It's cherry time
<p>Sunday Ashleigh Boles of Polson competed in the adult cherry pie eating contest. Boles said after the competition, " I didn't do as well as last year when I won second place."</p>
<p>Seven-year-old Emme Courchesne of Hamilton, competes in the cherry pit spitting competition, which took place Saturday afternoon. </p>
<p>Three-year-old Jaycey Pruitt of Polson enjoyed her piece of cherry pie at the Cherry Festival.</p>
POLSON — The Flathead Lake Cherry Festival, an annual Polson tradition, celebrated its fourteenth year over the weekend. The festival has everything from a cherry cooking competition to a cherry pie eating contest. Along with local cherry growers, street vendors and a student art contest there was something for everyone this weekend down on Main Street.
Outside of Jackie M’s shoe store Sunday afternoon was time for the cherry pie eating contest. Jackie Cripe has owned the store for fifteen years in Polson and has been running the contest for the past seven years said, “the festival began as a main street festival, but it became the Cherry Festival as a way to promote our cherry growers and agritourism.” She continued, “ the festival has been growing every year, people look forward to it.”
People come from all over to take part in the festival. Cherry-spitting contestant Ryder Gangemi, age 6, came all the way from San Jose, California to celebrate her third Cherry Festival. Ryder is in town visiting her grandparents and to take part in the festivities.
“This year there are three divisions of the eating contest”, Jamie Morelli, who is helping out at the contest said, “as to make it more fun for the younger kids.” And it certainly was fun. Just ask 3-year-old pie eating contestant Jaycey Pruitt, of Polson, who also had a very good time at the Flathead Cherry Festival Dance, Saturday night. Although, pie eating is not all fun and games as 6-year-old Tayler Venegas of Polson left with a stomach-ache from too much cherry pie. But all in all it was a success for winner Keatton Pierce, 6, of Polson, who won a gift card to a local restaurant, and said, “now I get to go to the Cove!”
The adult contest was equally as competitive, although, unlike last year where the competitors were required to eat an entire pie to themselves, they only had to partake in a slice. Speaking with the third place winner, Jordan Goldsmith of Missoula, he said, “midway through there was lots of turmoil.” He expects to win first place next year, “I’m going to start cross-training now,” he said, “with some huckleberry and apple pie, maybe I’ll even throw in a lemon meringue.“
A few of the Flathead Lake Cherry growers were also on hand at the festival. Brooke and Julie Bonner, of Yellow Bay have been part of their family run orchard for the past ten years. They were in town selling their Stella cherries, one of the first variety of cherries to ripen. Holly Wurl, who has an orchard at Finley Point has been growing cherries for the past six years, said this is the first year her Lambert cherries have been ripe in time for the festival. “ Usually they are picked the beginning of August, but it depends on the weather, how hot or cold, wet or dry,” she said.
Ginger Bundy and Shari Myers, cherry growers from Yellow Bay, said, “we are just trying to make as many people aware that we (Flathead cherry growers) grow the greatest cherries anywhere. It’s the warm days and the cold nights we get here that make for the best cherries.”