Annual Swan Lake Huckleberry Festival continues to draw fans

By JACOB DORAN / Bigfork Eagle

In recent years, Swan Lake has earned a reputation as a hidden gem for hikers, vacationers and huckleberry lovers who have chosen the quiet village on the pristine lake as an ideal place to spend the last days of summer with family and friends.

The annual Huckleberry Festival, some would add, provides an ideal occasion to take advantage of what the lake, village and other aspects of Northwest Montana have to offer, and last weekend's celebration of the latest crop of the coveted mountain berry was no exception.

Visitors from Polson, Seeley Lake, Bigfork, Kalispell, Lakeside and even Canada filed into the Flathead National Forest's Swan Lake day use campground and boat launch, off of Highway 83 at the south end of the lake, from every direction.

Those who arrived early enough to find a place to park were able to take in a pancake breakfast before the crowd thickened. Those who arrived later in the day — from 11 a.m. on — found parking wherever they could, which meant that most parked along the shoulder on both sides of the Swan Highway as far south as the Morley Cedar Canoes and walked to the day-use area.

There, visitors were greeted by not only the sight of beautiful Swan Lake but about 40 individual vendors, selling everything from engraved rocks and chainsaw carvings to homemade huckleberry pies, along with an assortment of all things huckleberry.

Later in the day, visitors enjoyed the sizzling barbeque cooked up by Swan Lake Bar & Grill and other vendors who offered entrees ranging from the traditional to local specialties like Indian tacos. However, the popular favorite among many local and out-of-state patrons remained the huckleberry ice cream.

"We come every year for the ice cream," Craig Boobar of Eagle, Idaho said. "We're originally from Montana and my in-laws have a cabin on the lake. We time our vacation to be sure and hit the arts festival in Bigfork and the Huckleberry Festival in Swan Lake."

"We love it," said Leona Maneval, who recently relocated to Bigfork from the West Coast along with her husband Kirk and three-year-old daughter Lauren. "We came here for a better quality of life, and we haven't looked back yet. When we read about the Huckleberry Festival, we wanted to come and check it out. It's a nice family event that's great for kids, and we got to buy some things for our new home."

Lindon and Monica Sawatzky began visiting Swan Lake three years ago, along with seven other families from Edmonton, Ablerta, after hearing about the lake's beauty and solitude. Without realizing it, they planned their vacation for the very week of Huckleberry Festival — an event they enjoyed so much that they decided to visit again at the same time every year.

"We have such a great time," Lindon said. "We always meet lots of friendly people and everyone is very hospitable. We won't stop coming, now."

Todd and Rachel Hawes also join the Sawatzky family for the Swan Lake getaway and were equally pleased with what they found.

"Our first year, we came down because we heard the lake was this beautiful goldmine," Todd—known to the folks at Swan Lake Trading Post as "Big Head"—said. "We never even knew about the festival. Now that we know, we wouldn't miss it. We're already booked for next year."

"The locals here treat us like gold, so we taught them how to cook Canadian burgers. We support everybody—the breakfast crew, the beer crew and the dinner crew."

However, like many who attended the Huckleberry Festival, Hawes and the rest of his family and friends didn't spend the whole day perusing the booths and sampling the food. With great weather and warm temperatures, the lake offered the perfect way to cool down and have some fun in between the hot dogs and teriyaki steak.

Huckleberry Festival co-chair and chamber secretary Jackie Strosnider described Saturday as a great day for everyone. Although some vendors reported a decline in sales compared to last year, Strosnider attributed that to the hike in gas prices, which she believed had prevented some from attending. Even so, she couldn't help but call the event a success, adding that volunteers from the local chamber of commerce raised about $4,335 for improvements to the chamber clubhouse and other community projects.

"We had very good attendance," Strosnider said. "Other than our five minutes of rain, we had beautiful weather. Attendees had a lot of fun and I would say it was very successful."

Strosnider noted that even the annual huckleberry pie sale was a success. The pie sale is a benefit to raise funds for the local volunteer fire department, in which pies are baked by ladies from the community from huckleberries picked by the volunteer firemen.

Cindy Love of Swan Lake took first place in the Huckleberry Baking Contest and second place went to Nancy Ketterman. Third place was awarded to Tracy Gordon.

Strosnider referred to the festival as a traditional down home event that appeals to both locals and tourists—a sentiment shared by Brooke Ebel and her daughter Sophia.

"It's just a Swan Lake tradition," Ebel said. "It's got a great small town flavor, and it's always nice to come back to."