Poised at the convergence of two vastly different regions, the Beartooth Mountains and the Great Plains, Tippet Rise Art Center is home to a unique combination of geologic and paleontologic features. Thanks to the organization’s partnership with the Yellowstone Bighorn Field Association (YBRA)—located south of Red Lodge, Montana—Tippet Rise will offer Geo-Paleo Tours for the second year in a row. These tours allow guests to learn about and explore the art center’s geologic and paleontologic histories through landmarks and features scattered across the art center’s 10,260 acres. These features not only offer clues to the geologic processes that formed this extraordinary region, they also offered inspiration to the artists who created the site-specific sculptures nestled into the canyons and perched atop the hills at Tippet Rise.


The tours will be led by representatives of the YBRA, lecturers with extensive academic knowledge of and many years of field research in the region’s paleontology (the fossil record stretches back for eons in Montana, from small marine life to enormous dinosaur bones and more recent mammals), structural geology (the distribution of rocks and how different strata lay on top of one another), and other topics.

2018’s Geo-Paleo Tours take place on five consecutive Thursdays beginning July 26 and run from 9AM-1PM. Space is limited, and advanced reservations are required. Tours go on sale Monday, July 9. The cost is $10.00 per person and free for anyone 21 and under. Tour details and reservations are available on the Tippet Rise website at tippetrise.org/tours.

Touring the Tippet Rise sculptures
The art center’s third season begins Friday, June 29 with Friday, Saturday and Sunday sculpture tours. Visitors can explore Tippet Rise and its breathtaking sculptures by shuttle van, or via nine miles of hiking and biking trails that meander through the art center’s canyons and hills. Van tours cost $10.00 per person and are free for anyone 21 and under; hiking and bicycling tours are free of charge. Whether touring by foot, bicycle or van, space is limited, and reservations must be made in advance. For more information and to register, visit tippetrise.org/tours.

 
Other news from the art center
The trail system at Tippet Rise continues to expand! Over the winter, a one-mile pathway was built to connect the Cottonwood Campus, where the Olivier Music Barn and other structures stand, with the trails that lead to the art center’s monumental sculptures. The new path begins at Patrick Dougherty’s Daydreams and meanders along a gentle rise through a grassy meadow.

The City of Bozeman’s Police Department and Fire Department are preparing for another busy Fourth of July. This is one of the few times a year when Bozeman residents are legally allowed to use fireworks within city limits. However, not all fireworks are permitted for use and Police and Fire ask that you pay close attention to restrictions when using fireworks this holiday.

 
Per the City of Bozeman municipal code Ch. 18 Article 5 fireworks that are permitted include:
    •    Fireworks that go no higher than 15 feet and not designed to explode
    •    Sparklers under 12 inches in length
    •    Wheels with up to 6 "driver" units or tubes
 
Fireworks can be used July 3-5 during the following times:
    •    July 3 Noon to 12:00 a.m.
    •    July 4 Noon to 1:00 a.m.
    •    July 5 Noon to 12:00 a.m.
 
Allowed locations for using fireworks:
    •    Private property with permission (fire work type restrictions still apply)
    •    NOT upon major arterial streets or alley’s
    •    NOT within three hundred (300) feet of any public park
    •    NOT within 1000 feet of any hospital, nursing, or assisted living facility
    •    NOT under or upon a motor vehicle, whether moving or not
    •    NOT within 300 feet of any gas station
 
Remember this Fourth of July to abide by firework restrictions and practice safety first. Police Chief Steve Crawford reminds everyone that, “Alcohol and fireworks do not mix. The Police Department will have extra patrols on duty during the holiday and will be on high alert for impaired driving.” Additional information can be found in the City of Bozeman Municipal Code and on the City of Bozeman website.

Summit Aviation is excited to host our 5th Annual Cancer Survivor Flight Camp July 9-13th!  In partnership with Eagle Mount and Big Sky Kids, Summit will give four young cancer survivors - Darla, Emily, Richie and Brett - the experience of a lifetime as they spend the week learning how to fly and taking in Montana's sights from above.

