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SWAN VALLEY – Audience members watched as their neighbors and familiar places appeared on the big screen at Swan Valley School March 8 as part of Scott Kirby's Main Street Souvenirs presentation. Kirby captured the Blackfoot Valley around Potomac, up the Clearwater through Seeley Lake and north to Swan Lake in his multi-media stage performance. He artfully combined live music, narration, historical and modern photographs, paintings and video clips to tell the story of the gathering of small-town...
SEELEY LAKE – Last Chance Saloon Owner Jerry O'Connell was faced with a tough decision. After posting for auditions to perform at his saloon, O'Connell couldn't decide between the six groups that auditioned. Following the last performance, he proclaimed, "I think we are going to hire everybody. Drinks on the house!" Friday night around 90 attendees at the "Western Burlesque" were taken back to the late 1800's in the Last Chance Saloon when times were tough and the alcohol flowed freely. While a...
SEELEY LAKE – When Ginger Williams presented the idea to bring “the show back, have some fun in January and get people’s mind off of winter” to the Seeley Lake Area Chamber, Executive Director Lisa Hayhurst was quick to tell her the Chamber would sponsor the event. “That is when the idea started rolling,” said Williams who has been working on the show since November. The community is in for a night of fun and laughter at their year’s Winterfest 2020 “A Western Burlesque” 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 24 at the Seeley Lake Community Hall. Tickets are...
SEELEY LAKE - World-renowned classical pianist Tanya Gabrielian started off the New Year bringing a whole new level of music to the Seeley-Swan High School auditorium. Playing to an audience of more than 100 people Sunday, Jan. 5, Gabrielian captured the hearts and minds of those in attendance with her piano mastery and ability to make an emotional connection to the music. Before each of the four songs, Gabrielian provided history and context for the composer and the piece. In addition, she...
OVANDO – Attendees at Ovando School's annual holiday production were treated to a story of caring, perseverance and childhood memories as the 10 students and three community members performed "The Nutcracker Prince" the evening of Dec. 19. After receiving a nutcracker as a gift from her Uncle Drosselmeyer (Kyle deRonnebeck), Clara (Sawyer Hessler) is distraught when her brother Fritz (Silas Hessler) breaks it. Her uncle assures her that everything will be fine in the morning. She said a p...
SALMON PRAIRIE - The Salmon Prairie School invited the community to their production of "Rudolph" Dec. 19. The student body made up of three students, seventh grader Cameron Lytle, kindergartner Hannah Bachkala and first grader Stetson Hulett along with teacher Holl Hubbard wrote the play roughly based on the TV production of "Rudolph." They also created the set drawings. Hubbard said that in the past, veteran students of the winter program helped the younger and new students. This year all the...
GREENOUGH - The Reception Barn at Paws Up Resort was the site of Sunset School's Dec. 19 holiday play, "A Little Elfin Magic." Dressed in Christmassy reds and greens, all 13 students, from kindergarten to seventh grade, played elfin parts. The central dilemma of the play is that the toy-making elves have not awoken in time to make all the toys needed for Santa's delivery. Though blaming and complaining initially, eventually the elves all decide to give up the toys they hoped to get for...
SWAN VALLEY - The Swan Valley School hosted a night of holiday song and dance Dec. 18 featuring the students from preschool through the junior high. Each class sang a couple of Christmas songs accompanied by Ellie Wood and then third through eighth graders joined with the staff to close the program with "Let It Be Christmas" by Alan Jackson....
SEELEY LAKE – A packed crowd assembled at the Double Arrow Lodge Dec. 8 to hear the Seeley-Swan Mountain Bells ring in the 2019 Christmas season. Under the title "Step Into A Christmas Card," the members of the bell choir presented a selection of familiar carols specially arranged for handbells. Again this year the ringers have added new skills to their repertoire allowing them to play increasingly complex arrangements. Using both chimes and bells, the ringers coaxed an astounding number of m...
SWAN VALLEY - An appreciative audience gave a standing ovation to the Chinook Winds Quintet at the conclusion of their Nov. 11 concert at Swan Valley School. But the quintet's mission was only half fulfilled. They spent the next two days giving performances and instructions to the children in the Seeley, Swan and Potomac schools. For the Quintet, bringing music to students in Montana's rural schools is equally as important as performing for the adult communities. All five members of the Chinook...
A chinook wind is defined in the dictionary as "a warm dry wind which blows down the east side of the Rocky Mountains at the end of winter." While, in our case, winter is just beginning, and the winds are anything but dry and warm, a change is indeed coming. At 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 17, at the Swan Valley School, Alpine Artisans' 2 Valleys Stage is bringing the incredible talent of the Chinook Winds Quintet to our very doorstep. Their programs include classic wind quintet literature, works...
SEELEY LAKE - Bryce Andrews' book, "Down from the Mountain: The Life and Death of a Grizzly Bear," is a story of a grizzly bear named Millie and her cubs that found sustenance in the Mission Valley cornfields and the author's attempt to save them and other bears drawn to the rich food source. Millie's plight brings to mind the recent demise of the mother grizzly nicknamed Windfall and her three cubs that met their demise this year after losing their fear of humans and finding food around homes...
SEELEY LAKE – "When it first started, I thought it would be just a little Seeley Lake and Condon thing," Chris Jewett said about Alpine Artisans' Tour of the Arts, which took place Oct. 12-13. "I never thought it would grow as big as it has. Every year more and more people come. It's an exciting thing." Jewett said the idea of having a fundraiser that consisted of visiting artist Open Houses was conceived 16 years ago by then AAI president Joyce Bissell. Bissell promptly delegated Jewett to t...
