For the past four years, minus 2020 due to the pandemic, it has always been a neighborhood celebratory gathering that has absolutely zero interest in a person’s age, race, political affiliation, religion or thickness of their wallet.

It’s a festive party that marks the definite arrival of fall by making apples the center of attention, but it is also an awareness campaign to help protect the bears in the Nine Mile Valley.

“Right now, all of the apples are ripe and falling from the trees which works as a magnate to the black bears in the valley”, said Sharon Sweeny, retired USFS Superior Ranger and long-time resident of the Nine Mile Valley.

Sweeny and her husband, Pat, are caretakers, helpers and doers of whatever-is-needed for the nonprofit Nine Mile Community Center which is a historic school and church, so the Nine Mile Community Apple Cider Festival is where they were with sleeves rolled up along with the other volunteers as apples are pressed into cider for those who picked and brought them for this reason.

There was live old-fashioned music to match the nostalgic theme while attendees enjoyed sampling chili from the semi-serious cookoff that morning and delicious desserts and camaraderie with neighbors and making new friends at the event.

Melissa Davis from the Spotted Fawn area of the valley has lived in the community for 2 years and this was her first time attending. She was a volunteer apple cutter which is needed to size the chunks down to better fit into the 3 presses that were operating.

“I have 2 growlers to make into hard cider when I get home. We brought lots of pears to be pressed with the apples today as we know the bears are cruising for fruit right now. This is just an awesome day”, she beamed.

Pat Sweeny said they were picking apples at Brovold Orchard in Alberton after their harvest season ended last weekend for this day before they fell to the ground for the ursus arctos (black bears) to dine on.

‘Help Save Wild Bears by Picking and Pressing Your Apples’ was the slogan and it appeared folks knew this was an issue so having fun and helping bears was a goal that everyone bought into last Saturday.

Lisa Hensley has lived in the valley for just under 2 years and is on the board of directors for the Nine Mile Community Center as their marketing coordinator.

Originally from Stevensville, she is very happy with her move to the Nine Mile Valley.

“I love it here! This is exactly what I was looking for in a community”, she beamed. “Don’t get me wrong, Stevensville will always have a very special place in my heart. Maybe it’s the narrowness of this valley compared to the expansive Bitterroot, but we just feel closer to our neighbors”.

The leftover mush, or masticated apple pulp is what Marie Hull calls it, is delivered to a small hog farm in the valley. Hull and her husband operated an auto repair business in Pasadena, California for 30 years and moved to the 9-Mile Valley 2 years ago.

This was her first time attending. “Getting to know our neighbors better, or meet ones for the first time today, has been so much fun. We’re so glad this is our home”, she said. Tara Hartley works at Costco in Missoula but she and her husband and 2-year-old son, Chase, have lived in the area for 3 years. Another ‘firstie’ at the festival who was involved with helping serve lunch and keeping an eye on Chase while her husband was working with others cranking on one of the apple presses for the cider extraction.

“This is such a terrific family event and the weather cold not have been better. We’re already looking forward to next year but want to become more involved with the Community Center after being here today”, she said.

Sharon Sweeny was the only one who could give a guess to how many pounds of apples were squished rather than, “Oh heaven’s, I don’t know”. Or “Lots and lots. That’s all I can say. And all different types and sizes”, where Sharon guesstimated around 1,000 to 1,200 pounds that we brought by kids, elderly, families and visitors from Missoula and Alberton.

“One very nice gesture people can do is to offer to pick apples from trees that belong to disabled or older folks who just can’t get up into the branches. We do this not only for the cider making but to get them out of the fields as the bears are constantly here this time of year and break tree limbs while gorging on them”, she stated.

The unique old-fashioned music was enjoyed by everyone from a quartet consisting of a guitar, 5-string banjo, bass, and mandolin. Asked if they had a name they laughed and said they were all long-time friends from Missoula and Nine Mile but haven’t played together since the pandemic.

“Let’s call ourselves the Blue Bottle Band”, joked the mandolinist Mark Vosburgh who works as a Public Information Officer for the USFS. But the other 3 smiled and nodded so it was apparently accepted as their name which is a tribute to the blue bottle growlers that are sold for $10 each as a fund raiser for the Nine Mile Community Center.

The Community Center did the heavy lifting for the festival but had strong support from the Vital Ground Foundation, Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks and Ninemile Wildlife Workgroup.