Mark Your Calendars

The mountain is closed, the trails aren’t quite open (though the golf course is!), and you’re just dying to get out and do something different while you’ve actually got a little bit of free time on your hands, right? Right.

Well, even if you’re busy as the proverbial one-armed paperhanger, you need to take the time to do something for yourself, something for your business, and something for your community and Whitefish has just the thing(s)!

GONE FISHIN’ AT HARLOW!
The Harlow Boutique on Railway Street is the host for this month’s “Gone Fishin” extravaganza, the Whitefish Chamber’s monthly after-hours mixer. Great food, drinks and raffle prizes, plus a chance to re-connect with fellow Chamber and community members you haven’t seen since the snow started flying. And who knows? You might even do a little business!

Check out the action – and do a bit of networking – this Thursday, April 18, from 5-7 p.m. Harlow is located downtown at 505 Railway Street, Suite B, right across from Depot Park! For more information, call the Chamber at 862-3501.

‘MINI MASTERS’ PUTT-PUTT TOURNEY
The name’s been changed to protect the innocent, but the ever-popular Indoor Golf Tournament returns to downtown Whitefish next Thursday night – April 25 – with a new sponsor, a new name, and all of the things you’ve come to expect from a miniature golf “tour” of The Fish’s finest nightclubs and bars – crazy costumes, ridiculous putting surfaces, affordably priced beverages and a chance to win the coveted Green Jacket!

When Marcus, Jessica and the crew at the Great Northern Brewery “heard it through the grapevine” that the World Indoor Golf Championships – held in Whitefish the last three years – would not be returning in 2013, they took it upon themselves to create the Whitefish Mini Masters, and keep the tradition alive.

Instantly recognized as the western hemisphere’s most prestigious (and only) 12-hole miniature golf tournament, the Mini Masters kicks off at the Brewery next Thursday with registration at 5:45 p.m. and a “shotgun start” at 6:15. Teams of four to six golfers will then head out on the course, making two “laps” of a course that includes stops at the Craggy Range, MacKenzie River Pizza, Great Northern Bar, Coopers, the Crush Wine Bar and the Great Northern Brewery.

“In the spirit of the Masters,” says Brewery spokesperson Jessica Lucey, “beer will come at a very reasonable price tag, and bars will provide something for everyone to munch on.”

Pre-registration is required for participating in the Mini Masters, so head on down to Great Northern Brewing Company to sign up today. Space is limited to 24 teams, with a minimum of four and max of six players per team. The cost is just $20 per person, and everyone who signs up by April 18 (this Thursday!) receives a free Mini Masters T-shirt.

This year’s theme is “Island Resort Golf” and players are encouraged to get into the swing of things and dress for success! An Awards Ceremony will wrap up the evening’s festivities, beginning at about 10 p.m. at the brewery. Awards will include: individual lowest score (Masters’ green jacket awarded), lowest team score, best dressed (men’s and women’s), best hole design, and sportsmanship.

For more information, call the Great Northern Brewery at 863-1000.

CLEAN THE FISH!
OK, here’s one you can’t weasel your way out of, nor should you want to! A full winter’s worth of litter, roadkill and tragically unsecured loads await the good citizens of Whitefish who gather each year to do a little “spring cleaning” along our highways and byways and on the streets of town as well.

Clean the Fish is this weekend, and we need your hands (and backs!) to make the project as painless as possible. And the best part is there’s food involved!

Everyone who shows up at the Glacier Bank parking lot (319 E. Second St.) at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday the 20th will be treated to a pre-cleanup breakfast and when you meet back up at the bank at 11 – after you’re done doing your part – they’ll be barbecuing’ burgers and giving away raffle prizes.

For more information on how you, your company, family and friends can help “Clean the Fish,” call Patti at 863-6300.

GALLERY NIGHTS RETURNS
Once we’ve got the town all buffed-up and ready to shine, it’s ready to show it off a bit! Whitefish Gallery Nights does exactly that the first Thursday of each month, as galleries and shops throughout downtown Whitefish open their doors and throw out the red carpet.

Mark your calendars now for the first of 2013’s great Gallery Nights – Thursday, May 2 from 6-9 p.m. For more information, call the Chamber at 862-3501.

Kevin Gartland is the executive director of the Whitefish Chamber of Commerce