Bits and Pieces

Sign up for 'Try It' biathlon

Join the West Yellowstone Ski Education Foundation and Altius Handcrafed Firearms. Come and experience some hands on learning for this unique sport. Rifles and ammunition provided. Meet at the Biathlon Range, located at the Rendezvous Ski Trails from 11a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information contact Marc at (406) 646-9222 or e-mail altiusguns@earthlink.net

Celebrate the outdoors with Winter Trails Day

In partnership with the National Forest Service and national Winter Trails Day, the trail fee will be waived for the Rendezvous Ski Trails on Saturday, Jan. 28. West Yellowstone Ski Education Foundation board members will offer free one-hour ski lessons to all those who are interested. Meet at the trailhead at 10 a.m. and 12 noon. First timers to weekend warriors are welcome. Both skate and classic techniques will be taught. Local ski shops offer complimentary ski and snowshoe rentals on a first come/first served basis. Come out and enjoy the trails. 
Contact the Hebgen Lake Ranger Station at (406) 823-6961 or Freeheel & Wheel at (406) 646-7744 for more information.

Winter Speaker Series special presentation set

Guest speaker Greg Pederson, an ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, will hold a presentation at the West Yellowstone Visitor Information Center tonight starting at 7:30 p.m.

In the mountains of western North America, snowpack controls the amount of runoff, impacts temperature and influences a wide range of ecosystem processes. Snowpack has declined since the 1950s, and continued reductions are expected throughout the 21st century and beyond. Snowpack declines would threaten many current water storage and allocation strategies. Join us for a discussion on the past 1,000 years of snowpack changes across the West and within the Greater Yellowstone region. The major causes and consequences of long-term changes in snow and ice will be discussed along with implications for Yellowstone. 

Pederson has a Ph.D. in Watershed Management and Ecohydrology from the University of Arizona. His field of expertise is in climate change impacts, paleoclimate, dendroclimatology, dendroglaciology and hydrology. Currently his research is focused primarily on climate variability and its role in driving biological and physical components of mountainous ecosystems in Western North America.

For more Information call (307) 344-2876.

The Winter Speaker Series is sponsored by Yellowstone National Park and the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center.

Volunteers needed for local teen center

Town of West Yellowstone recreation coordinator Brandy Holland is currently working on getting the Teen Center up and running for the coming months at the Povah Community Center. Holland is looking for volunteer parents, aunts, uncles or community members that may be interested in spending a few hours, a couple days each week, overseeing the teens.

There are many teens living in West Yellowstone that would love to come and enjoy a few hours hanging with their friends at the teen center and Holland wants to make this happen for them. Please let her know if you have any ideas or suggestions.

She would also like to extend a big thank you to all of the volunteers that are helping with basketball, gym and dance. For questions or comments please call (406) 640-1676 or (406) 646-7715.

Blood drive planned for Monday

The next West Yellowstone Community Blood Drive will be held Monday, Jan. 30, from 12:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the Church of Christ auditorium.

Contact Virginia Loomis at 646-7370 to schedule an appointment or long onto www.bloodhero.com, using sponsor code: westyellowstone. Walk-ins are also welcome.

Books for Babies kicks off at the local library

West Yellowstone Public Library and Community Health Partners' Parents As Teachers program presents "Books for Babies." The event is free and the public is invited to meet at the library every Friday from Feb. 3 until March 9, starting at 10 a.m. each week.

Bring children ages 0 to 6. Meet our town's new library director and enjoy participating in an interactive story time, exploring books and reading with your child.

Close-Up students to host Super Bowl party

The West Yellowstone High School Close-Up students will be hosting a family friendly Super Bowl party at the Bear's Den Cinema on Sunday Feb. 5. Doors will open at 3:30 p.m., There will be food and big screen TVs for watching the game. The cost is $10 per person or $45 for a family of five or more and includes food, drinks and the game. Come join us for a night of fun, cheer for your favorite team and help get the Close-Up kids to Washington D.C.

Certified Interpretive Guide program offers certification course

The Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center in partnership with the National Association for Interpretation (NAI), is offering a professional certification course for individuals who will be delivering interpretive programs or having public contact at interpretive sites.

