The generosity of a Kalispell couple has given momentum to a grassroots effort to house homeless teens.

Brian and Victoria Tanko have donated a former church building in Kalispell to the Sparrows Nest Northwest Montana program for use as a temporary shelter. Their generous gift will go a long way toward creating a safe haven for teens who have nowhere else to turn.

It was a sobering statistic when we learned from the state Office of Public Instruction that nearly 350 Flathead Valley students were identified as homeless during the last school year. There are few local options when it comes to housing homeless youths who are not accompanied by adults.

Thank goodness for people like Marcia Bumke and Linda Kaps, who are coordinating the Sparrows Nest program and selflessly stepping up to find a solution to teen homelessness.

Oktoberfest is great fun

Oom-pah music is in the air around Whitefish, where the fifth annual Great Northwest Oktoberfest is underway at Depot Park. The event has become a regional sensation, drawing people from several states and Canada who can’t resist the opportunity for some good time-honored German traditions.

The festival, which spans two weekends, serves up not only some wonderful beer and German food, but also an array of competitions and activities that are guaranteed crowd-pleasers.

Whitefish knows how to throw a party, and Oktoberfest is among its best offerings. It’s bringing people to the resort community during the shoulder season, too, between the busy summer and ski seasons, and that’s great for the Flathead economy.

Startup off to great start

There was great turnout and even better enthusiasm at the first Startup Weekend held at Flathead Valley Community College from Sept. 19-21.

That’s good news for the future of entrepreneurship in the valley, and we can hope that at least several of the projects proposed at the conference will eventually result in jobs, profits and tax revenue to benefit the local area.

In case, you missed it, the idea of a Startup Weekend is to bring together people with ideas and people with the talent and skills to bring those ideas to fruition as startup businesses.

It’s an ingenious concept, and has already had proven results elsewhere in the country. We are hoping to see that here as well.

Get the word from Google

If you already have a business, and you want to ideas about how to grow it, you will also be interested in the upcoming Digital Marketing Forum on Oct. 23.

This forum — sponsored by the Daily Inter Lake, Google, and Hagadone Digital — will feature advice from a Google marketing expert, as well as a package of advertising and analytic services for websites.

Look for more information or register online at www.montanadigitalsummit.com.

Editorials represent the majority opinion of the Daily Inter Lake’s editorial board.