Christmas Stroll Poster – In collaboration with the Downtown Bozeman Association, The Emerson Center for the Arts & Culture is looking for a poster design that expresses the unique holiday spirit of the Bozeman community. This year’s winning submission will herald in the 41st annual Christmas Stoll as posters, marketing collateral, and join the beloved Christmas Stroll poster collection. The winning artist will be featured in an article in the “Official” Christmas Stroll edition of the Chronicle and receive $200. Submissions are due Monday, November 8. For submission guidelines visit http://www.theemerson.org/call-for-art/.

Student Perspective: Reflections on a Global Pandemic
The Emerson believes in the ability of ART to, tell a story, help us reflect, make us feel, to heal, or mark a moment in time. Now in tour third academic year interrupted by COVID 19, this is an invitation for students to share with our community how COVID 19 has impacted them. Students K-12 in southwestern Montana are invited to submit an original work of art in their own voice, reflecting how COVID 19 has impacted them, their family, education, or community. Submissions in traditional 2-D and 3-D art, digital, written, or performed medias, and completed between March 2020 and the submission date of November 17, 2021 will be considered.

The exhibit will show December 2021 – January 2022
Submission Deadline: Wednesday, November 17

For submission guidelines and more details visit http://www.theemerson.org/call-for-art/.

BOZEMAN – Fire restrictions have been updated for properties managed by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks in several counties. 

Fire restrictions have been rescinded for FWP properties in Beaverhead, Silver Bow, Madison, Jefferson, Broadwater, and Lewis and Clark counties. These counties were previously in Stage-1 fire restrictions. 

Stage-1 fire restrictions at FWP sites ban campfires except where specifically exempted and allow smoking only in vehicles and areas 3 feet in diameter that are cleared of flammable materials. Gas or propane stoves that can be turned on and off are still allowed.  

Fireworks are always prohibited at FWP sites.  

For more information, visit mtfireinfo.org. 

The United States of America has no shortage of tourist attractions. From nature retreats to modern theme parks, the USA has it all. However, when you are with your kids, you would want something subtle, enjoyable, and perhaps educational in some way.

With that in mind, let us check out 5 of the most exciting tourist attractions in the US that your kids must-see. For this list, we have a mix of entertaining, as well as educational tourist attractions that they are sure to enjoy.

#1 Disney World

There was no doubt that the Disney World in Orlando, Florida was going to top this list. After all, Disney World (or Disneyland, as you may call it) is arguably the world’s most popular tourist attraction and theme park for kids. Some even claim it to be the happiest place in the whole world for kids. And given how excited kids feel the moment they hear about a visit to Disneyland, the legend just might be true.

During the visit, be sure to take as many pictures as you can, especially with the characters roaming around the park. Children also enjoy looking at the various castles and replicas from the movies they have seen. On top of that, the souvenir stands will always have something that your kids will fancy.

While the rides at Disneyland run just fine during rainy weather, you should still stay updated on the latest weather conditions. The weather in the USA is quite uncertain, and a light downpour can turn into a heavy thunderstorm in the blink of an eye.

So it is always a wise decision to keep an eye on the weather forecasts before you make the trip. Checking the weather forecast at least 2-3 days before the trip should suffice, as weather apps these days are highly accurate.

#2 Statue of Liberty

A tour around the Statue of Liberty on a ferry will give your kids the chance to see one of the most iconic symbols of freedom in the world. Lady Liberty stands tall as a symbol of hope, freedom, and democracy. 

Although the tour might seem educational at first, kids are sure to enjoy climbing to the top of the statue and get a view of New York from there. Plus, kids can also get off at Ellis Island and take a quick tour of the immigration museum.

#3 San Diego Zoo

Although there are many zoos in the US, the San Diego Zoo stands out due to its enormous size, and the diverse wildlife you get to see there. 

This 100-acre zoo is known for its animal protection and conservation. Your kids will get to see more than 4,000 animals, many of which are rare, and endangered species. Walking around the whole place is bound to get tiring at some point. Hence, you should take the bus tour through Balboa Park, especially if you have kids who are not too fond of walking.

#4 Universal Studios

Like Disneyland, the Universal Studios in Orlando is a place and opportunity for your kids to immerse themselves in a world of fantasy. From fun rides to exciting shows, the Universal Orlando Resort has it all. 

The place is more suited for teens, especially if they are into movies like Fast and Furious, Transformers, Harry Potter, and so on. There are entire rides and sections dedicated to these amazing franchises. Getting to see these attractions up close is an experience your kids will never forget.

#5 The National Mall

This 2-mile strip of green land between the U.S. Capitol, and the Lincoln Memorial serves as a tourist attraction for millions around the world. The two buildings themselves are symbolic. They stand as witnesses that the US is indeed the land of the free.

