PEO motivates and encourages local young women to attend college
The much anticipated 4th annual PEO Chapter CG & Scholarship Fundraiser set for March 24, 2018 at the Wilkinson Hall, IO1 Collins Avenue, Libby, Montana commencing at I:00 p.m. and concluding at 2:00 p.m. PEO is a national women’;; philanthropic organization with two local chapters in Libby. The organization is committed tc the educational advancement of women. All proceeds from the fund-raiser will be used to provide student college scholarship and education resources to Libby and Troy women.
At the event, large jars are filled with themed gifts which are silently auctioned. Past themes have included glorious garden, Seahawks football tickets, chocolate dream, assorted adult beverages and various excursions. In addition to the silent jar auction, participants can purchase dollar raffle tickets for the opportunity to win various door prizes. Refreshments and beverages are provided at no charge to participants.
“Last year’ s event was a great success and very popular with the women in the community”, stated PEO member Kim Peck. “Each year the event gets bigger. It is the only local opportunity to support an organization solely dedicated to the educational advancement of our local young women. Working women, in particular, appreciate the need to support young women in their educational pursuits. This is what our community ,does best, hold each other up”, said Peck.
Each year the event has grown significantly in attendance. This year’s event is anticipated to exceed expectations with bigger and more interesting jars for auction. There is no charge to attend the event. Past proceeds went to students attending the University of Montana, Montana State and Flathead Valley Community College.
Construction near Swamp Creek
planned for late
summer
Representatives of the Montana Department of Transportation attended last week’s Lincoln county commissioners meeting to present an update on upcoming work slated for highway 2.
Work is planned for the swamp creek area from mile marker 48.5 to mile marker 53.8, a 5.3-mile-long stretch and will be completed in one project. Department of Transportation representative Ed Toaves told the board that the project will be bid out in May, with pre-construction conferences planned in July and august. The actual construction should start in August and is estimated to cost around $11 million. There will be some blasting and the replacement of a bridge, and Toaves reminded the commissioners that there will be some construction delays for highway 2 travelers in late summer.
This project was originally nominated for consideration in 1988, making it one of the oldest state projects still on the books.
Big Snowy contest for young writers accepting submissions
Montana Quarterly magazine is proud to announce it is accepting submissions for the fifth annual Big Snowy Contest for young writers.
Named for that majestic mountain range in the middle of Montana, the Big Snowy Contest offers cash prizes and publication in Montana Quarterly for Montana writers 30 and under. There will be one winner for fiction and one for nonfiction. Winners will get a check for $500, a handsome trophy, and publication in Montana Quarterly, the state’s most honored magazine.
Previous winners have come from all over the state, from Missoula to Glasgow, from Fort Smith to the Great Burn. Some are as young at 18. Everybody has an equal chance at this prize. Talent is the only qualifier.
The rules are pretty simple.
Who’s eligible? Anyone 30 or younger by April 15, 2018 and a current or former Montana resident.
What are the rules? Email entries up to 3,500 unpublished words in a Word document to editor@themontanaquarterly.com. Show that you live or have lived in Montana.
What’s the deadline? April 15, 2018.
How many entries? One per person, please. Previous winners are ineligible.
Winning entries will be announced and published in the Summer 2018 issue.
Send questions to editor@themontanaquarterly.com or call 406 333 2154.
Big Sky Games National Anthem Contest
The Big Sky State Games is holding its Nineteenth Annual National Anthem Contest to determine who will perform the National Anthem at the state Games Opening Ceremonies on Friday, July 20 in Billings. The contest is open to Montana residents of all ages.
To enter, post a video of yourself singing the National Anthem to YouTube and send the link to nationalanthem @bigskygames.org. All contestants are required to send an email to nationalanthem@bigskygames.org that contains the performers name, address, age, phone, number, email address, t-shirt size and link to their performance on YouTube.
The top 5 will be determined by a panel of judges, after which the public will vote for their favorite performance.
Video postings will be allowed through April 30. The winner must commit to performing at BSSG Opening Ceremonies on July 20, 2018. For more information, go to www.bigskygames. org.
Poll suggests Montanans divided on elected officials, disapprove of
national monuments changes
Montanans are divided over the job performance of statewide elected officials but generally disapprove of U.S. Department of Interior recommendations to reduce the size of national monuments, according to a new poll.
These assessments of public opinion are among the findings from the inaugural Big Sky Poll at the University of Montana. The Big Sky Poll collects and reports information about Montanans’ perceptions of local, state and federal issues.
The poll also asked Montanans whether they approved or disapproved of Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke’s recommendations to decrease the size of national monuments. Of the respondents, 29 percent approved and 62 percent disapproved of Zinke’s recommendations, while 9 percent refused to answer or did not know an answer to the question.
The poll was conducted via telephone between Feb. 1 and Feb. 19 with 603 randomly selected Montana registered voters. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 4 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level. Use of poll findings require attribution to UM’s Big Sky Poll.
The Big Sky Poll is directed by UM Associate Professor Sara Rinfret, director of UM’s Master of Public Administration program, and UM marketing Associate Professor Justin Angle, in conjunction with seven graduate seminar students from UM’s MPA and Business Analytics programs. The survey was commissioned with support from UM’s Social Science Research Laboratory. The Big Sky Poll will be offered on an ongoing basis with its next iteration planned for fall 2018.