Community Foundation helps build a better Bigfork

The annual Community Foundation for a Better Bigfork auction is just around the corner.

The event will take place at the Garden Bar on Sept. 9 at 5 p.m., featuring free food, beer and wine. It is the main fundraiser for the CFBB, which has been working to better the community of Bigfork since 1970.

Originally called the Bigfork Development Company, the non-profit formed initially to save the old Bigfork Summer Playhouse building. Once that goal was achieved the group began to shift their focus on building cultural opportunities, and enhancing Bigfork’s infrastructure.

One of the first things they did was purchase the cultural center, which houses the library, the Bigfork Museum of Art and History and the museum gift shop.

The Community Foundation for a Better Bigfork is also responsible for the existence of the Swan River Nature Trail, sidewalks on Grand Avenue and streetlights downtown. They also helped create and maintain Sliter Park, which is owned by Pacificorp and operated by Flathead County. They also designed and built the Bigfork entry sign and the clock tower downtown, and more.

As an unincorporated town, Bigfork’s infrastructure is mostly county based, which means the Community Foundation for a Better Bigfork needs to step in to get things done. Different needs come up each year that need to get done and the county doesn’t pay for, such has having the lines for parking re-painted, spraying downtown for wasps and providing public restrooms.

The Community Foundation for a Better Bigfork was also at the forefront to keep a county-run trash site in Bigfork. The Bigfork site was to be closed as part of consolidation plan. Thanks to the work of the CFBB and other concerned community members a new site is currently under construction near the Highway 83 north of town.

The Community Foundation for a Better Bigfork relies on donations and their annual fundraiser to pay for projects around the community. In 2014 they spent almost $100,000 to maintain amenities and aesthetics around Bigfork.

The foundation is run by a board, which is elected by CFBB members every May. The board in many ways acts as a center of communication for many of the other volunteer organizations working for Bigfork. They work closely with the Chamber of Commerce and with groups at the forefront of projects such as the stormwater project.

“We try not to interfere with anybody,” CFBB president Paul Mutascio said. But he pointed out, “We really do function as a community council.”

The CFBB has about 300 members. There is a one-time fee of $150 to be a member. Members and non-members are welcome to attend the board meetings on the third Thursday of every month at noon, at the United Methodist Church.

To learn more visit www.bfbbigfork.org. Any donations for the CFBB auction can be dropped off at Eva Gates Preserves.