EDITORIAL: Looking forward to Pond Hockey 2017
There’s no use crying over melted ice.
The 2016 Montana Pond Hockey Classic, scheduled for this weekend, fell victim to a warming spell that has turned February into the equivalent of our usual April — a soggy muddy mess.
Event organizers had at first hoped to salvage the popular competition by moving it from Foy’s Lake to Woodland Park, where it was held last year under similar unseasonal circumstances. Alas, even the city’s lagoon could not stay solid in the face of a solid week of days (and nights!) above freezing. For the sake and safety of everyone involved, Pond Hockey 2016 was ultimately canceled.
That’s a regrettable loss for the players and for Kalispell’s business community, but the good news is that the Convention and Visitor Bureau has a full year to plan for next year’s event. To avoid getting tripped up by an early spring again in 2017, organizers have already announced they will work to move the Montana Pond Hockey Classic to January.
We look forward to it.
Choir hits a high note
The Valley Voices Community Choir has hit a high note by getting invited to sing at Carnegie Hall in November. The choral group’s finesse was noticed when a talent scout heard one of the choir’s YouTube videos and invited the Valley Voices to New York City to be part of the Distinguished Concerts International series.
We can’t think of a finer group to represent the Flathead Valley at such a high-profile event in the Big Apple.
Allyson Kuechmann has been directing the Valley Voices since the choir formed 16 years ago. We admire the tireless dedication of not only Kuechmann but also the many wonderful vocalists who have entertained us so delightfully through the years.
Spreading hope and health
A Flathead Valley team recently experienced the value of good deeds.
During a medical mission trip to Guatemala, 29 volunteers (many from the Flathead) undertook a whirlwind of caregiving: eight days, four clinics, $14,000 in donated medicines and 1,250 patients helped.
The experience, while no doubt deeply beneficial for the recipients of the medical care, also was life-changing for the volunteers from the Flathead who were able to see the effects of stark poverty and lack of health-care access.
“We were all touched by the experience,” one mission participant said. “These people have almost no hope.”
It’s heartening that hope and care was provided by the American group that was sponsored by Potters Field Ministry in Whitefish.