'Guitar Night' a fundraiser for nonprofit

The third annual Crown of the Continent Guitar Festival kicks off Friday with a unique event to benefit a local nonprofit.

Guitar Night for the Glacier National Park Fund starts at 8 p.m. at the O’Shaughnessy Center in Whitefish. It is the only festival event to be held outside Bigfork.

The concert will feature Grammy Award-winning guitarist Bill Mize and his wife, accordion player Beth Bramhill, as well as RIO, a Brazilian-style bossa nova jazz group. The band was recently featured on the Montana Public Broadcasting show “11th and Grant with Eric Funk” and includes Max Hatt on guitar; Edda Glass, vocals; Dennis Unsworth, drums; and Pete Hand, bass.

Tickets to the show are $30. Visit www.cocguitarfoundation.tix.com or call 249-4671.

Proceeds will benefit the Glacier National Park Fund. Eighty percent of the profits from Friday’s show will go to the fund, which has earmarked the money for the park’s high school Citizen Science program.

The program trains local students to collect scientific data in Glacier National Park. Flathead High School has been particularly involved in the program over the last couple of years.