Cherry Fest puts fun within 'spittin' distance'
ADAM ENGELMAN, hailing from Austin, Texas, heard about the cherry pit spitting contest held at the Cove Saturday through local media. He and his dad, David, decided to compete. Adam took second place in the contest. (Ashley Fox/Lake County Leader)
Swarms of people snap photos and take video during the “Cherry Olympics” held in front of the Cove Deli & Pizza in Polson Saturday, as part of the Flathead Cherry Festival.
Polson resident Zander Disney, 9, finishes up first place during a cherry pie eating contest Saturday during the Flathead Cherry Festival.
Elijah Taylor, 14, of Polson, completes one of four flips during a bungee session at the Flathead Cherry Festival Saturday. Taylor has done the bungee before and said it is a workout.
The “Cherry Olympics” were held for the sixth year in a row Saturday afternoon at the Cove Deli & Pizza, 11 3rd Ave. West as part of the annual Polson Main Street Flathead Cherry Festival.
Contestants traveled from across the country, including the Engleman family from Austin, Texas.
Son Adam and his dad, David, entered the cherry pit spitting contest after reading about it in local media during their stay in Polson, matriarch Angellini said. The family is in the middle of a 40-some-day roadtrip while looking “for cooler temperatures,” Engelman said.
Adam’s favorite part so far, he said, was the cherry pit spitting, which neither father nor son said they practiced for prior.
Adam held the first place position until Denver native Kidren McVeigh assumed the winning position.
McVeigh practiced, which paid off in the end. He was awarded a gift card to the Cove, along with the other first place winners for teens and adults.
The rest of the 50 participants received participation certificates.
A couple of hours later, four kids waited patiently in the crowd to be called to a picnic table with four big slices of Flathead cherry pie.
Local 9-year-old Zander Disney never had the dessert before, but that didn’t stop him from competing.
He took first place, also winning a gift card to the establishment.
“I’ll have (cherry pie) again,” he said, after winning.
Cove co-owner Ken Avison said that contests have been hosted by the local business for the last six years.
Originally held on Main Street, the Cherry Olympic games have been at the Cove due to more room in front of the business.
The games, however, have been held “for at least 14 years.”
Avison estimated about 50 people entered the cherry pit spitting contest while 15 showed up for the pie eating contest.
Marilyn Frame, an organizer of the festival, said that there were 125 vendors at this year’s event, which has been an annual event for nearly two decades.
There were “at least 3,000” people who attended Saturday and a little more than half that on Sunday.
The hot temperatures on Saturday didn’t deter people from attending, and Frame added that this year, “misters” were added to keep people cool.
Frame said she spoke with one local business who said it was their best Cherry Festival to date.“It was a great festival with the help of everyone we got” to make it possible, she said, adding that “it takes a combined effort” with community partnerships to bring the festival to fruition.