Page 49 - Flathead Beacon // 1.22.13

FLATHEADBEACON.COM
JANUARY 29, 2014 | 49

COMMUNITY BIGFORK

Preserving Tradition
How did
D.A. Davidson & Co.

grow to be the largest

full-service investment
content to just do one thing. She started
firm headquartered By DAVID VALE
in the Northwest?
by joining the Bigfork Chamber of Com-
The early thaw and the spring rains merce Board of Directors, and taking
produced a bumper crop of strawber- responsibility for the Taste of Bigfork.
ries the summer of ’49 in Bigfork. Such Then she added other responsibilities,
a good crop that George wasn’t sure like helping to run the annual Festival Healthy Alternative • Homestyle Cooking
what to do with them all. Eva, of an in- of the Arts and serving on several other Fresh Baked Bread • Breakfast & Lunch
herently practical nature, knew exactly boards, including the Community Foun- Fresh Ingredients from Local Farmers
Soups, Sandwiches, Paninis, Wraps, Salads,
what to do and set about making them
dation for a Better Bigfork, the Bigfork
Quiches, Cookies, Pastries & Pies, Espresso
Promotion Group,
the Bigfork Center for Grillers, Scratch-Made Pizza
the Performing Arts Fresh Wild Huckleberry Pies, Pancakes,
Foundation, and the Wales and Smoothies
Flathead County Li-
One relationship at a time.
brary Foundation.
LAKESIDE LOCATION NOW OPEN!
I didn’t ask how FULL BREAKFAST MENU
DINNERS (SCRATCH-MADE ARTISAN PIZZA)
old Gretchen was. Al- Located in the newly remodeled Lakeside Town Center at
though she moves 306 Stoner Loop Road, one block west of Sliters Ace Hardware
with the energy of a
30-something, I got Grateful Bread
the feeling that she
may be older than 306 STONER LOOP LAKSIDE
406-752-6212 or 1-800-955-2208
that. So I asked how (Lakeside Town Center)
200 First Ave. E., K-M Bldg. Monday Closed
Kalispell, MT 59901
Bigfork had changed Tues-Thurs 8 am to 7 pm
406-862-2101 or 1-888-564-3008
in the 65 years Eva Friday 8 am to 9 pm (Game night with special dinner)
Gates Preserves has Sat 8 am – 9 pm (Schnitzel night)
14 West Second Street
been in business. “It Sun 8 am – 3 pm
Whiteish, MT 59937
didn’t become a tour- 8111 HWY 35 BIGFORK
D.A. Davidson & Co. is not a tax advisor. Before investing, ist and art destina- (Next to Harvest Foods)
you should always consult your tax/legal advisor about the tion until sometime Bigfork is closed until March 31st.
speciic tax consequences and advantages of your situation.
in the ‘70s,” she told
Gretchen besides a photo of Eva Gates. DAVID VALE PHOTO
“ALL our breads are made in-house from scratch.”
me. “Before that, it was just a normal into preserves for her friends. Of course
town. We built this building in 1993 and when those needs were satisied, she
they built Twin Birch Square across the still had the better part of the crop left.
street about a year later. That was about It was likely George who, munching on a
the time that the rest of America discov- slice of homemade bread slathered with
ered Montana and the roads that led to strawberry preserves, hit on the idea.
Bigfork.”
“You know,” he said, “we could probably
sell this stuf.” And with that insight was
And where does she see it going?
“Bigfork is just a wonderful place to live. born the Bigfork tradition, Eva Gates
I moved back because I like it here. I Homemade Preserves.
think that’s why most people move here. I spoke with Gretchen Gates, the
It’s got that natural, pioneer-like feel to fourth in a line of family members to run
it, but it also has sophistication. Look at the enterprise, in the conference room EVENTS
the Theater, the galleries, the artists, the of her cottage-like facility on Electric
guitar festival, for example.”
Avenue. She explained how the business MONTANA’S CHRISTMAS VILLAGE

“We’re physically limited on how started with strawberries, but quickly he Bigfork Playhouse Children’s heater
much bigger Bigfork can get and I think expanded to include raspberry, black-
that’s good. Folks who live here like the cap, spiced apple, cherry, and huckleber- THE WILD WILD WILDEST WEST
small size and understand they’ll have ry preserves. “We were the irst in the
to forego some of the big city amenities. state to make a commercial product out
Chinese takeout, for example. But most of huckleberries.” she told me. “And we January 31 & February 1
of us are here because we like it. Just like still make preserves just like my grand-
it is.”
mother did. Same recipes, same small February Sundowner at Whistling Andy

I look around the Eva Gates produc- batches. Preserves don’t taste right hursday, February 13, 5:00PM
tion facility and see a rack full of small- when you make them in big vats.”
batch stainless pans, a sloping shelf of Born in Bigfork, Gretchen left with Valentine’s Weekend Concert
delivery chutes leading to a table where her family when she was 11 and grew up
the jars are packed. I see a small-scale in the Bay Area of California. Although Saturday, February 15 at Bigfork Center for Performing Arts
production facility, the design of which her parents returned north the day she BEFORE AND AFTER SPECIALS AVAILABLE
dates back to the mid twentieth centu- graduated from high school, Gretchen
http://www.big forkcenter.org/BeforeandAterSpecials.html
ry. I sense the care that Eva Gates must didn’t make it back until 1990. “I was Annual Bigfork Brewfest
have sealed into every jar she sold. I rec- working for an insurance company in
ognize I’m looking at Bigfork, both past California, but the ownership changed NEW DATE: Saturday, March 1st
and future, in a microcosm. And I un- and I got laid of. It was pretty good tim-
derstand: Preserving traditions is im- ing when my sister called to ask if I’d
portant, because things made in big vats consider moving back to Bigfork to help
just don’t taste right.
with the business.”
For times & details, visit or call: the Chamber:
Visit the Eva Gates facility at 456 Gretchen took over the business
www.bigfork.org • 837-5888
Electric Avenue in Bigfork Village or on- when her sister died in 1999. Of course,
line at www.EvaGates.com.
being born in Montana, she was never