Co-op fundraiser

Co-op brewery puts on fundraiser for fellow cooperative

By Taylor Davison / Valley Journal

RONAN — The Ronan Cooperative Brewery will hold another street closure event on Aug. 26, this time to raise money for the other cooperative in town, the Western Montana Musicians Co-op.

The co-ops have been working together for some time, the musicians filling every Wednesday at the brewery with live performances. The musicians co-op however, was recently hit with a significant rent increase in July.

“We’re talking from $200 to $1,200,” Jake Kimmel, Talent Coordinator of the musicians co-op and new taproom server at the brewery explained.

“Ever since I started working here, they always provided us with musicians. We wanted to show them some pure gratitude in some way,” taproom manager Eric Brunet commented. Upon hearing the need, they immediately began to work up a plan. “We had August open for a street closure and didn’t have anything planned, so we said, ‘let’s put something together to get a fundraiser for you guys and do what we can to help you out.’”

Working together, Brunet secured food for the evening in the form of That One Guy’s BBQ and Tacos food truck and Kimmel gathered artists to perform that evening.

The first on the list is the band The Wildflowers, a big name in the musician’s cooperative that has been involved since its beginning. A married couple, Kimmel described their style as “don’t worry be happy.” The second performer is a newer name in town, Matthew Morris.

“I don’t have much of his backstory but the more I’m getting the more I think this guy is a legit Rockstar,” Kimmel said. “I ran into him at karaoke. I walked in and heard this angel singing on the mic.” A deep voiced vocalist and guitar player, Kimmel explained Morris once performed in a Christian rock band with a large following out of an Evangelical church. Kimmel is working to get back in the music scene here in the valley.

Just as they did for the volunteer fire department back in April, the brewery will be donating proceeds from beer sales made during the event to the musicians co-op. “There’ll be strategically placed tip jars too,” Kimmel added with a laugh.

To learn more about the event and future fundraisers held by the brewery, visit them online at: facebook.com/ RonanCooperativeBrewery.

Right: Matthew Morris will play at the musician co-op’s fundraiser this Friday at the Ronan Co-op Brewery.

COURTESY PHOTO

USDA investing $197M in partner-driven, locally led conservation

News from USDA

BOZEMAN — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on Aug. 12 it is awarding $197 million for 41 locally led conservation projects through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). RCPP is a partner-driven program that leverages partner resources to advance innovative projects that address climate change, enhance water quality, and address other critical challenges on agricultural land.

“Our partners are experts in their fields and understand the challenges in their own backyards,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said. “Through RCPP we can tap into that knowledge, in partnership with producers and USDA, to come up with lasting solutions to the challenges that farmers, ranchers, and landowners face. We’re looking forward to seeing the results of public-private partnership at its best, made possible through these RCPP investments.”

The projects funded today are awarded under two different RCPP funding opportunities: RCPP Classic and RCPP Alternative Funding Arrangements (AFA). RCPP Classic projects are implemented using NRCS contracts and easements with producers, landowners and communities, in collaboration with project partners. Through RCPP AFA, partners have more flexibility in working directly with agricultural producers to support the development of new conservation structures and approaches that would not otherwise be available under RCPP Classic.

As part of each project, partners offer value-added contributions to amplify the impact of RCPP funding in an amount equal to or greater than the NRCS investment.

Private landowners can apply to participate in an RCPP project in their region through awarded partners or at their local USDA service center.

Grants offered to rural schools for history textbooks

News from the MT Historical Society

MONTANA — Rural school officials can apply for funds to purchase classroom sets of Montana: A History of Our Home, the new fourthgrade student textbook published by the Montana Historical Society.

The 96-page textbook offers a quick tour through 13,000 years of Montana history. Students will learn about Montana’s 12 tribal nations and seven reservations; the immigrants who moved to Montana in the 19th and 20th centuries; and the trapping, mining, logging, farming, and ranching industries that drew them to the Treasure State. The book also introduces students to amazing Montanans from Northern Cheyenne Chief Dull Knife to photographer Evelyn Cameron.

The sturdy, hardback textbook with library binding is accompanied by a detailed, activity-filled, 320-page teacher’s guide. You can download and preview both the student book and the teacher’s guide at: mhs.mt.gov/ education/Elementary/ HistoryOfOurHome

“The material is aligned to Montana’s new social studies standards, which require students to ‘explain how Montana has changed over time given its cultural diversity and how this history impacts the present,’” said Martha Kohl, the MTHS Outreach and Information program manager. “It also helps students investigate the physical, political, and cultural characteristics of places, regions, and people in Montana.”

The interdisciplinary lessons also align to the ELA, math, and art standards as well as the Seven Essential Understandings Regarding Montana Indians.

Thanks to a grant from the Steele-Reese Foundation, a charitable trust committed to supporting rural communities, schools more than 40 miles from an urban center (defined as Billings, Bozeman, Butte, Great Falls, Helena, Kalispell, and Missoula) are eligible to apply for funds to reimburse the cost of purchasing textbooks. The school will be required to pay for shipping to their school from Helena.

Selected schools will be required to submit receipts showing their purchase to the Montana Historical Society for reimbursement.

To apply, school officials need to complete an application at: docs.google. com by midnight, Aug. 31. MTHS will review applications and announce decisions by Sept. 12. If there are more requests than can be fulfilled, MTHS will give preference to small schools (measured by the number of fourth-grade students attending the school) to make sure that the most rural schools are served first. A secondary criterion will be how many hours the teacher will dedicate to Montana history.

For more information, contact Kohl at 406-4444740 or: mkohl@mt.gov.

“The material is aligned to Montana’s new social studies standards, which require students to ‘explain how Montana has changed over time given its cultural diversity and how this history impacts the present.”

- Martha Kohl, MTHS Outreach & Information program manager

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