2022 Christmas Stroll – Great Falls, Montana

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December 2, 2022

We’re getting ready to go to the 2022 Christmas Stroll. The weather forecast high temp for tomorrow, Friday December 2nd, in Beaumont, Texas, is 74 — the forecast low is 69.

I mention Beaumont because my wife was raised in Texas.

When my then soon-to-be wife first came to Great Falls from Beaumont, Texas in 1998, she had no idea that we here in Great Falls would walk around in 10 degree weather at night on purpose.

After my wife’s first Stroll, she understood why we would walk around in 10 degree weather at night on purpose, and she’s been hooked on Great Falls ever since.

This event is tomorrow night, Friday December 2nd, and the weather forecast high for Great Falls is 11, with a forecast low of 1, and even in spite of the cold temps, we wouldn’t want to miss it for anything.

Food vendors, holiday goodies, and seasonal treats from local businesses.

Santa Claus for photos and visits.

Polar Plunge for participants to jump into cold water as a fun, charitable challenge (attendees are advised to bundle up due to sub-zero wind chills that are expected).

We’ve got general festive activities like holiday shopping, live entertainment, and community merriment to kick off the season.

There’s never a dull moment at the Christmas Stroll in Great Falls:

2022 Parade of Lights – Great Falls, Montana

By

Alan

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November 26, 2022

Every year we have the Parade of Lights here in Great Falls, and every year, rain or shine, we attend.

The tree this year is beautiful. It’s not crooked or too brittle — It’s full and just right. It lit perfectly when Santa showed up.

I just happened to catch the tail-end of the countdown to the tree lighting in the video below:

This year wasn’t so bad as far as temps were concerned. 34 degrees with a slight breeze.

Last year it was much cooler and it seemed there were less people.

This year it was a bit of a struggle finding a place to park within easy walking distance, and it seemed there were a lot more people. I’ll venture to guess that there were more parade entries as well.

We weren’t able to stand on the front steps of the Civic Center this year like we were able to last year. I guess the construction that’s going on has moved to the front of the building now and they had the steps fenced off, thus not allowing for a better vantage point. All in all, the parade was fun, as it always is, and it seemed that everyone was having a great time.

Next week we’ll be having the Christmas Stroll — We attend that one every year too … should be fun.

2022 Parade of Lights – Great Falls, Montana (tap or click image to enlarge)

Glacier National Park Hiring for the 2023 Season

By

Alan

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November 26, 2022

Glacier National Park is currently seeking candidates to fill support positions throughout the park for the 2023 season.

Enjoy the grandeur of Glacier National Park as your summer office and home and spend your free time exploring glacially carved lakes and valleys. Affordable housing is available with most positions at Glacier National Park, and by gaining valuable experience, a seasonal position can be the gateway to establishing a career in federal service.

“Seasonal positions are the backbone of Glacier National Park,” says Park Superintendent Dave Roemer. “We can’t operate the park at full capacity without them, and park amenities offered this summer will be in direct correlation with how many people we can hire.”

Positions available include but are not limited to Park Ranger, Visitor Services Assistant, Biological Science Technician, Forestry Technician, Dispatcher, Equipment Operator, Maintenance Worker (Trails and other), Laborer, Automotive Worker, Carpenter, Masonry Worker, Volunteer Program Assistant, and more.

“The park is facing the same hiring challenges as businesses throughout the country,” says Emily Keil, Administrative Officer for Glacier National Park. “If you have ever considered working for the National Park Service, now is the perfect time to apply.”

All positions are advertised on USAJobs.gov. To get started, create a USAJobs account at www.usajobs.gov. Browse currently advertised positions by typing “Glacier National Park” in the location search box at the top of the page. Information on how to apply using USAJobs can be found at www.usajobs.gov/help. The time period between application submission and contact by the park hiring official can be lengthy because of the volume of positions being advertised. Applicants can check application status on their USAJobs account.

Seasonal positions typically work during the months of April-October, with varying season lengths depending on the position. Seasonal positions can last up to 6 months. Various positions will be advertised separately and at different times through December 30, 2022, with each announcement typically open for one week.

For more information on the application process, please refer to the USAJobs help site.

Shotcut for Linux – Video Editing

By

Aimee

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November 26, 2022

Shotcut is a free, open source, cross-platform video editor that supports hundreds of audio and video formats and codecs.

No import required which means native editing, plus multi-format timelines, resolutions and frame-rates within a project. Frame accurate seeking supported for many video formats. Blackmagic Design SDI and HDMI for input and preview monitoring. Screen, webcam and audio capture. Network stream playback.

Shotcut supports resolutions up to 4k and capture from SDI, HDMI, webcam, JACK & Pulse audio, IP stream, X11 screen and Windows DirectShow devices. Multiple dockable and undockable panels, including detailed media properties, recent files with search, playlist with thumbnail view, filter panel, history view, encoding panel, jobs queue, and melted server and playlist. Also supports drag-n-drop of assets from file manager.

Some Linux versions may require additional libraries (especially JACK for audio). The official dependency and support list, updated in 2025, includes Mint 20+, Ubuntu 20.04+, Debian 11+, Fedora 32+, and Manjaro 20.2+

Download Now

Publisher: Meltytech, LLC

9th Street NW Reconstruction

By

Alan

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November 25, 2022

The project will reconstruct 9th Street NW from Central Ave W to the NW Bypass.
Deteriorating pavement will be replaced, storm drains will be upgraded, damaged sidewalks will be replaced, and ADA-compliant curb ramps and missing sidewalks will be installed.

The City of Great Falls and the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) are working with Sanderson Stewart on the reconstruction project.

The 9th Street NW/Watson Coulee Road project is currently in Phase I also called the Survey Phase. MDT is actively seeking public comments during this phase of the project. To provide comments, please contact Ella Currier via email at ellac@strategies360.com or via phone at 406-465-7198.