Whitefish natives open microbakery in Columbia Falls

Judy Morse started baking when she was 8 or 9 years old. Her mother came from a family of 10 kids and she learned to bake out of necessity and love for her siblings.

Morse, in turn, learned the same sort of love it takes to nurse croissant dough for two days, rolling and folding the dough and then refrigerating it and resting it only to do the process over again until the final result is a pastry that melts in your mouth.

Columbia Falls and surrounding communities will soon be able to taste Morse’s croissants and many other baked goods when her new microbakery and coffee shop, Flitter Bee Buzz, open in the parking lot of Super 1 Foods just off U.S. Highway 2 on Feb. 13.

Morse (formerly Goodwin) and her husband Dawson are Whitefish natives, graduating in 2001. Dawson is a First Sergeant in the Army and is currently stationed at Joint Base Lewis–McChord in Washington.

But he will retire soon and the family is moving back to the valley with their four children. They already have family living in Columbia Falls.

She said she aspired to opening a bakery for the past 15 years, but it was tough living the military life, which typically requires a move every few years.

“I have been dreaming about owning my own coffee shop and bakery for 15 years and am absolutely thrilled to be getting to do this and be doing it back home,” she said.

Morse has a background working in the coffee industry and Coffee Fieldhouse of Bigfork has created a complimentary roast for her baked goods.

She said she’s been honing her baked goods for awhile now, baking them in her home oven and then feeding them to the troops, who give her feedback.

While her building is small, tucked in the northeast corner of the parking lot, she said she plans on having 12 to 15 employees and the shop will be open from 4:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. seven days a week.

The name Flitter comes from a nickname her father called her as a girl growing up with three brothers.

In addition to traditional baked goods, the shop will clean up and then bake gluten-free products one day a week.