Community news

Celebration of life

A celebration of Taylor Peterson’s life will take place at the Columbia Falls High School gymnasium on Sunday, Dec. 16, beginning at 3 p.m. A potluck meal will follow in the high school cafeteria. People are asked to bring a dish or dessert to share. For more information, call Charlene Sapa King at 250-6652 or Kathy Shaffer Price at 253-3775.

Community choir

The Columbia Falls Community Choir will begin practice on Sunday, Jan. 13, for the 2013 season. Concerts will take place on Saturday and Sunday, April 20-21. Practices will take place at the Columbia Falls Junior High School on Sundays from 2-4 p.m. Sign-in and music pick-up will take place on Sunday, Jan. 13, at 1:30 p.m. with practice following at 2 p.m. For more information, call Ron Bond at 892-5174.

School Christmas concerts

Ruder Elementary School’s kindergarten, first and second grade students will present a public Christmas program called “Celebrate” on Thursday, Dec. 13, at 2 p.m. Third, fourth and fifth grade students will perform the program for the public on Friday, Dec. 14, at 2 p.m.

Glacier Gateway Elementary School’s first and second grades will present a combined Christmas program in the Columbia Falls High School’s Little Theater on Thursday, Dec. 20, at 10:30 a.m. First-graders will sing songs from rock and roll to hip hop. Second-graders will perform music from country to Jamaican. The third, fourth and fifth grades will present a combined Christmas program in the Little Theater on Thursday, Dec. 20, at 1:30 p.m. featuring rock and roll, Latin, traditional and big band Christmas music.

Retirement party

A retirement party and open house for outgoing Flathead County Commissioner Dale Lauman will be held in the Commissioners Chambers on the third floor of the old courthouse in Kalispell on Monday, Dec. 17, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Members of the management team, county employees, county boards and the public are invited.

Women’s Connection

The Columbia Falls Women’s Connection, affiliated with Stonecroft Ministries, will hold their Christmas Tea at the Teakettle Community Hall, 235 Nucleus Avenue, on Wednesday, Dec. 12, at 11:30 a.m. Chris from Chris’ Tea Cottage will provide facts about tea. The speaker will be Rosainne Taylor. Cost $8 per person. Free childcare is available by reservation. For more information, call Candy at 387-4119 or Janet at 892-3621.

Chanukah

Bet Harim Jewish Community will celebrate Chanukah at the Multi-Faith Center at Shining Mountains, 475 Eighth Avenue EN, in Kalispell, on Friday, Dec. 14, at 6 p.m. The evening will begin with the traditional Sabbath candle lighting ceremony followed by the lighting of all eight Chanukah candles, games of dreidel, gifts, potato latkes and a potluck dinner. For more information, call 756-5159 or e-mail bet_harim@gmail.com or visit online at www.betharim.com.

Christmas reading

Reverend Canon Bradley Wirth will read from his original work “A Christmas Offertory” at All Saints Episcopal Church, 2048 Conn Road, in Columbia Falls, on Thursday, Dec. 13, at 7 p.m. An offering will be taken to benefit the Humane Society of Northwest Montana, the Spay and Neuter Task Force and the Flathead County Animal Shelter. Refreshments will be offered.

Toys for Tots

Professional Therapy Associates will hold a Toys for Tots charity event at all of their clinics, including the one at 1850 Ninth Street West, in Columbia Falls, on Wednesday, Dec. 12, at 5 p.m. Anyone who donates will get a card for a free pain and injury assessment from PTA.

Emergency director

Roger Laferriere, the new director of Flathead County Office of Emergency Services, will be the speaker at the Pachyderm Club meeting at the Red Lion, in Kalispell, on Friday, Dec. 14, beginning at noon. Laferriere will talk about the status of emergency planning for the county and upcoming and current challenges to providing support for predictable emergencies. Lunch is available for purchase. For more information, contact club president Mark Johnson at 253-7467.

Author speaks

Gail Jokerst, author of “The Hungry Bear Kitchen,” will hold a sampling and book signing at the Montana House in Apgar, Glacier National Park, on Saturday, Dec. 22, from 2 to 4 p.m. Jokerst moved to the Flathead Valley from Boston 25 years ago and brought with her a lifelong passion for baking and writing. Since 1992, hundreds of her essays and articles have appeared in regional and national newspapers and magazines. Her cookbook features more than 100 recipes from Big Sky Country.

IONS meets

The local Institute of Noetic Sciences community group will meet Thursday, Dec. 13, at the Bohemian Grange, directly west of Montana Coffee Traders on U.S. 93, at 7 p.m. for their annual December holiday meeting and celebration. Patrick Marsolek and Lori Mitchell, of Missoula, will share their Argentine tango experience. A donation is requested to help defray expenses. For more information, call 862-9591 or 862-7711.

Master gardener

The Montana State University Extension Office will offer a Master Gardener Level 1 class at the First Baptist Church in Whitefish on Jan. 17 through March 14 on Thursdays from 3 to 5 p.m. Topics will include lawn care and maintenance, tree pruning, seed starting, container growing, vegetable gardening, soil fertility, lawn care, plant physiology and fruit production. Registration forms are available online at www.flathead.mt.gov/extension. For more information, call 753-5553.

Smith’s donations

Smith’s Food & Drug is inviting customers to donate $5, $10 or $15 to their grocery purchases through Dec. 29 as part of their “Bringing Hope to the Table for the Holidays” program. All contributions will be converted to Smith’s gift cards and given to local food banks for turkeys, hams and staple food items like peanut butter and tuna. Participating food banks Columbia Falls. Last year, Smith’s four Montana stores donated enough food to create 33,000 meals for the hungry, the great majority of whom are single women with children.