Community events

Free meals

The Columbia Falls community will be serving delicious free meals on March 30 and 31 at 5 p.m. in the basement of St. Richard’s Catholic Church.  We are nondenominational and everyone is welcome.

River volunteers sought;

grant helps with lifejackets

Flathead Rivers Alliance recently was awarded a Flathead Electric Cooperative Roundup for Safety grant of $5,000 towards the purchase of Life Jacket Loaner Station structure materials, river ambassador first aid kits, and development of river safety messaging animations. This grant will be matched by Flathead Resource Advisory Committee, Flathead National Forest, National Park Foundation, and Whitefish Community Foundation funds and in-kind matches from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and FRA volunteers to enhance river safety education and programming.

The Alliance, in its second year, is working to educate river users this summer at popular launch sites on the Flathead River system. The lifejackets will be loaned out to floaters who don’t have one.

Permanent life jacket loaner stations will be installed at two popular river access sites and stocked through the shoulder and summer seasons. 

FRA is also ramping up for the 2022 river season and recruiting 20-30 volunteer team members.  In anticipation of another record river user year for the Three Forks of the Flathead, FRA is expanding their River Ambassador program and officially launching a River Recreation Monitoring program.

Volunteer trainings will be offered April 12th 6-8 p.m. and April 14th 6-8 p.m. at Glacier Outdoor Center in West Glacier. Trainings are conducted in partnership with FRA, Glacier National Park, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, and Flathead National Forest.  

If you are interested in joining Flathead Rivers Alliance’s team and improving stewardship and safety on the Three Forks of the Flathead River contact Sheena Pate at info@flatheadrivers.org or visit www.flatheadrivers.org to learn more about volunteer opportunities and upcoming events.

Canyon meals

We are very excited this month to finally be able to serve our first sit-down dinner in two years.  Everyone is invited to our free dinner held in the Canyon Elementary School.  Our menu for Thursday, March 31 is a selection of Minestrone soup, chicken noodle soup, green salad, roll and a special lemon angel food cupcake with ice cream.  We will also be serving coffee and water and as always we’ll be serving between 5:30 and 6:30 p.m.  Anyone that needs a take out meal is more than welcome to pick some up.  We are looking forward to seeing you.  Any questions please call Flo 250-3406 or Luann 261-1083.

Little Cat Tracks

Little Cat Tracks is an independent program run by the Wildcat Track Club and is now taking registrations. It was created to interest younger kids in track in grades 1 through 6 and teaches some preliminary skills.

Kids can register online at: https://jamieheinz22.wixsite.com/my-site-2 or in person Thursday March 31st and Tuesday April 5th in the high school gym foyer from 5:30 to 7 p.m.

It meets Wednesdays, 4:30 to 5:30, April 6th, April 13th, April 20th, April 27th, with the track meet on May 4th at the junior high track. (The track meet will start at 4:30 and run until 6 p.m.).

There will be a $40 registration cost, reduced to $30 for each additional sibling. Fee covers shirt, insurance, track supplies and awards for the meet on May 4th.

Call or text coach Jamie Heinz at 406-471-4381 for any questions.

Youth Conservation Corps

The Flathead National Forest is accepting applications for its 2022 Flathead Youth Conservation Corps program, a conservation and education work-based program for youth between the ages of 15 and 18.

YCC is a program designed to accomplish needed conservation work on public lands, provide gainful employment for students from all segments of society while gaining an environmental understanding and appreciation of natural resources and cultural heritage. It also provides our youth an opportunity to engage in a variety of jobs the Forest Service does and learn about career opportunities within the agency.

Applications can be found at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/flathead/about-forest/jobs/?cid=fseprd893423. Deadline to submit application is April 8. Please return your completed application to Flathead National Forest at julie.gerrior@usda.gov, or Attn: YCC Program Coordinator, 650 Wolfpack Way, Kalispell MT 59901.

If you would like assistance navigating the hiring process, or have questions, please contact Julie Gerrior at julie.gerrior@usda.gov, 406-858-0334 or Tad Wehunt at william.wehunt@usda.gov, 406-314-8398.