For these individuals, who have braved the challenges of diagnosis and treatment, the Flight Camp is a chance to escape limitations and discover new skills and abilities.  During the course of the week, these campers will learn the basics of flight and how to manipulate aircraft controls, take an awe-inspiring flight over Yellowstone National Park, experience the thrill of a cross-country flight to Driggs, ID and perform their own takeoffs and landings.

Former camper Morgan shares “It was outrageously fun... I had this feeling like we had won.  We had, in some way, triumphed; went from cancer to flying."  The Flight Camp is powerfully life-changing for the participants and goes far beyond aerodynamics.  It’s about rising above challenges and pain, breaking free of limitations and taking back control. 

If you would like to know more about the Cancer Survivor Flight Camp or how to donate, please visit www.youcaring.com/cancersurvivorflight or contact Summit Aviation at 406-388-8359.

The Belgrade Community Market (farmer’s market) will be open Thursdays at Lewis & Clark Park in Belgrade, MT from July 5, 2018 through Sept 6th, 2018. The market will open at 4pm and close at 7pm every Thursday Night. The goal of the Belgrade Community Market is to provide a venue for Homemade, Handmade, and Homegrown Vendors to sell their local products, as well as to provide the community with a fun, family friendly place to buy produce and local goods from their neighbors. The Belgrade Community Market is run by a 100% Volunteer Committee under the umbrella of the Belgrade Community Coalition. Our Second Annual Market will have 35 vendors spaces which cost $10 per 10 foot space per evening, as well as five additional spaces available at a variable cost to be used by business sponsors and non-profits. Currently our market is FULL for the 2018 season, however nightly spaces may become available each week for new vendors.

The Belgrade Community Market will be one of three events happening on Thursday Nights in Belgrade. The Belgrade Community Library will be hosting their summer reading program events in tangent with the market, and the Belgrade Community Coalition will be hosting “Belgrade Summer Nights” which will include lawn game tournaments, bingo, history tours, and much more - also in tangent with the Belgrade Community Market.

“It’s the best time of year to live in Belgrade. You don’t want to miss out on these family friendly, community events every Thursday this summer.” - Christine Stoppa, Market Director

*The market is currently accepting vendor applications for our nightly waiting list. Please contact BCMVendors@gmail.com for more details. We are also looking for local businesses interested in sponsoring our 2019 Market Season. Please contact BCMSponsors@gmail.com for more details.

A Montana State University faculty member has found that, like most good things in life, a majority of healthy microbes in newborn cattle come from their mothers.

Carl Yeoman, associate professor in the Department of Animal and Range Sciences in the MSU College of Agriculture, recently published findings in Scientific Reports, a publication of the prestigious science journal Nature. The paper, Yeoman said, is the first to demonstrate the maternal influence on calves’ earliest gut microbes, primarily where they come from and how they assemble in differing regions of the gut.

Yeoman, who researches and teaches about the microbial ecosystems in various animals, including cattle and sheep, said the paper is part of a five-year research project he began when he joined the faculty at MSU. He added that its findings “have the potential to contribute greatly to the field of animal health and production.”

“Gut microbes, particularly the earliest gut microbes of livestock and other mammals, play important roles in animal health, including aiding the maturation of the animals’ immune systems and sustaining nutrition,” Yeoman said. “Understanding the routes of transmission of these important gut inhabitants allow us to influence their dissemination to future generations and provides motivation to protect these maternal microbial reservoirs.”

In the paper, Yeoman and his co-authors describe finding that a large portion of microbes that colonize a cattle’s gut were derived from contact with the mother — during and after birth. Additional authors on the paper include Suzanne Ishaq, a former postdoctoral fellow in the Yeoman lab, now a research assistant professor at the University of Oregon; Elena Bichi from the Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Leon in Spain; Sarah Olivo, MSU research assistant, James Lowe, director of the College of Veterinary Medicine at at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Brian Aldridge, professor of veterinary clinical medicine at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

By examining microbes present in 10 regions of a calf’s gastrointestinal tract during the first 21 days of its life, the study showed that many important microbes are transferred to the calf from three unique maternal reservoirs.

