Features

Shopping tips from vegans help navigate grocery stores

Earlier this month, the Livingston vegan group showed locals how to scan the grocery aisles for vegan items as well as potentially healthy options for those looking to change their habits this new year.

Local vegan advocate Bonnie Goodman along with health coach Karen O’Connor led a group of 12 through Town & Country Foods Jan. 7 in search of foods that could be healthy and vegan. The outing was sponsored by the Live and Let Livingston Vegan Potluck group that hosts dinners once a month.

Yellowstone Museum exhibit presents communication through the ages

Communication between people is an ever-evolving aspect of life, and those in a certain Park High School class want to show people how.

The Yellowstone Gateway Museum on Thursday will present an exhibit and host a gala on “Communications: A Changing Conversation” created by students in the fall class called Community 360.

Community 360 teacher Hannah Rousch said her class, which discusses philanthropy and entrepreneurship through Shift Empowerment, became interested in the subject of showing how people have evolved their communications through the years.

Artists abroad: Local painters visit China for showcase, Ambassador Baucus visit

Two Livingston artists were chosen to attend a showcase with U.S. Ambassador to China Max Baucus in December, and they traveled to some parts of the country they had never experienced before.

Parks Reece and Joe Fay were given the opportunity because of their involvement in art tours and galleries within China over the last few years. Other Montana artists from Bozeman and in Missoula also attended the event on Dec. 14 in Beijing called the “Biscuit Basin” showcase, named after one of Fay’s Yellowstone lithographs.

After 26 years, restaurant owner sees local business' bittersweet end

For the past 26 years, Lois Mann has been serving food to Livingston residents, and now as she shuts down her restaurant, Bittersweet Bakery, she looks back over how she spent her time in the area.  

Mann, along with her daughter, Cynthia Down, will close Bittersweet — named after the flower, not the chocolate — on Friday.

Mann, 81, started the restaurant in 2004, only a few short months after she closed down her previous establishment, the Humble Heart Cafe.

Local woman provides colorful, Christmas confections to residents

Mushroom-shaped meringues, delicate chocolates and festive sugar cookies are just a few of the treats made by one local woman in celebration of Christmas for the last ten years.

Zank said she makes a dozen styles of cookies for the occasion and nearly a thousand overall, putting them out at the Community Closet the Friday before Christmas every year, where people of all walks of life can grab as they shop.

Other styles of cookies include two different styles of shortbread, several kinds  of nut-based sweets as well as a cream-cheese turnover and molasses spice cookies.

Calendars sell for a cause

A local photographer is ringing in 2017 with a new calendar, with all the proceeds from it going to a good cause.

Erik Petersen, of Shields Valley and owner Erik Petersen Photography, decided to do a calendar this year with his original photos, with proceeds from the calendar sales going to the Livingston Food Resource Center in Livingston.

“I really like what the Food Resource center does, and I would like to help them accomplish their mission,” Petersen said.

Family preserves a man’s legacy through bird houses

The legacy of Dr. Jerome “Jerry” LaValley, who died a few short months ago, will live on as his family continues the work on his iconic bird houses.

LaValley, a well-known dentist in the area and a longtime birdhouse builder, was commissioned to create many birdhouses for Livingston HealthCare along a trail surrounding the complex.

Unfortunately, he died in October before completing the task.

“Nobody quite makes them like my father does,” said Jerry’s daughter Holly LaValley.

Church group helps locals do laundry without the cost

Clean clothes can be seen as a luxury when a washing machine breaks down or a rental property doesn’t allow for one, but some locals have come together to help ease the laundry-related strain.

Living Hope Church launched Livingston Love Laundry with the idea of giving back to people who might need help providing themselves with clean clothes.

In October, the congregation collected $690 worth of quarters, and volunteers brought them to the laundromats in Livingston to disperse among anyone who wanted.

Christmas Stroll to feature firefighters, food trucks, Frosty and Santa

Livingston residents will kick off the holiday season Friday at the Livingston Downtown Christmas Stroll with new attractions and more activities.

The event, which starts at 4 p.m., takes over the downtown area on Main Street. Over the last couple of years, it has grown to include more businesses on Second and Callendar streets.

Livingston Area Chamber of Commerce Director Leslie Feigel said last year was her first year overseeing the Stroll and she is happy it has grown since then.

Tourist niche: Local Japanese bed and breakfast caters to tourists to park and other landmarks

After years of living in Japan, one couple strived to create a new life in Park County combining their foreign language skills and enthusiasm for nearby national parks.

Yellowstone Horizons was established by David and Kiyomi Grant over eight years ago with the idea of assisting Japanese tourists around many famous destinations such as Yellowstone National Park, Grant Teton, Mount Rushmore and Devil’s Tower. As foreign visitors increase in the area, the two have carved a niche for well-traveled Japanese tourists.