Montana State University and the Bozeman community rallied for a big win in the 15th annual Can the Griz food drive, with supporters donating a record of more than 171,000 pounds of food and more than $74,000 to the Gallatin Valley Food Bank.
 
Can the Griz and the corresponding Can the Cats food drive in Missoula is an off-field competition between MSU and the University of Montana to see which school can collect the most donations for its local county food bank.
 
This year, MSU and the Bozeman community donated 171,554 pounds of food and $74,636 to the Gallatin Valley Food Bank, according to Kathy Tanner of the MSU Office of Activities and Engagement, which coordinates Can the Griz. The Can the Cats food drive in Missoula brought in 121,609 pounds of food and $78,272.49 for the Missoula Food Bank, Tanner said. She added that both communities surpassed last year’s totals, which were also record amounts: Last year, MSU and the Bozeman community donated 100,939 pounds of food plus approximately $47,500 to the Gallatin Valley Food Bank, while donations from UM and the Missoula community in 2013 totaled 56,498 pounds of food plus nearly $61,000.
 
Bozeman and the MSU community have won the competition for 14 out of the 15 years it has been held, Tanner said.
 
“This annual food drive is one tremendous opportunity for Montana State University and the University of Montana to use our long-running football team rivalry to benefit others. It’s a privilege to collaborate with our area food banks and to engage so many on and off campus Bobcat and Grizzly fans in is such a fun, yet very meaningful activity,” Tanner said.
 
Tim Trzinski, director of the Gallatin Valley Food Bank, said the food drive will help provide Thanksgiving food boxes to approximately 1,600 households – or between 6,000 and 6,500 people – in the Gallatin Valley, including people served by the food bank’s main office in Bozeman as well as satellite offices in Three Forks and Big Sky.
Some of the donations will carry over and be used after Thanksgiving, he added.
 
Trzinski called the generosity of the community tremendous.
 
“Everyone coming together is what makes this happen,” he said. “We’d like to share our most sincere thanks for what the community helps us do. We at the food bank are so very appreciative, as always.”

The Drug Enforcement Agency Administration (DEA) is tasked with combating drug smuggling and use within the United States. In addition to the enforcement mission, the DEA is also committed to reducing the demand for drugs through their Demand Reduction Program (DRP).

A major component of the DRP includes collaboration with community coalitions, fraternal and civic organizations, youth-serving agencies, state and local government, and school districts to reduce the demand for drugs.

During a time when prescription drug abuse continues to be the nation’s fastest growing drug problem and is taking the lives at an increased rate, the DRP is providing brochures, fact sheets, drug abuse curricula, and disseminating information through presentations at conferences and school forums.

The DRP uses three major concepts of drug prevention research as the core of their strategy to develop and disseminate effective drug information to youth, parents, and caregivers:

   1. The teen brain is still developing. The frontal cortex, the area of judgment is not fully developed until the age of around 25; therefore, it is very important that teens do not use drugs.

   2. When youth perceive that drugs are harmful, they will not use drugs.

   3. The longer a child delays using drugs, the lower the chances are of having a substance abuse disorder or getting addicted to the drug.

The DEA also maintains two websites to provide information on the harmful effects of drugs.

JustThinkTwice.com   provides a wealth of information about various drugs including a section on facts and fiction about drugs, the consequences of using drugs with topics on addiction, and impaired driving. GetSmartAboutDrugs.com   provides drug education information for parents and caregivers to help identify their child’s drug use, drug paraphernalia, and warning signs of abuse.

For more information about the Demand Reduction Program visit:  c-coda.org.

http://c-coda.org/prescription_drugs

As Montanans prepare for the winter holiday travel season, a website developed at Montana State University is set to provide motorists in the Rocky Mountain region with up-to-the-minute information on weather and road conditions. 

 

Kaleidoscope Youth Theater’s Fall Class Session culminated in a wonderful Showcase performance where participants in KYT’s after school program, Club Kaleidoscope, strutted their stuff to show off the skills they have been building over the past eight week session. The Showcase included everything from improv and theater game demos to tap dancing and belting out classic musical theater numbers. The various acting classes wowed the audience with their scene work ­ the 3rd­5th Grade class showed attendees how a well timed spider is a great way to put an end to girl’s primping in the bathroom while the Sparks class (ages 4­2nd Grade) struggled as scarecrows trying to escape their poles in order to stop their fellow scarecrow’s snoring. Instructors discussed Kaleidoscope’s philosophy and applauded their students for helping to maintain a safe and positive learning environment where encouragement is an expected norm and teamwork is forefront. The audience left the Kaleidoscope Playhouse smiling, one member even commenting, “There is no better way I could have started my day.”