“We show that, on average, 41 percent of microbes in gut mucosa (surface) and 46 percent in the gut lumen (gut contents) of calves are acquired from their mother’s vagina, colostrum and the skin around the udder,” Yeoman said. “The udder, in particular, had more influence than we expected.”

The gut mucosa is the largest immunological environment of the body. Colostrum is the first form of milk produced by mammals immediately after giving birth.

Microbes such as methanogenic archaea, which remove inhibitors of the break down of dietary fiber, but, in so doing, produce the potent greenhouse gas methane, were also found to be uniquely acquired from the mother cow’s vagina, he said.

According to Yeoman, almost all studies to date have focused on microbes of the rumen — the largest of four stomach chambers in cattle that serves as “a large fermentation vat where bacteria and other microorganisms break down feed.” But Yeoman and his fellow researchers believe there are more “good” microbes to discover elsewhere in a cow.

“We show that the microbes in the rumen are very different from those in other parts of the gastrointestinal tract, and there is good reason to think microbes in other parts of the gut are also important to nutrition as well as health,” he said.

Yeoman published similar results to the cow study about lambs in the Journal of Animal Science last year. Those findings show that microbes vary through differing regions of the lamb’s gut and that fiber-degrading bacteria exist both in the rumen as well as the colon. Yeoman said these microbes, along with other health-promoting bacteria in the small intestine, were all found to be important to feed efficiency of the animal.

Feed efficiency is a measurement to determine the ability of livestock to turn feed nutrients into milk and meat, measured in pounds of milk or meat produced per pound of dry matter consumed.

Both findings pave the way for a better understanding of how to optimize livestock gut microbiota during the early stages of life, Yeoman said, which could lead to healthier and more productive livestock.

“Dr. Yeoman is using cutting-edge microbiological science to find answers to some of agriculture’s big problems,” said Patrick Hatfield, head of MSU’s Department of Animal and Range Sciences. “The overall health of an animal, its ability to reproduce and how well it can fight off disease happens on the molecular level. His research is providing the agricultural industry with insight into the earliest interactions of an animal that has a life-long impact.”

Yeoman’s research is supported by the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station, the Bair Ranch foundation, and Land ‘o’ Lakes. His work has also received funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Health multistate research projects, which connects Yeoman’s research expertise to other groups throughout the U.S. Yeoman’s USDA-NIFA multistate project uses molecular tools in order to enhance the competiveness and value of U.S. beef.

“There are a lot of unseen interaction that you can only pick up through molecular tools,” Yeoman said. “The way microbes interact with the animal host and with each other occur at the molecular level. Understanding these interactions is critical for the success of animal and the producer’s ability to be economically and ecologically sustainable.”

Jean Hannula speaks so softly, you have to lean in a bit to hear her. Listen carefully. She holds decades of wisdom about the big lessons small children can teach us.  

For the last 23 years, Hannula has been a mainstay as a lead teacher in the Montana State University Child Development Center, a laboratory preschool of the Early Childhood Education and Child Services program in the MSU College of Education, Health and Human Development.

Hannula will say goodbye to the “countless little faces and families” she came to know from working in early childhood education for 40 years when she retires from MSU in August. Throughout her time in classrooms over four decades, Hannula said she “hasn’t seen a single carbon copy of any one child” and that “not a day went by” that she didn’t learn something from children.  

Originally from Great Falls and from a family of educators, Hannula holds a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Montana. Before joining the CDC, she worked at several preschools in Massachusetts and then started a parent co-op preschool with colleagues there. She moved to Bozeman in 1992 and worked at a private preschool before joining the CDC in 1995.

 “It just fits when you find your niche,” Hannula said. “I’ve learned so much from the children over the years. Mostly about how to be a human being.”


