Hi-Line Arts Council hosts Montana Conversation "Montana Towns, then, now and tomorrow," with Hal Stearns

Press release

With assistance from Humanities Montana, the Hi-Line Arts Council is sponsoring a Montana Conversation program entitled "Montana Towns: Then, Now, Tomorrow" with storyteller Hal Stearns on Monday, November 11th at 6 p.m. at Beaver Creek Perk, located in downtown Havre at 137 Second Street. 

The presentation is free and open to the public. Funding for the Montana Conversations program is provided by Humanities Montana through grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Montana's Cultural Trust, and private donations.

  Montana is a state of extremes, from high mountains to great plains. Half the population lives in just five communities and another third of residents lives in just ten others. After the big ones, the remaining 134 incorporated towns are often unique, often overlooked, and all small, yet personify so much of the Big Sky. These small towns were built around gold, coal and oil, timber, cows and sheep, early trails, roads and rails. But time brings change. Why do some smaller towns hang in while others drift away? A few invent new roles and others reinvent themselves. Should we care? A discussion helps us understand the small places that are a big part of the Montana story.

  An educator for 34 years, Stearns today is an instructor for the University of Montana's Lifelong Learning Institute and Humanities Montana. He has a particularly fond interest in sharing his passion for Montana and the West and education with community members, students, teachers and administrators. He has led tours coast to coast and lectured in over 40 states, Germany, England, Japan, Korea and Brazil.

  For more information about the presentation, contact Paul Tuss with the Hi-Line Arts Council at [email protected] or 406-265-9226. 

Tuss is the incumbent Democratic legislator in House District 27 and faces Ed Hill, the Republican former legislator for the district, in next week's election.