Conner
Conner, MT · Arts & Culture
Char-Koosta News
Elders’ Week powwow celebrates elders, culture and community
PABLO, Mont. — Students, teachers, staff, families and visitors from as far away as Mandaree, North Dakota, gathered at Two Eagle River School to celebrate the end of the school year and Elders’ Week with a social powwow. A grand entry featuring veterans, two Kootenai warriors, dancers, students,...
NBCMontana
Bigfork Summer Playhouse kicks off 67th season
BIGFORK, Mont. — The Bigfork Summer Playhouse will kick off its 67th season this Saturday. Known as ‘theatre by the bay’ it brings top tier collegiate and professional talent from across the country to the shores of Flathead Lake. BSP presents Broadway-style musicals and a special ‘Hits’...
NBCMontana
Historic Old Main celebrates 130th anniversary in Columbia Falls
COLUMBIA FALLS, Mt. — The Columbia Falls Historical Society celebrated the 130th anniversary of a building that helped shape both the community and veteran care in Montana. What began as a home for Montana’s aging Civil War veterans, has grown into a veteran campus that continues serving former service members a century later.
Lake County Leader
Art4Polson to brighten community with six more murals
Sandpiper Art Gallery and Gifts is continuing its Art4Polson program, which has brightened the community since 2024 with public art projects. Thanks to the Greater Polson Community Foundation, fundraising efforts and individual donors, coordinator Natalie Raffield says Art4Polson will be able to finance six murals in Polson this summer. Artist Vicky Poole will create a “Welcome to Polson” mural on the side of Flathead Signs and Graphics on Hwy. 93. The giant letters spelling Polson will depict cute pups belonging to the building owner, Jodee Lemm, SKQ Dam, horses on Wild Horse Island and Mike Lemm’s treasured old car. The side wall at Second Nature Gifts and Goods on Main Street will boast four giant metal panels that each depict a season. The background on the wall will blend each season’s colors. These panels will be printed from paintings by gallery member Raffield. The originals and prints will be sold to raise money for future public art. Bobbie Goldberg, owner of Second Nature, in enthused about depicting the animals that people come to Montana to see and some of the attractions that are nearby, namely Wild Horse Island, McDonald Lake, Glacier National Park and The Bison Range. A fun mural,
NBCMontana
Historic Lake McDonald Lodge stands strong after more than 100 years
WEST GLACIER, Mont. — After more than a century of welcoming visitors to Glacier National Park, the historic Lake McDonald Lodge has stood through harsh winters, wildfires, and more. Lake McDonald Lodge sits along the shores of Lake McDonald and has served as one of the first hubs for...
Whitefish Pilot
A better way to affirm respect for all in Whitefish
On May 18 Councilor Rebecca Norton asked the City Council, by a show of hands, to support drafting a Council proclamation declaring June “Whitefish Pride Month.” All my colleagues supported it. I was opposed. I want to explain why. My opposition is not a statement against any resident of Whitefish. Every person in our community deserves dignity, respect, safety, and equal treatment under the law. That includes our LGBTQ residents, visitors, workers, families, and business owners. But I believe City Council should be careful when it begins issuing official proclamations around specific identity groups. The goal may be inclusion, but the effect can be something different: the City starts choosing which groups receive formal recognition and which do not. Whitefish already has a civil rights policy in its City Code. The code prohibits discrimination in residential real estate transactions, and Whitefish has been recognized as one of the Montana communities with a local nondiscrimination ordinance that includes sexual orientation and gender identity protections. That matters. It means our community has already made a policy statement where policy belongs: in the law. We should enforce that principle fairly and consistently. My concern is the next step. If the Council proclaims June
Whitefish Pilot
Photos: Talented young musicians at spring concert
Photos from the Whitefish Middle School spring orchestra concert on Thursday, May 21. Katerina Fredrickson, seventh grade cellist at the Whitefish Middle School spring orchestra concert on May 21. (Kelsey Evans/Whitefish PIlot) Hudson Barbieri, seventh grade violist, at the Whitefish Middle School spring orchestra concert on May 21. (Kelsey Evans/Whitefish PIlot) Annika Hughes and Ania Muhlner, eighth grade violinists at the Whitefish Middle School spring orchestra concert on May 21. (Kelsey Evans/Whitefish PIlot) Blake Watson, seventh grade bassist at the Whitefish Middle School spring orchestra concert on May 21. (Kelsey Evans/Whitefish PIlot) Evie Rutledge, seventh grade cellist at the Whitefish Middle School spring orchestra concert on May 21. (Kelsey Evans/Whitefish PIlot) Luke Rothfuss, eighth grade violinist at the Whitefish Middle School spring orchestra concert on May 21. (Kelsey Evans/Whitefish PIlot) Vivian Parsons, eighth grade violist at the Whitefish Middle School spring orchestra concert on May 21. (Kelsey Evans/Whitefish PIlot) The Whitefish Middle School seventh and eighth grade orchestra spring concert on May 21. (Kelsey Evans/Whitefish Pilot)
Whitefish Pilot
Westland Impact Festival returns to Whitefish
The 2026 Westland Impact Festival is June 11-13 in Whitefish. Presented by Project Winterland, the event features 26 films, 15 panels, 40 speakers, live music, four venues and an opening night Indigenous Forum, and all of it all battery powered. Screenings and panel discussions will take place at the O’Shaughnessy Center, Depot Park and at participating downtown businesses. Westland Impact Festival reflects the belief that when people gather with purpose, new ideas and new partnerships can take root, helping to find solutions to environmental and social issues. “The Impact Festival we’ve built this year has truly exceeded every expectation. The sheer volume of groundbreaking content, noted experts, artists, speakers and elite scientists would have been hard to imagine when we set out to chart our programming just five months ago,” said Anderson Rosenthal, founder. “We’re pulling off a first of its kind, clean energy demonstration project on-site.” The festival includes films and filmmakers from Sundance Labs, the Rockefeller Foundation, National Geographic, the Bush Foundation and Emmy winning producers and writers —along with projects that include Academy Award-winning actors, directors, and celebrated names. The festival brings a curated selection of experts spanning finance, biomimicry, sustainable data center innovation, attainable housing, regenerative
Hungry Horse News
130 years ago, the cornerstone was set for Old Main
Editor’s note: This article appeared in the Columbian Newspaper on June 4, 1896. Portions of the article are reprinted below. A GREAT DAY A Day Devoted to Honoring the Memory of the Dead, and to Comforting the Living, Soldiers who Preserved the Union of the States—The Greatest Gathering in Flathead County’s History. A day of national colors, a day of enthusiasm, a day of patriotism, and a day of genuine enjoyment. Such was Memorial Day of 1896 to the three thousand people who gathered at Columbia Falls last Saturday. Years may roll along before so large a crowd is again seen in Flathead Valley, but patriotism and devotion to the union and its preservers has a monument in Montana, of which a cornerstone was so auspiciously laid on Saturday. It was an ideal day, an ideal gathering with not an incident to mar the pleasure of the throng. The local Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.), Women’s Relief Corps (W. R. C.), and the Sons of Veterans joined civic societies and citizens at 8:45 a.m. to form columns at the Odd Fellows Hall in Columbia Falls. They marched to the day’s first formal exercises at Columbia Cemetery (Woodlawn Cemetery today).
