Over 7,600 Scouts in Montana were able to experience adventure, learn life-long skills and positively impact their families and their communities this year.  The Boy Scouts endeavor to build the best possible leaders, neighbors and citizens for our communities.
 
We recently helped Eric, a first-class scout attend Summer Camp at K-M Scout Ranch near Lewistown with a campership.  Eric comes from a single-parent home and they don’t have the financial means to participate in Summer Camp.  While at camp, he earned five merit badges and participated in other camp adventures.  Without donations, Eric would not have had the financial means to attend camp.  Today, as a Star Scout, he is helping younger Scouts learn the skills they will need to succeed.  Each day, your support would make stories like Eric’s possible.

We are launching our 2015 Year-End Campaign.  Our goal is to help an additional 80 scouts realize their potential through the Scouting program.  You see, even though we helped over 7,600 Scouts so far this year, there are still scouts in need of our support.  The Montana Council invests $250 per Scout per year offering the best possible program to our youth.

That’s why our goal for this campaign is to raise $21,000 by December 31st for the Mountain Valley District.  If we raise that amount, we’ll be able to support 80 more scouts.  FIRST, we need your help to make it happen.
 
Would you be willing to make a donation now to help us meet our goal and support more Scouts?  We simply can’t do it without you.  Your support will make a real, lasting impact in the lives of those who are still in need.
 
You can donate online at www.montanabsa.org/support.  Please make your donation today.  The impact you make on our communities is lasting.

Community Café hosts Bozeman High School ProStart culinary students as guest chefs. The Community Cafe is part of the HRDC’s Emergency Food and Nutrition Initiative, working to improve food security in SW Montana. The Café has been providing hot, nutritious meals to the community since 2012. As Montana’s only “Pay What You Can” Café, you pay whatever you feel the meal is worth. If you can pay more, please do. If you have a little less, pay what you can and enjoy!

This Friday, December 11th, the meal is being prepared in partnership with Bozeman High School’s ProStart Culinary Program. The ProStart Program helps develop aspiring culinarians in high schools across the nation, and hosts an annual state and national invitational competition. Last year, the program’s culinary students won the State Invitational after working at the Café, a feat we hope to help them to repeat.

This partnership supports provision of the Café’s three tenets of food, opportunity, and education by offering participants an opportunity to develop as a team while providing delicious, nutritious meals for our community. The meals being prepared by the students can be enjoyed from 5-7 pm at the Community Café, located at 302 N. 7th Avenue in Bozeman, December 11th, February 5th, March 4th and 25th, and April 15th and 29th.

The Community Cafe is part of the HRDC’s Emergency Food and Nutrition Initiative, working to improve food security in SW Montana. The Café was founded when an increase in families needing emergency food boxes was observed at the Gallatin Valley Food Bank. The Community Café is Montana’s only Pay What You Can restaurant, open 365 days a year for dinner from 5-7pm. The HRDC was established in 1975 and serves Gallatin, Park, and Meagher Counties in southwest Montana.  HRDC is a non-profit community action agency, dedicated to strengthening community and advancing the quality of people’s lives.  

Bozeman's 7th annual Baby Formula drive is about to kick off. Infants from the age of 1 day old to around 6-8 months rely solely on their mother’s milk or baby formula for food. Mothers who need to immediately return to work, have medical complications or can’t breast feed for one reason or another are forced to take up the very expensive option of formula. 

Our local food bank has an overwhelming need for formula, it is increasingly common for mothers on welfare to “stretch” their formula by adding too much water and subsequently hospitalize their children. Mothers don’t do this out of neglect; they just couldn’t afford to purchase more and don’t realize the consequences of thier actions.

The fact is, very few people donate formula to food banks. The Gallatin Valley Food Bank says that when they are lucky enough to receive any, it is usually off the shelves seconds after they put it on. It is one of the hardest items for them to stock.

So, in your holiday giving as you are looking over your list of charities, please pick up a can or two of formula and help us get these babies the food they need. I will be collecting formula from December 5th – December 20th to be delivered to the food bank. But, don’t forget you can also drop a can in the any Food Bank collection bin year round.

