Manager of Polson pantry steps down
POLSON LOAVES & Fish Manager Bryan River hugs a fellow volunteer during a cookout in his honor Wednesday, June 27. (Ashley Fox/Lake County Leader)
BRYAN RIVER smiles at a cookout held in his honor at Polson Loaves & Fish. The pantry manager has stepped down after a decade. (Ashley Fox/Lake County Leader)
FRIENDS OF Bryan River, right, smile as he talks about his time as the Polson Loaves & Fish manager during a barbecue last week. (Ashley Fox/Lake County Leader)
Chatter and laughter filled Polson Loaves & Fish as volunteers and friends celebrated a bittersweet milestone Wednesday, June 27.
Bryan River, 79, has been manager of the food pantry for nearly a decade and was center of attention during a barbecue in the sunny afternoon at the organization, 904 First Street East. Starting the next chapter in their lives, River and his wife Marie moved to Missoula over the July Fourth holiday.
“I can stand a break. I’m almost 80,” he said, adding his birthday is in April.
Earlier in May, River was honored at the Serve Montana Awards by Gov. Steve Bullock for his community service efforts.
Taking over his duties are operations manager Mary Martin and Carolyn Nyquist.
Martin said that she has been overseeing operations while Nyquist already does the office work.
Wanting to keep the positions “in-house,” Martin said that it makes more sense for someone who has grown up around food banks to help run Polson Loaves & Fish.
All of the positions are volunteer, she added.
Martin said that the pantry assists about 350 families a month, from Minesinger Road to the north of Dayton.
River succeeded former pantry manager Gerrie Boyle, after they talked about him stepping up to the position.
“I came to the pantry one time before Thanksgiving and asked if she needed volunteers,” he recalled.
Boyle didn’t hear him and went on her way, so River left.
“The next year, I asked her the same thing” and the rest is history, he said.
Looking back, River said an accomplishment during his tenure with Polson Loaves & Fish isn’t necessarily a single moment, but rather a scene that’s played out in front of him many a time.
Speaking to the filled room, River smiled as he reminisced.
“When a young mother will come in and she doesn’t know what the pantry is about,” how to select foods, he began, a volunteer will take her by the hand and guide her through the process.
Emotional as he shared the sentiment, other volunteers dabbed their eyes and gave him a standing ovation.
“Between about 2008 and 2015, the demand increased exponentially,” he said.
Although community members fell on hard times, volunteers working together helped with the additional workload. “I’m not saying it was hard. It was easy because of the volunteers.”
Volunteers conveying empathy has been “an amazing thing to watch.”
Polson Loaves & Fish is open on Tuesdays from 2-6 p.m. and Fridays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
For information on volunteer opportunities or about Polson Loaves & Fish, call (406) 883-6864.