The philosophy that effective teaching comes first from learning is something Hannula has applied in more than one kind of classroom. A 40-year student of Aikido, a Japanese martial art that’s a blend of philosophy, religious beliefs and martial studies, Hannula holds a third-degree black belt and practices weekly at age 66. She attributes Aikido in her approach to “teaching as a form of spirituality.”

“Aikido is about staying calm in chaos and finding a certain peace, a kind of focus,” she said. “Obviously, there’s a lot of parallel to that in a classroom full of 3- and (4-) and 5-year-olds.”

Other Aikido tenets Hannula says she incorporates in teaching are an openness to learn, respect and reflection.

“You get back what you put into children, the same way you do in just about everything else,” she said. “If you give them hate and anger, that’s what they reflect back. If you give them patience and love, that comes back, too. So much of that begins with respecting them as individuals.”

Hannula’s calm nature and ability to connect with young learners earned her a distinguished staff award from the MSU College of Education, Health and Human Development and the MSU Alumni Foundation last year. Colleagues also nominated her for the university’s Pure Gold award program for her contributions to the CDC, and she received that award last fall.

CDC Managing Director Miranda Wheeler said Hannula’s career longevity, patience and reverence with children are traits hard to come by.

“I’ll miss Jean and everything that Jean represents,” Wheeler said. “This program is truly known for her and in some ways built around her emotional intelligence and her ability to connect with children. She has focused on the value of relationships throughout her career, which has made an enormous impact on this community.”

Calling Hannula one of her own mentors, Wheeler said Hannula has helped countless families and children navigate the transition to preschool and kindergarten, always “providing a sense of calmness and kindness and working with each child exactly where they’re at.”
Miranda Gilham, a recent MSU alumna in elementary education, attended CDC as Hannula’s student 18 years ago. Gilham returned to the CDC in 2015 and worked there as a teacher’s aide before graduating from MSU in May.

“As a child, I vividly remember Jean’s gentle and caring nature,” Gilham said. “As an adult, watching her passion and her creativity in the classroom was a privilege.”  

The support of MSU’s early childhood education faculty, directors and student aides over the years have been especially valuable, Hannula said, as she was able “to experience the gamut” of early childhood education curricula and programs.  
Less concerned about a child’s academic achievement or meeting curriculum standards, Hannula says the most important skill for young children to acquire is emotional capacity. To build confidence and emotional resilience, Hannula said, children need to be given “the good kind of challenges” to work through.

“I think our culture kind of removes the opportunity for young children to understand their feelings and to find their own way through them,” she said. “I was never concerned about getting a child to perform academically. What I always worked on, with every child, was negotiating their own feelings and with others.”

After all, Hannula said, these children are the “people of the future who are going to have to engage with friends, teachers, workplace colleagues and family. They’re going to need a foundation that’s more than skills-based.”

The learning happens in what Hannula calls “lightbulb moments” for the children.

“If a child is crying and upset over something small – that’s very real for them in that moment,” she said. “It may not be real to us, but it’s very real for them. I always tried to use these moments to help them find a way forward. That can be pretty powerful.”  

Waiting to retire until she felt the CDC was in “a good place,” Hannula said she feels confident leaving the children under Wheeler, her fellow lead teachers and within a project-based curriculum.

“Right now, the school is at its very best,” Hannula said. “There have been strong directors in the past, but now there’s a creativity, a joy and a consistency that I feel good about leaving the children with.”

An avid biker and hiker, Hannula says her retirement will be spent quietly and in nature. Responding to the notion that it takes big hearts to educate small children, Hannula said teaching has been a personal calling for her.

“I’ve been so blessed to have received so much love over the years,” she said. “I feel very humbled and honored for that.”

An open house celebrating Hannula's retirement will be held on Thursday, Aug. 23, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the CDC. The public is invited to join. 

Montana State University will implement new safety and security measures at Bobcats home football games for the upcoming season, including a new clear bag policy.
 
