Cat Country

Bobcat Nation is loud and proud.
For the fifth consecutive year, Stillwater County schools proved that the Montana State University Bobcats rule, with the Cats winning the annual Cat-Griz food drive conducted last week.
All in, approximately 2,500 pounds of food was generated by participating schools and delivered to Project Hope last Friday. Columbus Elementary School accounted for 796 pounds of that total alone, said CES Principal Marlene Deis.
While the Cats won at every school, the University of Montana Grizzlies did claim one victory — sort of — with a tie called at the Absarokee Elementary School. Stillwater County schools have been running their own version of the statewide Cat-Griz food drive for the past eight years in what has become a wildly popular and fun event focused on giving as the holiday season approaches.

STATEWIDE CONTEST
The Grizzlies were the victors in this year’s Can the Griz-Can the Cats food drive, held between Bozeman and Missoula for the past 18 years. UM tallied 394,078 pounds collected for food banks in Missoula while MSU collected 389,093 pounds for the Gallatin Valley Food Bank. It was the second consecutive victory for the Griz in that competition. More importantly, it was the most food ever collected in the history of the contest.

ON THE FIELD
For the second consecutive year, the Cats walked off the field with the coveted Great Divide Trophy, following a 31-23 win at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman last Saturday, in front of a crowd that pushed 20,000.
The win put both teams at 5-3 conference records. The Grizzlies finished the season at 7-4 overall, while the Cats posted a 5-6 overall.

A LITTLE EXTRA HELP
In October, Matovich IGA & Stillwater Family Pharmacy decided to take an extra step in helping make sure the shelves at Project Hope had sufficient supplies for the upcoming holiday seasons.
In a promotion that ran from Oct. 22 until Nov. 14, $10 donation ribbons were sold, with the store promising to match each ribbon. With 64 ribbons sold, the end result was 1,268 cans, boxes and packages of food that were delivered to Project Hope last week.
Also making a noteworthy donation to Project Hope recently were the Nye School Hunger Fighters, who raised more than $1,000 to help end hunger in the community.
Project Hope traditionally gives out between 80 and 100 Thanksgiving boxes.