Update on the Community Spirit Monument
Love and Lessons on the Community Spirit Monument
Each year, we take a summer afternoon to clean up around the Community Spirit Monument in Kalispell’s Woodland Park. It’s an honor to have some time to admire this amazing space. We pull weeds, scrub flagstones, and wipe down each tile by hand.
We had a great time living this public space some love, but we wanted to give you the full story.
We’re concerned about sharing this information because we don’t want the attention to bring more vandalism, however, we need to speak the truth.
This beautiful monument was vandalized in November of 2019, and some of the marks are still there.
The Love Lives Here tile was busted out. A tile about tolerance and diversity was spray painted over (see picture below). The huge stone tops of two benches were smashed and stolen. A partisan campaign slogan was carved into a tile.
It’s difficult to know that people have intentionally tried to destroy a symbol of understanding and peace in our town. This structure was meant to remind us all that in spite of our differences and even disagreements, love wins.
The good news is that in spite of these setbacks, love does win. Love does live here.
Yesterday, two of the volunteers helping us clean the monument were former white nationalists. They came to make amends and help create community instead of splitting it apart.
Our nation and our community seem very divided right now. Relationships are fraying over partisan politics, schools and businesses opening, and wearing masks. Everything seems fragile.
We have a choice right now.
We can all choose to invest in the people, organizations, and events that are bringing the community together.
We can choose to keep amplifying the message everyone has the right to live, love, work, and play in the Flathead Valley.
We can choose to pour our energy into projects that bring understanding instead of misinformation into the community.
We all have choices. Many of them are tough. But we’re here to make more places where everyone feels safe and included.
You can support our work in a couple of ways. First, make sure you and your friends have completed the census and are registered to vote.
Fill out the census online here. https://2020census.gov/en.html
Check your voter registration here. https://app.mt.gov/voterinfo/
Next, you can make a donation to Love Lives Here. Your contribution means that trained, informed staff are ready to swing into action to provide educational events and constructive responses to racism, antisemitism, and many other forms of discrimination.
Click here to donate. https://loveliveshereflathead.org/donate
We are VERY grateful to the Parks and Recreation Department of the City of Kalispell for doing most of the difficult work of pulling stubborn weeds before we arrived! Thank you for helping us take care of that beautiful space!