"The safety of our student-athletes, employees and fans is the No. 1 priority," said Bobcat Director of Athletics Leon Costello. "MSU's new security measures are intended to maintain the safety and security at football games while increasing efficiency for fans entering the venue."
 
The clear bag policy allows transparent bags no larger than 12 inches tall by 6 inches wide by 12 inches deep, as well as 1-gallon, clear, resealable plastic storage bags. Select non-clear bags will be allowed into Bobcat Stadium, including small clutch bags (no larger than 4.5-by-6.5 inches), seat cushions without pockets or zippers, and medical and diaper bags. All bags are subject to search.

 
Fans can each bring in one approved bag and one of the smaller clutch-style bags. They can also bring coats and blankets into the stadium that do not fit in an approved bag.
 
Items prohibited under the new policy, whether opaque or clear, include backpacks, large purses, oversized tote bags, mesh bags, drawstring bags, camera bags, binocular cases and fanny packs.
 
The new policy is in effect only for Bobcat Stadium and Bobcats football games. Bobcat Athletics will provide season ticket holders with one free, compliant clear bag per ticket account. The MSU Bookstore and other local retailers will also sell compliant clear bags.
 
The clear bag policy is based on similar policies used by the National Football League and the Southeastern Conference, Costello said.
 
MSU is also installing walkthrough metal detectors and gate cameras at the stadium. Both of these are designed to make entering the stadium more efficient for fans, said MSU Police Chief Frank Parrish.
 
"We've worked with Homeland Security and law enforcement on the local, state and federal levels to implement these new security measures," Parrish said. "We've made changes each of the last few years to make our events safer for fans, and these are the next steps in our ongoing initiatives."
 
"Montana State University is proud to lead the charge across the Big Sky Conference for increased fan and participant safety," said MSU President Waded Cruzado.
 
More information and a full list of prohibited items, with images, are available at msubobcats.com/clearbags.

Alayna Rasile said she has heard all about the lowly milkweed and spirited insistence that it should be banished from gardens.
 
“I hear that a lot, that people are trying to get rid of it,” said Rasile, a graduate student in the Montana State University School of Art. “But really, it is a very cool plant (that is) essential for the migration of the monarch butterfly.”
 
The butterflies often lay their eggs on the underside of milkweed leaves, and plant is food for newly hatched larvae. But milkweed is also essential to Rasile’s business, May West designs. She and her collaborator Charlotte X.C. Sullivan, who farms in Vermont, are reviving the use of milkweed floss as a component in sustainable garments.

Collaborating across the country, the two are tapping into some of milkweed’s little-known qualities: The fibers are buoyant, having been used in flotation devices in World War II, and the fibers possess insulating qualities similar to down. They call the age-old plant a “future fiber.”
 
Rasile, who is a weaver and textile designer, is working on transforming the milkweed floss into a commercially viable fiber while in a three-year program to earn a master of fine arts degree at MSU. The only fiber artist in her program, Rasile is open to what a fine art focus can bring to her work.
 
It is that openness that has helped Rasile evolve from a scientist to an artist and businesswoman. A native of Helena, Rasile graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in geography. She worked in archaeology in Washington, D.C., in design in Philadelphia and eventually moved to New York City, where she got a job with a professional quilt maker who quilts maps.

 
“That was the gateway for me to become a textile artist,” Rasile said.
 
She was accepted into a yearlong residency at New York’s Textile Arts Center, which she said solidified her interest in textiles, and in 2015 Sullivan came to her to see about using milkweed as a fiber.
 
“We were completely taken by the silky milkweed fluff,” she said. “We were interested in what we could do with it.” Rasile spun the fiber into a thread, which they then wrapped around a rock that they dropped into water — “And we found the magical quality of flotation,” Rasile said. That experiment the pair to establish the three pillars of their milkweed-based design studio: flotation, migration and thermal regulation.