Kaleidoscope Youth Theater offers quality after school educational programs with a focus on teaching drama, musicality, improvisation, stagecraft and more to students K­12. "Club Kaleidoscope,” has three sessions of classes running from 8­10 weeks throughout the school year and each session ends with a showcase. Kaleidoscope’s Winter Class Session begins the week of January 5th, 2015 with offerings in various levels of acting, dance for the stage, musical theater combo, all­ages tap, and a combo “Sparks” class for K­2nd Grade aimed at teaching theater basics through theater game activities, puppetry, storytelling, script work, musical theater, and art crafts. Please visit KYT’s website ­ http://www.kytbozeman.org ­ or call the theater at (406) 587­3642 for more info on how you can join the fun.

About Kaleidoscope Youth Theater: Kaleidoscope Youth Theater (KYT) is a 501 (c) 3 organization, imagined by Stacy Hostetter in the spring of 2000. Kaleidoscope works on growing people, not just actors! KYT offers theater and fine arts enrichment opportunities to elementary age children through high school age youth using educational theater skill building classes, summer camps, and large musical productions performed for community audiences. With a strong educational focus, Kaleidoscope teaches the skills needed not only to perform a full theatrical production, but also that will add value to their everyday lives. Since the summer of 2000, KYT has produced over 120 class and Players’ shows for the stage with over 700 pieces of music, performing original plays written by Artistic & Program Director, Stacy Hostetter.

The Christmas Stroll Gingerbread Contest has been a community tradition for over 20 years!  We invite YOU to participate in this fun activity! The instructions are listed below:

First, CLICK HERE for the Registration Form and CLICK HERE for the Rules!

Then, complete the details on the registration form including your contact information and the age division you fall under.  After completing the registration form, please mail or deliver to the Downtown Bozeman Association Office at 222 East Main Street, Suite 302 Bozeman, MT 59715 by NO LATER than Friday, November 28, 2014.  You may pick up or request rules to be mailed to you before entries are due.  Please call 586-4008, or email ellie@downtownbozeman.org if you have any questions.

ALL Gingerbread House entries are due on Wednesday, December 3^rd 2014 and must be delivered to Wells Fargo Bank at 211 West Main Street.  No purchase necessary to win!  Winners will be notified by telephone or email address provided on the registration form.  Three winners will be chosen from each of the 5 divisions.  Winners will receive a plaque for 1^st 2^nd and 3^rd place as well as Downtown Dollar prizes that can be used at any downtown business.  Ribbons also awarded for all entries. Entries will be displayed at Wells Fargo Bank from December 4^th through the 10^th.  Award plaques and ribbons donated by Personalize It.  For more information please call 586-4008.

Discovered in southwest Montana and eastern Idaho, the adult Oryctodromeus would have been the size of a golden retriever but its long tail made it roughly 10 to 11 feet long, said MSU paleontologist David Varricchio, whose findings and those of his graduate students inspired the “Burrowing Dinosaurs” exhibit.

“It’s really bizarre. I never would have thought of a burrowing dinosaur,” said Pat Leiggi, administrative director of paleontology and director of exhibits at the museum.  “What’s cool about it is that it is the first occurrence of a burrowing or denning dinosaur. It’s new. It’s unique.”

Former MSU grad student Yoshihiro Katsura found the first remains 10 years ago while prospecting on public land about 15 miles from Lima, Mont.   The fact that an adult and two juvenile Oryctodromeus were jumbled together in a burrow was significant, Varricchio said in a 2007 paper published by the British scientific journal, “Proceedings of the Royal Society B.”

“The presence of an adult and two juveniles within a denning chamber represents some of the best evidence for dinosaur parental care,” Varricchio wrote. “The burrow likely protected the adult and young Oryctodromeus from predators and harsh environmental conditions.”

The Oryctodromeus lived 95 million years ago. That’s 20 to 30 million years before the more familiar dinosaurs of prehistoric Montana, Varricchio said. The Hell Creek Formation of eastern Montana, for example, holds 65-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex skeletons. The Two Medicine Formation near Choteau yielded 75-million-year-old dinosaur eggs and babies.

