Great Falls Secrets - 09/30/11 09:52 PM
Great Falls Secrets
 
So What's the Secret?
We won't know until you share it with us!
Great Falls Secrets is a local Facebook page which allows everyone to share their favorite spot, event, or the simple things only locals could know.
This is a great place to share your upcoming event, or special.
Recents shares have been: 
City Leader Dunk Tank Volunteers needed for Sletten Cancer Center Donate your used or junk car to Meals On Wheels Girls night out at the Hi Ho Tavern Safe Trick or Treat Job available at the Downtown Doghouse Take a look … (1 comments)

OK Women, It's All About You! - 09/29/11 02:02 PM
OK Women, It's All About You!
Want to know what women want in Great Falls?
Then you need to attend the "What Women Want" Expo 2011 at the Montana ExpoPark in Great Falls Montana October 7 & 8, 2011.
Shop til you drop with over 200 vendors offering goods, gifts and services.
The 8th Annual Expo has presenters, free fitness classes, shopping, wine, chocolate, comedy and some serious fun.
You will also be able to vote for your favorite Bra at the BRAvo 2011 display.  BRAvo is a contest designed to draw attention and show support for breast Cancer Survivors.  All … (1 comments)

Great Falls Historic Trolley Tours - 09/29/11 12:10 AM
Great Falls Historic Trolley Tours 
 
Want to know a great way to tour Great Falls?
Check out the Great Falls Historic Trolley.  Take a tour of Great Falls in the motorized climate-controlled trolley replica.
Explore the History, Culture and Beautiful Scenery of Great Falls Montana.
You can take one or two hour guided tours consisting of the "City" tour or the "Historic" tour.  Learn about the Lewis and Clark Expedition and the hazards they had to endure when they passed through Great Falls.  View 3 of the area Waterfalls.
At Christmas you can ride the Trolley to view … (2 comments)

Great Falls Montana Public and Private Schools - 09/28/11 01:37 AM
Great Falls Montana Public and Private Schools 
 
Great Falls Public Schools consist of 15 Elementary Schools, 2 Middle Schools, 2 High Schools and 1 Alternative High School.  School districts are determined by the School Boundary Map.
Public Elementary:
 
Chief Joseph Lewis & Clark Lincoln Longfellow Loy Meadow Lark Morningside Mountain View River View Roosevelt Sacajawea Sunnyside Valley View West Whittier  
Public Middle Schools:
 
East North  
Public High Schools:
 
C.M. Russell Great Falls High Paris Gibson Education Center  
Great Falls Private Schools consist of 6 Elementary and 3 High Schools
Private Elementary:
 
… (2 comments)

Great Falls Symphony - 09/26/11 11:25 PM
Great Falls Symphony  
Great Falls Montana has been home to the Great Falls Symphony since 1959.  Performing in the Mansfield Center the Symphony Consists of:
Orchestra and Symphonic Choir - composed of a 75 member Orchestra and a 90 Voice Symphonic Choir. Cascade Quartet - highest quality chamber music. Chinook Winds - a traditional wind quintet. Great Falls Youth Orchestra - 75 young musicians from public, private and home schools. The Symphony season opener "Patriots, Citizens and Soldiers" pays tribute to the anniversary of the Civil War and those who served.  The opener is Saturday October 1st at 7:30.

… (1 comments)

Montana Air National Guard to keep F-15's until late 2012 - 09/26/11 01:37 AM
Montana Air National Guard to keep F-15's until late 2012
The National Guard announced Friday a slight delay in the transfer of the Montana Air National Guard's F-15's to the California National Guard.  Apparently the Environmental Impact Statement in Fresno, CA is not complete.
This is good news to those of us who Love to see the F-15's Flying overhead.  Since moving to Great Falls in 1990 I have been able to watch F-16's and now lately F-15's flying their exercises.
My office is close to the Airport and my Window faces the Northeast end of the Airport, so almost … (2 comments)

