The Bigfork Senior Center is celebrating the opening of its used book and clothing store this weekend, which will help raise money for a wheelchair ramp as part of a larger effort to build out a new facility.  

Volunteers at the senior center are drumming up activity in the new space, hoping to get more community members involved. After the pandemic years decimated membership numbers, Board President Bruce Peck said the board made a goal to recover.  

“We've managed to enroll about 180 people this past month following a membership drive,” he said. 

It’s free to sign up and it shows county officials that people are interested in the center. In addition to offering programming at the facility, the center also administers Meals-on-Wheels. 

There are big dreams for the center, like a classroom and meeting space, but there is still plenty going on for members right now. It hosts a variety of clubs and groups for those “55+ years young,” according to Board Vice President Liana Orsolini, including a bridge club, knitting group and of course, a book club. 

The newest addition to the center should please the bookworms: A large closet has been renovated into a small used bookshop, featuring a beautiful, spanning mural of St. Mary Lake.  

Muralist Joel Niles donated the painting and will soon be holding an art show there, according to Orsolini. His landscape paintings of Glacier National Park lined the walls in preparation.  

Niles’ mural in the building is just one recent example of how senior center volunteers have tried to drum up excitement around the new facility, along with more fundraising efforts.  

Located off Montana 35 across from the Bethany Lutheran Church, the senior center moved into its current building in 2021 after the county purchased the property using a grant. Peck said Flathead County recently donated the remaining 2,400 square feet of the building.  

“It was the whole building, which to the [county’s] credit, they've given up a substantial rental income, it’s 2,000 square feet of commercial space. So, we’re very grateful,” Peck said.  

The facility offers plenty of space to grow, but improvements are needed, such as the covered wheelchair ramp, which will make it much easier for patrons to access the center during the winter months.  

On Oct. 10 from 2 to 5 p.m., there will be a senior center members-only rummage sale followed by their ribbon cutting event and silent auction at 5 p.m. On Saturday, another rummage sale and silent auction runs from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., then again from noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday. 

“It started with, ‘What if we did a donation-based use bookstore? And then that morphed into a rummage sale, then a donation-based clothing store and then that turned into holding a silent auction,” Orsolini said. 

Silent auction items include a Pendelton blanket from Lodgecraft, mohair hand-loomed shawls, quilts, photography, gourmet dinners, and restaurant and grocery store certificates. 

“We are also auctioning off four hours of organizational help at home or help with errands,” Orsolini said.  

There will be live music provided by Flathead High School junior Aedan Baier, who plays the cello.  

Orsolini said the second-hand store will be open during normal senior center hours, which are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.  

For more information, call 406-837-4157.  

Taylor Inman may be reached at 758-4440 or [email protected].