For the past ten years, Rick and Suzie Graetz of the University of Montana have brought a group of geography students to the Polebridge area for their Field Course.

While they are here, they dedicate one evening to giving a public lecture at Sondreson Hall. If for no other reason, it is worth attending just for the photos of spectacular landscapes, often from far-flung regions of the globe.

This year’s presentation will be at Sondreson Hall on January 16 at 6:30pm.

Here’s the text of Suzie’s announcement . . .

Happy New Year to all of our friends in the North Fork!

There is something about the holidays that makes me sit back and count my blessings.

Yesterday, while I was putting away the trappings of Christmas at the same time I was hauling out and checking off the gear we need to pack for our Polebridge Field Course, it dawned on me that this will be our 10th year of bringing students for a week to the amazing landscape you all are lucky to call home.

The course of study is wide-ranging and a great amount of information is crammed into our short stay… we expose the students to twice daily lectures by experts on fire, wildlife, national and state land management, geography, history, and geology (to name a few subjects), they have pre-trip reading assignments, research projects to complete, lecture notes to turn in, daily snowshoe treks into the landscape they are studying, and as always a final test. But, I feel it is meeting you, the members of this valley that has made the biggest impression on them.

You have shared your knowledge, opened your homes, given advice, and made us feel welcome.

I hope you will join us 6:30pm Monday evening, January 16, at the Community Hall for our traditional gathering and lecture. Come and help us celebrate; we want to thank you for your friendship!

I am so looking forward to seeing you again,

Susie Graetz

P.S. To quote the parent of one of our Polebridge class students, “Thank you for all you’ve done for our son. When he comes home to visit, he no longer talks just about football, but about your classes and what he has learned. You have broadened his world by getting him out into it; you have changed how he sees life.”

We couldn’t have made this kind of impact on our students without the kindness and generosity of you, our North Fork friends.