Garden makes city a better place

Sometimes, it’s the small touches that help build a community.

Take, for instance, a new garden that has sprouted on a city boulevard in Kalispell.

The once-weedy boulevard has been transformed in three weeks into the Meadow Court Community Garden, which now has 20 types of vegetables along with herbs and flowers growing in planting boxes.

The planting project was spearheaded by Merry Elerick and a small band of neighborhood volunteers, relying on supplies and materials donated by local businesses and improving the boulevard with the blessing of city of Kalispell officials.

The resulting raised-bed garden also features slate, stone and tile walkways.

The new garden is a prime example of the small sort of neighborhood change that can make a big difference.

The Meadow Court garden is the latest in a series of community gardens that are growing around Kalispell and helping make the city a better place to live.

Plenty of veteran teachers are taking deserved rests from the classroom after retiring at the end of the school year.

One, Ken Holste, stands out in both longevity (43 years as a teacher) and loyalty (all 43 years were spent at Trinity Lutheran School in Kalispell).

In the course of those decades, Holste taught science and math, but that was only part of what he did. He served a stint as interim principal, was a summer camp counselor and was coach and athletic director for many years.

The Trinity basketball tournament he helped launch in the 1970s is still going strong as an end-of-season showcase for young players.

Thanks, Ken (and thanks to all the other retiring teachers across the valley), for your years of hard work on behalf of our children.

Local tennis enthusiasts are getting a bonus out of construction of the nursing and health-care building at Flathead Valley Community College.

Building the Rebecca Chaney Broussard Center for Nursing and Health Sciences means the removal of the four tennis courts at the college.

However, they will be replaced elsewhere on campus by an eight-court complex with the added bonus of amphitheater seating and better views for spectators.

This doubling of net opportunities is another fortuitous consequence of the Broussard Center, which itself is the result of the Broussard family’s generosity plus a very successful community fundraising effort.