While it may not be a location that interests all kids, they should still visit it, given how much stuff there is to learn about democracy and the United States in general. Kids will also enjoy visiting the Washington Monument, Museum of Natural History, and the National Air and Space Museum.

The National Mall is a great place to gather in-depth knowledge about history and learn how the US became the world center of democracy.

So what are you waiting for? Pack your bags, take your kids, and let them enjoy the best America has to offer.

Montana State University’s Leadership Institute has launched a student-run podcast series with a pilot episode featuring the former president of Ireland, Mary Robinson.

The podcast series, known as the “Leadership Institute Podcast at Montana State University” — or “L.I.P. at MSU” — will feature leadership inspiration and insights from experts locally and around the globe. Vanessa Zamora, a student associate with the Leadership Institute, called the L.I.P at MSU “a show with front-row access to the brightest minds on campus and around the world.” Zamora, a junior majoring in business management and psychology, anticipates that students will release a new episode of the series once each semester as material allows.

In the episode, listeners can hear Robinson discuss leadership and climate justice with MSU President Waded Cruzado during a visit Robinson made to MSU in April. The episode is narrated by second-year student Lauren Bigler. The podcast is available for free on Spotify and at https://thelipatmontanastateuniversity.buzzsprout.com/.

Carmen McSpadden, director of the MSU Leadership Institute, said developing the podcast series is a great learning opportunity for students.

"Our students grow by creating and doing,” McSpadden said. “In addition to exposure to great minds, students' skills develop through the act of podcast making and by asking great questions to the leaders they interview."

For more information, call the MSU Leadership Institute at 406-994-7275 or visit montana.edu/leadership or facebook.com/MSULeadershipInstitute.

Celebrating 38 years in Bozeman, the one and only original, MBC’s Nutcracker, returns to the Willson Auditorium on December 4th and 5th.

MBC is thrilled to welcome back exceptional guest artists from the world-renowned New York City Ballet, Sebastián Villarini-Vélez and Indiana Woodward, performing the celebrated roles of Snow King and Queen and Sugar Plum and her Cavalier. Villarini-Vélez and Woodward will share the stage with Soren Kisiel, co-director of Broad Comedy, MBC's own company dancers, and over 100 dancers from the community.

Another highlight of this charming production is the live orchestra. Maestro Lee Mills, Associate Conductor of the Seattle Symphony and four-time winner of the Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award, will conduct the Bozeman Symphony playing Tchaikovsky’s beloved score.

MBC’s Nutcracker was first performed in the lobby of First Security Bank in 1983. Over the years, the first weekend in December has become synonymous with the Bozeman Christmas Stroll and MBC’s Nutcracker, a cherished holiday tradition for countless performers and their families and friends, as well as the thousands of audience members who share in the experience year after year.

MBC’s production of The Nutcracker is one of the largest artistic collaborations in the region featuring the talents of master choreographers, distinguished guest artists, accomplished dancers, live musicians, seasoned stage technicians, costume and lighting designers, and a host of dedicated volunteers. MBC’s Nutcracker is a treat for the entire family.

For Nutcracker tickets contact the Montana Ballet Company at 406.582.8702 or online at
www.montanaballet.org. All seating is reserved. Ticket prices range from $20 to $65.
Season after season, MBC, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, produces quality performances, enchanting audiences with new and updated artistry of dance, choreography, music, and design. MBC's 38th Annual production of The Nutcracker promises to be dazzling! For more information please contact: Montana Ballet Company, 406.582.8702 |info@montanaballet.org.

Gallatin County leads Montana in population growth. New census data shows a jump in population of 33%, bumping Missoula County down to the second largest populated county in MT. With new growth, comes new business opportunities. Credova Financial, a leading buy now, pay later payment method focused on the outdoor lifestyle industries, has recently announced it’s new headquarters location as downtown Bozeman. With roots in Nevada and the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range, it’s no wonder Credova has effortlessly married outdoor recreation with an emerging popular payment method. Credova is making the headquarters relocation to Montana a continuation of the company tradition of exploring the outdoors. 



“Montana is the logical fit for our company,” says Dusty Wunderlich, CEO. “We wanted to move our headquarters to a location that echoed our values and allowed us to continue to lead an outdoor adventure lifestyle. Bozeman gives us access to incredible outdoor recreation opportunities and an inspiring space to develop our payment solutions,” In a COVID era of remote work, the company has already announced plans for multiple local hires across several departments. Wunderlich continues “We want to contribute to the economic health of Bozeman and are doing so by firstly by creating new job opportunities in the fintech and buy now, pay later spaces.”

Credova has contracted local Bozeman design group, A&E Design to build out their new headquarters. “We worked closely with Credova, mixing modern and mountain vibes in the space to reflect their values and outdoor lifestyle,” said architect Jennifer Dunn.

