Projects of the Arts and Culture Committee
This MVCF committee worked with the High School
Heritage program,
the City, the County and other local supporters in 2000
when it began a project that became known as the
Roundup Heritage Riverwalk Trail along the Musselshell River
south of Roundup.
by Wilbur Wood
The Roundup Arts & Culture Committee (A&C) is 16 years old this year, and every spring, when we send out letters in our annual fundraising drive, we are astonished and gratified at how readily people send us checks both modest and large. This generosity allows A&C to continue its work--perhaps a better word is play--of helping to enrich the cultural scene here in our central Montana community.
In April 2008 we held our seventh annual Patrons Party, to thank those who support us, to showcase local artistic talent, and present another installment of our ongoing local history Readers’ Theater. For the second year in a row we worked with the Community Foundation, of which we are a part, to expand the audience and invite other charitable groups to set up displays and showcase their own projects and programs.
The A&C makes a practice of collaborating with other groups.
* Friends of Roundup Community Library and PEO generally co-sponsor speakers from the Montana Humanities Committee.
* Roundup Public Schools, both elementary and junior-senior high, chip in on programs like Shakespeare in the Schools, Writer's Voice, and other arts programs.
* We pay a down payment on Missoula Children's Theatre, then the Roundup Parents-Teachers-Students Association does the rest, selling tickets and running that show.
* This year A&C paid expenses for Dora Sealey, a local artist who on her own initiative worked with two teacher Central School teachers to conduct a series of workshops with sixth graders, culminating in a terrific art show and a presentation by several of the students at the Patrons’ Party.
* A variety of individuals and businesses help us bring Shakespeare in the Parks each year, providing post-performance potluck meal, housing the actors overnight, then cooking breakfast. Last July, if you bought a “RIDE button” from the Roundup Independence Days Extravaganza group, you could eat a free picnic meal before the performance. And the local Dinner Theater group that each year raises money for a children’s summer theater workshop several weeks long also pay extra to the actors to present a morning of workshops before the troupe has to head down the road to the next town.
* Finally, local people and groups (such as the Museum) use the RiverWalk Trail for a variety of activities including history walks (Tim Schaff offering his expertise), bird identification strolls (Bill Milton and Rose Heine are ringleaders in this activity), fun runs and clean-up days (Nicole Borner and Jim Helgeson are among the many volunteers who spearhead these events), and much more. All this delights the handful of A&C members who originally conceived of this Trail nearly a decade ago, gained support from local government and community groups,and secured the grants to bring it into existence.
The latest grant--through the Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks agency--has extended a sidewalk from the end of 4th Avenue East to the original bridge to the Fairgrounds. As of October 1500 feet of this walkway had been completed, about three-fourths of the ultimate length. We are pleased that the work of clearing and surfacing the trail has been contracted almost entirely to local people and businesses, who returned the favor by donating large of amounts of time and, often, materials.
A&C looks forward to participating in Roundup's 100th anniversary, stretching into 2009, continuing our Readers Theatre episodes, written and directed by Elizabeth Wood, to dramatizing our colorful local history from the days before Lewis & Clark through the coming of cattle, sheep, homesteaders, coal mining and the railroad.
The Roundup Arts & Culture Committee meets monthly to plan and coordinate events, and welcomes participation by people of all ages bringing their ideas and energy. For more information, contact Dale Alger at the Roundup Community Library, 526 Sixth Ave. West, or e-mail Dale at dalealger@roundup.k12.mt.us