Community news

Highway talk

Pat Hurley, with the Montana Department of Transportation, will be the speaker at the Columbia Falls Area Chamber of Commerce brown bag lunch in the Freedom Bank conference room on Thursday, Jan. 19, from noon to 1 p.m. Hurley will speak about "Public awareness of the Highway Beautification Act: What is the advertising control program?"

Metals class

Rod Cogliati will teach a 10-week long adult class, "Introduction to Metal Working," on Friday evenings from Feb. 3 through March 30 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Students will learn the basics of metal working and safety, including gas brazing, welding and cutting, electric arc welding and some metal lathe work. Cost is $100. To register, call Robin White at 892-6500 at the Columbia Falls High School.

Master

gardener

Montana State University's eight-week long master gardener program in Flathead County will take place Feb. 15-16. Patricia McGlynn, the MSU Flathead County agriculture extension agent, will teach the classes. Participants can choose between classes on Wednesday from 6-8 p.m. at the Earl Bennett Building, in Kalispell, or Wednesdays from 3-5 p.m. at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, in Columbia Falls. Cost is $185, which includes the newly revised master gardener handbook and other course materials. Fifty dollars will be refunded at the completion of the 20-hour community service project. To register, call 758-5553.

DAR meets

The Bird Woman Falls Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution will meet in the Whitefish Community Library on Saturday, Jan. 14, at noon. Visitors are welcome. For more information, call Carol Nicholson at 892-2952 or Marge Fisher at 862-1233.

Senior

fundraisers

A fundraiser will be held at the North Valley Senior Center on Friday, Feb. 10, from 4-7 p.m. with lasagna, salad, garlic rolls and dessert for $6. A book and puzzle sale will take place Friday and Saturday, Feb. 10-11, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Theater tryouts

The Columbia Mountain Theatre Company, a newly established non-profit community theater group, will hold auditions for its first production at Glacier Discover Square on Thursday, Jan. 26, and Friday, Jan. 27, at 7 p.m. The season will open with two one-act plays: "Sham: A Social Satire," by Frank G. Tompkins, and "Wurzel-Flummery," a political satire by A. A. Milne. Performances will be at Glacier Discover Square Center on March 9, 10, 16 and 17 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $8 available at the door. For more information, visit online at www.columbiamountaintheaterco.org or contact Jeremias Johnson, director, at 471-0014 or info@columbiamountaintheaterco.org.