December 2, 2020 Local Announcements Yellowstone Grill - Opening for Winter season! Wednesday, December 2nd, 7am- 2pm. Regular schedule Tuesday-Friday 7am-2pm. Saturday & Sunday 7am-Noon(breakfast only). Dine in, Take Out, Curbside Delivery, Catering, Call 406-848-9433 The Livingston-Park County Public Library bookmobile will be at Arch Park on Wednesdays from Noon to 2:30pm. Facemasks are required and one person or family is allowed on the bookmobile at a time. Call 222-0862 for more information. Gardiner Resort Area District voters: Please remember to return your ballot to Park County Elections office by December 8th, regarding the proposed additional 1% ResortTax. More info is at www.gardinerresorttax.com, or contact us - your GRAD Board. YF Book Sale postponed: The YF Book Sale, traditionally held during the holiday season, will be postponed so that we can adhere to current health and safety guidelines. We plan to announce a rescheduled date in the spring. Wishing everyone a happy and safe holiday season! The December meeting for the Gardiner Resort Area District will be held virtually only via a Zoom meeting on December 10, 2020 at 7:00 PM. For meeting link information please contact us via our website at www.gardinerresorttax.com. The public is encouraged to attend! Local Announcements continued on page 2.... Your Local Real Estate Market Experts 212 Spring Street - Gardiner Bar and restaurant enjoys a great location on a high bank of the Yellowstone River. Work/ live opportunity w/ an on-site apartment. $2,399,000 # 334373 Call Chris Lyness (406)930-0299/Ernie Meador (406)220-0231 Call Us For All Of Your Real Estate Needs. Residential • Land • Commercial 406-222-8700 www.eragardiner.com The Gardiner Chamber of Commerce serves our community through developing local tourism while endorsing the stewardship of the Yellowstone Ecosystem. 5 Day Forcast for Gardiner, MT from the National Weather Service Local Announcements ...continued from page 1 A message from the Gateway Hose Company Board of Trustees. Hello Gardiner Community and Happy Thanksgiving! Gateway Hose Company wants to clarify for everyone that our department had no knowledge of the postcards that were received in people’s mailboxes today nor do we support what it proposes. We find it very disturbing that the postcards were presented that way. The Resort Tax Board awarded last year’s funds to worthy applicants and rollover requests were made due to projects not being completed in 2020 because of COVID. These funds should be allowed to rollover into 2021 so that good people can continue to do good work for our community. Although we appreciate the recognition of our department and its members, we will never accept the kind of support that undermines others. Gateway Hose Company Board of Trustees supports the 1% Resort Tax increase so that tourists continue to fund necessary projects in our town. If you have any questions regarding this topic, respectfully contact one of our board members. We wish whomever sent out the postcard would have had the nerve to sign it! Sincerely, Bob Kopland, Bob Evanoff, JoLynn Sharrow, Patrick Hoppe and Ron Burke - Gateway Hose Company’s Board of Trustees Outlaws Pizza is now open Monday through Saturday 4pm to 9pm, closed Sundays! We are still only doing to- go orders however, we have outside seating. If you want to order ahead of time call 406-848-7733. Hope to see you there! Outlaws will be closed on Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 2020. Are you a Gardiner Chamber of Commerce Member who would like to be a part of our mission to serve membership and elevate business commerce for Gardiner? If you answered yes, we urge you to consider serving on the Chamber Board of Directors. There will be four vacancies on the Board beginning in 2021 to be voted on in January Annual Meeting of the Members. Your voice can make a difference for the community! Contact us at 406.848.7971 or at [email protected] to learn more or express interest. Commercial Real Estate for lease or sale. Call 205-886-8282 for more info. Outlaw's Pizza is looking for full-time and part-time employees. Jobs include front of the house, back of the house and at the bar. Please apply within the Yellowstone Outpost Mall Office, Monday- Friday 8am- 4pm, or email Erin at [email protected] to apply. Have any questions, contact the office at 406-848-7220. Furnished private rooms in Gardiner downtown in excellent condition are available now thru 5/1/2021. $500 per month including utilities, laundry, WiFi and satellite TV. Please call Sandie at 406-848-7719 during 9am - 5pm weekdays for details. 