New West Network

My Page: Alison Grey

Gallatin Valley Non-Profit Series

For 30 years, the Intermountain Opera Association has provided two or three performances of at least one fully-staged opera classic each year starring singers well-known in the opera world, backed by an orchestra and chorus made up of the best musicians from our region. With 15 people serving on the board, two year-round part-time staffers and hundreds of volunteers, the organization is currently expanding their outreach activities to develop new audiences and ensure the survival of live opera in Montana. President Janet Young expands on the organization and their efforts. [more]

Gallatin Valley Non-Profit Series

With around 1,000 visits every day and more than 25,000 people who have been issued library cards, the Bozeman Public Library is a major community center. Operating from its newly completed state-of-the-art building since 2006, the library is a multimedia resource center and community meeting place that offers residents culturally and scientifically enriching programs and materials.

Founded in 1974, the Friends of the Bozeman Public Library (FBPL), with 40 volunteers and 9 directors, is dedicated to providing financial support and meeting the needs of the Bozeman Library and the community.

The organization supports the Bozeman Public Library in providing the community with free, open and equal access to general information on a broad array of topics; resources to promote personal growth and lifelong learning; popular materials to meet cultural and recreational needs; and the training to find, evaluate and use information effectively. Amy McNamara, Vice President, expands on FBPL and its efforts. [more]

Gallatin Valley Non-Profit Series

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is a progressive genetic disease affecting more than 30,000 children and young adults in the U.S. It is a debilitating disease that over time, weakens a patient’s lungs and heart resulting in consistent and life-threatening lung infections and severe digestive problems, prolonged hospital stays and often necessitating life-saving organ transplants. Currently, there is no cure.

The Cody Dieruf Benefit Foundation was created in 2006 as a living tribute to Cody Dieruf, a young woman and accomplished ballet dancer from Bozeman who died from the disease when she was 23-years-old, just days before her college graduation.

Described as a passionate and fun-loving woman with a tremendous zeal for life, Cody was deeply committed to living her life to the fullest, as she realized that each day was a gift. Even as the disease began to take its toll on her young body, she found triumph in the smallest of accomplishments, her signature smile never fading away.

The organization is committed to raising awareness of CF and offering the necessary financial and emotional support to local kids and young adults with CF and their families. Anne Dieruf, President, expands on the CDMF and its efforts. [more]

Will Tomorrow Ever Come?

We’ll all have to wait just a little bit longer for the unveiling of the MSU Tomorrow Plan. While the Plan, the guiding vision for the physical development of the campus for the next 25 to 75 years, was originally scheduled to be published by the end of this month, it’s running a bit behind schedule in the drafting process.

“Production is a little behind,” said Victoria Drummond, MSU Facilities Services-Planning Design and Construction associate planner. “It will most likely be closer to March.”

Sounds like most major projects, eh? Still, when considering this Plan was actually created upon the principle to avoid the rushed, short-term decisions that could potentially have detrimental long-term impacts on campus growth in the future, waiting a couple months to iron out the details and make certain it is both workable and viable is in line with one of the Plan’s main goals: slow down, think it out and make educated, well-planned decisions.

Drummond views the plan as the accumulation of a tremendous amount of campus and community collaboration to create what she views as one of the most unique, creative and inspiring campus master plans in the country. [more]

Adventure, Exploration and Education

World-class mountaineer, Hans Saari, is remembered by his friends as a sensitive intellectual, a young adventurer who cared deeply about the mountains and the people who lived and traveled amongst them. A humble man, Hans realized that expeditions were both physically and intellectually challenging pursuits, and his deep introspection into explorations garnered him a respect and love for both the mountains and the cultures that thrived because of them.

“I saw Hans as sort of the classic understated athlete in Bozeman,” said Drew Seessel, who lived across the street from Saari, a connection which resulted in a friendship with plenty of climbing and skiing adventures. “He under promoted himself but overachieved. His energy was endless. He loved doing it, not being recognized for doing it. I respected that a lot in him.”