This year, Altitude Gallery (134 E. Main St.- drop off hours are 11:00-4:00 Mon.– Sat.) has been nice enough to act as a public drop off for any purchased cans. Or, feel free to call Kama at 509-939-5383 and I can come collect it from you.

Opening a Montana medical care savings account by Dec. 31 to help with medical expenses not covered by a health insurance policy or flexible spending account can help individuals save on taxes, according to Marsha Goetting, a family economics specialist with Montana State University Extension.

Up to $3,000 of a deposit into the account, per taxpayer, is deductible from an individual’s 2015 Montana adjusted gross income, thus reducing taxes, Goetting said.

"This tax advantage does not apply to your federal income taxes, however, and should not be confused with the Federal Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) or Federal Flexible Spending Plans (FSAs)," she said.

To establish a medical savings account, individuals should contact their financial institution, such as a bank, savings bank or credit union, Goetting said. She added that a Montanan with taxable income over $17,100 could save about $207 in state income taxes by depositing the maximum $3,000 in a Montana medical savings account.

"It doesn't matter if you have already paid your 2015 medical bills either by check, credit or debit card," said Goetting. "You can add up those eligible expenses, make a deposit by Dec. 31 of this year and reimburse yourself from your Montana MSA as late as Jan. 15, 2016."

The key word is “paid,” Goetting said.

“You can reimburse yourself for paid eligible medical expenses as late as Jan. 15, 2016. But if you haven't yet paid those bills because your health insurance company hasn't sorted out what it will pay and what you still owe, you still can reimburse yourself for those 2015 expenses after Jan. 15, 2016.”

The amount available to reduce your Montana income is the total deposited, not the amount used for medical expenses during the tax year, Goetting said.

“For example, if you deposited $3,000 in an MSA but only used $100 for eligible medical expenses during 2015, you still get to reduce your income for Montana income tax purposes by $3,000. The remaining $2,900 is available for paying medical expenses in future years.”

A married couple who individually establish medical savings accounts can receive a $6,000 deduction if they file a joint Montana income tax return, Goetting said, and the couple will then save about $414 on their state income taxes. However, joint medical savings accounts are not allowed.

Medical savings account amounts held in the name of a husband or wife can be used to pay the medical bills of either spouse or their dependent children, Goetting said.

“For example, if a husband had $6,000 in medical expenses during 2015, $3,000 from his own MSA and $3,000 from his wife's MSA could be used for his bills,” Goetting said.

Eligible expenses include medical and dental insurance premiums, long-term care insurance, dental care (including orthodontists), eyeglasses or contacts or prescription drugs that are paid during the year. Not covered are medical-related bills that have been already covered by a supplemental, primary or self-insured plan.

Goetting said that Montana generally accepts as eligible expenses any that are listed in the IRS 502 Publication, "Medical and Dental Expenses," which is on the Web at www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p502.pdf.

An MSU Extension MontGuide can help individuals decide if they would benefit from a Montana medical care savings account.  The publication (MontGuide 199817 HR) is free if picked up from a local MSU County Extension office. Or, it can be downloaded for free from the Web at http://msuextension.org/publications/FamilyFinancialManagement/MT199817HR.pdf.

The Artists Gallery in the Emerson Cultural Center will feature the work of Janel Acheson, Marie Melton and Tom Wolfe during the month of December. The show will include a Featured Artist Reception where you can meet the artists and share a glass of wine.



Janel Acheson grew up in Montana and was inspired by her mother’s creativity and artwork along with the outdoors she spent a great deal of time in. It is important to Janel that her work captures honest and unfiltered moments within nature. “Through my artwork I strive to bring a level of respect to my animal subjects, large, small, feathery and fuzzy. I am especially interested in capturing their ‘reality’, which includes every quirk and imperfection.”

Marie Melton was born in Montana but has lived all around the world. She was a photographer for forty years but always enjoyed working with her hands: oil and watercolor painting, wood carving and making jewelry. Marie’s latest interest is the exploration uniting fibers and textiles.



