CRAIG — Between the big cities of Montana you’ll find small, dedicated communities like Craig and Wolf Creek, full of people who are working together to preserve their small towns.
“Craig Good Neighbors is all about preserving and beautifying Craig and the canyon area,” said Carroll Jenkins, President of Craig Good Neighbors.
“In the winter, [Craig] only has about 30 people,” Riley Tubbs, owner of the Craig Taphouse said, “But in the summer we have all the fishermen, all the boaters, all the recreationalists, all of them coming out here.”
Craig Good Neighbors is only in its second year, working to make the town more welcoming to everybody and strengthening its sense of community.
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“I think we were just missing a place to gather,” said Sandee Cardinal, secretary for the Craig Good Neighbors, “You know, I mean, a place to find information about other community members. We lost our community newspaper in 2008, the Wolf Creek Journal. So ever since then, you know, there’s been a lack of community.”
The fundraising event had axe throwing, a bags tournament, a silent auction, 50/50, and more to raise money to help beautify the area. Along with planting flowers and erecting welcome signs, the good neighbors hope to build a community center in the future.
“We are working on a community center,” Jenkins said, “We've worked and worked with Rocky Mountain Development Council for social service programs. We helped put up a community center that will serve the entire canyon.”
With more and more people moving into the community, Craig Good Neighbors wants to make the small town as inviting as possible, and fostering community is the best way to do it.
“As a taphouse we've been trying to add in to just the community gathering spot as well as trying to just bump up anything that they've got going on,” Tubbs said, “So when these guys came to us with the idea to run a day where it would benefit the community, we said, 'Yeah, we're definitely in.'”
If you want to join or learn more about the Craig Good Neighbors, click here.
