KMS plan comes to fruition

Don’t mess with Kalispell Middle School — at least not when it comes to online voting!

The KMS community came through big time over the last month or two and ensured that the school would win a free orchard from Dreyer’s Fruit Bars and the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation. The orchard is intended to increase the school’s access to fresh food as well as to provide an outdoor classroom.

The online Facebook contest allowed people to vote once a day for several weeks, and just about from the first day, Kalispell Middle School was at the top of the pack. Indeed, KMS wound up in first place with 30,725 votes, even though they would have been able to win an orchard with about half that number of votes as the top five organizations were winners in this round.

Just goes to show how dedicated our community is to helping our schools and our children get the best.

Speaking of the best, the new orchard — which is being planted June 18 — is named Grace Orchard after retiring principal Barry Grace. His enthusiasm, hard work, and kindness will be missed, and we hope this living tribute to him helps to remind future generations of his many contributions to our community.

ONE MORE example of how Flathead Valley Community College is responsive to the needs of the local community can be seen in the new gunsmithing program at the college.

Starting in July, gun aficionados and law-enforcement officers will be able to hone their skills by taking seven classes over a three-week period.

This also dovetails perfectly into the fact that the Flathead Valley has become a hub for gun manufacturing in recent years. Brandon Miller of Miller Precision Arms was instrumental in helping put together the program, which is being coordinated by the college’s Continuing Education Center.