Great Falls Real Estate - Pure Montana Rustic Horse Property - 09/25/11 12:55 AM
Great Falls Real Estate - Pure Montana Rustic Horse Property
 
If you need space, privacy and room for horses then take a look at this 5 Bedroom, 2.5 Bath 5,150 sq ft property, located just outside the city limits of Great Falls with 3 acreage options.
You will have Amazing views from the Huge windows in the exposed truss Great Room of this Rustic Cedar sided Ranch. Enjoy a relaxing fire in the gas Moss Rock fireplace. 
There is nearly unlimited Cabinet space and Counter tops in the large updated Kitchen.  Unbelievable walk-through Pantry. Formal Dining room with … (0 comments)

Great Falls Montana - Bus Transit - 09/23/11 11:53 PM
Great Falls Montana - Bus Transit
When it comes to getting around town, most Montanan's are pretty independent.  We like having our own vehicles and the convenience that comes with them, and with little traffic, driving around Great Falls is usually pretty easy.  We even now hold the title of the City with the Shortest Commute in the U.S.  But with gas prices hovering around $4.00 a gallon and vehicle payments, insurance and maintenance costs on the rise, some folks are looking for alternative means of getting around.
Because we could have snow on the ground for up to … (0 comments)

Great Falls Montana - Home of the Shortest Commute in the U.S. - 09/23/11 12:16 AM
Great Falls Montana - Home of the Shortest Commute in the U.S.
It's Official.  Great Falls now owns the title as The City with the Shortest Commute Time in the United States.  According to the Census Bureau report "Commuting in the United States: 2009" released Thursday, on average, Great Falls drivers need only 14.2 minutes to commute to work.
The average US commute time - about 25 minutes.  New York Metro area workers average 34.6 minutes to get to their jobs.
Of course those of us who live in Great Falls already know that you can get just about anywhere in … (2 comments)

Downtown Great Falls - Brian's Top Notch Cafe - 09/22/11 01:10 AM
Downtown Great Falls - Brian's Top Notch Cafe
 
Remember the day when you would go into a Diner for lunch, not a fast food restaurant.  There would be a long counter with stools, a waitress running around waiting on all the tables and the counter, and it smelled like real food cooking.  You know, the All-American Diner your parents took you to when you were a kid?
Well, those days are still here in Downtown Great Falls at the Top Notch Cafe.  Owners Brian and Lynda Kapphan have been running the Restaurant by themselves for 23 years.  You will … (6 comments)

Great Falls Real Estate - Victorian in need of your help! - 09/21/11 01:29 AM
Great Falls Real Estate - Victorian in need of your help!

Step back to a time when life's pace was a little slower. Imagine sitting on the porch swing on the Veranda of this Victorian Beauty sipping lemonade on a warm summer evening exchanging stories and gossip with the neighbors.
This Award winner can be yours if you are willing to finish her. She is in the middle of a major remodel and needs completing. She sits in the downtown Historic District in Great Falls Montana, surrounded by other beauties. Built in 1910 she has withstood the test of … (0 comments)

Great Falls Montana Condo Living - 09/20/11 01:41 AM
Great Falls Montana Condo Living
With winter quickly approaching in Montana are you dreading the 6 months of snow shoveling that awaits you? 
Are you glad that the grass cutting, trimming, weed pulling and watering is almost over? 
Are you dreading cleaning out the gutters and raking the leaves again this fall? 
Don't you wish someone could just take care of all of this outside work for you so you could enjoy your free time? 
Maybe go fishing, take a trip, or maybe head south for the winter and not have to worry about an empty … (2 comments)

Ming's Chinese Restaurant - Great Falls Montana - 09/18/11 11:52 PM
Ming's Chinese Restaurant - Great Falls Montana
Ming's seems like a typical Chinese Restaurant until you get inside and meet Ming and Su.  Ming's is a Family run business and they are the owners. They are located right on busy 10th Ave S at 3212. There is plenty of parking along the side and back of the building.

