Rounding up 2017's last best

Good News comes in waves to the Inter Lake. I’m kicking off 2018 by catching up with the last best of 2017.

Thanks to all who call, email or write us to help create the good news you’ll find in this biweekly column … and keep it coming in the new year!

By the time the smoke cleared — literally — last summer, the Chief Cliff Volunteer Fire Department had raised nearly $18,000 during its annual Dayton Daze community event. This year’s festivities weren’t dampened by the smoky haze that hung over the area due to the wildfires in the vicinity. No doubt, a large crowd turned out as a sign of support and solidarity for its firefighters who respond whenever and wherever they are needed.

The money raised more than covered the cost of the department’s target items, including a thermal imager, vital signs monitor and two radios, with some left over to put toward a additional pumper.

Last year’s Crown of the Continent Guitar Workshop and Festival is now a fond memory for both the students and audience members who come from far and wide to attend. If you’ve never seen one of the festival concerts, it’s well worth the ticket price, which also benefits the Crown’s scholarship fund for aspiring musicians who have the opportunity to learn from, collaborate and perform with some of the best talent in the music industry during a week of intensive workshops.

Greg and Lois Micheletti of Corvallis have come to the Flathead Valley for their favorite concert venue every year since discovering the festival in 2014, after Greg’s brother (a guitarist) brought it to their attention.

“When we told my wife’s sister and her husband from Olympia, Washington, that (blues slide guitar virtuoso) Sonny Landreth was a guest artist this year, they strongly encouraged us to go see him,” Greg wrote. “We invited them to join us and experience the festival and now it’s on their list of favorite concert venues as well.

“Rarely can you see the caliber of musicians that perform at the Crown for the price of admission charged,” Greg said, “and rarely will you find yourself enjoying the music in such a beautiful, relaxed setting … that brings musicians and music lovers together on the majestic Flathead Lake.”

Jen George, president of Soroptimist International of Whitefish, offered a heartfelt thank you to Marc Ducharme and Xanterra Parks & Resorts — Glacier National Park’s concessionaire — for generously donating Glacier Park apparel to the group’s Thrift Haus as a result of the Sprague Fire that damaged Sperry Chalet last summer.

Donated during the holiday season, the goods were even delivered to their doorstep by three men decked out in Santa hats.

George said the money raised from the sales will be used to fund such causes as human trafficking awareness, scholarships for high school students and women returning to school, as well as Soroptimists’ Smile of Hope Program, which provides dental services to women in need.

Jerry Begg reflected on the legacy of Sister Mary Brendan who founded Brendan House extended care nursing facility in 1985 at Kalispell Regional Medical Center, and how it has shaped the quality of care that the staff continue to provide today.

“May the Lord make his face shine upon the ladies of the Brendan House who provided for my mom, Edna Begg. It takes a special heart to attend to the needs of the elderly,” her son wrote in his letter to the Inter Lake. “Mom was shown kindness and grace. The young CNAs were adorable and treated Mom as if she were their own grandma.”

Begg said three of the staff members attended his mother’s service and share special thoughts about his mother, which was very comforting to him.

“The spirit of Sister Mary Brendan is being carried on in their good works,” he said. “Thank you. God bless.”