about the Bitter Root Back Country Horsemen, contact Karen Philips at 961-0101.

Pachyderm Club initiates Art Book Drive

Over the past several years, the Stevensville School System has developed a comprehensive art studies program spanning the elementary years through senior high school. It has been brought to the attention of the North Valley Pachyderm Club that there is a glaring shortage of good art books to augment this program and no funds to purchase them. According to Ed Cummings, school board member and also in the Pachyderm Club, "We believe that many people have such books which are no longer used, perhaps having moved into the valley and carrying them from elsewhere. The Pachyderms aim to tap this lode and make them available to the school system."

Starting immediately, a drop-off point will be the DeVore Printing Company at 303 Buck Avenue (behind Valley Drug) during regular business hours. Be sure to write your name, address and the title of your book(s) in the catalog in the shop. All donations will be acknowledged and the donors name will be imprinted on an "Ex Libris" sheet in the flyleaf of the book.

Particularly desirable will be picture volumes of artistic works, by period and individual artists. All selections for use will be made by the Stevensville faculty. These books are usually quite costly to buy and thus will be treasured for years by students who otherwise would not have access to them.

So look on your shelves, cart your art books over to Jay DeVore and don't forget to leave a record of your donation. You will truly be making an investment in the youth of the community.

On Saturday, May 19, the Poppy Posters that 7th and 8th grade Stevensville students created were judged. Showing off some of the great art work the students created are Kathy Frazier, President of the American Legion Unit #94 Auxiliary, and Shirley MacDonald, Chief Judge of the Poppy Poster contest.

Winners are:

7th grade: 1st Place - James Bush; 2nd Place - Casey Dunn; 3rd Place - Josh Meier; Honorable Mention Meghan Schmidt

8th grade: 1st Place - Tylyn Swanby; 2nd Place - Page Swenson; 3rd Place - Jessie Vogel; Honorable Mention - Logan Conners.

First place winners advance to the next level of competition.

More than 100 city clerks, treasurers, and finance officers from throughout the state attended the Montana State University Local Government Center, the 27TH Annual Montana Institute for Municipal Clerks, Treasurers and Finance Officers and an Elected Officials on May 6-11 in Billings.

The MSU Local Government Center conducted the institute and coordinated the professional certification training on behalf of the municipal clerks, treasurers and finance officers. Instructors include MSU and visiting academic staff members, practicing experts in municipal government and resource persons from the public sector who work directly with local government.

Local municipal personnel who attended were:

Darby - Tari Conroy, clerk, Gail Garrison, clerk, Nancy G. McKinney, clerk/treasurer, Evelyn Savochka, councilperson, Ned Trowbridge, councilperson

Hamilton - Steven Green, administrative assistant, Lynda Nelson, deputy clerk, Jerry Steele, councilperson

Stevensville - Susan Evans, councilperson, Sandra Holland, deputy clerk, Nancy Lowell, clerk/treasurer.

CASA of Montana is looking for riders to cycle across Montana from Glacier Park to Yellowstone Park and sponsors to support the ride. The 385-mile Park-2-Park Montana bike ride will raise money and awareness of CASA programs across the state. It will benefit CASA of Montana and the non-profit network of 15 local CASA programs.

About 15 riders, from Wisconsin to Washington State, Whitefish, Billings, Great Falls and Helena, have already registered. Only 40 slots are available. Last year 25 riders, including six attorneys, raised more than $20,000 for CASA. This year's goal is $25,000. Court Appointed Special Advocates are volunteers that speak for nearly 1,000 children in Montana who are in the court abuse and neglect system through no fault of their own.

The Third Annual Park-2-Park Montana ride is planned for Sept 3-7, 2007. The route will take cyclists from St. Mary – on the eastern side of Glacier National Park – through spectacular scenery down along US 89 through Dupuyer, Choteau, Great Falls, White Sulphur Springs and Livingston and conclude at Gardiner near Yellowstone National Park.

Cardiosystems of Billings is the Platinum Sponsor for the bike ride, with Alan Nicholson Inc. in Helena, the Montana Credit Union Network, Montana Travel Management of Kalispell, the St. Mary's East Glacier KOA, and Bank of the Rockies as Gold Sponsors. Silver sponsors include the Helena Bicycle Club, BlueCross BlueShield, New West Health Plans, Valley Bank and the Neighborhood Office. Big Cycle Cyclery and Great Divide Cyclery are also sponsors.

CASA of Montana is seeking sponsors for the ride. It is a great opportunity to showcase support for Montana's children. Sponsor levels are Platinum - $1,000, Gold - $500 and Silver - $250. Businesses also can sponsor a local bike rider.

Rider slots are still available, but the number of riders is capped at 40, so register soon. The ride cost is $400 before Aug. 5 and $500 after that date. Registration includes four nights of lodging, meals and support vehicles. Riders are expected to raise at least $200 in pledges and a custom bike jersey is awarded to those who raise $750 or more.

Daily ride distances are 55-100 miles. The ride begins at the St. Mary's/East Glacier KOA campground in St. Mary. Local CASA programs, including CASA for Kids (Kalispell), Great Falls CASA CAN and 6th Judicial CASA in Livingston will provide meals, snacks and support services for the riders as they come through their area.

See the website at www.casagal.org for more details on the ride. For more information, call CASA of Montana at 866 863 2272 or e-mail info@casagal.org.

More than 400 volunteers are advocating for 1,000 children in the court's abuse and neglect system, but more volunteers and funding are needed to serve children. District court judges appoint trained volunteers to conduct a thorough investigation of the child's situation, to monitor the case and to make recommendations to the court on behalf of the child.

The Rapp Family Foundation is now accepting grant applications for the second quarter of 2007. Completed applications must be received by Friday, June 15, 2007 for consideration in this quarter.

The Foundation makes grants available to Ravalli County non-profit organizations or individuals applying through a nonprofit organization. The Foundation is receptive to requests from small organizations utilizing volunteer-based services and asking for matching funds for specific needs instead of funds for general purposes, salaries or continuing support. Primary consideration is given to requests of $3,000 or less. Application forms can be completed by non-professional grant writers.

Application forms may be picked up from or delivered to Ravalli County Bank in Hamilton and Stevensville or Diane Thomas Rupert, Raymond James Financial Services, 172 Golf Course Road, Hamilton or mailed to Rapp Family Foundation P.O. Box 2082, Hamilton MT 59840. Use of email forms are encouraged and are available by sending a request to invest@montana.com or tom@montana.com and may be submitted back by email.

Now is the time to put up your hummingbird feeders. I put up mine on Saturday, May 12 and the hummer was there right away to get the sugar water. We had an unexpected blizzard with snow and cold wind one year in the 1970s. I'll never forget the date of May 18 when hummingbirds came and hit our windows. We found several dead in our ranch shop.