Su has to be one of the happiest people in the world.  She always has a big smile and a happy greeting for you as you walk through the door.  Ming is also always sporting a large smile.  The two of them … (2 comments)

ActiveRain Blog Post with an iPad. - 09/18/11 12:40 AM
ActiveRain Blog Post with an iPad. I am on the road this weekend and only brought along my iPad. Since I am taking part in the 30 days in September localism posting Challenge on Activerain I still needed to be able to write my daily blog post. I have noticed for several months that I have been able to leave comments on other posts using my iPad that I was not able to do before without being logged-in in tablet mode. So, I figured I should also be able to now actually write a post using only my iPad. Well it … (17 comments)

Great Falls Parade of Homes - 09/16/11 07:42 PM
Great Falls Parade of Homes

The Great Falls Parade of Homes is this weekend, Sept 16 - 18th, 2011.
The event kicks off with a VIP night tonight from 5:30 - 10 p.m.
Admission to the Parade of Homes is $8.00/person with advance ticket purchase. The event is free for children you can carry.
Tickets will also be sold at every home for $10.00/person during the Parade. One ticket is good for admission to all of the homes on Saturday and Sunday.
 
Schedule of Events  VIP Night: Friday, Sept. 16th, 5:30-10pm
GENERAL ADMISSION SCHEDULE
Saturday, Sept. 17th - Homes … (0 comments)

Great Falls Real Estate Report for August 2011 - 09/16/11 01:42 AM
Great Falls Real Estate Report for August 2011
August 2011 SOLD listings for Great Falls Montana increased 36.5% over August 2010
This is good news for the area, and debunks the rumors that real estate is slowing or double dipping.

The most active price range was $140,000 - $160,000, typically where first time home buyers are buying.  The biggest increase in sales percentage wise was the $250,000 - $300,000 price range.  It appears upgrade buyers are taking advantage of the low interest rates and great home prices.
There were 1102 Active Listings in Great Falls in August 2011 and 176 … (0 comments)

Strut Your Mutt Great Falls Montana - 09/15/11 01:08 AM
Strut Your Mutt Great Falls Montana
The Annual Strut Your Mutt Benefit Dog Walk will be September 18,2011.  Strut your Mutt is a benefit Dog walk for the Animal Foundation of Great Falls.


WHO: Dog lovers of all ages are welcome to show off their canine companions (one dog per human). Walk as part of a TEAM for even more fun! You don’t have to bring a dog to support the Animal Foundation!
WHAT: Register for $20 ($25 on the day of the Strut), build your own fund raising page, and gather pledges for the Animal Foundation. Form a TEAM! Teams … (2 comments)

Five Easy Steps to Stage Your Kitchen - 09/14/11 02:30 AM
Here are some Great Tips from Chris Ann on Staging your Kitchen. 
When you have a house to sell you can never do too much to prepare it.
Via Chris Ann Cleland, Associate Broker, Northern VA (Long & Foster REALTORS®, Gainesville, VA):
Five Easy Steps to Stage Your Kitchen
In a previous post you learned the five easy steps to stage your bathroom.  In this post you will learn the five easy steps to stage your kitchen.   Follow these posts to get the most money you can out of the sale of your home.
1.  CLEAN
Clean is the first step in … (3 comments)

Great Falls Gymnastics Academy - A great place for Kids of all ages. - 09/14/11 01:43 AM
Great Falls Gymnastics Academy - A great place for kids of all ages.


