Come Join Us in Mountain Brook!

When we bought our property in 1994, we had no idea that we were settling into a part of the Flathead Valley with a thriving local community. Our area, which runs along the base of the Swan Range, is known as Mountain Brook. Logging families moved into this area in the early 1900s. Back then, a 17-mile trip to Kalispell took much longer than half an hour and involved a ferry ride across the Flathead River. The people living here had to rely on each other to survive. For several years, I belonged to the Mountain Brook Ladies’ Club—still in existence—which has a long history of providing food and entertainment to residents, by hosting activities like Pinochle Parties and an annual Harvest Supper.

The original Mountain Brook School campus is situated in the middle of our community, at 2353 Foothill Rd. The land was donated in 1927 by a local family and the school built with volunteer labor. (That is how many projects get done around here.) That school was still in use for kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grades into the late 1990s. After all the grades were moved to the main elementary school campus, the Mountain Brook Homestead Foundation was created in 2002 to help preserve the historic campus, although it was still managed by the school district. The campus was recently donated to the Foundation, which continues to work to restore it and make it a hub of our community activities.

Some of the events that are held at the Community Center or sponsored by the Homestead Foundation include:

  • Holiday craft parties for kids, such as the recent Easter Egg dyeing event.

  • Spring Clean-Up Day

  • A pie social in the spring and fall

  • The plant sale coming up on May 21st

  • New this year—a yard sale at the campus where participants can purchase a 20’ x 20’ spot to sell items, June 25th

  • The 2nd Annual Garden Tour on July 16th

  • Presentations and classes given by local community members

  • Thursday meetings of the Mountain Brook Craft Co-Op

  • Monthly meetings of the Mountain Brook Ladies’ Club

You don’t have to live in Mountain Brook to participate! We welcome involvement from people across the Flathead Valley. This Saturday is our spring Pie Social from 4-7 pm. We will offer chili, quesadillas, homemade pies, and ice cream. The Swan Jammers will be there to provide toe-tapping music. The Mountain Brook Ladies’ Club has donated this 75” x 75” Flower Glass quilt to be raffled off at our September pie social. The quilt will be on display and raffle tickets will be for sale at the pie social.

Please visit the Mountain Brook Homestead Foundation’s Facebook page or the website for additional information.

****************************************

I spent four hours out in the greenhouse and garden yesterday morning. I planted lettuce starts, half of the strawberries, and re-potted seedlings for the upcoming plant sale on May 21. We are going to have lots of plants for sale! The weather is supposed to be nice through tomorrow, so I’ll be out digging up even more plants for the sale from the herb garden this week.

I also finished up some class samples for upcoming serger classes and pulled out patterns for the clothes I’d like to make. One of the older ladies at church asked me if I’d bind a quilt for her—I love to bind quilts—so I made the binding and attached it yesterday and now I have handwork for a few evenings this week.