Author: Jesse Crocker

January 2018 Meeting

The January meeting will be held on January 11 at 7pm, at the Presbyterian Church, 1220 West Main Street, Hamilton, MT.

The Bitterroot Land Trust presents our program this month with a showing of “On the Shoulders of Giants: The Story of Montana Private Land Conservation.”

If you love Montana and appreciate its wide, open spaces and beauty, you won’t want to miss this phenomenal film. The film is a stunning and inspiring 21-minute story about the value of conservation easements to Montana’s landscape, economy, and way of life. Several significant scenes are in the Bitterroot. The film will be followed by a short presentation by the Bitterroot Land Trust.

December 2017 Meeting Minutes

Meeting Date: December 14, 2017

Call to order: 7:00PM

President Norm Singley was unable to attend the meeting. Past-President, Mike Hoyt, opened the meeting with announcing that Jesse Crocker has offered to take on the position as Vice-President and to continue serving as Web Master. This was approved by membership. Congratulations and Thanks Jesse! Jesse stepped up to conduct the meeting.

Membership: Earl Phillips gave the membership numbers and reiterated this will be his last turn as membership coordinator. He asks for someone to train before he steps down. Membership may now be pay through Pay Pal.

Youth Ski Lessons: The first lessons begin in January 10 with Corvallis Public School students. Please call Richard Stone at 642-9648 if you are able to assist. The other dates are tentatively Jan 24- Victor, Jan 30- Darby, Feb 6 -Salmon. Also, donation of ski equipment would be greatly appreciated.

Treasurer: Reine Hilton said combination of savings and checking total $40,500.

Grooming Report: Conditions have been great for a few weeks now. Grooming has been taking place with snowmobiles. Soon there will be enough snow to use the Pisten Bully.

Program: The December potluck meeting was a rocking success. A chance meeting resulted in the perfect pairing between Raptors of the Rockies founder, Kate Davis, and the members of the Bitterroot Cross Country Ski Club. More than once Kate expressed delight in the members’ instantaneous reaction to her endless sense of humor. Laughter ruled during the 90 minute presentation. And, it continued generously during Colleen Powell’s retelling of her episode with rescuing an injured red tail hawk this summer. Without the necessary protection, the hawk’s talons pierced both of Mrs. Powell’s hand. Mrs. Powell and the hawk, now named Simone by Kate, were treated by, suitably named, Dr. Pearce at the Marcus Daly Memorial Hospital. The number of attendees was boosted by members from Bitterroot Audubon who came out to see the four raptors and lively presentation. Thanks bunches Kate, Simon, Simone, Sibley and Owen for the informative and entertaining visit. A special thanks also goes to Kay Fulton for facilitating this presentation.

The meeting adjourned at 8:30pm.

Grooming Report – Thursday 1/4/2018

Grooming: All ski trails were groomed Jan 1 2017. The Piston Bully will be operating during the days 1-4-17 and 1-5-17. Please give the operator a wave and move to one side of the trail. NOTE: The report will change a little in the next few days to reflect the trails that have tracks set in them. We hope this will help keep people informed of changes in the grooming.