Tamarack Time!
Bigfork's annual celebration of all things delicious has a banner year.
Story and photos - by Alex Strickland
Barb Schroeder's apple pie was the hottest ticket in Bigfork this weekend, winning first prize in the pie category in the annual Tamarack Time! festival.
Leading up to the 1 p.m. kick-off on a perfect fall day, a line reached down Electric Avenue behind the pie table as the judges finished their work.
"Amateur pie eaters should stay home," said Judge Pete Dunckel as he finished sampling the last of the 17 entries in this year's competition.
"We're big guys," said third-year pie judge Tony Rojo, "They know we can eat a lot."
Though the judges went with the classic apple pie for the 2007 winner, Rojo said the competition was stiff and any one of the 17 could have taken the title.
"This is really the cream of the crop," he said.
Though the pie table in front of Bigfork Station was the biggest early draw, the rest of downtown was packed with people balancing every variety of food on their plates and trying to get to everything else before it was gone.
"The chocolate table was good," Sue Williams said.
Cookie chairperson Peggy Atchley still had some treats in front of Eva Gates after most categories' food had run out.
"It's such a fun thing to do every year," Atchley said. "And today is perfect."
Atchley is a veteran of the cookie category and explained the finer points of running a well-respected category.
"Basically," she said. "You just call all your friends and strong arm them into entering cookies."
Festival organizer Elna Darrow said the participation in this year's event was outstanding and that the 300 tickets she had made up were quickly gone, requiring about 75 more to be improvised.
"I thought it went fabulously," she said. "There were long lines at more categories than usual, it's usually just at chocolates and pies."
Darrow said she shook up her usual schedule at Tamarack Time!, this year opting to start on the far end of Electric to ensure her choice of chocolates and pies, something she usually misses if she starts at the soup-side of the street.
"It was a treat for me," she said.
All proceeds from the $3 entrance fees will go toward the Swan River Nature Trail, Darrow said. Totals are not yet available.
After Tamarack Time! wound down the Harvest Barn Dance got going out at Riverbend Ranch. A benefit for the Rotary Club, the dance and accompanying silent auction raised $3,917 as of press time. That money will go toward a variety of Rotary projects, including a proposed bike trail.
Tamarack Time! Winners
Chocolate Desserts
1st - Maureen Averill: Darkest Crepe Cake
2nd - Jennifer Graham: Chocolate Zucchini Cake
3rd - Jena Barrows: Truffles
Non-chocolate Desserts
1st - Rocky Feckette: Rice Pudding
2nd - Jan Krause: Lemon Pecan Cheesecake
3rd - Sarah Taylor: Pumpkin Peanut Treasures
Cookies
1st - Darin & Kristen Fredericks: Choclolate Chip Cookies
2nd - Abigail Hegger: Honey Roasted Peanut Butter Chunk Cookies
3rd - Barb Grinde: Cowgirl Cookies
Pies
1st - Barb Schroeder: Apple Pie
2nd - Connie Gunderson: Apple Cranberry Pie
3rd - Diane Smith: Apple Pie
Soups & Stews
1st - Ann Guerrant: Baked Potato Soup
2nd - Abigail Hegger: Spicy Pumpkin Soup
3rd - Jeannette Rehahn: Firehouse Stew
Chili
1st - Terry Teich: Elk, Deer & Antelope Chili
2nd - Missy Missons: Mega Meat Hot Chili
3rd - Robert Slead: Pork Green Chili
Pickles
1st - Janet Loranger: Gherkin Pickles
2nd - Abigail Hegger: Hot Pickled Beets
3rd - Marie Dean and Karol Fonteyne: The Flathead's Best Dills
Unleavened/Sweet Breads
1st - Nancy McGunagle: Whole Wheat Banana Nut Bread
2nd - Mary Miles: Zucchini Bread
3rd - KK Fonteyne: Zucchini Pineapple
Yeast Breads
1st - Joyce Kammerzell: Cranberry Orange Breakfast Bread
2nd - Charlotte French: Dill Bread
3rd - Charlotte French: Coffee Cake
Jams and Jellies
1st - Joann Taylor: Italian Plum Conserve
2nd - KK Fonteyne: Plum Jam
3rd - Lucy Stetler: Apricot Jam
Kids
1st - Daniel Edwards: Chicken and Dumplings
2nd (tie) - Christian Duling: Pumpkin Dump Cake, Isabella Duling: Wedding Cookies
3rd (tie) - Matthew Quist: Toffee Cheesecake Julia Wynne: Rainbow Pretzels
Best Presentation (tie) - Alex Reis: Halloween Cake, Jackson Wynne: Summer Vacation Cake
Appetizers
1st - Carol Thomas: Chicken Curry
2nd - Kahy Wermuth: Bruschetta
3rd - Pat Wagner: Italian Salami
Ethnic Foods
1st - Karen Teich: Chili Colorado
2nd - Kathy Robertson: Eggroll w/ plum sauce
3rd - Josh Auerhammer: Moroccan Squash Soup
Casseroles
1st - Nancy O'Kelly Donahugh: Lamb and Eggplant
2nd - Lee Stultz: Shrimp Verde
3rd - Shelley Gonzales: Breakfast Strata