Both the outdoor recreation industry and buy now, pay later payments experienced a boom during COVID. “People want to get outside and experience some relief from the struggles that COVID has created,” Wunderlich continues. “As a company, it’s incredible to be able to provide a reduced barrier to outdoor recreation activities through a payments solution that consumer really gravitate towards.”

In fact, data from The Civic Science report shows 15% of Americans plan to hike more than usual due to COVID-19. Hiking, hunting, fishing, and camping are all activities that have seen a significant lift because of lockdown era. Even more impressive is the popularity of the buy now, pay later payment methods on the market. During COVID, industry reports show 55.8% of people in 2021 stated that they had used Buy Now, Pay Later. This number is up from 37.65% in July 2020. It appears Credova is uniquely positioned to leverage growth across both sectors.

Perhaps you’ve been wanting to replace your sofa for a while now but feel as though you simply do not have the money. This is common. Many people believe the myth perpetuated by big-box retail stores that quality furnishings for your home have to be expensive—this couldn’t be further from the truth, it’s simply how they justify their high costs. There are many places where you can find affordable sofas for sale. You just have to be willing to ditch the chains in favor of shopping direct.

What do we mean when we say “shopping direct?” This means buying your products directly from the manufacturer using a site like the one linked above. When you purchase directly through the manufacturer, you get to cut out the middlemen. For most large retail chains, this is the source of the higher price tags because they charge you a premium to help them cover some of their overhead costs. It’s a shady practice, but they get away with it with pretty packaging.

You’ve been there. You walk into a gorgeously designed sales floor with perfectly pre-staged rooms set up. A friendly greeter offers you refreshments at the door before a seemingly helpful and informative employee comes over to offer you a little bit of useful information on the products. There is actually a psychology behind this. The refreshments are intended to make you feel obligated to make a purchase because you’ve accepted a gratuity, and many customers feel compelled to buy something after they’ve done this.

That helpful employee? They’re a commission-based salesman who looks at you and sees dollar signs. You may think he came over to help—but they’re actually there to guide you to whichever product they think will yield them the highest commission. It’s part of their training and it’s how they make money.

At 1StopBedrooms, you can cut out all of these shady sales tactics. Designers are standing by to help you find the products you need—and the best part is, they don’t earn a commission based on your purchase. Their job is exclusively to uphold 1SB’s standard of integrity in the community by offering the highest degree of customer service possible. The only benefit they will experience from their interaction with you is a positive response to your survey questionnaire—ensuring that your satisfaction is their highest priority.

Once you’ve worked with these designers to find a product that will meet your needs, all that’s left is to navigate over to the site and enter some information about what kind of product you’re after. Perhaps you’re looking for something mid-century modern or maybe Scandinavian. Or maybe you’re forgoing a theme altogether and filtering by size, color, or shape. Whatever you’re looking for, you’re sure to find it with 1SB’s seemingly infinite selections.

With free delivery and financing available if you need it—paired with a low-price guarantee—it seems pretty clear you just found your next favorite online furniture store.

The 7th annual Bozeman's Choice Reader Poll went live on October 1, 2021. Bozeman's biggest, giant, massive, Valley-wide reader poll covers everything from local restaurants to local media to news issues to arts & entertainment and everything in between. And remember! You get to add your own responses that can, in turn, be voted on by everyone else.

If you haven't voted before sign up for an account now to be ready to cast your votes through Nov 7, 2021: https://bozemanmagazine.com/signup

The Association of Fundraising Professionals, Montana Chapter (AFP), and Montana Nonprofit Association (MNA) once again teamed up to honor philanthropic and nonprofit impact in the state of Montana this year. Three individuals and three nonprofit organizations that embody the spirit of philanthropy and nonprofit leadership in Montana were recently honored at a virtual celebration which may be watched on MNA’s YouTube channel. This year’s Montana’s Best awardees have had an extraordinary and vital impact in the state. They have risen to unprecedented challenges in unprecedented times and have carried their communities and Montana forward. Those awards and awardees are:

The Upholding the Community Fabric: Safety Net Services Award which recognizes a nonprofit organization whose direct work in the health and human services arena was awarded to Missoula Food Bank and Community Center (MFB) for offering emergency food assistance and child nutrition programs to the Missoula community and beyond. MFB stayed open throughout the pandemic with a skeleton crew of dedicated volunteers and staff, permitting those in danger of food insecurity to stay fed and healthy. Staff worked tirelessly to solicit donations, and rallied the community to respond with abundance, allowing families to thrive despite job loss, illness, or homelessness. In addition, MFB took responsibility as a NeighborWorks Montana partner to help those in danger of eviction to apply for the state's Emergency Housing Assistance funds helping individuals and families throughout Montana stay in their homes.

