• WHAT? Jewish Hike
• WHEN? August 18, 2024; 14 AV, 5784, 9:45 A.M.

We will hike on MT. Ascension in Helena’s South Hills trail system, starting at the DeFord trailhead on South Davis St. The hike is just over 3.5 miles with a little climbing at first, but then mostly a contour trail with some ups and downs, and then a nice downhill section. A link to the South Hills Trail map might be helpful HERE

You will want to zoom in a lot and then use the left and bottom scrolling bars, but you can then see the DeFord trailhead and the trails we will follow.)

We will hike up the Eagle Scout trail and then go South on the Archery Range trail, hook up to the Entertainment Trail, which will take us back to Davis St. where we will take the DeFord trail (runs parallel to Davis) back to the parking lot.

There is not a really good spot on this route for Torah study, but Martha and I thought we could gather at MJP after the hike for Torah study and bagels. MJP has a new lending library and also a small and growing collection of Judaica and artifacts.

Directions:
Coming into town off I-15
Take the Capitol exit
– If coming from the north/Great Falls – turn right (west) onto Prospect Ave. going into town
– If coming from the south – I am not sure if you turn left or right here – the main point is to head west into town, rather than towards Townsend
Once going west on Prospect, you will want to get in one of the two left lanes
Turn left off Prospect onto Montana Avenue (going South) – you will go uphill and see the Capitol building on your left
Turn right onto Broadway Ave. – just past the Capitol building
Follow Broadway for about a mile(?) – about nine blocks – when you come to the S. Beattie cross street, you will know you are getting close (Beattie, Hillsdale, Davis)
Turn left onto Davis St. – you will drive about a half mile up Davis, when the road turns to dirt, you will know you are close
Soon after the road turns to dirt, you will see two parking areas on your left – the second one is the parking area at the DeFord trailhead. If you would like to park at the first lot and just walk up to the trailhead, that will work too, but the second one is the one that is at the trailhead.

Good news – I just typed “DeFord Trailhead” into Google maps and it is there and can be set as a destination – SO, that may be the easiest method for finding your directions, as giving directions has never been one of my best skill sets.

Hope to see you there!
Claudia

It looks like it is a 1 hour 28 minute drive from Great Falls, but with the construction on I-15 I think we should allow 1 hour 45 minutes, so meet at the Smiths parking lot near the gas station at 8 AM sharp? Then we can carpool.

Thank you Claudia from Helena for taking the time to organize this!
Wendy

This is just a friendly reminder from Lynn and Rabbi Sonja to register for the in-person training led by Phil Niedringhaus from SCN at Congregation Beth Shalom in Bozeman on Sunday September 10 at 10 AM.

This is an exceptional opportunity and is free and open to all. And we’re all incredibly grateful to Lynn for her ongoing hard work on this issue–and Beth Shalom’s generosity in inviting us all to attend.

At your earliest possible convenience,
Please Register Here

This will help make planning as easy as possible for Rabbi Sonja, Lynn, and the Beth Shalom community.

We’re planning on reconvening our monthly MAJCO Zoom discussions after the High Holy Days. Thanks to Lynn’s great input, we have topics that will be helpful in preparation for Hanukkah. No single one of us needs to have “the answers.” We are here to support and learn from each other.

All the best,
Rebecca

Rebecca Stanfel
Director, Montana Jewish Project
https://www.montanajewishproject.com/
(916) 216-1580 (mobile)

Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine-Great Falls campus is hosting a ribbon cutting at 2 p.m. Aug. 7 at the new campus, 2801 18th Ave. S.
The 100,000 square-foot building with state-of-the-art labs, a simulation lab and a strictly kosher cafeteria will host up 125 students and 60 faculty in its inaugural year and up to 500 medical students at full capacity. Touro will partner with several area medical providers, including Benefis Health System, to serve the local Great Falls community and address the larger physician shortage in Montana, according to the college.
City zoning board votes to recommend Touro parking permit
Touro University President Dr. Alan Kadish and Gov. Greg Gianforte are among the speakers planned for the event.
For more information, please visit https://members.greatfallschamber.org/events/details/ribbon-cutting-touro-college-of-osteopathic-medicine-179505