The Great Falls Gymnastics Academy, is a learning center based around Gymnastics.  Located downtown at 815 1st Ave N in the renovated Haggerty Motors Building, this is much more than just Gymnastics Classes.  It is also a Pre-School.
My daughter absolutely loves this place.  She has been attending since before she turned 2, starting out in the Tumble Bugs class.  At 3 she started in the Grass Hoppers and now is in the Learning Academy.
She started out a little scared and clingy, but now she … (0 comments)

Ways to obtain Great Falls Montana area rural Drinking Water: Part 3 - 09/13/11 01:52 AM
Ways to obtain Great Falls Montana area rural Drinking Water: Part 3
The City of Great Falls obtains the municipal water supply from the Missouri River.  It is treated and used for drinking, household use and to feed your sprinkler system for city dwellers.
But what if you want to live out of the city limits and need water?  There are several possibilities, each with their own quirks.  Last week I talked about wells and cisterns and water delivery companies.  Today I will discuss an alternative to delivery - hauling your own water.
Having your water delivered is handy, in fact it … (2 comments)

20 Fun Facts about Great Falls Montana - 09/11/11 03:29 AM
20 Fun Facts about Great Falls Montana

Great Falls is home to the Worlds Shortest River - The Roe River - only 201 feet.
Great Falls is home to Giant Springs - the largest fresh water spring in the U.S.
Great Falls has 3 Rivers: The Sun, The Missouri and The Roe.
The Missouri River drops 500 feet in 21 miles over 5 different sets of falls.
Lewis and Clark portaged the 5 different sets of Falls in 1805.
In 1887 the first Train arrived in Great Falls.
Great Falls has had the most rapid temperature change registered in the … (0 comments)

Montana Bale Trail - 09/11/11 01:36 AM
Montana Bale Trail
Montana Bale Trail (What the Hay) which I covered earlier this week had enough great entries this year that I thought it deserved its own post.
Deciding to make this years trip a Day Trip, we drove to Lewistown for the annual ChokeCherry Festival Saturday, and on the way back to Great Falls, drove the Montana Bale Trail a day early to see what entries were already on display.  At least 30 entries were ready for viewing and a few were still under construction.
The Following entries were among my favorites:




 
Each year … (2 comments)

Great Falls Military Relocation Program better than USAA Movers Advantage - 09/09/11 10:52 PM
Great Falls Military Relocation Program better than USAA Movers Advantage 
 
Military Relocations can be stressful and expensive.  If you have a house to buy or sell, you want the process to be handled professionally by an experienced local Agent.  Here in Great Falls Montana we see many military personel moving in and out from Malmstrom Air Force Base.  Many utilize a program from USAA called Movers Advantage because they offer a cash bonus for using their services.  However, they do this at the expense of the Real Estate Agents commission, and you are required to use a Realtor assigned to you instead … (0 comments)

Great Falls Montana Farmer's Market - 09/08/11 10:50 PM
Great Falls Montana Farmer's Market

Summer in Great Falls brings the twice weekly Farmer's Market to town.
Every Saturday Morning from 7:45 to Noon and Every Wednesday evening from 4:30 - 6:30 from Mid July through September, you can find fresh produce, food, crafts, baked goods, prizes and More.  Now in its 29th Season, you will find the market in the Civic Center Park in downtown Great Falls.
The last Saturday Market this year will be Sept 24th.  September 17th will be "Customer Appreciation Day" with free helium balloons and special projects for the kids.  Entertainment will be a presentaion … (0 comments)

Ultimate Family room in this Great Falls Montana Home for Sale. - 09/07/11 09:53 PM
Ultimate Family room in this Great Falls Montana Home for Sale.
If you love to entertain, then you are in for a treat with this nearly new home.

A huge Family Room with High Definition Projector, Pool Table and Fireplace combine for hours of Fun, day or night.

An open Floor Plan on the main allows everyone too see and talk to each other whether they are in the Kitchen, Dining Room or Living Room.

 A patio with Natural Gas connection right off the Dining Area allows for year round BBQ's and allows the party to overflow outdoors.
… (0 comments)

Open House attendees in Great Falls Montana must now present I.D. and sign in. - 09/06/11 07:53 PM
Open House attendees in Great Falls Montana must now present I.D. and sign in.


