Fundraiser to help coach with cancer
The Daily Inter Lake and The Associated Press
A fundraiser for former Columbia Falls sports standout Craig Finberg will be Friday, Feb. 13, during the basketball games at Columbia Falls High School.
The event is being co-sponsored by the CFHS Student Council to help with Finberg's medical expenses as he battles pancreatic cancer.
There will be two Schwan's trucks with at least $7,000 worth of products at the school beginning at about 2 p.m. The food will be available for purchase in the school's foyer.
If people buy up to $1,500 worth of merchandise, the student council will get 5 percent; up to $2,500, 15 percent; and for everything above $2,500, the council will receive 20 percent.
Three pizzas and a half-gallon of ice cream will be available for $10. For more information about the event, call Cliff at Schwan's at 253-0152.
Craig Finberg, currently an assistant men's basketball coach at the University of Montana Western, is undergoing treatment for the cancer that was diagnosed on Jan. 23.
Finberg was a star athlete at Columbia Falls High School and Montana State University in the 1970s and is enshrined in the athletic halls of fame at both schools.
When he was a Wildcat athlete, Finberg led his team to the Class A state championship basketball game in 1975.
He was a longtime boys basketball coach at Beaverhead County High School in Dillon, where his teams won two state championships.
Finberg is the brother of Cary Finberg, Columbia Falls High School boys basketball coach.
Since Craig Finberg's diagnosis, fundraisers have been held at Western's games, Beaverhead High boys' games and other basketball venues across the state.
Bozeman High boys coach Wes Holmquist, who played at Western and was a student teacher for Finberg in 2001, spearheaded a fundraiser that netted $973. The referees donated their game paychecks when Montana Tech played Western recently.
Western's players have been wearing warmup T-shirts with "Finny" on the back and the words of Jimmy Valvano, "Don't give up … don't ever give up," on the front.
Accounts to help defray Finberg's medical expenses have been set up at State Bank in Dillon and Glacier Bank in Columbia Falls.
On the Net:
Craig Finberg: www.caringbridge.org/visit/craigfinberg