FVCC to hold 50th anniversary celebration on Friday

Flathead Valley Community College invites the community to celebrate its 50th anniversary on April 7 at a free event on campus. Founders’ Day will take place in the Arts and Technology Building from 5 to 8 p.m. and will feature a special 50th anniversary tribute, historic displays, live music and complimentary food samplings.

FVCC was voted into existence on April 1, 1967, after Flathead County residents approved a bond measure to establish a community college in Northwest Montana. The first board of trustees was sworn in the day after the election and hired Dr. Larry Blake as the college’s president on April 9, 1967. The first classes were held that fall in buildings scattered around Kalispell with an enrollment of 611 students.

Today, FVCC is located on 206 acres north of its original downtown home and serves approximately 3,500 students annually with more than 100 degree and certificate programs. In addition to the main campus in Kalispell, FVCC has a satellite campus in Libby.

Bill McClaren, one of the college’s five founders, and Dr. Blake’s son, Larry Blake Jr., will take part in the Founders’ Day celebration, along with current FVCC President Jane Karas.

Country bluegrass singer and songwriter Halladay Quist will perform at the event. Quist is a 2003 graduate of Flathead High School and has taken classes at FVCC. She has made a name for herself as a musician whose career has included singing Mozart’s “Requiem” across Europe, playing bass guitar in a band in Seattle and recording a solo album in Nashville.

Complimentary food samplings will be provided by various local food vendors. Students from the Culinary Institute of Montana at FVCC will serve 50th anniversary cookies prepared specially for this event.

For more information, call Heidi Hickethier at the FVCC Foundation at 756-4388 or visit www.fvcc.edu/50.