 
Rasile said that milkweed, which supports the monarch by providing its only food and habitat throughout its lifecycle, is most abundant in the Midwest. But sprawling development and herbicide use has made the plant scarce, which puts the monarchs at risk, she said.
 
“It takes four generations of butterflies to migrate from along its flyway from Canada to Mexico, so habitat must flourish along that flyway,” Rasile said, explaining why the International Union for the Conservation of Nature has classified the butterfly as “severely threatened.”  She said she hopes companies such as hers would make milkweed commercially viable and therefore more widely grown, which would benefit the monarch butterfly.

 
Rasile said that Montana is “not in the thick” of milkweed habitat. It is also not in the center of textile or fashion innovation. “But my heart is in Montana,” she said, so she applied to MSU’s MFA program, and she has included a fine arts component to her work in sustainable fibers.
 
“I come at it from a conceptual angle,” she said of her scholastic work.
 
Sara Mast, MSU professor of art and one of Rasile’s mentors, said that Rasile’s broad interdisciplinary background and her passion for making a significant social contribution with her work is innovative.
 
“This distinctive ‘artscience’ project, one of her many engaging endeavors, is a model for what is possible when art, design and fashion are integrated with a strong environmental ethic,” Mast said.
 
MSU has also helped support her work at May West. Rasile received a Blackstone LaunchPad micro-grant for $1,000, which was matched by a grant from the Vermont Fiber Works. Rasile said the grants will let the company hire a professional pattern maker and have a sample made.
 
“Those little grants have made a huge difference for us,” said Rasile, who said that processing of the fiber is currently done by hand. She said the company’s goal is to develop a jacket that will be free of microplastics and will be similar in cost and thermal qualities to many popular outdoor down jackets.

“These will be values-driven products,” she said. “It is really future-focused.”
 
Rasile’s other project is Absorka, a clothing line developed from vintage and reclaimed materials sold at Wilder Goods at the Emerson and the Cactus Blossom Collective in Livingston. And, she is building a cabin in Helena that she hopes to use as an art studio.
 
“I have a lot of ideas,” she said.

The Red Ants Pants Foundation announced its 2018 community grants to projects that increase women’s leadership, promote rural communities and support working family farms and ranches.

Thanks to ticket sales and donations from past Red Ants Pants Music Festivals, the foundation has now given more than $100,000 in mission-based community grants.

“Long after the final act plays at the Red Ants Pants Music Festival, fans are making a lasting impact on rural communities, family farms and ranches all while fostering women’s leadership,” said Sarah Calhoun, Executive Director of the Red Ants Pants Foundation and Producer of the Red Ants Pants Music Festival. “Whether it’s supporting the Garfield County Fire Foundation’s work to educate teens or helping girls identify new leadership opportunities, the 2018 community grant recipients are doing important work that we are proud to support.”

Grant applications are considered based on how they best help fulfill the Foundation's mission of developing and expanding leadership roles for women, preserving and supporting working family farms and ranches, and enriching rural communities.

The 8th Annual Red Ants Pants Music Festival will take place on the Jackson Ranch, a working cattle ranch, outside of White Sulphur Springs July 26th – 29th. The 2018 festival will support the Red Ants Pants Foundation’s women’s leadership programming and 2019 Community Grant Cycle.
 

American Legion Auxiliary Girls State
Location: Statewide, MT
Grant Awarded: $1,500
The American Legion and its Auxiliary Units sponsor Boys and Girls State sessions in every state of the nation. Girls State of Montana is in its 70^thyear and has served close to 14,000 girls in Montana. Each year, 100-300 high school junior girls are provided a week-long interactive government learning experience. The summer session is a non-partisan participatory program that teaches young women responsible citizenship grounded in ethics, the principals of our nation's founders, and respect for God and Country. The Red Ants Pants Foundation grant will help to support rural attendees’ registration and travel expenses to attend this prestigious leadership conference.

