Page 21 - Flathead Beacon // 5.14.14

FLATHEADBEACON.COM COVER MAY 14, 2014 | 21

George McFarland describes his recollections of the Polebridge Mercantile, which is now in its 100th year of operation; Huckleberry bear claws at the Polebridge Mercantile. GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON

Coats and Reiswig also installed a irst recollections on the North Fork He’s working on an interpretive na- all of the Merc’s owners and caretakers
new septic system and solar panel ar- were as a teenager in the mid-40s. He ture trail that he hopes to connect to have made contributions to the business
rays, and made the building more energy remembers many of the original home- the river and inform visitors about the and the cloistered community, and that
eicient.
steaders and the square dances at the region’s history and the proposed ex- it requires a person of a certain stripe,
“Their improvements over the past McFarland Ranch, and recalls meeting pansion of the Waterton Lakes National and with a certain degree of mettle, to
ive years were tremendous,” Hammer- Adair. The Mercantile was then, as it is Park in Canada.
run the store.
quist said of the most recent stewards. today, a community center and a grocer “So many people know about the Still, he insists that it’s not all about

“They made the investment and that’s of last resort.
uniqueness of the bakery but not about who owns it.
going to help give it another 100 years.”
A Kalispell native, Hammerquist has the uniqueness of the transboundary “It’s about the bakery and the place,”
Longtime resident George McFar- intimate ties to the region, and previ- valley,” he said. “People understand it he said. “You’re trying to match your
land’s family purchased their property ously worked as the Glacier ield oice intuitively, but if you teach them it em- service to the scenery, and you’re only as
on Big Prairie within the boundaries of manager for the National Parks Conser- powers them.”
good as your last bear claw.”
Glacier National Park in 1942, and his
vation Association.
Hammerquist acknowledges that
[email protected]

2845 Hwy. 93 South
Kalispell, MT

406-755-6060
www.kalispelltoyota.com