Huckleberry Festival in Trout Creek

TROUT CREEK- Thousands of people flocked to the small lakeside community of Trout Creek over the weekend for the 34th annual Huckleberry Festival. While the huckleberry may be the state fruit of Idaho, the plant is celebrated in Sanders County with a festival that draws vendors and crowds from around the region.

The event began Friday evening with contestants vying for the title of Miss Huckleberry during the beauty pageant, followed by a karaoke sing-along. In the four categories, Arianna Grounds won for “Tiny Miss Huckleberry” while Trinity Riffle took the crown of “Lil’ Miss Huckleberry.”

Marley Neesvig won the “Miss Congeniality” title while Daisy Ulrick took home the ultimate prize of “Miss Huckleberry.”

The festival itself began early on Saturday with a huckleberry pancake breakfast hosted by the Trout Creek Rural Fire Department followed by a “fun run.”

Hundreds of spectators lined Highway 200 in downtown Trout Creek for the parade that began at 11 a.m. Floats of all shapes and sizes made their way past the approving crowd, most throwing assorted types of candy for the kids. Riders on horseback, fire-trucks and vintage automobiles joined the floats on the parade route.

After the parade, most spectators made their way to the festival grounds just south of the firehouse while a few brave souls lined up for a helicopter ride. Inland Helicopters out of Spokane, WA took passengers for an aerial tour of the festival grounds and the nearby Noxon Reservoir in a Robinson R442 four-seat aircraft.

While some spectators had a birds-eye view, others preferred to stay firmly on the ground and sample many of the huckleberry-inspired arts, crafts and food items from over 100 vendors. People selling jewelry, pottery and other works of art mingled with entrepreneurs selling jams, jellies and honey.

One of the most popular huckleberry-infused products was the ice cream. The flow seldom ceased at the ice cream stand during the day and peaked as the weather warmed up during the course of the day.

Hot and dry conditions did little to lower the spirit of festival attendees as more and more people flowed onto the grounds on Saturday. As the Swing Street Big Band and the Albeni Falls Pipe and Drum group provided musical entertainment, the highlight of the afternoon was about to begin.

The Huckleberry Festival Jam and Jelly Contest started at 3 p.m. and pitted the regions best chefs against one another for the coveted title of best fruit concoction. Third place went to Mattie Miller while Natalie Eriock took home third place. The award for best jam or jelly of the 2013 Huckleberry Festival went to Deborah Panter.

The drama of small-town festival competition had little time to dissipate as a new event drew a hefty crowd. At 7:30 p.m. contestants with rumbling stomachs made their way to the ever-popular pie-eating contest to compete for the revered title and cash prizes.

At the signal for the start of the event, contestants plowed their faces into pie after pie as fast as they could. In the youth category, Brenna Stewart took home the prize. Lance Palmer won the junior division title while Damien Young and Zooey Osborne tied for first place in the adult/older teen’s category.

Saturday’s festivities ended with a dance beginning at 9 p.m. and lasting into the night. Events on Sunday commenced with another pancake breakfast at the Trout Creek firehouse followed by the crowd-pleasing dog agility demonstration.

Some eager and some not-so eager canines jumped over obstacles, ran through tubes, over a balance beam and up and down a teeter-totter to the roaring applause of the crowd. Some contestants were seasoned veterans while others were giving it their first try.

Karen Laymon from Missoula brought her four-legged friend Gracie to the demonstration. Gracie, a seven-year-old Catahoula rescued from the pound three years ago by Laymon, was new to the sport of dog agility. Laymon said these types of events are useful to rehabilitating dogs that are rescued from shelters.

“Part of reason I do this is to help train Gracie,” said Laymon. “These events are good for dogs that have been rescued and have very little training.”

The Huckleberry Hounds Agility Club sponsored the dog-agility demonstration. The club is based in Sanders County and provides agility training throughout the area.

While younger festival attendees played beanbag toss and attempted to throw rings around lollipops, older participants were throwing much heavier objects during the horseshoes competition.

The clanging of metal on metal could be heard throughout the festival grounds as horseshoes were heaved through the air toward the stake. Third place went to the team comprised of Sam Carter and Chris Compton, while second place went to Kip Courville and Larry Smith. Dave Johnson and Jesse Haagenson took first place in the competition.

Beginning at noon, contestants young and old, male and female took turns sawing logs, pumping water, shooting airsoft targets, pounding nails and casting fishing lures at targets. Don Manning said the event known as the Huckleberry Homesteader Pentathlon was added a few years ago to encourage attendees to be physically involved with the festival.

“We thought we needed an interactive event here at the festival,” said Manning. “We wanted something where people could come and be involved and do some things themselves.”

In the under 14 year-old category, Mariah Smith took home first place for the girls while Hunter Smith won the top prize in the boys category. Matthew Yoder won the 14-17 year-old title. Carolyn Hidy won first place in the women’s category while Drew McLaury took home first place for the men.

The next big event was a performance of “Snow White” by the “Pitiful Players” from Libby. The acting troupe performs for audiences all over the region. The “Pitiful Players” were followed by the announcement of the winners of the dessert competition.

The predominately huckleberry-themed desserts were judged by a panel of local sweets connoisseurs before the announcement of the winners. Taking third place was Jim Dramstad with Sarah Osborn placing second. First place went to Mitzi Stonehocker.

As the smell of grilled fajitas from the stall occupied by members of the Gospel Mountain Church in Thompson Falls mixed with the aroma of fresh baked bread, attendees had a myriad of food choices. Steve Ferricksen cut samples of his wife’s artisan-style bread for customers as they walked by baskets overflowing with loaves.

“It’s hard to find this type of bread at a normal grocery store,” said Ferricksen. “It’s all handmade with the best ingredients. It takes a lot of time to make bread like this.”

While many artists displayed products made from exotic wood, original prints and handmade clothing, some vendors offered truly unique wares not readily available at a local grocery store or Walmart. Jim and Bunny Halstead had their table decked out with a wide variety of pickled garlic products including five flavors of garlic cloves and cream cheese spreads.

“There aren’t too many people making pickled garlic anymore,” said Jim Halstead. “We’ve been doing this for years and you don’t see products like this anymore.”

Halstead said the uses of pickled garlic were as eclectic as the variety of flavors available. Habanero, spicy dill, smoked and chipotle flavors could be used for salads, burgers, pizzas, sauces or just eaten plain according to Halstead.

According to Huckleberry Festival Chairperson Liz Citrino, the event was a success. The first festival was in 1978 and Citrino is in her seventh year as chair.

“Everything has been going good so far this year, everyone seems to be enjoying themselves” said Citrino. “There are some things that make this festival standout from others. Many people and vendors come back year after year because they like what they see. Also our vendors are selected because the products they manufacture are handcrafted.”