Cherry Festival features crafts, food and Flathead cherries
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POLSON — “I got cherries up my nose,” Brianna Stone told Jackie Cripe, co-owner of Jackie M’s Footwear, after the 7-to-13-year-old pie-eating contest. She wasn’t the only competitor who ended up with the red fruit up their nostril or on their face.
Keaton Pierce won the 7-and-under pie-eating contest and didn’t even have a dirty face, although he said he hadn’t even been practicing. He won a gift certificate to the Cove Deli and Pizza and was considering taking his family for ice cream cones.
Cripe noted that 2012 was the most contestants participating in the pie-eating contest. She thought maybe word had gotten around about the great prizes, such as gift certificates to the Cove and movie tickets.
While cherry pies homemade by the Montecahto ladies and the Yellow Bay auxiliary were selling briskly, many Flathead Cherry Festival-goers were looking for the first of the glossy ripe cherries.
Cherry growers brought as much ripe fruit as they had to the festival and most sold out. The Beighle grandchildren sold cherries out of the back of their dad’s pickup. Their parents plan a family vacation during cherry harvest each year to help with the harvest.
Next to the Beighles, Craig Bundy and his mother, Shirley Bundy, 85, sold Rainier cherries, yellow with a red blush, even though most of their crop is lapin cherries.
Diane Byers won the most unique food made with cherries for her cherry stuffed meatballs with fresh cherry barbecue sauce. Other winners were sour cherry walk-around pie and oatmeal cherry chocolate cookies.
Cripe said there were not quite as many entries as last year, but there were really creative and delicious entries.
Polson Business Committee Cherry Festival Steering Committee member Boone Goddard said it was hard for him to judge the size of the crowd although the event has turned into the third largest festival in Montana. About the same number of people visited the festival on Saturday, Goddard said. Fresh-picked cherries added to the event.
“The weather was great, too,” he added.
Vendors were pleased with the turnout, Goddard noted, adding that Papa Don’s ran out of food on Saturday.
Soon the steering committee will meet to brainstorm ways to make the Flathead Cherry Festival better, and they’ll begin planning for next year. It took an entire committee to replace Jackie Cripe, who for years has shouldered the planning for the festival along with her husband Mike.
Winners of the Polson High School and Middle School art contest are included on page 14 of this week’s Valley Journal.