2 Open 7am - 8pm 3 Southern Montana and Gallatin County RACs Consider Changes to Recreation Site Fees Bozeman, MT… The Southern Montana Resource Advisory Committee and the Gallatin Resource Advisory Committee will be meeting in December to discuss and make recommendations on fee changes proposed by the Custer Gallatin National Forest at recreation sites that are authorized by the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (FLREA). The Southern Montana RAC will meet at 9:00 am on December 8, 2020 and the Gallatin RAC will meet at 9:00 am on December 9. Both meetings will be virtual and will be open to the public. The public comment period for these fee proposals was offered July 2 –August 23, 2020. The objectives of these upcoming RAC meetings are to review the proposals along with the public comments received, provide an official recommendation to the Forest Service’s Northern Regional Forester, which is required by law prior to authorization or implementation of new fees. Information on how to join the virtual discussion or submit a comment can be found on the Custer Gallatin Forest’s website at www.fs.usda.gov/custergallatin or by contacting Kathy Minor, [email protected] or Marna Daley at [email protected]. The meeting agenda for both RACs will be available after Dec 2, 2020 on the Custer Gallatin Forest’s website. Montana State Parks sees record setting visitation in 2020 Eight parks exceed 100,000 visitors HELENA – Montana State Parks hosted 3 million visitors from January through September of this year. Compared with the same time period last year, visitation increased by 24.4 percent. Visitation increased at 80 percent of state parks across Montana for the year, with eight parks exceeding 100,000 visitors. “These visitation increases represent the busiest summer on record for the State Park system. FWP staff, volunteers, and AmeriCorps members went above and beyond to keep these sites open, and to safely host visitors in the face of the pandemic,” said Martha Williams, FWP director. “Countless families and visitors to Montana had memorable park visits this summer, and we hope their positive experiences will keep them coming back to enjoy the great recreational and cultural opportunities stewarded by Montana State Parks.” The top five most visited parks between January and September of this year were: 1- Flathead Lake State Park (all units), Flathead Lake - 439,298 visitors (up 33.5 percent) 2- Cooney Reservoir State Park, Roberts - 330,730 visitors (up 26 percent) 3- Giant Springs State Park, Great Falls - 312,655 visitors (down -0.2 percent) 4- Lake Elmo State Park, Billings - 206,091 visitors (up 25.7 percent) 5- Thompson Chain of Lakes State Park, Libby - 155,483 visitors (up 42.5 percent) THANK YOU to our sponsors, participants, and planning team! Michal & Michael DeChellis BARRETT CUSTOM Leadership 49, a program of MSU Park County Extension, is an eight-month leadership development program for Park County citizens. In June 2020, the 6th class graduated from the program and joined 100 alumni across the county. In September 2020, the 7th year was The Montana State University Extension Service is an ADA/EO/AA/Veteran’s Preference Employer and Provider of Educational Outreach. 4 Congratulations and Best Wishes to Martha Powell on her Retirement after 47 YEARS serving our valuable members! December 3rd 0 ee e, Yee r errcm Yee rc 5 Forest Service Christmas Tree Permits Available Online Bozeman, MT – It’s that time of year when thousands of families make the annual trek into the woods to cut their own Christmas tree. The Forest Service is helping to carry on this tradition and make it even easier by offering a new online option for Christmas tree permits available now at www.recreation.gov. Permits are free this season with only a small transaction fee. This fast and easy online option is strongly recommended, as it was created to provide convenience for the public in addition to reducing the risk of exposure to covid-19 for the public and our employees. Local vendors will no longer carry permits and district offices will have limited availability. Our offices are currently closed to the public, so please call ahead for a permit if needed. “The long tradition of heading into the snowy woods to cut a Christmas tree with your family is an experience we are incredibly happy to provide,” says Marna Daley, Custer Gallatin National Forest Public Affairs Officer. “It is a time to be with family, create memories and enjoy exploring your forest together.” This time-honored custom also benefits general forest health by removing smaller trees from the forest, which promotes growth in larger trees. It also benefits wildlife by creating increased open spaces for foraging. After obtaining your permit, please remember to always plan ahead and be prepared when heading out for your Christmas tree adventure. Winter weather conditions can change rapidly, as can driving conditions. Know where you are going and consult the Custer Gallatin National Forest Motor Vehicle Use Map to know which roads are open.