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Kids get creative during community talent show

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Folks got together to watch a few people share their musical talents at the Arlee Community Center Saturday evening on Pow Wow Road, and Club Unity hosted the event. 

“We wanted to put positive community events on to support the arts and give people something to do,” said Rose Ardelle, managing director for Club Unity. 

Josh Crumley, 13, opened the show by playing her guitar and singing. She traveled to the area from Polson to share her musical talent. She hopes to someday be able to perform for a stadium-size crowd. She said the smaller crowd in Arlee of 50 or so people was a good place to start.

Jon Matt, 13, and Arrianna Matt, 15, from Arlee took the opportunity to practice their Salish language skills during the talent show. They took the lyrics from the song “Happy” and translated them into Salish for the crowd.

“It’s not word by word,” Arrianna said, explaining that some of the Salish words were too long to create the perfect rhythm, so she selected different words to help the song flow.

After the kids performed, Diana Cote took to the stage for the adult version of the talent show, and she won with her folksy song about roadkill. Buck Morigeau finished up the talent show with a few songs he played on several different flutes, including one made from a PVC pipe. 

The show started a bit late due to technical difficulties, but coordinators wanted to get the sound system working so the kids could have a chance to hear their voices echo through the speakers.

“We wanted them to be able to embrace expressing themselves and get a feel for being on stage,” Ardelle said. 

The talent show was part of the Club Unity project that Shelly Fyant started about a year ago. She noticed that many children utilize the basketball hoops in the Community Center, but she didn’t see many of the children that aren’t involved in sports.

“I wanted all the kids to have something to do,” she said. 

Fyant still volunteers to help with projects, but Buck Morigeau and Rose Ardelle wanted to develop the program. 

“It sounds a little morbid, but we wanted something for the kids to do that didn’t involve death and funerals,” Ardelle said. “It seemed like that used to be the only reason we would get together.”

The club has done many other activities through the year from participating in farmers markets to working with computers. Ardelle said she would love to have more kids participate and more volunteers.

“I’d like to see the community get involved with this,” she said. “It’s a great program for the kids and it’s funded through a grant.”

The next Club Unity project involves creative expression through crafts. The club is hosting craft nights on Fridays at the Community Center starting at 5 p.m. Craft supplies are available. Contact Club Unity at arleeclubunity@gmail.com or 406-273-1237.

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