 Hunters can donate game meat through Hunters Against Hunger programLocal food pantries across the state are preparing to receive donations from the Hunters Against Hunger program. The program, a partnership between FWP and the Montana Food Bank Network, allows hunters to donate a portion or all of their legally harvested big game animals to be processed free of charge. The meat is then provided directly to a local food pantry in the area.
Since its inception in 2014, over 130,000 pounds of meat has been donated through the program and distributed to Montanans struggling with food insecurity through 29 local food pantry sites. Meat is extremely expensive for food pantries to provide, yet a highly nutritious resource for their clients. “We have never in my time here had this much game. Truly a huge gift,” said Jill Holder, operations manager at Gallatin Valley Food Bank, about the impact of the program. Participation by local meat processors and hunters are the keys to success for this growing program. Big game donations (deer, elk, antelope, moose and wild buffalo) can only be accepted as part of the program by authorized participating meat processors set up around the state. Only legally harvested or confiscated big game animals can be donated. No road kill can be donated. A full list of authorized processors can be found at the Montana Food Bank Network website at mfbn.org/hunters-against-hunger To offset the cost of processing, hunters purchasing a Montana hunting license are given the opportunity to make a monetary donation to this program. Additional donations to the program are being accepted by the Montana Food Bank Network.  KALISPELL, Mont. - Snappy’s Sport Senter in Kalispell is celebrating its 70th anniversary this week with prizes and huge sales. In 1947 Snappy’s was just a service station. "The very first retail item we had at Snappy’s in 1947 was a Snickers candy bar for five cents" said owner B.J. Lupton. Now 70 years later the store has grown into a huge sporting goods center, with batting cages, a pond, an art gallery and so much more. For the celebration there are balloons all throughout the store that say happy birthday. "Celebrating 70 is a big deal, and the heart of Snappy’s is giving to our community. We like to say ‘We are with you and for you,’ when we talk to our customers and countless friends," said Lupton. One of the reasons Snappy’s has been around so long is because it really serves the community. A local Columbia Falls artist, Allen Jimmersons, has been showcasing his artwork and painting on the second floor for years. "I've been up here at Snappy’s for 16 years now," said Jimmerson. He visited the sporting goods store before it became his workplace. "I remember coming in here when I was a kid, and it’s grown over the years. It’s gotten better and better. The community supports the store 100 percent," said Jimmerson. Lupton always looks to give back to the community. For the celebration this week he is offering 70 items on sale, a wheel for customers to spin to win prizes and huge sales throughout the store. "We have many, many, many hundreds of prizes and, of course, the grand prize of a $700 shopping spree," said Lupton. Lupton’s son, Jon, has exciting news as well. He will be taking over the store once his dad steps down. "It's neat to be able to carry that on -- something my grandfather started. Certainly there is some pride in that as a family business," said Jon Lupton. They hope to celebrate many more milestone anniversaries in the future. The final celebration will be Dec. 2. They will draw the winners of the prizes and have a cake for their customers. http://www.nbcmontana.com/news/kcfw/flathead-business-celebrates-70-years/661693874 © Copyright 2017 by KECI, KCFW, KTVM. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
November 19, 2017 at 5:00 am | By PATRICK REILLY Daily Inter Lake  Brenda Ahearn / Daily Inter Lake A recent Tuesday morning found William B.J. Lupton at his desk on the second floor of Snappy Sports Senter, reminiscing about the business’ long history in the Flathead Valley.
The green-and-white sporting-goods store at the junction of U.S. 2 and Montana 35 in Evergreen is marking its 70th anniversary this year, and it’s been led by a Lupton since Day One. B.J.’s father, Verne, co-founded Snappy’s in 1947, and he bought the business from his father 30 years later. The family’s roots run deep here.  Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Snappy Sport Senter Receives 2017 Best of Kalispell Award Kalispell Award Program Honors the Achievement KALISPELL November 9, 2017 -- Snappy Sport Senter has been selected for the 2017 Best of Kalispell Award in the Sporting Goods category by the Kalispell Award Program. Each year, the Kalispell Award Program identifies companies that we believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and our community. These exceptional companies help make the Kalispell area a great place to live, work and play. Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners in each category. The 2017 Kalispell Award Program focuses on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the Kalispell Award Program and data provided by third parties. About Kalispell Award Program The Kalispell Award Program is an annual awards program honoring the achievements and accomplishments of local businesses throughout the Kalispell area. Recognition is given to those companies that have shown the ability to use their best practices and implemented programs to generate competitive advantages and long-term value. The Kalispell Award Program was established to recognize the best of local businesses in our community. Our organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations and other business advertising and marketing groups. Our mission is to recognize the small business community's contributions to the U.S. economy. SOURCE: Kalispell Award Program CONTACT: Kalispell Award Program Email: PublicRelations@awardinglocals.org URL: http://www.awardinglocals.org ### May 15, 2017 | By SAM WILSON Daily Inter Lake Five days into a soggy, luckless sheep hunt in the Missouri River Breaks last September, Jean Moore was not having a good time. At the age of 66, the life-long hunter and Swan Valley resident had spent the past three months training for the once-in-a-lifetime hunt, for which just one in every 285 applicants for a bighorn ram tag each year actually draws one.