The Oryctodromeus that Varricchio and MSU doctoral student L.J. Krumenacker now study came from the Blackleaf Formation of southwest Montana and the Wayan Formation of eastern Idaho.

The “Burrowing Dinosaurs” exhibit will show a cross section of the dinosaur’s burrow with two juveniles and an adult inside of it, Leiggi said. It will also contain a small rodent in a separate area of the burrow. At the top entrance of the burrow will be an adult Lull-mounted Oryctodromeus. A Lull mount is a model that shows a skeleton on one half and a flesh-covered version on the other. On the lower right-hand side of the burrow will be a partially reconstructed oviraptor egg clutch and a cast of the two oviraptor eggs that were discovered nearby.

The new exhibit will sit in the museum’s Hall of Giants where a Titanosaur and two Deinonychus dinosaurs were displayed, Leiggi said. Those fossils will be sent in January to a sister institution, the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum in Katsuyama, Japan.

“The Siebel Dinosaur Complex was designed to change as we learn new things about dinosaurs,”Leiggi said. “This is a great example of that, what we are trying to accomplish.”

Krumenacker, who has been working more than a decade at the Idaho field site, said that field work is much easier for him than helping create an exhibit. He is excited about the opportunity, however.

“I have never gotten to help with something like this,” Krumenacker said. “It’s nice to see the dinosaur you are working on put together.”

The public will see an accurate picture of the Oryctodromeus, because – between the sites in Montana and Idaho -- the researchers found almost every part of the burrowing dinosaur, Krumenacker said. All that’s missing are its fingertips and pieces of its head.

Varricchio said he, too, is looking forward to sharing the burrowing dinosaurs in a Museum of the Rockies exhibit. Although he now works out of Traphagen Hall and Gaines Hall on the MSU campus, he spent a lot of time at the museum as a graduate student and later as collection manager.

In addition to Varricchio and Krumenacker, former grad students Frankie Jackson, Jade Simon and Jamie Fearon were involved in the research behind “Burrowing Dinosaurs,” Varricchio said. Fossil preparator was Carrie Ancell. Besides Leiggi, those building the exhibit are sculptor Matt Smith and exhibit preparator David Kinsey.

The exhibit was funded completely by private donors, Leiggi said. Among the donors was Varricchio’s 92-year-old father, Phil.  He has joined David Varricchio in the field on many occasions and previously funded the Varricchio Family Paleontology Preparation Laboratory in Gaines Hall.

As a benefit for Warriors and Quiet Waters Foundation Bozeman artist, Mimi Matsuda, is pleased to display a selection of her most popular images on canvas and framed prints for the months of November and December at Red Tractor Pizza, in Bozeman. She will have prints of her newest watercolor paintings of scenes of Montana, Yellowstone and Grand Teton. Mimi's art will be priced in mind for Holiday gift giving.  20% of the sales will go to Warriors and Quiet Waters Foundation.

Warriors and Quiet Waters Foundation is a non-profit whose mission is to provide a high quality, restorative, therapeutic experience for traumatically injured U.S. Servicemen and women, from the Iraq and Afghanistan theaters, through the medium of fly fishing and other recreational mediums in southwest Montana.

For more views of the art, www.MimiMatsudaArt.com

John Bozeman’s Bistro Dinner……587-4100 (Carla)
The Bistro is providing a complimentary (free), gourmet sit down Thanksgiving dinner on Thanksgiving Day. Reservations are required (seating is limited). She suggested people call at least a week before as the seats do fill up but people can call after that to see if there are any cancellations. The Bistro is at 125 West Main near Wells Fargo Bank.
** They do not need any volunteers at this time **

Belgrade Community……..570-9638 (Emily)
Various Belgrade organizations are sponsoring a Thanksgiving Dinner at the Belgrade Middle School located at 410 Triple Crown Road. Families are welcome from 2-3 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day.
** Emily needs volunteers from Wednesday night for food prep. Thursday volunteer opportunities will be from 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. This will include prep/serving/cleaning. Call Emily to set up a specific time frame to volunteer at 570-9638 **