The Certified Interpretive Guide program (CIG) is designed for anyone who delivers interpretive programs to the public. It combines both the theoretical foundations of the profession with practical skills in delivering quality interpretive programming to visitors. Whether you are new to the interpretive field, or are an experienced interpreter seeking professional recognition and a chance to hone your skills, this course is a great opportunity for you.

The course will take place from March. 20 - March 23 at the West Yellowstone Chamber of Commerce. Cost with professional certification is $372 for non-NAI members, and $322 for NAI members. Participants can also elect to take the course without certification at a reduced rate.

Advance registration for the course is required. Please contact Trent Redfield or AJ Chlebnik at education@grizzlydiscoveryctr.com or call (406) 646-7001 for more information. You can also check out a full course description and find out more information on NAI and the CIG program on the web at http://www.interpnet.com/certification/workshops/CIG-2012-03_Yellowstone.shtml.

Co-ed volleyball begins this month

Adult co-ed volleyball for players ages 18 and older will begin on Thursdays this month in the West Yellowstone School gymnasium. Volleyball will be played from 7 to 9 p.m. Everyone is welcome to show up and play. Make sure you bring non-marking shoes to play in.

It's Another Kids'N'Snow weekend 

The next Kids 'N' Snow weekend is coming up Feb. 3 - Feb. 5. Enjoy another special weekend filled with activities just for kids including a free ice fishing clinic, Yellowstone National Park snowshoe hikes and ranger programs, more "snowcoach samplers" and Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center programs and presentations. See the full schedule at www.kidsnsnow.org. (Some activities require pre-registration due to limited space.)

S'mores, Skating & Sledding

The next event will take place on Saturday, Feb. 4 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Join the fun at the West Yellowstone Ice Rink. Warm-up with hot beverages, toast some marshmallows and make your own s' more. All the fixings are provided. Bring your own sled for our Kid's Sledding Hill. Or, try out West Yellowstone's ice skating rink. Skate rentals are available, but come early for the best selection. We are looking for a few folks willing to help out with skating lessons from 6 p.m. - 8 p.m. Please contact Jan Stoddard at (406) 640-0482 if you're interested. The event is sponsored by Nicholas Food Company and the Three Bear Lodge Marketing Fund. The rink is located on 101 S. Faithful St., across from Westmart, just one block west of Yellowstone Avenue at the West Yellowstone ice skating rink.

Free ice fishing clinic to be offered

A free ice fishing clinic will be offered on Saturday, Feb. 4 in the morning from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Ice fishing pros and equipment manufacturers will be in West Yellowstone for a NAIFC tournament that weekend. As part of the tournament, NAIFC will offer a specials "ice camp" starting at 10 a.m. at Kirkwood Marina. Sponsors provide equipment and prizes and all the kids who sign up and participate receive complimentary ice rods and tackle from HT Enterprises. Family members are welcome to tag along too. Then, it's on to the ice to learn to fish with real pros. Corn dogs and hot chocolate are free for kids; lunch is available for purchase for adults. Kirkwood Marina is located on Hebgen Lake, 18 miles from the junctions of Highways 191 and 287, north of West Yellowstone. For directions, call (406) 646-7200 or go to http://westyellowstoneicefishing.com/directions.

Birthdays

Celebrating birthdays in the upcoming week are Tayler Brown (Jan. 28) and Brian Klatt (Jan. 31).

Tax season is upon us

Don't forget that your filing season deadline this year for taxes is Tuesday, April 17.

More photographs

The West Yellowstone News website (www.westyellowstonenews.com) routinely includes additional photos along with the articles that appear in the print edition. If you saw one photo in the print edition, chances are there are more on the web site.

Also, the WY News has expanded its photo gallery section on the web site. Three sections of galleries feature growing collections of photographs in categories of news, sports and Yellowstone Park. 

Visit the home page, then click on the "multimedia" tab on the navigation bar at the top of the page. Watch for these galleries to grow over the coming weeks.

Prints of West Yellowstone News photographs are also available. If you'd like to order 5"x7" or 8"x10" prints of these photos, email news@westyellowstonenews.com or call 646-9719.

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