Air Show & Animals

The highlight for many people this weekend will be the Malmstrom Open House and Air Show, featuring the return of the Canadian Snowbirds aerial demonstration team. Welcome back, Snowbirds. You’ve been in our collective thoughts since last year, and it is great to have you back in Great Falls to amaze and thrill our community.

On a more terrestrial note, don’t forget that the annual “Spay-ghetti” dinner will be held tomorrow night to raise money for The Animal Foundation’s spay & neuter programs. For more details, call 454-1720. And in related news, don’t forget that the newly-formed “Diamonds In The Ruff” will be conducting an “adopt-a-thon” on Saturday at PetCo.

MORE: got an e-mail from Alan, a local racing fan:

“…there will be Sprint cars at the local track tonight and tomorrow night. Sprints are the fastest cars on the track, they hit a top speed of over 100mph on the straight stretch. There will be cars from Canada and the USA; the race is called the ‘Can Am Challenge’.”

More details at the Electric City Speedway site. Thanks Alan!

May 16, 2008 | Filed Under events, military, animals | 2 Comments

Kickin’ Assphault

Got a nice e-mail from Syd asking me to promote the “Kickin’ Assphault” running event that is coming up in June:

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May 15, 2008 | Filed Under outdoors, events, sports | 1 Comment

Malmstrom Update

A few tidbits about Malmstrom Air Force Base: first, the 2nd Avenue North gate (formerly the “main” gate) will be closed on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday (May 8-10) due to construction. The normally closed gate behind First Liberty Federal Credit Union will be open to inbound traffic from 6:30-8:00 am, and to outbound traffic from 4:00-5:00 pm on Thursday and Friday. As far as I know, the 10th Avenue North gate will be open for business as usual during this time.

Second, if you’ve been to the Malmstrom Clinic lately, you know that there’s some serious renovation going on: the entire front lobby and roundabout have been torn down and sealed off, and will likely be closed until September. The pharmacy has temporarily relocated to the West entrance until the front lobby is complete.

Third, it’s been a helluva few weeks at Malmstrom: first we had Al Roker and NBC on hand to broadcast from a missile silo; then we had the tragic shooting involving two Airmen; and then the flaming Humvee. Add all of that to the joyous return of the deployed Airmen, the Open House & Air Show coming up next weekend, plus the normal routine of maintaining hundreds of nuclear ICBMs, and you’ve got a bunch of busy, engaged troops. Hats off to all the Airmen and those who support them!

May 7, 2008 | Filed Under events, military | 1 Comment

Mother’s Day…Dinner?

I know that most people enjoy taking Mom out for a Mother’s Day brunch, but check this out: the good folks over at the Park-n-Ponder are offering a Mother’s Day dinner! Choice of bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin, steamed shrimp, or lobster tail, served with all the trimmings. I like this idea - let Mom sleep in on Sunday, serve her breakfast in bed, and then out for a good dinner with a view of the geese and swans. Maybe they’ll even brew up a batch of their second-to-none Lobster Bisque (normally served only on Fridays) if you ask nicely! Give Fred a call at 453-3448 to make your reservations.

May 7, 2008 | Filed Under restaurants, events | 2 Comments

Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center

Wow! Quite a party the L&C folks threw today! As promised, the baby bison (two of ‘em!) made an appearance - pretty awesome. Unfortunately, I arrived too late to see the other critters, but it was great to see the displays and attractions: demonstrations of guns, tipis and pelts, games for kids, live music, food. I’m no expert, but it sure looked like a good turnout, too - lots and lots of people, and it sure seemed like everybody was having a good time. And for the first time, I explored the lower part of the Center, and was quite impressed - can’t wait to go back for a more thorough visit.

Here’s a few pix from today - as always, just click to see ‘em all and in full-size. If you visited the Center today, what was your favorite part?

May 4, 2008 | Filed Under history, events, animals | Leave a Comment

L&C IC Anniversary

Today is the day! The Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center will celebrate ten years with a party for everyone: free admission, live animals, food & drink, etc. Check it out:

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May 4, 2008 | Filed Under history, events, animals | Leave a Comment

The Pointer Sisters

Well this is timely: over at MetaFilter, someone posted a bunch of YouTube links featuring The Pointer Sisters, who will be appearing in Great Falls on Saturday as part of the “Mayfaire” fundraiser for Benefis.

My favorite Pointer Sisters pop song is “Automatic” - check out the shoulder pads on the Sister in purple!

May 1, 2008 | Filed Under events, music | Leave a Comment

You Can Help

Janna and some friends have put together a fund-raiser called “Light Up The Dark” to benefit the two teen girls who were beaten and sexually assaulted several weeks ago. The benefit will be held on Saturday, April 26, at the Black Eagle Community Center. And not only will the money help the families, but the community support will show the girls that most people are good, and hopefully give them some peace of mind.

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April 22, 2008 | Filed Under events, civics, people | 2 Comments

Release The Geese 2008!

A perfect day! And right on time - 10:30 am - the truck brought a whole mess o’geese (and swans!) to the edge of Gibson Pond, dropped open the gate, and the magic happened - take a look - it’s like a clown car with feathers!

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April 18, 2008 | Filed Under events, animals | Leave a Comment

Friday Geese, Weekend Snow

Does it get any better than this? Geese + Snow = Happy! Later this morning the city will conduct the annual - and oh-so-whimsical “Release The Geese” (and swans!) ritual at Gibson Pond, and then we have a near-100% likelihood of snow on Saturday and Sunday! In fact, some of the more optimistic (or pessimistic, if you’re a snow-hater) forecasts predict as much as 12 inches of snow across the plains, and up to 24 inches in the mountains. Check it out:

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