Gallatin Valley Food Bank Thanksgiving Holiday Box……586-7600
The Food Bank will provide families with a box of raw food (an uncooked turkey etc.) to create an entire Thanksgiving Dinner. Families need not show proof of income for a box but will need to fill out a basic application at the Food Bank before the food pick up dates. 602 Bond is the Food Bank address. Pick up the Thanksgiving box at the City Complex (1812 N Rouse) on Saturday, November 22, Monday November 24, or Tuesday, November 25 between 12 and 4 pm. This is a new pick up location.
*Belgrade distribution at Living Waters United Methodist Church on Monday Nov. 24th from 3-6pm, 51 W. Cameron Bridge Rd. (next to Kenyon Noble on Jackrabbit Lane) But you still need to fill out application at the Food Bank in Bozeman by November 15th.
** Email volunteer@gallantinvalleyfoodbank.org for volunteer opportunities. **

Community Café, through the Food Bank…… 586-7600
Free meals in a restaurant setting, open nightly from 5-7pm. 302 North 7th Ave. café@gallatinvalleyfoodbank.org. No sign-up needed.
** They do not need any volunteers at this time **

Old Chicago and Hilton Garden Inn Bozeman….587-9404
Thursday November 28th, 11:30pm-1:30pm. Free Thanksgiving dinner open to all who are in need of a meal and company. No reservations required.
** They do not need any volunteers at this time **

Join the National #GivingTuesday Movement to Encourage Philanthropic Giving in the Gallatin Valley

Bridgercare
The Greater Gallatin Watershed Council
The Traveling School
The Gallatin Valley YMCA
Big Sky Youth Empowerment
The Gallatin Ice Foundation
Hopa Mountain
The Cody Dieruf Benefit Foundation

have joined together for #GivingTuesday, a first of its kind effort in the Gallatin Valley that will harness the collective power of a unique blend of partners—non-profits, families, businesses and individuals—to transform how people think about, talk about and participate in the giving season. Coinciding with the Thanksgiving Holiday and the kickoff for the holiday shopping season, #GivingTuesday will inspire people to take collaborative action to improve their local communities, give back in better, smarter ways to the causes they support and help create a better world.

Taking place December 2, 2014 – the Tuesday after Thanksgiving – #GivingTuesday will harness the power of social media to create a national moment around the holidays dedicated to giving, similar to how Black Friday and Cyber Monday have become days synonymous with holiday shopping.

Several nonprofit organizations within the Gallatin Valley have joined together to encourage giving towards a charitable cause in the community. The most important part of #GivingTuesday is to connect with an organization in a personally meaningful way, whether that’s financial support, volunteering time or sharing expertise to create an even stronger community. Founded by New York’s 92nd Street Y, the effort aims to “celebrate and encourage” giving to nonprofits.

Millions of generous Americans regularly give to charitable causes, but others may be looking for worthy recipients in this season of sharing. They may need a reminder that everyone can be a philanthropist and affect positive change. They might want to get involved, but don’t know how and where. A day reserved for giving may do the trick in conveying the joy of helping one another in today’s “selfie” obsessed culture.

What’s the catch? There’s not one from #GivingTuesday people. They don’t accept or distribute donations. They have nonprofit and business partners that raise money for causes, but they prefer to be thought of as a movement to encourage giving in the local community.

As #GivingTuesday organizers put it: “Families and individuals are encouraged to be generous in whatever ways matter to them, whether that means volunteering at a local charity or donating to a favorite cause.”

With dozens of hard-working non-profits in the Gallatin Valley, worthy causes are easy to find, easy to support and easy to become involved with.

Whether it’s the non-profits who have joined the #GivingTuesday movement or a personal favorite charity, remember that after Black Friday and Cyber Monday comes one of the most beneficial days of the year for many of the charitable causes in our community.

The Artists’ Gallery in the Emerson Cultural Center will feature the work of MACK and Geri Ward 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.


Ward says that "The act of painting usually takes me where it wants to go, not necessarily where I thought I was going with it. This kind of surprise and discovery is what keeps painting alive and original for me, as well as for my collectors".  Ward has been painting and exhibiting her luminous and inventive work in Bozeman since she and her family moved here from the San Francisco Bay area in 1974.

MACK's art reflects her Alaskan upbringing, love of the West, Mountains and Water. All of her art is bright and whimsical, seeking the positive and often a good laugh.  Most of her work focuses on characters who are multi-ethnic to represent the world family we all belong to and are loosely based on Yup'ic Eskimo masks from her childhood, as well as ethnic influences from around the world and the American West/Northwest. MACK is always looking to pay tribute to the under-represented, putting their attributes on full and joyful display!

Come see the artwork and meet its makers at the Featured Artist Reception in The Artists’ Gallery, Friday, December 12th from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm.