Southern Comfort

Annual catfish feed beckons native of the South

By LYNNETTE HINTZEThe Daily Inter Lake

The bumper sticker on the registration desk summed it up: "American by birth. Southern by the grace of God."

Once a year - always the last Sunday in June - Southerners flock to Somers to celebrate their heritage. But more importantly, they get to dine on deep-fried catfish, gumbo, hush puppies, turnip greens and other foods made famous by Southern cooks.

Deep-fried dill pickles, deep-fried chicken gizzards and deep-fried okra were among the selections in the buffet line at the Vista Linda outdoor pavilion overlooking Flathead Lake.

"It's a Southern grease fest," beamed Bet Wise of Whitefish. "No counting calories today."

Bet and her husband, Doug Wise, are Tennessee natives and regulars at the Flathead Southerners gathering. They're among a growing number of Southerners who found the Flathead Valley and loved it enough to call it home.

"It almost feels like the South 40 years ago," Bet Wise observed about Northwest Montana. "It feels like you're welcome here, like you're home."

Nancy Jones of Whitefish, another Tennessee native, said her motivation to move north was simple enough: "To escape the heat and humidity."

Jones and Bet Wise met in the Whitefish Post Office parking lot when Jones spotted Wise's Tennessee license plate and struck up a friendship thereafter.

The annual catfish fry satisfies more than just a longing for Southern food.

"It's a wonderful gathering. I just enjoy being a part of it," Jones said.

Southern hospitality reigns at the event, but it's also practiced on a daily basis by most Southerners, she explained.

"It's a way of life. It's feeding people and having them in your home. It's being gracious," she said. "Southern people have a hard time getting together without food."

MISSISSIPPI-BORN Bill McGuffie of Bigfork is the Southern gentleman who orchestrates the annual gathering of up to 300 people. He, too, was craving catfish when he launched the inaugural potluck for Southern "transplants" in 1996.

The group held the annual feast in a couple of different places before striking gold at Vista Linda. McGuffie tried out the restaurant's Southern dishes at an advertised "Cajun Night" and there was no turning back.

"It was fabulous," he said, noting that it was Gulfport, Miss. native Jan Brass who knew exactly how to fix the catfish. She cooked for the Flathead Southerners for six years before moving back to Mississippi. Her former husband, Bill Brass, still uses her recipes and mans the deep fryers along with Dennis Strand. Strand and his wife, Alice, own Vista Linda and cater the Southern feast.

Brass, who was stationed in the military in Mississippi, said the secret to good fried catfish is slicing it thinly. That and marinating the fish in beer and hot sauce. A generous ration of red pepper goes in the cornmeal coating, too.

Beyond the food, the Flathead Southerners' annual picnic is about heritage, McGuffie said. "I began noticing that more and more Southerners were living here.

"It's about meetin', greetin' and eating."

McGuffie collects Southern artifacts and artwork and displays some of his pieces at the picnic, including a glass-encased Civil War Confederate uniform.

THE BEST kept secret of the event is that you don't have to be from the South to attend. It's open to anyone who enjoys a plateful of fried goodness.

Ed and Ann Sprenger of Bigfork are both Northern natives who enjoy the catfish fry. He's originally from New York; she grew up in Pennsylvania, but they both attended Louisiana State for a couple of years.

"We're Southerners by choice once a year," Ed Sprenger said.

Jim and Anna Lisa Whatley of Charlotte, N.C., who live in Polson from June through September, started coming to the catfish fry five years ago and wouldn't miss it. While the food is great, "it's not like mama made it," Jim Whatley confided.

Like so many other Southerners, the Whatleys relish the climate and the scenery here. And they have season tickets to the University of Montana Grizzlies games. Anna Lisa was born in Butte and attended high school in Missoula, but has long called North Carolina her home.

"I'm a Carolina boy, but this is my adopted state," Jim Whatley said with a smile. "We have the best of both worlds."

A.D. "Doc" Harkins of Kalispell, another Northerner, sported a rebel hat throughout the evening.

"I love Southern food," Harkins said. "And I'm a Civil War buff. I have a lot of memorabilia, like this hat. It must be old - look at this moth hole."

He figured going to school in Texas for three years validated his attendance at the event. Harkins also used to eat a lot of Southern food when he visited his son and daughter-in-law in Florida.

REDNECK JOKES were interspersed throughout the evening, and McGuffie made sure the audience knew where folks can order grits in the Flathead. According to his research, only two restaurants serve up the Southern dish: Loula's Cafe in Whitefish and Echo Lake Cafe in Bigfork.

The highlight of the gathering was more than $20,000 in raffle prizes donated by area businesses and individuals. The event was a fundraiser for Bigfork Community Cemetery and Swan View Memorial Gardens. Nearly $4,000 was raised for the cemetery project, and an anonymous donor attending the picnic agreed to match whatever was raised.

"We had done a split-the-pot in past years, but we figured let's do something with the money that's meaningful," McGuffie said.

McGuffie is already updating his mailing list for next year's Flathead Southerners gathering. To get on the list, e-mail flatheadsoutherner@hotmail.com or write to Flathead Southerners, P.O. Box 1515, Bigfork, MT 59911.

"See y'all next year," he promised.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com