Chock-full of Cherries: Polson festival draws vendors, visitors

Downtown Polson was bursting with ripe cherries and flooded with festival-goers during this year’s Flathead Cherry Festival, held last Saturday and Sunday.

On Saturday, visitors prowled the side streets for shady parking spots, sometimes parking several blocks from the action. On Main Street, vendors sold all manner of creations, from cutting boards and handcrafted utensils to barbecue sauce and cherry-infused syrups, and from jewelry to clothing and ceramic art.

Carol Lynn Lapotka of handMADE Montana organized this year’s event, along with her co-conspirator, Missoula artist Courtney Blazon. Lapotka owns the handMADE Montana shop on Main Street in Polson and her own line of clothing, REcreate Designs, while Blazon has an art studio in Missoula. Together, they organize annual MADE fairs in Missoula, Bozeman and Helena, and are well-versed at pulling together artisans from around the region, as well as staging fun, community-oriented celebrations.  

Lapotka helped out with the last two cherry festivals before assuming full organizational duties this year – an undertaking that consumed close to 300 hours she said.

This year’s event boasted 190 vendors – up from 160 last year, and in addition to artisans, included representation from a variety of community groups and a wide array of food vendors, selling everything from piroshkis and grilled Mexican street corn (elote), to freshly squeezed lemonade and soft-serve ice cream.

Regular festival goers are apt to notice fewer commercial booths, and more handmade offerings.

“Half of them are new,” Lapotka said of this year’s selection, and many participate in other handMADE Montana fairs. “They trust us, trust that we're going to follow through and really advertise.”

Novel promotion strategies included hiding 150 miniature magnets around town the Wednesday before the festival. Those who turned them in received a free gift.

Almost 30 contestants puckered up for the Cherry Pit-Spitting Contest, with the winning distance of 35 feet going to George Murphy, who also won the Flathead Lake Rock-Skipping Championship in June.

The Mission Valley Ice Arena’s dunking booth was also a popular attraction with a steady stream of ball-tossers paying $1 per throw or $5 per bucket of balls to dunk hearty targets into a stock tank filled with cold water – not a bad fate on a day when temperatures hovered around 83 degrees.

And – despite rumors to the contrary – there were plenty of vendors selling sweet cherries. Last winter’s long deep freeze was punishing to this year’s harvest, but growers still seemed to have plenty to share.

While Sunday’s weather was a little fickle, visitors still showed up to peruse the offerings and watch or participate in the Foodie Contest, in which local chefs submitted their favorite cherry-infused recipes.

The cherry festival isn’t cheap to stage. Lapotka gestures to a giant tent that provides shade near the food court, regularly spaced garbage cans and porta-potties as some of the more costly items.

They commissioned a local Boy Scout troop to “take care of garbage patrol,” in exchange for a $500 donation. And the Chamber of Commerce remains involved by helping to spread the word about the festival, answering phone calls and sharing information. In return, handMADE Montana will donate $5,000 to the fireworks fund for next year’s Fourth of July celebration.

“We like to give back,” Lapotka said.

And never one to miss an entrepreneurial opportunity, she and her daughter, Cora, quickly stitched up an assortment of colorful neck bandanas filled with gel that can be dunked in cold water or stashed in the cooler to bring down body temperatures.

This overheated reporter promptly purchased one.

    Co-conspirators Carol Lynn Lapotka and Courtney Blazon organized this year's Flathead Cherry Festival, in partnership with the Polson Chamber of Commerce. (Kristi Niemeyer/Leader)
  

    Elsie Rogers puts finishing rouches on her chalk art masterpiece during last weekend's Flathead Cherry Festival in Polson. (Kristi Niemeyer/Leader)
  

    Pint-sized passenger gets an early lesson from his mom in how to propel a cherry pit during Saturday's Flathead Cherry Festival. (Kristi Niemeyer/Leader)
  

    Competitor in the 18-and-younger category had a solid trajectory that put him in the running for first place in Saturday's Pit Spitting Contest in Polson. (Kristi Niemeyer/Leader)
  

    Lili, the only competitor in the 5-and-under category at Saturday's Pit-Spitting Contest plopped her pit six inches from where she was standing, and claimed a bag of Flathead cherries for her effort. (Kristi Niemeyer/Leader)