Community choir

The Columbia Falls Community Choir will begin practicing for the 2012 concert season at the junior high school on Sunday, Jan. 15, with sign-in and music pick-up from 1:30 to 2 p.m. Practices will be held at the junior high from 2-4 p.m. Final rehearsal will take place on April 20. The concerts will take place on Saturday and Sunday, April 21 and 22. For more information, call Ron Bond at 892-5174.

Chamber meets

The Columbia Falls Area Chamber of Commerce will hold its membership meeting at the North Valley Hospital Community Room, 235 Nucleus Avenue, on Tuesday, Jan. 10, from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. The guest speaker will be Kevin Waldher, vice president of Zinc Air, a Columbia Falls-based company that soon will be marketing a Zinc Redox flow battery for electrical generators, distributors and utilities. Lunch costs $10. Reservations are not necessary. For more information, call Carol Pike at 892-5963.

Board appointments

The Flathead County Commissioners made the following board appointments at their Dec. 12 meeting: Susan Haverfield and Russ Vukonich to the Columbia Falls City-County Planning Board; John Glader to the Middle Canyon Land Use Advisory Committee; and Ty Shanks and Robert Herman to the Columbia Falls Cemetery Board.

IONS meet

The local Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) community group will meet at the Bohemian Grange, behind Montana Coffee Traders on U.S. 93, on Thursday, Jan. 12, at 7 p.m. Dr. Steven Schram will talk about "Core principles to improve brain and body health for success, happiness, and longevity: Reconnecting to our nature connection birthright." Schram is a licensed acupuncturist and chiropractic physician whose oriental and physical medicine practice is located at Walking Bear Resort, in Whitefish. For more information, call 862-9591 or 862-7711.

Speech judging

More than 500 judges are needed for the Class A speech and debate tournament to be held at the high school, middle school and elementary school in Polson on Jan. 27-28. About 400 students from across Montana will compete in more than 2,000 speeches, skits and debates through seven rounds. Judges will be provided food and beverages. A 1-2 hour long judging clinic will be held at the Polson High School library on Jan. 24 and 25 at 7 p.m. For more information, e-mail Pat Cross at judges@lumen-perfectus.com or Jon Peterson at jpeterson@polson.k12.mt.us or by calling 253-7801.

Little guy wrestling

Registration for Little Guy Wrestling will be held in the Columbia Falls High School gym foyer on Thursday, Jan. 12, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Forms are available online at www.cflittleguywrestling.com. The season will officially start on Monday, Feb. 13, and run about six weeks. For the Peewees (5 and 6 year olds) it will be a three-week season.

Republicans meet

The Flathead County Republican Women will meet at the Red Lion Inn, in Kalispell on Monday, Jan. 16, at noon. Speakers will be Sandy Welch, candidate for Montana Superintendent of Schools, and Derek Skees, candidate for Montana State Auditor. For more information, call Caroline Solomon at 837-4525.

Sign language

The Summit Independent Living Center will offer a beginners-level sign language class for six weeks starting Tuesday, Jan. 17, from noon to 1:30 p.m. and class will run for six weeks. Students will learn finger-spelling, basic signs and an awareness of deaf culture. Intermediate and advance classes will be offered on a continuing basis. Cost is $5 per class or $25 for six weeks. For more information, call 257-0048.

Answer book

The 2012 edition of The Answer book, a comprehensive guide to services in Flathead, Lake, Lincoln and Sanders counties, is now available through the United Way at the Gateway Community Center, in the former Gateway West Mall, in Kalispell. Produced in conjunction with the Daily Inter Lake, the Answer Book is also available online at www.montana211.com. People in need can find information about a variety of agencies, programs and service clubs and support groups that provide basic human needs such as food, clothing, rental assistance, transportation or gasoline. For more information about the local United Way, call 752-7266.