LOCAL ROUNDUP: Bigfork shows feature arts, boats
Bigfork is gearing up for a big weekend with a pair of family-friendly events Saturday and Sunday — an arts festival and classic boat show. Admission is free.
The 38th annual Bigfork Festival of the Arts takes place in downtown Bigfork. Hours are 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each day. A fine selection of art, crafts, food, music and other entertainment will fill the streets with more than 150 booths. All downtown Bigfork merchants will be open for business as well.
All parking access to downtown will be closed during festival hours, but parking and shuttle buses are available behind the Bethany Lutheran Church on Montana 35 and the Potoczny Baseball Field (east of the post office).
For more information, visit www.bigforkfestivalofthearts.com
• The 11th annual Big Sky Antique & Classic Boat Show will be at Marina Cay Resort, just a short walk from the Bigfork Festival of the Arts.
The show will feature more than 25 mahogany boats in the water at the Marina Cay Resort Harbor, plus boats on trailers and a lineup of informational tents adjacent to the boat display. In addition to the lineup of Chris-Crafts, Stan-Crafts, Correct Crafts and other classics, there will be several 1950s three-point wood hydroplanes and “mini skeeters” ice and land sailing boats on display.
Poster artist Herb McAllister will sign boat-show posters and his special poster illustrating the history of where old “Flathead Steamers” went to the bottom of the lake.
The Montana Wooden Boat Foundation will offer model sailboat kits for the first 20 children at its show tent on Saturday. The Foundation also will raffle off a remote control sailboat model kit to raise money for its youth programs.
Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.
For further information, contact Alex Berry 406-471-2293 or visit www.http://bigskyacbs.com.
Workshop to teach how to control knapweed
The Montana Land Reliance will host a workshop on biological control of spotted knapweed Aug. 9 at 9 a.m. in the Flathead Valley Community College Arts and Technology Building. There is no charge for the program and the public is welcome.
Management of the invasive noxious weeds is one of the most challenging issues facing both private and public land management in Montana. Biological control agents for the control of spotted knapweed have been released in Montana for a number of years with varying success. However, new efforts show that proper training greatly improves the probability of success.
The workshop will begin with classroom instruction on the science and biology of the beneficial bugs that feed on spotted knapweed and review methods to integrate biological control with other methods of weed control. Afterward, program participants will travel to a field site to identify bugs, observe them eating knapweed, and weather permitting, learn to gather insects.
Workshop speakers include Melissa Maggio-Kassner, coordinator for the Montana Biological Weed Control Project, and Tris Hoffman, weed coordinator for the Flathead National Forest.
If you are interested in attending the workshop, contact Mark Schiltz at 406-837-2178 or mark@mtlandreliance.org.