Tamarack Time!

Bigfork's annual celebration of all things delicious has a banner year.

Story and photos - by Alex Strickland

Barb Schroeder's apple pie was the hottest ticket in Bigfork this weekend, winning first prize in the pie category in the annual Tamarack Time! festival.

Leading up to the 1 p.m. kick-off on a perfect fall day, a line reached down Electric Avenue behind the pie table as the judges finished their work.

"Amateur pie eaters should stay home," said Judge Pete Dunckel as he finished sampling the last of the 17 entries in this year's competition.

"We're big guys," said third-year pie judge Tony Rojo, "They know we can eat a lot."

Though the judges went with the classic apple pie for the 2007 winner, Rojo said the competition was stiff and any one of the 17 could have taken the title.

"This is really the cream of the crop," he said.

Though the pie table in front of Bigfork Station was the biggest early draw, the rest of downtown was packed with people balancing every variety of food on their plates and trying to get to everything else before it was gone.

"The chocolate table was good," Sue Williams said.

Cookie chairperson Peggy Atchley still had some treats in front of Eva Gates after most categories' food had run out.

"It's such a fun thing to do every year," Atchley said. "And today is perfect."

Atchley is a veteran of the cookie category and explained the finer points of running a well-respected category.

"Basically," she said. "You just call all your friends and strong arm them into entering cookies."

Festival organizer Elna Darrow said the participation in this year's event was outstanding and that the 300 tickets she had made up were quickly gone, requiring about 75 more to be improvised.

"I thought it went fabulously," she said. "There were long lines at more categories than usual, it's usually just at chocolates and pies."

Darrow said she shook up her usual schedule at Tamarack Time!, this year opting to start on the far end of Electric to ensure her choice of chocolates and pies, something she usually misses if she starts at the soup-side of the street.

"It was a treat for me," she said.

All proceeds from the $3 entrance fees will go toward the Swan River Nature Trail, Darrow said. Totals are not yet available.

After Tamarack Time! wound down the Harvest Barn Dance got going out at Riverbend Ranch. A benefit for the Rotary Club, the dance and accompanying silent auction raised $3,917 as of press time. That money will go toward a variety of Rotary projects, including a proposed bike trail.

Tamarack Time! Winners

Chocolate Desserts

1st - Maureen Averill: Darkest Crepe Cake

2nd - Jennifer Graham: Chocolate Zucchini Cake

3rd - Jena Barrows: Truffles

Non-chocolate Desserts

1st - Rocky Feckette: Rice Pudding

2nd - Jan Krause: Lemon Pecan Cheesecake

3rd - Sarah Taylor: Pumpkin Peanut Treasures

Cookies

1st - Darin & Kristen Fredericks: Choclolate Chip Cookies

2nd - Abigail Hegger: Honey Roasted Peanut Butter Chunk Cookies

3rd - Barb Grinde: Cowgirl Cookies

Pies

1st - Barb Schroeder: Apple Pie

2nd - Connie Gunderson: Apple Cranberry Pie

3rd - Diane Smith: Apple Pie

Soups & Stews

1st - Ann Guerrant: Baked Potato Soup

2nd - Abigail Hegger: Spicy Pumpkin Soup

3rd - Jeannette Rehahn: Firehouse Stew

Chili

1st - Terry Teich: Elk, Deer & Antelope Chili

2nd - Missy Missons: Mega Meat Hot Chili

3rd - Robert Slead: Pork Green Chili

Pickles

1st - Janet Loranger: Gherkin Pickles

2nd - Abigail Hegger: Hot Pickled Beets

3rd - Marie Dean and Karol Fonteyne: The Flathead's Best Dills

Unleavened/Sweet Breads

1st - Nancy McGunagle: Whole Wheat Banana Nut Bread

2nd - Mary Miles: Zucchini Bread

3rd - KK Fonteyne: Zucchini Pineapple

Yeast Breads

1st - Joyce Kammerzell: Cranberry Orange Breakfast Bread

2nd - Charlotte French: Dill Bread

3rd - Charlotte French: Coffee Cake

Jams and Jellies

1st - Joann Taylor: Italian Plum Conserve

2nd - KK Fonteyne: Plum Jam

3rd - Lucy Stetler: Apricot Jam

Kids

1st - Daniel Edwards: Chicken and Dumplings

2nd (tie) - Christian Duling: Pumpkin Dump Cake, Isabella Duling: Wedding Cookies

3rd (tie) - Matthew Quist: Toffee Cheesecake Julia Wynne: Rainbow Pretzels

Best Presentation (tie) - Alex Reis: Halloween Cake, Jackson Wynne: Summer Vacation Cake

Appetizers

1st - Carol Thomas: Chicken Curry

2nd - Kahy Wermuth: Bruschetta

3rd - Pat Wagner: Italian Salami

Ethnic Foods

1st - Karen Teich: Chili Colorado

2nd - Kathy Robertson: Eggroll w/ plum sauce

3rd - Josh Auerhammer: Moroccan Squash Soup

Casseroles

1st - Nancy O'Kelly Donahugh: Lamb and Eggplant

2nd - Lee Stultz: Shrimp Verde

3rd - Shelley Gonzales: Breakfast Strata