Kalispell Chamber of Commerce Announces Top Community Awards BY DILLON TABISH // NOV 12, 2016  BJ Lupton received the 45th the Great Chief Award at the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce's annual banquet. Courtesy photo In the crowd of 500 at the annual Kalispell Chamber of Commerce banquet, perhaps the only person surprised was B.J. Lupton. The announcement of the Great Chief award, the oldest and highest civic honor in Kalispell, was well understood by most everyone in attendance and those throughout the valley who have witnessed the steadfast community support and stewardship that has come to define Lupton.
“This is a wow,” Lupton said, expressing astonishment after accepting the award on Nov. 10. Lupton, a retired captain in the U.S. Navy Reserve, has owned Snappy Sport Senter in Evergreen since 1978 and has been actively involved in supporting more than 80 community services and organizations over the years, including local volunteer fire departments, Kalispell Regional Healthcare’s A.L.E.R.T. program, Flathead Valley Crime Stoppers, Lighthouse Christian Home and more. Snappy's and Big Sky Outdoors Big Sky Outdoors heads out with the boys from Snappy's on the Flathead River targeting Lake Superior Whitefish. Kirk and Chancy took Big Sky Outdoors on the Flathead River to show the tips and techniques for fishing Whitefish in the river. Join the guys as they talk about this great eatin' fish and the good fishery we have in our back yard.  Posted: Wednesday, June 15, 2016 7:30 am | Updated: 10:26 am, Wed Jun 15, 2016.
By SAM WILSON Daily Inter Lake | Nearly two months after Snappy Sport Senter unveiled its “osprey cam” atop a 60-foot pole outside the Evergreen sporting-goods store, a pair of newborn ospreys are helping drive international traffic to the website. Jon Lupton, an information technology employee at the store owned by his father, said viewers from 43 countries have logged more than 60,000 views of the website’s popular “Osprey Page” in the past month. “People just have a kind of innate interest,” Lupton said. “We see most of our traffic, over 80 percent are returning views ... The osprey-cam definitely commands much of our page viewership.” The clutch of three eggs has so far yielded two chicks, which like their parents, will be the subject of a naming contest in the coming weeks. The two adult birds were named Duke and Duchess after the April naming contest brought in more than 600 votes from three countries and 30 states. “We’ll do the same thing when we know how many chicks we have,” Lupton said. His announcement of the first hatchling on June 7 brought a spike in web traffic, Lupton said, followed by a second birth on Thursday. He had been hoping that once Duchess moved out of the way, visitors to the site could catch a glimpse of a third tiny osprey, but a viewer on Monday confirmed the egg has yet to hatch. Osprey watchers can view the live feed at www.snappysportsenter.com. For the next six to eight weeks, Lupton said it’s expected the chicks will remain in the nest. While there has been a substantial increase in internet traffic since the osprey cam launched, he said he wasn’t sure how much of a boost it would provide for business. “I’m not sure there’s a real tie from osprey-cam-to-dollar necessarily, but it’s definitely some good PR, a lot of good community involvement and support, and just being able to get our name out there and have it associated with something that’s a positive for the community,” he said. Reporter Sam Wilson may be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com http://www.dailyinterlake.com/members/snappy-s-osprey-hatch-an-internet-sensation/article_ce0989ac-3291-11e6-b597-2f82b1cec5f9.html By Dax VanFossen
EVERGREEN -A new viral webcam at an Evergreen Sporting Goods store has proven to be more than just entertainment by informing the public of a serious issue. You don’t have to look very hard to see exactly what problem we are talking about. It’s orange, it’s for hay, and the last place it should be is in the nest of two young Osprey. Bailing Twine has become a serious issue for nesting birds of all kinds, but every year it kills adults and hatchling Osprey and it’s something that can be prevented. “It’s pretty lethal in some cases," John Lupton said. "The birds enjoy the softness of the bailing twine, it’s readily available in farmers fields and they pick it up and bring it back to the nest. It gets wrapped around their talons, they get hung up on a tree, or a pole, it can wrap around the chicks and potentially kill the chicks.” A few weeks ago John and his Father BJ Lupton put their new Osprey roost and camera system online for the world to see and it wasn’t long after that viewers of the camera noticed the bailing twine which now hangs from the nest. “After you guys ran the news story last week, we got a lot of concerned phone calls and emails about the presence of bailing twine in the nest," John said. "This is our 4th run in with bailing twine with these birds. Three other times we saw it on the birds themselves and they managed to shake it loose. And this is getting woven into the nest now at this point.” John and B.J. have been in contact with several experts including Project Osprey at the University of Montana and other wildlife organizations. They tell us that the camera’s and the nest in their backyard have really illuminated the need for awareness about the bailing twine which can entangle the birds and eventually strangle them. “You know Project Osprey down at the University of Montana is a project that they are running to kind of create awareness about this. It’s a pretty easy resolution, if you see it, pick it up, throw it in a can where the Osprey can’t get to it, throw it away, don’t leave it hanging on fence posts. If you see it just pick it up and get it out of the way so they can’t pick it up.“ Lupton tells us that they have been told not to interfere with natural order of the nest to remove the twine, but wants people to know they can prevent this from being repeated elsewhere by making sure the twine ends up where it belongs: the trash.  Posted: Sunday, April 17, 2016 8:30 am
By LYNNETTE HINTZE/Daily Inter Lake | 0 comments There’s love in the air in Evergreen. On top of a 60-foot pole that towers above the fishing ponds behind Snappy Sport Senter, a young pair of ospreys are getting to know each other. And the public now has an opportunity to watch the romance unfold. Snappy’s osprey webcam went live recently at www.snappysportsenter.com, offering round-the-clock video footage of the birds’ nest. |
