Bennett Youngbull eyes the winning cake from the Huckleberry Festival baking competition while eating his huckleberry cone. The Swan Lake festival celebrated the native fruit in a multitude of forms.
Dean and Connie Grenz dance lakeside.
A bag of "purple gold." Gallons of huckleberries made their way into the pancakes during the Swan Lake festival.
Volunteer spent the morning making more than 2500 pancakes for attendees to eat.
Nine-year-old Ani Pena holds up her first place winning lemon cake with huckleberry sauce. This was the second year the baking competition had a kid's category.
Rick Patterson peddles his Montana Sweet Cotton Candy at the Huckleberry Festival.
SWAN LAKE - Montana does not have a designated state fruit, but if it did, no one would question the nomination of the huckleberry. From border to border, in gift stores and truck stops, restaurants and ice cream shops, huckleberries can be found mixed into just about everything: milkshakes, lip balm, soap and jam.
This weekend played host to several festivals celebrating the small tart berries.
On the banks of Swan Lake, hundreds of people ignored the smoky air and showed up to the 36th annual Swan Lake Huckleberry Festival.
“It’s just a great gathering of camaraderie,” said Chamber President Diana Kautzman. “It’s an awesome event for people driving though, and we have at least 20 families that plan their vacations so that they don’t miss the Swan Lake Huckleberry Festival. It’s awesome.”
The Swan Lake Chamber organizes the Huckleberry Festival as their only big fundraiser for the year. The funds help the community club and volunteer fire department among others.
The Festival kicked off with a huckleberry pancake breakfast. According to Kautzman, an estimated 2,500 pancakes were served, along with roughly 81 pounds of sausage and 25 pounds of ham.
Strolling past the griddles over the course of the morning, one could watch the gallon-sized bags of fresh huckleberries slowly empty as more and more flapjacks were flipped.
More than 50 vendors ranging from food trucks to photographers were also scattered around the shore of Swan Lake. Huckleberry lip balm, candles and cotton candy were all for sale.
“One of the most exciting things for me was we have 17 new vendors this year,” said organizer Lesly Olsen. “To know that we had 17 new inquires about that, that speaks volumes about our publicity gal… that tells me the word is getting out.”
One of the highlights of the Festival was the annual Huckleberry Baking Contest.
Sylvia Eliason has organized the contest for the last few years, and this was only the second time she had a kids’ category. When all the entrants were in, a lucky selection of judges were on hand to sample each dessert and hand out prizes.
“It’s great, it’s always great,” said Eliason. “And then we give it all to the fire department and they use it for their fundraising—so that’s good.”
Festival goers had the opportunity to sample the winning desserts afterward. The first place cake, a quadruple layer huckleberry mousse work of art by Heidi Van Diest, went quickly at five dollars a slice.
One lucky woman who works as a nurse in Eureka got through half of her piece before she had to save the rest in a cooler for later.
“I was eyeing it for a while,” she said between bites. “Then I decided to go for it. It’s so rich!”
The Ashley Creek Ramblers featuring Roy Wilhelm played music for several hours, and after the pancake breakfast was over, the Laughing Horse Café took over with street tacos and helpings of huckleberry peach pie.
One reason huckleberries are cherished as “purple gold” is because they are not commonly grown domestically. The berry includes several species (notably Vaccinium globulare and Vaccinium membranaceum) that range from reddish in color to dark purple-black.
Most modern day Huckleberry Finn-ders care less about the taxonomy, and more about finding the perfect patch to pick from. Huckleberries are notoriously fickle about where they grow—they are native to the northwest, but only thrive between elevations of 3,500 and around 7,000 feet. The berries ripen in July and August which paves the way for late-summer celebrations.
In 36 years, the Swan Lake Festival has come a long way from its original form of a pig roast to help the fire department. After three decades it continues to grow in both attendees and community support.
“Truly, the best part is the volunteers we work with,” said Olsen. “We’re very, very grateful for all the volunteers we have. It’s been a great tradition.”
Swan Lake Huckleberry Festival Baking Contest Winners
10 & Under:
1. Ani Pena, 9, Lemon cake with huckleberry sauce
2. Cooper Laslouich, 8, Huckleberry muffins
3. Jackson O’Connell, 2, Huckleberry cobbler
Overall:
Heidi Van Diest, Chocolate huckleberry mousse cake
Wendi Waite, Chocolate huckleberry pie
Isabelle Webb, Cookies a la huckleberry
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