Thursday

| March 27, 2009 11:00 PM

A reception for Jason Spring, North Valley Hospital’s new chief executive officer, will take place in the hospital’s dining room on Thursday, March 26, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. He started work here earlier this month. The hospital board hired Spring in January. The hospital’s management company, Quorum Health Resources, conducted a national search after Craig Aasved resigned from the top post last July.

An Employment Exploration Expo will be held at the Kalispell Center Mall on Thursday, March 26 from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Last year, more than 1,500 job seekers and 75 employer and training providers attended.

Friday

The Montreal vocal quintet Chic Gamine will perform at the O’Shaughnessy on Friday, March 27, at 7:30 p.m. as part of the Whitefish Theatre Company’s Music Series. Formed in 2007, the group includes singers Ariane Jean, Andrina Turenne, Alexa Dirks and Annick Brémault and drummer-percussionist Alexandre Sacha Daoud. Over the years, the group’s members have performed with R ’n’ B/Soul sensation little boy boom, the Brazilian funk/pop flavored group Gaïa, and the International Independent Music Award laureate ensemble Madrigaïa. Tickets are $25, with all seats reserved, available at the box office from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and one hour before a performance. For more information, call 862-5371 or visit online at www.whitefishtheatreco.org.

The Celtic Cross Dancers of Kalispell will present an evening of Irish dance and song at the Whitefish Middle School auditorium on Friday, March 27, at 7:30 p.m. The Celtic Cross Dancers, directed by Sally Conrad, have been active in the Flathead Valley for more than 10 years, showing their spirited traditional dances to audiences of all ages. Tickets are $8 adults, $5 over-62 and under-12 years, and $25 families, available from dancers and at the door. For more information, call 270-3055.

Philip Aaberg, the Montana native and Grammy Award-nominated jazz pianist and composer, will play in the Christian Center, in Kalispell, on Friday, March 27, at 8 p.m. The concert, “Visions of Spring,” is a fundraiser sponsored by the Kalispell Daybreak Rotary Club. Tickets are $20 adults, $15 seniors and $10 children and students, available at Glacier Bank in Whitefish. For more information, call 257-1840.

Flathead Valley Community College’s Multicultural Affairs Program will host an End of Winter Gathering Hand-Drum Competition and Hoop Dance Exhibit with one-man hand-drum singers, food and Native American arts and crafts in the Arts and Technology Building on Friday, March 27, at 6 p.m. Hand-drum singers will compete for cash prizes ranging from $100 to $250. General admission is $5. For more information, call 756-3945 or e-mail mstembor@fvcc.edu.

A family-friendly community dance open to all ages and ability levels will take place at the Whitefish Golden Agers, 121 West Second Street, on Friday, March 27, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. All dances will be taught, including contradances, waltzes and some basic international folk dances. Live music will be provided, and interested musicians can bring their instruments to join in. Partners are not necessary. For more information, call Ruth at 862-1629 or Kathy at 862-6882.

Saturday

The Whitefish Figure Skating Club will present their Spring Ice Show, “Broadway On Ice,” at the Stumptown Ice Den on Saturday, March 28, beginning at 7 p.m. Cari Maus, a 16-year-old high school student who trains in Missoula and Spokane, will be the guest skater. Maus is a competitive skater who wows the crowd with her pizzazz. Local hockey players will join rink manager Andy Hergesheimer and shift manager Rusty Patterson in performing a version of Tchaikovsky’s well-known ballet “Swan Lake.” Alpine Theatre Project founders Betsi Morrison and Luke Walrath will also perform, and Whitefish Figure Skating Club members of all ages will skate to a variety of Broadway music. The show is sanctioned by the U.S. Figure Skating Association. Tickets are $18 for chairs on the ice, $12 for bleacher seating and $7 for standing. Children under-7 get a free standing ticket. Tickets are available at the ice rink and Imagination Station in Whitefish and Kalispell. For more information, call Carol Anderson at 862-7699.

