Bridge Church announces 2023 Day of Hope

News from Rev. Jason Burrough, The Bridge Church

POLSON — The Day of Hope, Back to School Health Fair is back and coming to Downtown Polson on Saturday, Aug. 26, from 9 a.m.2 p.m., located between First St. W and Third Ave. W in front of the Cove in downtown. This free community event is brought to you by our local faith community, multiple nonprofits, and various business sponsors across the Polson and Mission Valley areas.

The Day of Hope will feature a variety of local nonprofit organizations, vendors, health service agencies, and educational services geared towards helping the families of Lake County prepare for the Back-to-School season. The Day of Hope will include free health

Bookstore Passport

screenings from organizations like Tribal Health, Providence St. Joseph, car seat safety checks by the Lake County Health Department. Giveaways like free school supplies, backpacks, and more will be available, while supplies last, from Tribal Education and other local non-profits of the Mission Valley. Last, but not least, Day of Hope will include various experiences for the kids of our community to explore fire trucks, police cars, meet local VIPS, and more. The Day of Hope will also have some of the valley’s best food trucks on hand and will have food available for purchase.

The Day of Hope was established in the Summer of 2019 by faith-based group of local likeminded individuals looking to bring Hope to the Valley. The Day from page 20 in 20 years, growing by 300 members since 2019 (before the COVID-19 pandemic).

“With the revival of independent bookstores, we all do better, and our industry does better, if more of us are thriving,” Rice said.

Rice compares her bookstore to a bar. People come in to share their joys and sorrows, but instead of bartenders, customers share with booksellers.

“People tell us their stories all the time,” Rice said. “When people feel lonely, or when they feel like they are suffering something, a lot of people turn to books to look for examples of themselves and find stories to help them contextualize what is going on in their lives.”

Many independent bookstores function beyond the shelves, hosting author signings, book clubs, game nights and other community events. At Elk River Books in Livingston, author events and book signings have grown in popularity of Hope has and will continue to provide thousands of people within Lake County and surrounding areas with the supplies necessary to begin school with the proper tools necessary and to prevent less stress for parents, students, and teachers. The mission of the Day of Hope is to meet the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of the Mission Valley community through the love of Jesus Christ.

If you or your organization would like to partner with the Day of Hope by joining with a booth or donate to help with the costs of this event, please contact Kristine Torgenrud at 406-261-7856 or Jason Burrough at 406-304-7013. Please also join our growing Facebook community at: www. facebook.com/groups/thedayofhopemt/ and frequency, said Marc Beaudin, who co-owns the downtown store.

“The community is super supportive of the literary arts, and that is partly because of the incredible caliber of authors who are willing to come and do readings. It is such a draw for the community.”

Bookstores are often described as a “third place,” a social environment outside of home and work. Gyms, libraries, churches, cafes, clubs and parks also fall into the category. Elliot-Brug hopes the bookstore passport encourages people to seek out their local bookstore as a third place to gather.

“Bookstores are destinations. They promote culture in our communities and are a place where people can exchange ideas and get to know each other away from home and work,” Elliot-Brug said.

Rice is excited to utilize the passport herself.

“The book passport is a great way to get people out and explore,” she said.

“There are so many more bookstores that I didn’t know existed.”

Legislature veto polling results available

News from the MT Secretary of State

MONTANA — Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen announced recently that veto polling results from the 68th Legislative Session are available on the Secretary of State Office’s website at: https://sosmt.gov/elections/ veto-polling-results/

The Secretary of State’s Office is tasked with polling legislators on bills vetoed by the governor when the legislature is not in session if the bill was approved by two-thirds of the members voting on the final vote on the bill. Once the Secretary of State’s Office receives the bill and the governor’s veto message, the polling process begins.

This week, the Secretary of State’s Office concluded the polling process for each of the qualifying vetoed bills received.

In all, 20 bills qualified for polling of Montana’s 150 legislators, including 11 line-item vetoes in House Bill 5. A total of 4,500 ballots were prepared by the Secretary of State’s Office and delivered to legislators.

“Thank you to our staff involved in the veto polling process these past two months,” said Secretary Jacobsen. “It was a great team effort preparing, delivering, and tallying thousands of ballots, as well as publishing the results for legislators, the media, and the public.”