 
The Upholding the Community Fabric: Vibrant Communities Award which recognizes a nonprofit organization whose work focuses on community vibrancy and vitality was awarded to Leadership Montana for their state-wide effort to bring leaders from business, labor, healthcare, education, nonprofits, and the government to address issues affecting Montana. This past year, they brought together representatives from the American Prairie Reserve and the United Property Owners of Montana to listen to each other’s perspectives and concerns. The conversation, held with the Leadership Montana Class of 2020, demonstrated that Montanans can effectively engage in civil discourse, with grace and dignity, even on issues with vastly different views and high stakes for all involved.

 
The Champion for the Common Good Award which recognizes a nonprofit organization whose work has resulted in significant progress on a policy issue was awarded to Public Land Water Access Association Montana (PLWA) for their advocacy for all those in Montana, regardless of financial ability, to fish, hunt, hike, camp, canoe, run, ride, and ski on public lands and waters. PLWA has worked to educate the public and private landowners about public access rights, oversee land transfers to ensure public access remains, and when necessary, take cases to court to ensure the public never lose their right to recreate in Montana. This work has brought Montana the Stream Access Law, the Bridge Access Law, the ability to access on State Trust Lands, and opened millions of acres of land to the public.

 
The Outstanding Young Professional Award which recognizes fundraisers under the age of 35 was awarded to Kiersten Iwai, Executive Director of Forward Montana Foundation (FMF). Kiersten leads the largest, youth-led civic engagement organization in the state, ensuring the next generation of Montana is empowered to engage in civic processes and democracy. In the past year Kiersten led a Get out the Count campaign for the 2020 Census, ran the largest youth voter mobilization campaign in FMF’s history, broadened and increased the scope of its advocacy work, and hired and supported staff in new areas of the state. During a year when nothing was certain, Kiersten's commitment to bold new ideas was a huge force behind FMF’s growth and success.

 
The Outstanding Fundraising Professional Award which honors a professional who works for a nonprofit, charitable organization was awarded to Mary Rutherford, President & Chief Executive Officer of Montana Community Foundation (MCF). Mary has thirty years of philanthropic leadership experience in Idaho, Washington, Alaska, and Montana. During her time at MCF, Mary has transformed the Foundation into an effective philanthropic leader that is raising millions each year to benefit nonprofit organizations throughout Montana. Under Mary’s tenure with MCF, 772 new philanthropic funds have been created, including the Montana Disaster Relief Fund/Covid Relief Fund to provide immediate support to communities affected by disaster, the Colstrip Impacts Foundation to provide $10 million to the community of Colstrip, 85 nonprofit endowments to benefit specific nonprofit organizations by providing a perpetual source of income each year, 81 Donor Advised Funds to provide grant dollars to nonprofit organizations, 548 Planned gifts to provide future benefit to Montana communities, and 12 Scholarship funds to support Montana students.

 
The Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser Award which honors an individual that coordinates and motivates groups of donors and volunteers for the benefit of charitable institutions was awarded to Donald B. Gimbel. Despite nearing his 80th year and still holding a full-time job in private wealth management, Don serves on the boards of nine nonprofit organizations in Park and Gallatin counties. Don’s achievements in the past two years include but are not limited to raising half a million dollars for the Shane Lalani Center for the Arts, raising $157,000 for Counterpoint Inc., being elected to be the first non-judge to sit on the Executive Committee of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges as the Treasurer, and being interviewed by the late Brian Kahn for the program Home Ground, in which he spoke at length on the importance of philanthropy and the health of the nonprofit sector.

For more information about Montana’s Best: Nonprofit and Philanthropic Awards, please visit this webpage or contact Leandra Lipson at llipson@mtnonprofit.org or 303-564-1330.

On October 12, 2021 after careful consideration, City Manager Jeff Mihelich has rescinded the City of Bozeman drought declaration based on Bozeman’s current water supply conditions and recent precipitation.
 
Bozeman’s drought conditions have been improving as winter approaches. The recent snow fall moved the City’s drought score below a Stage 1, allowing for the City to safely rescind the Stage 1 drought declaration. As winter makes it way to the Bozeman area, staff will continue to monitor snowpack, precipitation and local water supplies on a regular basis.

Stage 1 drought surcharges are no longer in effect. Bozeman residents will see Stage 1 surcharges on the bill they receive in October, which reflects usage in September. 
 
City Manager Jeff Mihelich says, “We are grateful for the recent snow that put us in a position to suspend this drought declaration. Bozeman community members stepped up this summer by reducing outdoor water use, which had a positive impact on our water supplies. I urge folks to remember that these behaviors may be necessary next year as well. Consider doing your part now and prepare to conserve next summer.”

The Water Conservation Division offers many programs and rebates to conserve water in your home and beyond. To find the latest info and to learn more about ways you can decrease water usage at home visit: https://www.bozeman.net/government/water-conservation.