Grief center to host paddle auction

Dana Remley has seen the positive

impact Tamarack Grief Resource Center has on children and teens who

are grieving the death of a parent or family member.

From her perspective as a school

psychologist at Muldown Elementary, Tamarack is filling a vital

role in helping Western Montana kids walk through the grieving

process.

“I’ve seen it make such a difference,”

Remley said. “It’s a magical and moving experience to see kids

learn to heal.”

Remley is on the Tamarack Grief Center

board, a non-profit group that specializes in bereavement camps

held on Flathead and Georgetown Lakes. The center hosts the

three-night “A Camp to Remember” each year, which is crafted for

children ages 8-14 years old who have lost a family member.

The group will hold their annual custom

paddle auction and benefit dinner Jan. 19 at 6 p.m. at The Lodge.

This is their major fundraiser of the year in the Flathead. All

money raised goes directly to the center’s programs.

Local artists have crafted wooden

paddles that will be auctioned off. This year’s artists include

Nancy Bunlop Cawdry, Carol Hagen, John Rawlings, Matt Springer,

Marsha McDonald, Hal Sundvahl, Lisa Schaus, Kelly Agar and Lorina

Smith.

Tamarack began in 2008 behind the

efforts of executive director Tina Barrett, who specializes in

outdoor-based grief support. When a family member or loved one

dies, Barrett says, support for surviving children and adults is

limited. Tamarack fills that void.

There is no other program in the area

offering year-round support for grieving children, which is why the

center’s work is so important, Tamarack co-founder Barb Myers

said.

At the annual “A Camp to Remember”

program, children and teens are brought together for three nights

on Flathead Lake. Activities and programs are crafted to help guide

campers through the grieving process. They go on nature hikes,

sing, explore the lake by canoe or kayak, and write in

journals.

However, board member Lisa Poler says

the unity created between campers who have lost family members

offers the most healing.

“Being around other kids creates a

sense of universality,” Poler said. “They see they’re not alone and

that other kids understand what they’re going through.”

She also notes the camp’s setting on

Flathead Lake.

“They are healing from nature, too,”

Poler said. “Just being there is healing.”

Campers often return year after year,

and sometimes act as mentors to first-time campers.

“All of the campers say they want to

come back,” Remley said. “I have teenagers tell me they don’t know

where they would be in their life without the support they got from

the program.”

Tamarack Grief Center has only five

paid staff members and is mostly run by a volunteer board and

staff. More than 1,400 children have been through their program.

Tamarack also helps educate school counselors on how to deal with

students who are grieving.

Tamarack never turns down a family who

can’t afford their camp program.

The benefit dinner and auction is

sponsored by the Whitefish Credit Union, Johnson-Gloschat Funeral

Home and North Valley Hospital. Tickets for the event are $75 and

can be purchased at Wheeler Jewelry in Kalispell, at the Red Union

Salon in Whitefish or by calling 249-2196.

Dinner starts at 7 p.m. and the auction

begins at 7:45 p.m.