03/17/2026
Orville “Butch” Bach, Jr. has worked as an interpretive ranger at Yellowstone National Park for more than 50 years. Author of several books on the park, Butch will recount how the park has changed since he started work there in 1969.
Butch is one of 11 presenters at Bozeman’s 50th PechaKucha Night at the Ellen Theatre, Tuesday, April 21 and Wednesday, April 22. Both events start at 6:40 p.m. and feature the same speakers.
Missy O’Malley, Bozeman personality extraordinaire, auctioneer, snowboard instructor and DJ, will emcee the special event sponsored by Jamie Hetherington, ERA Landmark Real Estate.
Persevering at something you love is also the theme of ultramarathon runner Andrew Grillos’ presentation. Two months after running a 100-mile race in Idaho six years ago, he suffered a massive stroke and was life-flighted to Salt Lake City for major brain surgery. He was back to trail running five months later, and that’s just part of the story!
Mark Egge recounts his own epic journey last summer, becoming just the fifth person to bike 3,000 miles of the Continental Divide hiking trail from Canada to Mexico in 65 days, minus the wilderness sections.
Morgan Keenan took a very different route when he and his brother rode dirtbikes across the country on the TransAmerica Trail. Their five-week adventure ended abruptly at a cliff outside Moab, Utah.
Meanwhile, James Stuart of Mt. Ellis Academy is busy training the next generation of adventurers. At the beginning of each school year, James takes the entire student body on a week-long adventure in places including the Tetons, Glacier National Park, the Missouri River and the Beartooth Mountains.
At seven, Quinn Krinke is already fascinated with girls who broke records, made history and changed climbing forever—most of them before they were old enough to drive. Quinn tells us about girls who proved the wall doesn’t care how old you are.
Of course, people travel not only for adventure, but also to learn about other cultures. In 1973, National Geographic published a tantalizing article on small pockets of centenarians thriving across the globe. A few years later, Valerie Hemingway joined a team of scientists to explore an example of this phenomenon in the hills of Ecuador.
A relationship to the Montana landscape does not always include travel. A great-granddaughter of early Montana settlers, Jennie Montana began 20 years ago creating bison yarns and handling bison hides before sending them to the mills to be blended. She will share how important bison are to our outer and inner landscape.
Digging into the landscape right here in Bozeman became a passion of the Extreme History project, which helped conduct an archaeological dig on a site once associated with the city’s red-light district. Presenters Crystal Alegria and Nancy Mahoney will describe how a partnership with MSU’s Dept. of Anthropology and a local property owner allowed students to uncover material evidence of daily life within this marginalized, yet socially and economically significant community.
Bozeman singer/songwriter Russ Chapman is fascinated by those fanciful padlocks that couples attach to bridges signifying their commitment to one another. The locks are very popular in romantic hotspots in major cities such as Paris, but you can find them here in Bozeman as well. Chapman will offer a musical tribute to these “love locks” and the trouble they can cause.
While working as executive director of a Cystic Fibrosis nonprofit, Pam Western learned that her daughter had Type 1 diabetes. A few years later, Pam was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome. All of this has led to what she calls the "paradox of resilience". She has been learning to let go of the weights she was never meant to carry.
PechaKucha offers anyone with a passion or a vision--designers, artists, inventors, architects, adventurers, entrepreneurs—an opportunity to share their ideas with the community during a fast-paced, friendly social get-together. There's just one catch—presenters have only 20 slides x 20 seconds each, a total of 6 minutes, 40 seconds!
Tickets are available at theellentheatre.com for $9 (including facility fee). Students may purchase tickets at the door for $5.50.
