What: FREE family event

When: Sunday, April 22nd from 12:00-5:00pm

Where: Caras Park

Event Planners: Missoula Urban Demostration Project (MUD)

Photo by Charles Martin

The 6th annual MUD Earth Day Celebration in Caras

Park will bring awareness to sustainable living in Missoula. Businesses from around the city and community organizations will join together to bring us a wonderful celebration of our earth.

Live music, guest speakers and more will entertain us throughout the day. The second annual Sustainability Olympics will take place from 2:00-3:00pm.

The Olympic events include:

~Bike & Buzz – Coffee to Compost bike obstacle race

~The crush – Can crushing race

~50-Yard Scramble – Egg and spoon race

~The Diapanthalon – cloth diaper changing race

~Green Matter – Earth Day trivia!

Come along to cheer the teams on as they will be competing for the gold! If you would like to participate in other ways please sign up to volunteer for Sunday. For every 2 hours of work, you will receive a free beverage of your choice. Jobs include helping with the Olympics, set up and take down, kids activities and much more.

The Office of Neighborhoods will have a table and will be giving out prizes to those who can tell us one way they make their neighborhood a “greener” place. We will have information about how you can make sustainable choices everyday to help protect the environment.

So come on over to Caras on Sunday and check out the activities for kids and adults and learn how you can make your “greenprint”.

For more information:

Check out MUD’s Earth Day Event Page for full schedule

Email Anne Quirk or the MUD Office, 721-7513

OR Jane Kelly, Neighborhood Liaison, 552-6081

Within the vibrant social media scene it is difficult to discern what may or may not be LOCAL. Yesterday I came upon a neat little video about our town that was posted on YouTube. Of course I suspected that it was created by a local artist, but I didn’t find out until this morning that I ALMOST know this person.

I know … how can you “Almost” know someone?  Haven’t you ever experienced the feeling that you are just THIS CLOSE to knowing someone?  Perhaps you sat next to them in Math class, and although you never really spoke with them, you did occasionally make eye contact.  But when that person began drumming in a band that everyone wanted to hear you couldn’t help but feel like you (almost) knew that person.

That’s a fictional story but this one isn’t.  When I saw this video I found myself anticipating what the artist’s lines were drawing, as the images were of so many familiar spots in town or identifiable logos of local products and companies. As the trees cropped up and the buildings became recognizable there was a feeling of triumph that I knew what they were.  I had no idea that I also (almost) know the artist.  But this morning I find out that the creator is the son of someone I know (yes I really do know her, I have actually had eye contact with her, and we’ve talked and laughed together.)  This talented LOCAL artist has captured Missoula in a very unusual and entertaining way.  ENJOY Michael Melugin’s “MisSOULa”

Things were going smoothly until last year… the unthinkable happened- the GRIZ lost.  WHAT!? Each year the smack talk starts in early November and by game time, everyone  is really stirred up; even my nephews from Belgrade have gotten into the action with taunting calls and messages. This year I have let their psycho-babble get into my head and I am not so sure of a GRIZ victory. The GRIZ have barely squeaked out a victory in several games and the Cats are looking pretty strong.  This is a big game and it will decide who gets the Big Sky Conference’s automatic bid to the FCS playoffs.

Who will win? One thing is for sure…I am going to be more careful about the friendly wager around our house!

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we’ll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we’ll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.

I am delighted to see the sidewalk project on Lower Miller Creek Road finally get completed. The sidewalk and road improvements link Linda Vista with the roundabout that was completed last year and create a safe place to walk and bike to and from our neighborhood. I think the part I like best about the sidewalk is that I feel like I got a great deal because I didn’t have to pay for it with an additional tax. I did get my property tax statement this week and I am sure that hidden among the line items is a tax that funded the sidewalks…but I still really like the Miller Creek sidewalk project.
BUT, what if I had to pay 100% of the cost to build a sidewalk in front of my house…would I still love it? Concrete is cheap but sidewalks are very expensive!
There is a debate going on with City Council and the Pedestrian Connection Committee on a proposed sidewalk project for 23rd Street. Everyone agrees that it would be wonderful to have sidewalks going up 23rd Street in the South Hills- BUT who should pay? Is it the City? Is it the homeowner that owns the property where the sidewalk could be located? Should there be a Special Improvement District (SID) formed to finance the project and how many homeowners should be included in the SID area to make the project more affordable? If the City goes through all the trouble of upgrading the sidewalks, should they also upgrade the paving and drainage?
These are all part of the discussion going on with the City Council and your opinion matters. What do you think?

One of the 2011 School Tours of the Orchards and Gardens

Yes I know the weather forecast is telling us to prepare for winter but there are still a few remnants of Autumn around us. Our neighborhood supplier of fresh fruits and vegetables still has some goodies for sale. Yesterday I found apples, pumpkins, squash and some of the sweetest carrots I have ever tasted at Benson’s Farms (7th street just east of Reserve).

All gardens must take a rest. I will miss my frequent Spring, Summer and Fall stops at the farm. But I know that the gardeners will be planning for 2012 planting and provide us with plenty of FRESH LOCAL PRODUCE.

THANK YOU BENSON’S FARMS!

Benson's Farms