Illinois firm not connected with C.F. schools

The Daily Inter Lake

An Illinois company that has been contacting area businesses to advertise in a Columbia Falls school athletic calendar has no connection with the school, officials said last week.

Columbia Falls High School Athletic Director John Thompson notified the Columbia Falls Chamber of Commerce that Varsity Publications Inc., based in Illinois, has been soliciting paid sponsors here.

Bill Brunett, Sports and Education Chairman for the Chamber, issued a notice on Jan. 21 to all Chamber members that the company was soliciting business in the area.

"This calendar is not approved through Columbia Falls High School," Brunett wrote in his letter to members, "but is an independent company that has secured the athletic schedule possibly online."

A different athletic calendar that comes out every year is, however, a locally driven project.

The Columbia Falls High School Close-Up Program sponsors the athletic calendar that already is in the community. The student group, which organizes annual government-study trips to Washington, D.C., requests sponsorships for its calendar.