Flathead Valleyaires Barbershop Chorus will present “Everything Old is New Again,” their 37th annual show, at Flathead High School on Saturday, March 28, at 7:30 p.m. Three local groups will perform, along with Vocal Works, an a capella quartet from Vancouver, B.C. Advance tickets are $10 adults, $8 students and free for seniors and kids under-12, available at Montana Coffee Traders, or $12 at the door.

Dr. Eric Meyer, a Montana native and a Colorado-based anesthesiologist who survived and treated the victims of the worst mountaineering disaster in Himalayan history, will present a free talk at Glacier Discovery Square, 540 Nucleus Avenue, in Columbia Falls, on Saturday, March 28, at 7 p.m. Meyer was part of the nine-person International K2 Expedition team that pushed for the summit of K2 in August 2008. Eleven climbers lost their lives in snow and ice slides at the Bottleneck, at about 26,000 feet.

Humane Society of Northwest Montana, 3499 U.S. Highway 93 North, in Kalispell, will hold a volunteer orientation meeting on Saturday, March 28, at 11 a.m. Volunteers assist in animal care, community education, reception area and client relations, foster care, fundraising, mobile adoptions, dog walking and other capacities. For more information, call 752-7297.

Flathead Audubon will lead a trip to witness the spring waterfowl migration at Freezout Lake Wildlife Management Area on Saturday and Sunday, March 28-29. Freezeout Lake lies on the high plains between Choteau and Fairfield, just east of the Rocky Mountain Front. Participants will leave the K Mart parking lot in Kalispell at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday and be at Freezout Lake in time to watch the white geese that evening. Participants will need to make their own overnight arrangements in Choteau. For more information, contact Bob Lee at 270-0371 or rml3@centurytel.net to arrange carpooling and to sign up for the trip.

Sunday

Monday

The Whitefish Theatre Company will hold auditions for the modern American comedy “Fuddy Meers,” written by the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire, at the O’Shaughnessy on Monday and Tuesday, March 30 and 31, at 7:30 p.m. Nancy Nei will direct WTC’s comic production. The cast will include three women and four men, ages 21 and up. Performance dates will be June 5, 6, 12 and 13 at the theater company’s annual cabaret-style performance. Scripts are available at the Kalispell and Whitefish libraries. For more information, call 862-5371 or visit online at www.whitefishtheatreco.org.

Internationally acclaimed Dallas Brass will perform a wide range of brass band music at Glacier High School on March 30 at 7 p.m., from Gershwin and Bernstein to Tijuana Brass and Chicago. Tickets are $10 available from Glacier High students, at the Glacier High ticket office or by calling 758-8687.

Tuesday

The Whitefish Community Foundation will hold a Patron Pass Party on Tuesday, March 31, at 5:30 p.m. to kick-off the early-bird sales for the 2009-2010 ski season. The program is in cooperation with the Whitefish Mountain Resort. Proceeds from the sales benefit nonprofits throughout the Flathead. Purchasers have the option of one transferable season ski pass, great for businesses, friends and family, or two adult season ski passes. Other benefits include a ski locker in a private locker room and a special parking pass at the Base Lodge. For reservations and information please call the Foundation office at 406-863-1781.

The Whitefish Library Book Discussion Group meets on the last Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. in the library meeting room. The book for March 31 is “Saving Fish From Drowning,” by Amy Tan and for April 28 is “Thunderstruck,” by Erik Larson. Books may be available for checkout. For more information, call the library at 862-6657.

Wednesday

Flathead Audubon’s 2009 Beauty of Birds course will be held Wednesday evenings from 6 to 8 p.m. at Flathead High School on April 1, 15, 22 and 29. Audubon volunteers and local bird experts will speak to the theme “Bird Habitats in the Flathead.” Class speakers and topics will include Chris Peterson and “Forest Birds after the Fires,” Bruce Tannehill and “Birds of Riparian Areas,” and Amy Jacobs with “Loons and Loon Look-alikes.” Dan Casey and Josh Covill will lead a field trip to Smith Lake on the last evening of the course, during which participants will apply their bird identification skills. There is a $10 registration fee. Sign up early, as space is limited. For more information, call Flathead High School at 751-3500.