It was while writing an article about ski-mountaineer Pierre Tardivel in Chamonix, France, that Hans fell to his death while attempting to descend the Tardivel Entrance to the Gervasutti Couloir near Mont Blanc in 2001.

Created in the image of who Hans was, the Hans Saari Memorial Fund, now one-year-old, is an organization dedicated to the education and exploration of the backcountry. [more]

Gallatin Valley Non-Profit Series

With unprecedented population growth throughout the West, both its demographic and economic landscape have witnessed major changes. Committed to promoting community decisions that respect the environment and the people who live here, The Sonoran Institute strives to create a collaborative approach to protecting both the culture and the land of the West.

The Sonoran Institute, Northern Rockies Office, founded in 1990, has a staff of 11 people, including land use planners, community organizers, rural development specialists, a landscape ecologist, conservationists, a communications expert and a GIS specialist, all committed to the organization’s mission of inspiring and enabling community decisions and public policies that respect the land and the people of the West. Dennis Glick, director of the Sonoran Institute’s Northern Rockies office, expands on the organization and its efforts. [more]

Popular trailhead transferring from private to public property

It may only be about four acres, but the land that encompasses and surrounds the west side of the Bozeman Creek Trailhead is the base of one of the most popular recreational destination points in the valley, and now, that land is guaranteed to be protected in perpetuity.

Landowners, Michael Delaney and Ileana Indreland, decided to give a parcel of their land to the Gallatin Valley Land Trust instead of pursuing potential development. This donation will ensure public access to one of Bozeman’s most used, and loved, trails for both winter and summer recreation. This donation also marks the first time the Land Trust has taken outright ownership of property. [more]

Hyalite Canyon Access Update

Hyalite Canyon, whether it involves plowing, gate closures or access to different areas by different user groups, has been one of the area’s most contentious and controversial access issues over the past year, as city and county officials, the Forest Service and members of the community continue to try to work out the plethora of issues that arise in the implementation of the Gallatin National Forest Service’s new Travel Management Plan.

And, over the past week, the issues have continued to arise, making it evident that access to Hyalite and all of the safety concerns surrounding it, will be a work in progress, with plenty of detours, road blocks and successes in the years to come.

This week, the issue was plowing and gate closures.
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Gallatin Valley Non-Profit Series

With a mission to connect Montana to the world through global education and exchanges with international visitors, the Montana Center for International Visitors (MCIV) is part of a network of individuals and community organizations throughout the U.S. that helps to bridge cultures and build positive relationships by bringing together people from all over the world.

An affiliate of the National Council for International Visitors (NCIV), based in Washington, D.C., MCIV is one of 95 community based non-profit centers throughout the country. The organization brings emerging leaders from over 120 countries to the U.S. to obtain knowledge about its people, government and culture, resulting in lasting relationships with prominent professionals and leaders from various overseas locals.

Founded in 1987, the MCIV has one full-time staff member and one part-time staff member and eight board members that work to bring an average of 100 leaders to experience Montana every year. Executive Director, Doris Armstrong, expands upon MCIV and their efforts. [more]

Everything in moderation...including moderation

There’s no time like New Year’s to take one’s self confidence and bash it to the ground. It’s that time of year where we can all reflect upon what horrible, gluttonous, self-absorbed jerks we have been over the past year and make unrealistic resolutions to find salvation, health, love and spirituality.

At a recent trip to a Chinese lunch buffet, I sat in a savory MSG-induced food coma; somewhat pleased that I had literally overcome the challenge to, “eat all that I could eat,” I realized that 2008 was nearly upon us.

My fortune cookie read, “To achieve happiness, one must achieve moderation.” As the fat cells multiplied in my body and the cellulite rolls began to take form, I reflected upon a year of overindulgence and self-gratification, with little to no motivation to achieve moderation.

Now that that we are ready to ring in a New Year marked with the purchase of clean, unmarked calendars, it is time yet again to turn over a new leaf and strive for optimal physical and emotional health, putting behind my days of overeating, overdrinking and chasing dirt-bags.
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