All posts in June 2010
Commissioners to vote on rezoning
June 30 the county commissioners will vote on the rezoning of 3 + acres along Highway 200 in East Missoula.
East Missoula Community Council
Missoula County Commissioners are looking for a liaison for the East Missoula Community Council to work with the Board on decisions affecting the community.Click link : http://www.co.missoula.mt.us/mcbcc/documents/pdfs/June%202010%20PR.pdf
Downtown is where the action is.
By Jean Clark, Heart of Missoula Neighborhood Advocate
While cruising through my neighborhood this week, I noticed an exciting event for students this summer that’s going on downtown. Apparently Missoula’s Downtown Dance Collective is hosting a “World Dance Camp.” Wow, would I have loved this when I was a kid. It’s an introduction into many of the world’s dances. Seems like our world these days could use more cultural appreciation efforts like this one.
Here’s some particulars:
World Dance Camp: July 5th-9th & July 12th-14th, everyday from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM, with a performance for family and friends, on July 14th, at Out to Lunch in Caras Park. (Ages: 7-14; $150.00 per child)
Come and explore Zumba, Latin dance, Bellydance, Flamenco, and many more! Then, show it all off on the stage for an afternoon performance at Out to Lunch in Caras Park.
Gain: An appreciation for, and insight into, world dance and culture.
Participants should bring a snack and water daily. Minimum of five students required for class to occur.
Age Group: Kids
Venue: Downtown Dance Collective
Address: 121 West Main Street Missoula, MT 59802
Phone: 406.541.7240
Also, after visiting with Heather from the studio, she said they have an awesome Facebook page. I’m going to have to check it out and watch for the adult version of this class. It sounds like another awesome thing to do in downtown Missoula this summer.
Pattee Canyon Disc Golf Course
In preparation for the opening of Pattee Canyon for the 2010 season, there will be 2 work evenings next week.
•Tuesday, June 29th 6:45PM – Tee pad leveling and general course maintenance. The ground under the tee pads, deliniating a couple of trails, and just general cleaning of the course.
•Wednesday, June 30th 6:45PM – Finishing the above projects and ONLY IF THE ABOVE PROJECTS ARE COMPLETE, hopefully re-install the baskets. Garden City Flyers Golf Club is still waiting on the official go ahead from the FS, but are fairly sure that it will open next Thursday.
Have a Fire Safe Season
It is not news to Western Montana that Beetle-kill is a problem for our trees. Here in Missoula we have the benefit of a couple of agencies that can help us diagnose and deal with this problem. Not only is it unsightly but it can be a real fire hazard during fire season. There are grants available to assist us in mitigating this problem.
This spring we had the Bitterroot RC& D come to evaluate the beetle kill and thick undergrowth problem on our hillside here in the Rattlesnake. We were able to obtain a matching grant for the work needed to be done. Here is a photo showing the work being done by the foresters and another showing how it looks presently. If you think you could benefit from this type of work,
please call the Missoula Rural fire Department for the area within100 ft. of your house or the Bitterroot RC&D for areas further out. They are so very helpful. Be fire safe this season and have a great summer.
Bitterroot RC&D
363-1444 x5
http://bitterrootrcd.org/
Missoula Rural Fire District
549-6172
http://www.mcfpa.org/localfire.php
For more information on beetle-kill and fire, check out these links:
www.beetles.mt.gov
http://www.wildfirelessons.net/uploads/pinebeetle_factsheet.doc
Get Down with Downtown Tonight
By Jean Clark, Heart of Missoula Neighborhood Advocate
One of the events in downtown that I get most excited about is the Downtown Tonight event. This year’s schedule has a lot to offer. It’s so fun to call some friends and hang around down at Caras Park visiting, dancing, eating, and just enjoying the summer eves. Here’s the scoop:
Downtown ToNight runs every Thursday in June, July and August from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Each Thursday brings live music and 18 food vendors as well as the Bud Light beer and wine garden and weekly childrens’ activities.
This Summer’s Music Lineup-
June 10th- Bad Neighbor
June 17th- Big Sky Mudflaps
June 24th- Great American Taxi
July 1st- Reverend Slanky
July 8th- Tom Catmull and the Clerics
July 15th- Odyssey
July 22nd- Bob Wire
July 29th- Beyond the Pale
August 5th- Sho Down
August 12th- Victory Smokes
August 19th- Blue Collar
August 26th- The Tom Cats
If you want to grab something to eat that’s easy, too: Menu- Baskin Robbins • Carino’s Italian Grill • Ciao Mambo • El Cazador • Fairy Floss Cotton Candy • Go Dog Go • Isla’s Lemonade • Kadena’s • Lil’ Orbits of Montana • MacKenzie River Pizza • Montana Cattle Co. • Nani’s Shave Ice • Pita Pit • PLAYA • Sa Wad Dee • Shichuan BBQ • Thai Spicy • The Kabobery • Vietnam Noodle
See you there!