The Western News
New flags, old traditions grace Libby Cemetery angel re-dedication
The fourth re-dedication ceremony of the unnamed angel which keeps watch over area veterans who have served their country in the Armed Forces at Libby City Cemetery was greeted by perfect weather and more than 1,000 American flags. The statue was restored in 2022 for its centennial celebration. Members of the American Legion Auxiliary No. 97, led by Terry Pitcher, worked in concert with other groups including the Libby Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1548, to restore the angel. The two veterans groups worked together again to place “Old Glory” at the sites of those who served in the military. The angel statue was built in 1922 and displayed in downtown Libby to honor World War I veterans. It was moved to the city cemetery in 1968 and now watches over all those who served in the creation and defense of the United States. But, on Veterans Day 1969, vandals struck in what The Western News described as “a vicious attack.” “The statue’s head and arms were broken off and two metal plaques were torn from the base of the statue,” reads the caption of a black and white photograph of the figure. The defacement came during a wave of
NBCMontana
Blues guitarist Tab Benoit to perform in Kalispell
MISSOULA, Mont. — Grammy-nominated blues guitarist and vocalist Tab Benoit will bring his Soul of the Swamp Tour to the Wachholz College Center on Friday, June 5. Benoit is known for his Cajun-influenced blues sound, fiery guitar work and passionate live performances. Over his career, he has released more than 20 albums and earned praise for hits including “Nice and Warm” and “Cross the Line.”
Lake County Leader
Commissioner pens book on epic basketball team
Aside from his day job as Lake County Commissioner, Gale Decker is an unabashed sports fan – especially when it comes to his alma mater, Ronan High School. That dedication to his hometown and high school sports fueled a deep dive into the evolution of basketball in Montana and the surprising success of Ronan’s 1928 and ’29 boys basketball teams that’s at the heart of his book, “The Reservation Tornadoes.” “I am not a book writer by trade,” he notes in the introduction. “I’m better described as a researcher who is absorbed by history and sports.” As a former player and a coach of Ronan girls and boys sports for 40 years, Decker brings an experienced eye to his topic. But his skills as a researcher carry the book well beyond the story of an epic team dubbed The Reservation Tornadoes. Perusing the records of the plethora of smalltown newspapers in existence in the 1920s, he tells how basketball evolved to fill a niche for winter sports, offering exercise during the cold months between football and track and field; discusses the evolution of gymnasiums, which hadn’t been regarded as an essential component of public schools in those early years; and
Flathead Beacon
‘A Labor of Love’; Owners Complete Restoration of Historic Bigfork Inn
Gracing the entrance of downtown Bigfork, the Bigfork Inn has served as a staple of the lake town’s character and a place of community gathering since the early 1900s. For the past nearly five years however, the doors of the Bavarian-style building have remained shut as a transformation took place inside – a “labor of love” that began with a decision that was “just plain stupid,” structural engineer Michael Brooks said with a grin.
Whitefish Pilot
Outstanding in his field, out hiking in the mountains: Local scientist wins Nobel Prize
Dr. Fred Ramsdell, winner of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, gave a talk at the Wachholz Center in Kalispell May 9, and although he collected the award six months ago, he said, “It’s still surreal.” He and his wife, Laura O’Neill, built a house near Whitefish in 2019 and spend the colder half of the year hiking, biking and skiing nearby. Ramsdell recounted the story of the Nobel Foundation phone call, which he missed, while he, O’Neill, and their dogs were on a camping trip in the Absaroka Mountains. The next day, while driving back into an area with cell service, O’Neill’s phone lit up with hundreds of messages from friends, congratulating Ramsdell for winning the Nobel Prize. "I was one of the last people to know I had won the prize,” he said. “It was an interesting experience. Apparently, I'm the hardest person they've ever had to find to tell them they won a Nobel Prize. I’m a little proud of that, actually.” He shared a photo of the unusual mail he received – a handwritten envelope from the Nobel Prize, containing a 29-page instruction manual for Nobel Prize recipients. He wondered what the Whitefish mail