Council for the Arts October meeting focuses on upcoming events

“The Lincoln Council for the Arts discussed upcoming events and continued collaboration with other organizations and local businesses at its monthly meeting Monday, Oct. 21.

The Montana Shamrockers concert Thursday, Nov. 14, is the first of several upcoming events.

The Shamrockers will first perform for the students at the Lincoln School at 3 p.m. That evening they will be at the Lincoln Community Hall at 7 p.m. where they will do their rendition of “No Irish Needed,” a tribute to Veterans. The concert is free, although donations are welcome to help cover the Communit is the Council for the Arts longest running event, Santa’s Workshop. Now in its 21st year, it’s slated for Saturday, Dec. 7 at the Lincoln School, from 10 a.m.-noon.

Santa’s Workshop gives school aged children the opportunity to create handmade gifts for their family and friends. All kids are welcome to attend, for a fee of $5.

Volunteers are always welcome. This year, they’re looking for a couple people to assist with the gift-wrapping table. Anyone interested should contact Jill Frisbee.

Members of the Art’s Council also voted to donate $500 to help the elementary classes to attend the Helena Symphony performance this year.

New member Lee York spoke about the upcoming “NaNoWriMo” program that will be hosted at the library for the month of November. Each Monday, from 7-9 p.m., writers of all ages and levels can gather and talk about their current writing project, while working to meet their goal of writing 50,000 words, essentially writing the rough draft of a novel by the end of the month. York is trying to identify other local writers to host future writing workshops and retreats and thought this might be a good way to do so. The NaNoWriMo program is free.

York is also collaborating with Kate Radford at the Lincoln Library to bring in writers to do readings of their work. They’re looking to bring in writers from the University of Montana in Missoula, where they have a Master’s Program on writing, as well as from a writing group in Helena. In addition, Radford suggested author Cynthia Hand, an author of both young adult and adult fiction, including the “My Lady Jane” series of books, who could possibly come speak to youth and adults.

As a follow-up to the novel writing, the Art’s Council also discussed hosting a month of poetry readings beginning in January. More information will be released in December about location and times.

April Erickson, a council member and Lincoln school art teacher, discussed bringing the Missoula Children’s Theater back to the school for an April performance next year. MCT spends a week with students at the school, casting them for parts in a production, then practice and rehearse for two performances at the end of the week.

Art’s Council members said the program creates lasting memories for the kids, and Erickson reminisced that her son Peyton enjoyed it all the way through his senior year. The PTSO and Council for the Arts used to split the cost of the MCT program. More recently, funding from the POUNCE program covered the expenses. Now, with POUNCE funding unavailable, the Council for the Arts is looking for ways to help. Money raised through Santa’s Workshop, which goes directly back to the kids, could help with some of the costs. If anyone is interested in donating money or volunteering for the MCTprogram, contact Annette Gardner at the school at 406-362-4201.

Council members also discussed events and programming the organization has offered or helped with in the past. With several new members in the past few months, President Annette Gardner thought it would be a good idea to provide a recap of several of them, including theater, dance and music performances, adult education, scholarships, the purchase of band instruments for the school, and the Lincoln Art and Music Festival.

Through fundraising and membership, the Lincoln Council for the Arts continues to provide programming throughout the community. Membership costs only $5 and donations are welcomed at any time.

If you would like more information, you can attend a meeting, held on the third Monday of each month at 5:30 p.m. in the back room at Lambkins Restaurant or visit the website at http://www.lincolncouncilforthearts.com/

For more information on the Montana Shamrockers and their performance, visit their website at https://www.facebook.com/TheMontanaShamRockers/. Informational flyers will be available at the American Legion’s Post 9 Veteran’s Day celebration at the Lincoln Community Hall, Monday, Nov. 11.

For more information on the “NaNoWriMo”project, visit the website at http://www.nanowrimo.org.