Rain, Rain, In August Thank Goodnes for Rain
By the most accurate count I can get from my high tech rain gauge here in Prospect, we have had a ton of rain. Year to date we are at 9.98 inches, for the month of June 3.78″. Wow. Missoula gets around 13 ” a year. Everyone is yearning for sunshine. So, here is the good news. According to forest fire experts, June rain is the best predictor of reduced levels in the number of forest fires. Not snow, not spring rain.
When will it quit? We can expect real summer to show up between now and the 4th of July. I remember well our first year here in Missoula. After the front range weather I so loved, this was really a tough adjustment. I was so down. My parents were coming to visit and things looked cold, gray and miserable. I was miserable. If I remember correctly, by the 4th, the sun was shining, the temperatures were up to normal levels and everyone, particularly me, heaved one big fat sigh of relief.
I was also here the years we had the big fires. The air was thick and yellow. You simply cannot go out for a walk. So, in the end, I am glad for our wet weather, and eagerly looking forward to the sunshine.
Meanwhile, the fawns are afoot. Watch closely and you will see them start to appear. Each morning while they are young, they trot off from their mothers and find a place to hide, on their own. Late each evening, the mothers return and nurse them for a very long spell. Then the fun begins. If you find a little one tucked under your flowers, it is best to let them sleep. Mom will be back at dusk, late this time of year, and she will feed her offspring.
So, happy equinox and happy summer.
The Jewel of the Rose Park Neighborhood
The Rose Park Memorial Garden is the jewel of the Rose Park Neighborhood. As a city park it is maintained by the Missoula Parks and Recreation Department, but it is such a part of the heart and soul of Missoulians that it is also tended by the Missoula Rose Society who lavish their passion and expertise on the lush and varied beds of roses of all kinds. And, from time to time, you will notice an individual who has come for the memorial aspect of the garden quietly pulling a weed or two as they pay their respects to those honored here.
First rosebud of the year
Aside from the glorious beds of every rose you can think of (it has evolved into a test site for the Rose Society), the garden is home to memorials to those Missoulians who have lost their lives in service to the community and the country. Veterans of every war fought by Americans as well as fire fighters and policemen are remembered and honored.
This park has a special feel…there is a swingset, and you hear children playing and laughing. There are dogs chasing sticks, and people having picnics as in any park. But there is also a humbling sense of awe, both for the beauty of the surroundings and the realization of all that has been lost and all that has been saved by the people memorialized here in the jewel of Missoula.
Lilacs, Tulips, Dairy Queen, Snow…Must Be Spring in Missoula
I am gazing, okay, glaring out my window at the falling snow, yet I know it is springtime in Missoula…I have been to my first market, the tulips are blooming, the kids are fooling with the giant M on Mount Sentinel, and the Higgins Avenue Dairy Queen is open. Life is good. Dilly Bars just taste better out in the parking lot under the gorgeous black locust tree than they do anywhere else.
One of the best things about the Rose Park/Slant Street neighborhood is the central location. You can walk anywhere you want to be…the university, downtown, the market, Dairy Queen (!) Rose Park, the river, and even the grocery store.
Yes, the heart of the Rose Park neighborhood is Orange Street Food Farm, a true neighborhood grocery store where you know all the employees and you know where everything is. The produce is excellent with a great organic section, the meat department is like visiting the old time butcher…he makes his own corned beef…and the selection is surprisingly good, considering its size.
Mother’s day was especially heartwarming this year with a giant “Mom” beaming down upon us as we shopped at the first Caras Park market on Sunday afternoon. I understand the ‘o’ and the ‘m’ were fashioned from forty sheets to honor 40 moms who have survived breast cancer. You see why I love Missoula! Even with May snowstorms!
National Town Meeting Right HERE in Missoula
Many of you have met Janet Fiero, who is a member of the Franklin-to-Fort Neighborhood Leadership Team. You may not realize that she works for a non-profit in Washington DC that conducts HUGE town meetings where participants get to deliberate and send their own opinions via a computer at their round table. She wants everyone to know that Missoula will be part of a huge, unprecedented National Town Meeting to talk about the National Debt and Federal Budget on Saturday, June 26.
Learn more by going to this website: www.usabudgetdiscussion.org/missoula
They are asking for ordinary, unaffiliated citizens to weigh in.