Spirit

WOW. That’s all I can say after reading Firefly’s latest entry about Great Falls, and how our wonderful community is not - and should not be - just like Missoula, or Bozeman, etc.

But I don’t want to be Billings or Missoula. I don’t want to be like anywhere else. I want us to be Great Falls, Montana. I want us to grow in a way that will support the reasons I live here. Want to be more like Missoula? Move there.

She is absolutely right when she notes that our community is very special, and offers up some comments from other bloggers (and lurkers) to make her point…she cites plenty of evidence that we have an awful lot going for us, and that we don’t need to consider our city as “second best” to anyplace else.

February 28, 2006 | Filed Under civics | Leave a Comment 

No Lab Coat Required

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: If anyone is interested in helping out at the Science Fair, March 4, 0800-1500, Civic Center, please call Jan @ 771-0003. It’s sort of a fun thing to do and Jan says it’s going to be more difficult than usual rounding up judges due to military deployments. There’s alway drinks and food there….that oughta help ya out some. Briefing will take place at 0800 before the students arrive. If you know of anyone who would be interested, please pass this on to them.

February 28, 2006 | Filed Under education | Leave a Comment 

What’s In A Name?

The Tribune posted the results of the poll that asked readers if there is a better nickname for our city…apparently “The Electric City” doesn’t quite ring as true as it once did. The majority of responses appear to focus on the gusty wind that we get here: The Windy City. Variations on that theme included “The Windiest City on Planet Earth” and “The Windier City.” However, when student responses were taken out of the equation, it seems that “The River City” and the original nickname came out on top. It seems that many people view the wind as a net “minus” - but I love the wind, and also know that I’m in the minority.

My submission was “The Heart Of Montana,” because it seems to me that Great Falls really does embody much of what makes Montana great, and of course our relatively central location lends weight to being called “the heart” of the state. Our fair community is directly between the majestic Rockies and the sweeping plains; mostly between Canada and America; and definitely between urban and rural. All of these things go to the “heart” of what Montana is all about. Also: the friendliest, most honest people I’ve ever met - that surely speaks to our collective “heart.” So instead of focusing solely on a single physical characteristic of our city (river, wind, etc), maybe we should focus on what makes our city truly great: the spirit and the nature of our people, which in turn makes our location and our decision to live here so positive. We’ve taken the best of what we have around us - sun, wind, sky, land - and made it into an incredible community. The Heart of Montana. So…what do you think?

February 27, 2006 | Filed Under civics | 2 Comments 

e-Trib

Noticed an ad in the Tribune the other day for the deluxe online version of the paper, which you can try out right here. It’s pretty nifty - you can view every page and all of the content of the dead-tree version, but would you pay more than $15.00/month for this? But if you’re already a subscriber to the print version, it’s only a few bucks more. Hm…worth considering. I’d never subscribe to the hard-copy edition; whenever I’ve done that with other papers, the pile of paper grows exponentially as I stack Monday on top of Sunday on top of Saturday…leaving me eventually with a stack that threatens to consume the house. So maybe the e-version is the answer for someone like me. So what do you think of the e-Trib? Would you consider subscribing? Would having access to the entire paper, rather than just a paltry few headlines and articles, convince you to sign up?

February 26, 2006 | Filed Under news, media | 3 Comments 

Enceladus In Concert

Some hot concert dates for the modern-alt rock band Enceladus coming up - mark your calendar! February 28 at Machinery Row (in The Breaks); March 11 at The Loading Zone; March 17 at Club Cigar; April 21 at Bert ‘n’ Ernies

That’s TONIGHT at Machinery Row - being billed as “Grand Opening Week!”

February 25, 2006 | Filed Under events, music | Leave a Comment 

Eagle Mount

(forwarded to me by SallyT) If you’ve never heard of Eagle Mount, this is what it’s all about:

Eagle Mount Provides therapeutic and recreational activities for children and adults with physical, mental or behavioral challenges, striving to improve the quality of life for them and their families. Among the activities that Eagle Mount provides and promotes: Swimming, Skiing, Summer Water Activities, and Horsemanship.

If you’d like to help this worthy organization, here’s your chance: two big events at Showdown on Saturday, February 25th, to benefit Eagle Mount! Registration/check-in is 8:45am-10am, and the events kick-off at 10am:

- 10am-3pm: The Shuss To Safety gives the whole family a chance to ride toboggans, piloted by the GF Ski Patrol; $5 per person for a fast, thrilling ride!
- 10am-4:30pm: The Dick Dailey Memorial Cup is your chance to prove your stuff & help Eagle Mount’s Adaptive Ski Program. Teams of four skiers & snowboarders will compete for trophies & prizes. Grab a few friends & register your team by Feb 23 for just $120 ($150 after Thursday)!

Take a look at some of the fun from last year’s event, and for more details, check out the Eagle Mount website or call 454-1449.

February 23, 2006 | Filed Under outdoors, events | Leave a Comment 

Truck Tip

Just in time for last night’s light snowfall (maybe an inch or two?), I found this nifty little tip over at Tricks of The Trade; I don’t drive a truck, but it sounds like a good idea:

It’s difficult to drive a pickup truck on slick winter roads because the light back end will fishtail. Shovel the snow from your driveway into the truck bed. You’ll weigh down the back end and clear your driveway. When it warms up enough to not need the extra weight, the snow will melt and there’s no clean up.

ALSO: for the first time ever, I think that I was the first one on my block to have my driveway shoveled this morning - woohoo!

February 23, 2006 | Filed Under weather | 1 Comment 

Fluffy Snow!

I jetted over to the grocery store this evening and got back home around 9:00 pm. A few minutes before 10:00 pm, I had to leave the house again, and lo & behold: SNOW! It must have started right when I got home from the store, because the ground already had a thin covering. As I drove, the snowflakes got bigger and fluffier and were coming down pretty good - what a wonderful surprise!

February 22, 2006 | Filed Under weather | Leave a Comment 

Icy Goodness

Finally, it looks like the long-awaited ice rink will be coming to Great Falls! I thought that the original plan was for it to be built over by Malmstrom, but now it appears that the rink will be constructed up on Gore Hill near the Flying J and Crystal Inn. The Flying J company donated the land, apparently realizing that it would make for good community relations and increase traffic and business to the Flying J - truly a win-win situation. The proposed “go live” date is November 2006. If you’d like to learn more, or perhaps donate to the Great Falls Community Ice Foundation, check out the website.

February 22, 2006 | Filed Under business, sports | 2 Comments 

City Commission Meeting

Among the topics on the agenda for tonight’s City Commission meeting:

- Annexation
- Vote on a new lease for the Sun River Skeet Club
- Set a public hearing for March 21 at 7 p.m. to zone two developments.
- The effects of having two full-time prosecutors in the city attorney’s office.
- Conditions at the new Great Falls Soccer Park

February 21, 2006 | Filed Under civics | Leave a Comment 

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