Tom Wolfe’s intent is to forge items that serve a purpose, are pleasing to the eye, and invite touch. After 30 years as head of MSU’s Farrier School, Tom’s interest in traditional blacksmithing has broadened from practical and therapeutic horseshoeing to creating functional art for the home and garden. Tom’s work focuses on traditional blacksmithing techniques. Joinery is done through the use of rivets, collars, mortise and tenon joints and forge-welds.

Teams of Montana State University business students turned $25 into more than $5,500 in just three weeks, and the students then donated those funds to three local non-profit organizations.

The students were participating in the “Entreprentice Challenge,” part of an upper-division class on entrepreneurship in the MSU Jake Jabs College of Business and Entrepreneurship. As part of the course – which is taught by management professor Brent Rosso – student teams were given $25 in start-up capital and asked to launch real businesses that were as profitable and impactful as possible in just three weeks. Rosso challenged the students to act entrepreneurially and grow those funds for local causes.

The student teams launched a variety of creative ventures, including a homemade bike taxi, a mobile photography service and a dog walking service, among others. Other teams manufactured and sold products like metal bottle openers, apparel, furniture, stickers and jewelry. Some of the ventures continued on as real businesses even after the class project had concluded.

Steel Anderson, a member of the student team that created metal bottle openers to manufacture and sell, said the team’s biggest challenge was the short time period.

“It was a race against the clock to make a profitable venture happen in only a couple weeks’ time,” Anderson said. “At the same time, it was a very rewarding moment when we realized just how much money we had made under the time constraint. Thanks to our creative financing strategies, we were able to sell nearly $1,500 worth of product before we had to shell out any cash for manufacturing.”

Anderson added that there were a few obstacles along the way, but the team “improvised and kept forging ahead, keeping our eye on the end goal."

By the end of the designated three weeks, the student teams had raised a combined total of $5,525 in profit – a record amount since Rosso created the Entreprentice Challenge at MSU five years ago. Contributions from the Entreprentice Challenge to local non-profits over the last five years now totals more than $20,000.

This year, the student groups chose to donate the funds to three local organizations: Gallatin Valley Land Trust, Family Promise of Gallatin Valley and the Community Café.

Gallatin Valley Land Trust received a donation of more than $2,800 from the challenge. The funds will be used to install a bench at the newly expanded Bozeman Pond Park and to provide funding for the development of the park, including a playground and trails, according to Kelly Pohl, associate director of the land trust. Pohl added that the class’s name and year will be engraved on the bench.

“We are so grateful to receive the funds from the Entreprentice Challenge,” Pohl said. “We were inspired by the creativity and vision of (the students’) start-up businesses. The funds they raised will have an impact right here in our community by helping GVLT develop the newly expanded Bozeman Pond Park. We’re excited to have these future entrepreneurs in our community, making this a better place to live.”

Rosso noted that the goal of the project is for students to experience the full entrepreneurial journey.

“They demonstrated a lot of ingenuity and resourcefulness, and I think they surprised themselves with how much they could accomplish with so little,” Rosso said. “It was really meaningful for all of us to see how doing well and ‘doing good’ can go hand-in-hand.”

Anne Cantrell, MSU News Service

                                                                                         photo Kelly Gorham

A renowned Montana State University professor who is one of the world’s leading experts in paleontology and who has inspired many to follow him in the field, is retiring.

Jack Horner, Montana University System Regents Professor of Paleontology and Curator of Paleontology at Museum of the Rockies, announced his retirement, effective June 30, 2016.

Horner has brought distinction to MSU and the Museum of the Rockies, and he will be deeply missed, said Shelley McKamey, executive director of the Museum of the Rockies.

“During his 33-year tenure as curator of paleontology at the Museum of the Rockies, Jack and his team of staff and graduate students have amassed the largest collection of dinosaur fossils from the United States,” she said. “He opened the science of paleontology to the general public and sparked the imagination of countless aspiring paleontologists.”

McKamey said a public event celebrating Horner’s career is being planned for early summer, with the date to be announced.

Horner is widely recognized as one of the world’s foremost paleontologists and was a leader in the now-common theory that dinosaurs were warm-blooded social creatures more like birds than cold-blooded animals like lizards. He is also well-known for serving as a scientific consultant to the popular “Jurassic Park” movies directed by Steven Spielberg, and his TED Talk, “Building a Dinosaur from a Chicken,” has been viewed more than 2 million times. He is also the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship “Genius Grant” award.

