Community news

Senior fundraiser

The North Valley Senior Center will hold its annual Craft, Bake and Soup Supper fundraiser on Friday, Dec. 5, with the craft and bake sale from noon to 8 p.m. and the soup supper from 4 to 8 p.m. A bowl of homemade soup with a roll will cost $4. A variety of desserts will also be available.

Vets cemetery

Gov. Steve Bullock will be the keynote speaker for the Wreaths Across America ceremony at the Montana Veterans Home in Columbia Falls on Saturday, Dec. 13, starting at 10 a.m. A reception will follow the ceremony, and then the public will caravan to the Veterans Home Cemetery to lay more than 170 wreaths sponsored by local citizens and businesses. More than 540,000 wreaths were placed on graves at more than 900 cemeteries across the U.S. last year. To donate to the cause, contact Steve Armstrong, 439 Grand Drive No. 1, Bigfork MT 59911.

Chamber meets

The Columbia Falls Area Chamber of Commerce will hold its monthly meeting in the Teakettle Community Room, 235 Nucleus Avenue, on Tuesday, Dec. 9, from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. The annual Christmas luncheon will include music programs presented by Columbia Falls High School students and presenting of the Chamber’s First Buck Awards and Community Pride Awards. Luncheon costs $12. No reservation is required.

Klothes Kloset

The Christmas Store at the Klothes Kloset, 286 Nucleus Avenue, in Columbia Falls, will be open Thursday, Dec. 4, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. with a variety of Christmas gifts for all ages. The Klothes Kloset is operated by Church Women United.

Church bazaar

The Columbia Falls Methodist Church, 117 Second Street West, will hold its Joy Of Christmas Bazaar on Saturday, Dec. 6, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., with cinnamon rolls and coffee from 9 to 11 a.m., soup from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., cookie trays, silent auction items, handmade crafts and fair trade coffee.

Christmas music

Several free concerts will be offered in the Columbia Falls High School’s Little Theater for the holidays. The choir will present its annual holiday concert on Thursday, Dec. 4, at 7 p.m. The band will perform on Tuesday, Dec. 9, at 7 p.m. The advanced ban and choir will perform on Tuesday, Dec. 16, at 7 p.m.

Kid mushroom class

Farming For The Future Academy will offer a “Kids Mushroom Workshop” in the academy’s garden at the Montana Veterans Home on Saturday, Dec. 6, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Kids will drill holes, insert mushroom plugs and stack logs for spring germination. To register, visit online at www.farmingforthefutureacademyinc.org. Each students must be accompanied by an adult. For more information, call Sherry Lewis-Peterson at 253-4369 or e-mail farmingforthefutueacademy@gmail.com.

College planning

Columbia Falls High School seniors and their parents are invited to join Student Assistance Foundation’s Mary Howard in the high school auditorium on Thursday, Dec. 18, at 6 p.m. to find out about preparing and paying for college. Information will be provided on deadlines, admissions requirements, types of financial aid and scholarships, and how to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. High school counselor Linda Kaps will provide additional information for college-bound seniors.

CASA giving trees

Flathead Valley Community College’s Service Learning/AmeriCorps Office will host three holiday giving trees to benefit Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) in the foyers of Blake Hall, the Arts and Technology Building, and the Rebecca Chaney Broussard Center for Nursing and Health Science through Dec. 12. CASA is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to speak for the best interests of abused, neglected and abandoned children in the courts in order to provide those children with safe, permanent and nurturing homes. For more information, contact Wendy Jeschke at 756-3908 or call CASA at 755-7208.

Board opening

The city of Columbia Falls has an opening on the Columbia Falls Board of Adjustment. The appointment is for a three-year term beginning Jan. 1. The board hears and decides appeals or exceptions to zoning ordinances or decisions. Interested persons who live within the Columbia Falls planning and zoning jurisdiction can send a letter of interest to City Clerk, City of Columbia Falls, 130 Sixth Street West, Columbia Falls MT 59912. Deadline is Dec. 10.

Car wreck fundraiser

A “Best Buds Benefit” for two men seriously injured in a car wreck will be held at Grouse Mountain Lodge on Sunday, Dec. 7, from 1-5 p.m. Skyler Schwegel and Noah Gillund were in a rollover car accident in August and sustained severe injuries. Schwegel’s left leg was amputated at the knee. Gillund suffered severe head trauma resulting in skull fractures. The event includes dinner, auction and prizes. The benefit also will help the boys’ families.

Freethought video

The Flathead Area Secular Humanist Association will present the fourth and final episode of the video series “American Freethought” at the ImagineIF Library in Kalispell on Saturday, Dec. 6, at 10 a.m. The showings are free and open to the public. The series examines the nation’s freethought, atheist and secular heritage from the American Revolution to the 1930s. Part 4 will cover the rise of Roman Catholicism. For more information, visit online at www.flatheadsecular.com.

Wish tree

The annual Montana Veterans Home Christmas Wish Tree will be located at Kalispell Center Mall by the Dairy Queen through Dec. 22. The Wish Tree is decorated with a tag for each resident. On the back of each tag is a resident number and requests for needs or wants. A logbook is provided to sign out tags as they are removed from the tree and to check tags in when returned attached to the wrapped gifts. Gifts will be collected daily and transported to the Vets Home. The gift distribution party will be held at the Vets Home on Dec. 23. For more information, call Sue Haverfield at 892-3783 or Bonnie Stutsman at the Vets Home at 892-3256.

Christmas food

The Columbia Falls Food Bank will hand out Christmas food baskets on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 19 and 20, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Matt and Janet McConville will offer a free community Christmas dinner at the United Methodist Church, 117 Second Street West, in Columbia Falls, on Christmas Day from 2 to 6 p.m. The Armed Forces Reserve Center, 2989 U.S. 93 North, in Kalispell, will hold its 25th annual free dinner on Saturday, Dec. 13, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

History club

The Columbia Falls Historical Society’s 2015 calendars are now available from any member of the group or by calling 892-3722 or at the Columbia Falls Library Used Book Store. The calendar features historical photos of Columbia Falls and surrounding areas and is one of two main fundraisers for the society. Plans are also underway for the third annual Cowboy Christmas Ball at the Chapel Building at the Montana Veterans Home on Saturday, Dec. 27. Tickets will be available at the door or reserved by calling 892-0178. The ball will feature a night of dancing and a free photo courtesy of Old Time Photos. Proceeds from the calendar and dance will go toward remodeling the Old Main Building at the Vets Home campus into a museum. The group’s next meeting will be at the chapel building on Tuesday, Dec. 16.