Glacier plans year of centennial events
Planning efforts are revving up for Glacier National Park's upcoming centennial, which actually will involve a yearlong series of celebrations starting this summer.
Kassandra Hardy, the park's centennial coordinator, said there will be at least 100 events and programs starting this August and continuing through fall 2010.
Glacier National Park was established on May 11, 1910.
"The big push behind making it a yearlong celebration is that we want to engage as many people as we can," Hardy said, rather than having a single bash, as was the case last summer with the 75th anniversary celebration for Going-to-the-Sun Road.
And engaging a lot of people is something that's been under way for months.
The centennial program involves seven committees and about 70 people from the park's gateway communities.
"It's just really an amazing compilation of people," Hardy said.
Centennial events will get under way in August with a "picnic in the park" kickoff celebration.
"We will be unveiling the year's celebration events at that event," said Hardy, who offered some hints as to what the celebration agenda will look like.
"There's a number of events that will take place in the park, but the majority of events will take place outside the park," she said.
In some cases, long-established events in the Flathead Valley will adopt Glacier centennial themes.
"The Whitefish Winter Carnival is looking at adopting the theme for the next winter carnival," Hardy said.
There are four remaining applications for organizations to host centennial events, and as with other elements of the centennial program, applications are reviewed by the program's working committees.
Over the next few months, there will be a series of events, most of them focused on raising money to support the yearlong centennial program.
On May 22, the annual spring gala hosted by the Glacier Association, the Glacier Institute, Glacier National Park Associates and the Glacier National Park Fund will be a "Saddle Up for the Centennial" fundraiser.
Hardy will host a centennial preview during a noon brown-bag lunch at the Glacier Community Building on July 2.
The Sperry backcountry chalet will host a benefit on July 7, with proceeds from guests going to the centennial program.
On Aug. 19, the Wolf Trap Performing Arts Center in Virginia will host a "Face of America: Glacier National Park" event with performers backed by panoramic Glacier video footage.
On Nov. 5, there will be a Glacier Centennial exhibit at the Montana Historical Society Museum in Helena.
And on Dec. 31, the Belton Chalet will mark its 100th birthday with a New Year's Eve party, where guests will wear fashions from the early 1900s.
Another significant element in the program, led by the Glacier National Park Fund, will focus on park improvement projects with a centennial theme.
The Fund and Glacier Association have been spearheading other fundraising efforts, including a centennial retail program.
"We have a number of items that have already been approved by our retail committee" to bear the centennial logo, Hardy said. There are water bottles, coffee mugs, fanny packs and a line of T-shirts.
There is a park history book, "The First 100 Years' by Carol Guthrie, a book of black-and-white photography, "Glacier Classics," by Brett Bouda, and centennial lapel pins.
Hardy said the centennial program publishes a monthly newsletter that goes out to 600 parties, and that circulation is bound to increase over the coming year.
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Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com