Cherries take center stage at festival
Linda Sappington
Local cherries ripened in time for the Polson Main Street Flathead Cherry Festival last weekend, where buyers scooped them up by the bagful from Bundy Orchards' stand.
Linda Sappington
Ken Avison encourages a cherry pit spit contestant.
Linda Sappington
Ken Avison reacts after a contestant spits a pit just a few inches.
Linda Sappington
Sweet cherries await buyers in convenient cup-sized amounts.
Linda Sappington
Polson High School cheerleader Cassie Carlyle gets dunked in water, all part of a fun fundraiser for the cheer squad.
Linda Sappington
Every cherry item imaginable was available at the festival, including a cherry fairy home, hand-crafted by Polson artist Verna Ivory.
Linda Sappington
Sweet cherries, including a Ranier variety, take center stage at the Polson Main Street Flathead Cherry Festival.
Linda Sappington
Herb and Bonnie Kimbell of Polson share a noodle dish.
Linda Sappington
Contestant Daniel Wisekittel puckers up as he prepares to spit a cherry pit.
Linda Sappington
A cherry pit spit contestant lets a pit fly.
Linda Sappington
Ranier cherries were for sale from Bundy Orchards.
Linda Sappington
Packaged by the pound, the popular sweet cherries sold well at the festival.
Linda Sappington
Polson Main Street Flathead Cherry Festival
Linda Sappington
Polson Main Street Flathead Cherry Festival
Linda Sappington
Polson Main Street Flathead Cherry Festival
Linda Sappington
Polson Main Street Flathead Cherry Festival
Linda Sappington
Polson Main Street Flathead Cherry Festival
Linda Sappington
A 1947 Ford pickup held a pair of enormous metal cherries.
Linda Sappington
Marie Mitchell and Yvonne Rehard of the Yellow Bay Ladies’ Auxiliary sell pies, muffins and chocolate cherries.
Linda Sappington
Marie Nelson of Moses Lake, Wash., enjoys photo art by Polson photographer Gino Caselli.
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Daniel Wisekittel was on a mission. Intently puckering his lips, he gathered all the breath he could muster and launched the cherry pit a full 16 feet.
Not bad for a rookie.
The Wisekittel family came all the way from New Richmond, Ohio to attend the Polson Main Street Flathead Cherry Festival on Saturday. The next stop was a dip in Flathead Lake, which the family had researched while planning their vacation. Glacier Park and Yellowstone were on the agenda too, but when mom read about the annual downtown small-town festival, she organized the rest of the journey around Polson.
The Wisekittels weren’t the only distance travelers.
The Nickerson’s of Tampa Bay, Florida were visiting friends in Bigfork, read about the festival, and drove on down. To remember their day, the family posed for a photo by the Flathead Cherry Hauler, a fire engine red 1949 ford pickup truck carrying a colossal pair of metal cherries.
And the real deal — sweet Flathead Lake cherries — ripened two weeks early this year, rewarded visitors who came to buy the local fruit at the two-day festival.
Cherry pies, struedel, tarts and turnovers sold out quickly; cherry lemonade quenched thirst and everything from cherry fairy houses to cherry travel mugs were up for sale.
Marie Mitchell and Yvonne Rehard of Yellow Bay Women’s’ Auxiliary made pies with last year’s excess cherries, kept fresh by freezing in five-gallon buckets.
“We start making the pies before this years’ cherries ripen,” explained Mitchell.
The pie-baking process is a social event, according to Rehard. Six ladies at a time make 30 to 40 pies, all baked in Mitchell’s kitchen. This year, the ladies brought 160 pies to sell at $12 each. They also baked muffins with blueberries grown along the shore of Flathead Lake.
The colorful festival offered a taste of local and regional foods, as well as crafts, clothing and art sold by some 85 vendors.
Marie Nelson of Moses Lake, Wash., was mesmerized by the rich colors of photographer Gino Caselli’s giclee prints on canvas. The Polson artist said he was trained “by the best” in the San Francisco bay area during the 1970s. A friend recently inspired him to photograph with a fresh perspective, digitally enhancing his art to create surreal landscapes.
Kari Wells’ tie-dyed clothing, aptly named “Da Vinci Designs,” beckoned people into her bright booth.
“Who needs coffee, right?” Wells quipped about her psychedelic display. Each item, including her most popular guitar design, she hand tied and dyed.
Dever Graham appreciated the creativity and artistic ideas throughout the festival.
“People put in a lot of work,” he said. “It’s good to see.”
Along each street, friends and neighbors stopped to chat or share a meal.
“It’s good to see all the people,” Polson resident Herb Kimbell said as he shared a noodle dish with his wife, Bonnie, “… and to come down and support the community,” she added.
