November is Happening!
What can be more fun than actively participating in small town activities? In cities, you become lost in the crowd. In the Tobacco Valley, you are recognized and called by name whether you stop in the post office to pick up mail or run into Montana Market for milk and bread. And November is a great month for taking this sense of being part of the community to a new level.
On November 7, there are auditions for this year's Missoula Children's Theater. Any student in grades 1-12 is welcome to audition at the LCHS auditorium at 3:45 pm in the afternoon for "Aladdin." No preparation in necessary. Young people only need to show up with a smile and a willingness to speak loudly. Sixty children will be selected to perform in the musical. This means your daughter or son or grandchildren might be on stage during the two performances on Saturday, November 12 (3:00 pm and 5:30 pm).
Another community event that is both fun and beneficial is the annual Sunburst Toast of the Town. This swanky evening out with friends and neighbors on November 4 starts at 5:30 pm at Four Corners Restaurant and includes handcrafted wine cups by Sally Steward, delicious appetizers by Four Corners, and a silent auction with great items like a round of golf at the Wilderness Club, gifts from the Red Barn, a certificate for Elrod Chiropractic, and Doug Merrill earrings. The $20 entrance earns you a wine cup, beverages, food, a raffle ticket for the door prize and appreciation from Sunburst Foundation for your support.
November 26 is Shop Small Saturday. Stores up and down Dewey Ave and north of town will be offering all kinds of sales and bargains to encourage you to shop local. These businesses are the same ones who support nonprofits like Sunburst and the Creative Arts Center, youth sports and dance. Shop Small Saturday is a day when you can show your support for our hometown businesses.
About the Author: Rita Collins. I am a believer in the power of community and for now I call the Tobacco Valley home. I have lived in nine states and three counties and this community here amazes me - how people reach out to neighbors and even travelers. I've never lived in a place that demonstrates people caring for each other so well. And I've never lived in a place that has such a high percentage of talented musicians and artists. I work with the the Sunburst Community Service Foundation, a nonprofit that began in Eureka twenty years ago and now serves numerous communities in western Montana. And I just started a new business, St. Rita's Amazing Traveling Bookstore and Textual Apothecary. I never could have imagined life being this exciting in my sixth decade.