In the 1970s, Horner discovered the first dinosaur eggs in the Western Hemisphere, which led to the understanding of dinosaur parenting. He discovered and named the duck-billed herbivore dinosaur Maiasaura, which means “good mother lizard.”

In 2013, Horner was awarded the Romer-Simpson Medal, the highest honor given by the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, for his lifetime of achievement in vertebrate paleontology. Horner was nominated for the award by longtime collaborator and University of California, Berkley professor Kevin Padian, who wrote, “It is difficult to imagine someone who, rising from such considerable obstacles, has achieved so much, given back so much to the profession, stimulated so much new investigation and supported so many younger colleagues and students.”

Earlier this year, Horner was recognized as one of the world’s top 24 scientists by Newton Graphic Science Magazine along with top researchers in science and medicine, including Nobel Prize-winning physicist Albert Fert.

A national search for Horner’s replacement will be launched in late summer or early fall of 2016, after strategic planning for the museum’s paleontology department that will include opportunity for input from all stakeholders in the museum, university and community, McKamey said.

“It will not be easy to replace Jack,” she said. “The Museum of the Rockies will take the time to do it thoughtfully and deliberately. “

Stock up Thanksgiving grocery shopping at The Bozeman Winter Farmers’ Market continues this Saturday, November 21st!

The Bozeman Winter Farmers' Market continues in its eighth season on Saturday, November 21st, 2015. Do your grocery shopping at the Bozeman Winter Farmers’ Market! Shoppers can find hot breakfast, coffee, eggs, cheese, artisan meats, fermented products, honey, soaps & salves, wool, and in the Emerson Cultural Center WEAVER ROOM from 9 a.m. to noon. The market dates for 2015-2016 are: November 21, December 19, January 9, 16 & 30, February 6 & 20, March 5 & 19, and April 2 & 16. You’ll be surprised on how much Montana has to offer during the fall, winter, and spring season!

At this weekend’s market, shoppers can stock up on groceries for a perfectly local Thanksgiving meal as well as shop at the Emerson Center’s annual Holiday Bazaar.

The BWFM is sponsored by Downtown, Bozeman, Community Food Co-op, Gallatin Valley Botanical, Montana Parent, Rocky Mountain Gardening, Bozeman Magazine, and Broken Ground. Join us for another season of fine local foods!  Who’s your farmer?

For more information, visit www.bozemanwintermarket.com or contact Stephanie Archer, Market Manager, at wintermarketbozeman@gmail.com.

Between Black Friday and Cyber Monday sits “Small Business Saturday”, a day dedicated to helping small businesses and their communities.  This November 28th is Small Business Saturday, a day to celebrate and support the local small businesses that boost the economy and invigorate neighborhoods across the country.  Downtown Bozeman and our over 200 small businesses are proud to take part in Small Business Saturday, and we’re encouraging everyone to “Shop Small” in Downtown Bozeman and everywhere on November 28th.

In honor of Small Business Saturday, there will be FREE PARKING in the Downtown Parking Garage for the entire day of November 28th!

Why Shop Small?
For every $100 spent at local businesses, $68 returns to the community.
Small businesses employ half of all private sector employees.
Small businesses represent 99.7% of all employer firms.
For every year over the last decade, 60-80% of new jobs were generated by small business.
The money you spend locally actually pays off for you.  When you shop small, more of your money is reinvested into local schools, jobs, taxes, wages, and other communal needs.
Just last year, 370+ advocacy organizations, 160+ corporations, and elected officials in all 50 states and Washington D.C. declared their support for Small Business Saturday.
To date, more than 3.3 million Facebook users “liked” the Small Business Saturday

*Note: “Why Shop Small?” information taken from: www.smallbusinesssaturday.com

Visit www.downtownbozeman.org or www.shopsmall.com to learn about other ways to get involved and support your favorite small businesses. Thank you for supporting Small Business Saturday 2015 and Bozeman Small Businesses November 28th and throughout the year!