Alpine Artisans’ popular Tour of the Arts returns for its 16th year with one new studio joining the dazzling mix of over 20 artists at work in their studios, galleries and museums scattered throughout the Seeley Swan and Blackfoot Valleys. Held Oct. 12-13 to capture the height of the colorful golden Western Larch, the Tour also offers a free screening of the Oscar-winning documentary Free Solo Saturday, Oct. 12, at 7 p.m. at the Seeley Lake Community Hall. This free, self-guided tour leads you either east of Highway 200 to sites in Ovando a...
SEELEY LAKE - Climbing Yosemite's formidable El Capitan, 3,000 vertical feet of granite (without a rope), is one of the greatest athletic achievements of all time. This is the story told in the Oscar winning documentary "FREE SOLO." Alpine Artisans is presenting "FREE SOLO" on Saturday, Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. at the Seeley Lake Community Hall. The event is free and everyone is welcome. In fulfilling his life-long dream, climber Alex Honnold set an impossible standard – perfection or death. Filmed b...
"New viewers often ask us what to expect from an RDT performance. We tell them grace and athleticism, beauty and power. Beyond that, we tell them to embrace the unexpected." ~ Repertory Dance Theatre. Alpine Artisans' 2 Valleys Stage is excited to bring you an extra-ordinary presentation of the body in motion: the Repertory Dance Theatre of Salt Lake City, Utah. It is not often that we have the opportunity to see such dedicated and accomplished dancers up close in such an intimate setting....
MISSOULA – Seeley Lake mask makers Herman and Susie Andersen are displaying their hand-carved masks at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices in Missoula through the end of the month. Both enjoy sharing stories about each mask and the cultural significance behind them. Susie moved to Alaska in 1978 and taught in Makotak, a remote Yupik village near Bristol Bay where she met her husband Herman. Herman is of the Aleut tribe in Alaska and his mother was Yupik. They started seeing all the different s...
SEELEY LAKE - Nearly 100 people attended the free choir concert at Seeley-Swan High School Auditorium on Tuesday, July 16. The concert kicked off the four-day International Choral Festival in Missoula that is held once every three years. The performance brought Dagilėlis, a Lithuian boys choir, and the Batavia Madrigal Singers from Indonesia to Seeley Lake. The event was sponsored by the festival as part of its Outreach program. The Outreach Program is devoted to bringing culture into Montana...
SEELEY LAKE – What do 54 bells, an accordion, a barbershop quartet and the Feigley's have in common? The sixth annual Music Galore sponsored by the Seeley-Swan Mountain Bells hosted music from all of the above and more local talent May 14. The Seeley-Swan Mountain Bells started in 2012. For six years, they have performed their spring concert and included local musicians to join in the fun. This year's theme was "A Salute to America." With many traditional patriotic songs as well as American F...
OVANDO - Despite the busyness that comes with the end of the school year, Ovando School's supervising teacher Leigh Ann Valiton found time to prepare and host the school's annual May Day Tea on May 15. With choreographed dances and a poetry recitation students showcased major cultural themes throughout American history, decade-by-decade, beginning with the 1920s. Valiton prepared a series of monologues in order to set the scene for the different performances. The monologues highlighted major...
After a six-year hiatus, the Loon and Fish Festival is returning to Seeley Lake and 2 Valleys Stage Performing Arts Series will have their 2019-2020 season tickets for sale at “early bird” or you might say, “Early Loon” prices! “Something Old, Something New” No, we’re not sponsoring a wedding, but along with two new performance groups the 2019-2020 2VS season is bringing back three guest artist groups from previous seasons – ones we enjoyed so much, we wanted them to perform for us again. For those of you who missed their previous perfor...
SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley-Swan High School drama class took to the stage May 2 where they presented "12 Angry Men," a play written in three acts by Sherman L. Sergel, adapted from the television show by Reginald Rose. The play was staged in a jury room following the trial of a 19-year-old for allegedly fatally stabbing his father. The 12 jurors were tasked with the decision to acquit or condemn. However the question of guilt quickly turned to reasonable doubt about the young man's guilt as J...
SEELEY LAKE - On April 24, the students of Seeley-Swan High School presented their pieces of art and performed for community members at the annual Celebration of the Arts. The drama class, school band, creative writing class, choir and juniors who wrote persuasive speeches entertained parents and community members. The students from the art class displayed their artwork across tables, allowing viewers to examine their hard work with decorations. The audience enjoyed a variety of treats...
SEELEY LAKE – Students in the Seeley-Swan valleys were immersed in Balinese music and culture during the final 2 Valleys Stage informances April 15 and 16. Dorothy Morrison, musical director of Gamelan Manik Harum and music teacher at Lewis and Clark Elementary School, introduced students to the culture of Bali and taught the students the various instruments in the gamelan, a traditional percussion orchestra from the Indonesian islands Java and Bali. Gamelan was first developed between 1...
SWAN VALLEY - 2 Valleys Stage Performing Arts Series will conclude its 2018-19 season with a performance at Swan Valley School featuring Gamelan Manik Harum on Sunday, April 14. It will be a thrilling immersion into another culture, so let's start by defining a few unfamiliar terms. Gamelan is the name for the traditional ensemble music of the Indonesian islands, Java and Bali. The music is predominantly composed of percussion instruments, most commonly metallophones struck by mallets. Hand...
