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Holiday Arts and Crafts at UM
This is a fun event & just in time for Christmas gifts! The Holiday Arts & Crafts sale begins December 1, 2011 and runs for three days. Good stuff, check it out!!! http://life.umt.edu/uc/ucsi/art_fairs/#page=page-1
Judy Wahlberg, University Area Blogger
Griz-cat game at our house
Next weekend is the ’Brawl of the Wild’, the 111th meeting of the UM Grizzlies and the MSU bobkitties. It is always a fun rivalry at our house because I am in a ‘mixed’ marriage. In Montana that means your spouse graduated from the state’s other educational institution. I graduated from the University of Montana and my husband, graduated (well…almost, but in case he ever reads this blog-I won’t go down that path) from MSU. Each year we make it interesting by making a friendly wager- the loser has to do some horrible domestic chore around the house, something we couldn’t even get our minions (aka children) to do. 
For many, many years…as long as I remember anyway, the GRIZ always WON! It was just a given fact that the GRIZ would stomp on the Cats, and my dear husband would always play along and accept defeat gracefully. The GRIZ have a much better stadium, and much better players, and the GRIZ fans….oh yeah- so much better!
Things were going smoothly until last year… the unthinkable happened- the GRIZ lost. WHAT!? Each year the smack talk starts in early November and by game time, everyone is really stirred up; even my nephews from Belgrade have gotten into the action with taunting calls and messages. This year I have let their psycho-babble get into my head and I am not so sure of a GRIZ victory. The GRIZ have barely squeaked out a victory in several games and the Cats are looking pretty strong. This is a big game and it will decide who gets the Big Sky Conference’s automatic bid to the FCS playoffs.
Who will win? One thing is for sure…I am going to be more careful about the friendly wager around our house!
School of the Future Design Competition
The Missoula Organization of REALTORS® is working with Flagship after-school programs on an exciting new project called School of the Future Design Competition. Currently, two middle schools are participating with teams, Meadowhill and CS Porter. The students are designing a school based on future ideals of technology integration, community, and sustainability. The teams have met with several local businesses to learn more about what it takes to design a school…from purchasing property, to working with architects and engineers. They also discovered how much power their design concepts would require and learned more about how to reduce their power needs through clean energy technologies and sustainable living practices. The teams are working on building small scale models with 100% recycled materials this month. 
For more information about School of the Future Design Competition, please call MOR at 728-0560.
So what is your excuse for not voting now?
In the fall, we in Missoula get Griz football crazy but I love politics so fall also reminds me of voting. When I ask friends why they don’t vote, I always get one of two answers:
1) “I don’t like either of them.”
2) “My vote doesn’t count anyway.”
I can’t offer much advice on the first objection but, in Missoula, we have seen many elections decided on just a few votes. Trust me on this…YOUR VOTE COUNTS! This year the inconvenience of voting has been further reduced because you don’t even have to drive to a polling place to cast your vote. The general city election will be conducted by mail- in ballot, so make sure you have registered to vote. Missoula County has a voter registration form available online at: http://www.co.missoula.mt.us/election/voterreg.htm. If you are not already registered to vote, get with the program!
According to blogger Brandon Copper – “The people elected to city council do not just approve budget expenditures and zoning issues. Their more important role is to represent the city that elected them. They must be practical and pragmatic facilitators, ready to make the right decisions based on the situation at hand, not on misapplied ideological preferences. They must be moral (however nebulous that term may be) and they must respect the rule of law. They must communicate effectively, not by using national buzzwords that seem to plague so many other elections. They must have a history of wanting to help this community through volunteering. This need not necessarily be through city functions such as volunteer committees, but those are an excellent start. These qualifications don’t just make a good candidate, they make a good person.”
The purpose of this blog is not to get you to vote “my way”. I believe I know who I’ll vote for, unless something else comes to my attention (watching “Jersey Shore” is an automatic disqualifier, for example.) The purpose of this blog is implore you to get involved in this upcoming election, not only through personal research but also through spreading the word about the situation we face as a community. There are big issues like taxes, the skyrocketing cost of local government, creating jobs, economic vitality, and addressing the plight of homeless families.
Vote
I ask of you not just as citizens but also as members of a great community to do your civic duty by looking closely at this city election and by participating by completing your mail in ballot and dropping it in nearest mailbox.
Walk Score
WALK SCORE
Pretty interesting to see how neighborhoods score on their walkability. Have you ever visited the website called WalkScore? Try it out.
Let’s Get Together
Get together with your neighbors for the Annual Franklin to the Fort PICNIC.
Franklin to the Fort Neighborhood Council Annual Summer Social and Meeting
Tuesday, July 26th
Pot luck…..please bring a dish to share. F2F Neighborhood Council will supply hamburgers, hot dogs, veggie burgers and the fixings.