The Real Estate market continues to be stable in Great Falls MT and folks are out shopping for homes.  Open Houses continue to be popular in Great Falls, and a great way for potential buyers to preview homes and get out of the house on a Sunday afternoon.  However as with anything that involves the general public, problems can arise.

For the Safety of our fellow Realtors, and for the Home Owners, we are now requiring that everyone who attends a Dahlquist Realtors Open … (2 comments)

What do you get when you combine ChokeCherries and Hay Bales? - 09/05/11 09:27 PM
What do you get when you combine ChokeCherries and Hay Bales?
Fall time around Great Falls and Central Montana brings together two normally not related items, Chokecherries and Hay Bales.

A short road trip from Great Falls on the first Saturday after Labor Day will take you to the geographic center and ChokeCherry Capital of Montana, Lewistown Montana, and the annual ChokeCherry Festival.  Here you can find main street literally lined with arts and craft booths and food vendors offering Gifts, Baked Goods, Garden Fresh Items and my favorites, ChokeCherry Jellies and Chokecherry Syrup.  If you have a good "Spitter" … (0 comments)

Summer boating around Great Falls Montana - 09/04/11 11:48 PM
Summer boating around Great Falls Montana
Great Falls offers many boating opportunities with the Missouri River and Sun Rivers meeting right in town.  But for the boater wanting a lake to play and fish on, or maybe a weekend of camping and boating, there are 3 choices on the Missouri River within an hour and a half from town.

 Holter Lake sits upstream from Great Falls just 45 minutes.  Holter offers camping, fishing and boating with several public campgrounds and boat ramps.  Holter Lake is also the home of the amazing Gates of the Mountains, a trip through the mountains which can only … (2 comments)

Ways to obtain Great Falls Montana area rural Drinking Water: Part 2 - 09/03/11 11:09 PM
Ways to obtain Great Falls Montana area rural Drinking Water: Part 2
The City of Great Falls obtains the municipal water supply from the Missouri River.  It is treated and used for drinking, household use and to feed your sprinkler system for city dwellers.
But what if you want to live out of the city limits and need water?  There are several possibilities, each with their own quirks.  Yesterday I talked about wells.  Today I will discuss an alternative, but very popular option in the Great Falls area.
Cisterns:
A cistern is essentially a large holding tank for water.  Typically here … (0 comments)

Ways to obtain Great Falls Montana area rural Drinking Water: Part 1 - 09/02/11 06:03 AM
Ways to obtain Great Falls Montana area rural Drinking Water: Part 1

 
The City of Great Falls obtains the municipal water supply from the Missouri River.  It is treated and used for drinking, household use and to feed your sprinkler system for city dwellers.

But what if you want to live out of the city limits and need water?  There are several possibilities, each with their own quirks.  I will discuss one each day for the next several days.
 
The first and usually most expensive method to obtain drinking and household water is to drill a well.
… (2 comments)

Welcome to Great Falls Montana in September - 09/01/11 09:58 PM
Welcome to Great Falls Montana in September.
Summer seems like it got started a few weeks ago, and now here we are on September 1st and we are not even breaking 70 degrees. The weatherman says it will be cool the next few days with lows around 44.  Nice warm weather should return by Sunday.
With it being Labor Day Weekend many families are looking forward to a few days off and maybe a final camping or boating trip.  With gas prices high, many boaters might just choose to utilize our two rivers flowing through town.  
The Sun River and the … (0 comments)

 
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Doug Maas - Broker/Owner - REMAX Of Great Falls - MT Real Estate

Great Falls, MT

More about me…

RE/MAX of Great Falls

Address: 920 Central Ave., Great Falls, MT, 59401

Cell Phone: (406) 868-6053

Email Me

Author Bio: Doug Maas - Broker/Owner/Realtor Re/Max of Great Falls. Doug Maas helps distressed property owners, Investors, Military and First Time Home Buyers.



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