Garfield County Fire Foundation
Location: Jordan, MT
Grant Awarded: $5,000
Garfield County Fire Foundation's mission is to secure early suppression fire equipment for the county and to serve as a recovery agent mitigating the negative impacts of wildfire on the community.  Parents of ranch-raised teens frequently delegate them to drive support vehicles alongside an adult operating fire suppression equipment on wildfires. The Red Ants Pants Foundation grant will help to fund our internet-delivered Teen Fire Safety mini-curriculum. This five-course series uses videos, personal testimonies, and written materials to develop awareness of fire behavior, educate on what to do if a piece of farm equipment bursts into fire, and demonstrate how to work with firefighters and other individuals. The lessons can be incorporated into science, math, FFA, 4-H and other courses for grades 7-12, or used to enhance community fire awareness for all ages.  
 
Kalispell FFA
Location: Kalispell, MT
Grant Awarded: $600
Kalispell FFA has been a part of the Flathead Valley since 1930 and continues to be a community-supported program serving two high schools and over 300 students annually.  The Red Ants Pants Foundation grant will be used to purchase women’s-specific welding gloves to help promote young women’s success in our welding program. FFA provides opportunities in a wide variety of career experiences, from traditional career paths to global agriculture.
 
Make it Happen Montana - Kindness Project
Location: Lewistown, MT
Grant Awarded: $1,600
Make It Happen Montana's Kindness Project was created because all too often only athletic achievements or unfortunate acts of poor judgement dominate the spotlight in our schools. This project celebrates the brilliance of quiet student heroes who inspire our teachers every day with their dedication, imagination, and thoughtfulness. The funds from the Red Ants Pants Foundation grant will help cover costs of the production and assembly of this heartwarming project that honors these outstanding young people and seeks to make kindness cool again.

Miss Rodeo Montana, Inc.
Location: Statewide, Montana
Grant Awarded: $1,000
At Miss Rodeo Montana, Inc., our vision for each young woman is that they may acquire a greater understanding of the world around them, improve self-esteem and self-confidence, gain valuable life skills, and gain opportunities for advancement of their personal and professional lives. We strive to also educate the public about the professional sport of rodeo, our western way of life, and the role of agriculture. With this grant from the Red Ants Pants Foundation, we plan to help bridge the gap between the local pageants and state organization.  We will be offering assistance to local royalty to attend our yearly state clinic that we host in October. We hope to educate and help as many local girls as we can to gain knowledge and experience in interviews, public speaking, etiquette, and other tools needed to be a successful rodeo ambassador.
 
Turner Farms
Location: Missoula, MT
Grant Awarded: $1,700
Turner Farms is a small, organic family farm on the fringe of Missoula. Our mission is to continue the legacy of agriculture in our area while educating the next generation about the importance of local food and local farmland. Funds granted by the Red Ants Pants Foundation will be used to purchase garden carts for the farm to be used by the groups of young people and school groups who come to work on the farm, and also for families to use during our annual Pumpkin Festival as they explore the farm!
 
Wheatland County Chamber of Commerce
Location: Harlowton, MT
Grant Awarded: $2,100
Wheatland County and its residents are interested in promoting community-focused educational and recreational events in Harlowton and are working diligently to improve the Wheatland County Fairgrounds. This half-million-dollar project includes the renovation of the grandstands built in 1910, repairs and improvements to the youth fair building, and replacing the perimeter fence and arena lights. The Red Ants Pants Foundation grant will be used to add a sink and running water to the youth fair building. 
 
Women Leading Montana
Location: Statewide MT
Grant Awarded: $1,500
Founded in 2017, Women Leading Montana inspires growth and creates common ground through connection and celebration.  In Great Falls this October, we will bring together a diverse group of 150 women from all corners of the state of Montana to sharpen leadership skills, make meaningful connections, and celebrate our accomplishments in Montana. Our convening will include leadership training, issues education, an awards ceremony, community tours, and of course celebration. The Red Ants Pants Foundation grant will support rural attendees’ participation in this regionally-significant event. 

To learn more about the Red Ants Pants Foundation's mission and programming, visit www.redantspantsfoundation.org.