WALKERVILLE — A Walkerville woman is introducing a new tradition to the community this Thanksgiving and it is centered around running and biking and pies.
"We just thought it would be more fun to have a pie race than a turkey trot, you know? It’s like, I don’t know, do you want to win some sort of ribbon or do you want to win a pie? I would want to win a pie!" says Christy Pickett as she mixes up dough for four lucky race winners.
The town’s first ever 10K bike and run takes participants on a journey with a 750-foot gain in elevation starting at the town boundary line at Walkerville City Park and ending at the parking lot near the Moulton Reservoir.
"When you live in Walkerville, you’re always at the top of the hill, so you’re gonna go down or you’re gonna go up," says Pickett, who is participating in her first-ever race.
The race is raising funds for a writer-in-residence program called Dear Butte. The program welcomes 12 writers a year to live and work in Pickett's renovated miner's shack that is perched above the town.
The residency has been in operation for almost five years and has hosted writers from within Montana and others from across the nation and Canada. Pickett says previous residents work in all genres including songwriting and playwriting, poetry and novels, and nonfiction like history or journalism.
"The only genre we haven't had is young adult or children's books, but I'm sure we'll get one of those writers some day," says Pickett.
"It’s completely free for them to come and, you know, use the residency space, and then they provide some community engagement to us. They will do a workshop, or a performance or you know, something of the like just to give back to the community."
As Pickett kneads the dough for the pumpkin, cherry, butternut squash, and pumpkin pies inspired by her own mother's recipes, a commotion breaks out across the room.
"That’s my dog chasing his tail. He’s just really excited you’re here. He wants his moment in the spotlight as well," says Pickett with a giggle.
Pickett's dog Dickey chomps at his tail and spins in a circle. Dickey is Pickett's running partner, and they've been training for several months for the race.
As the pies cooled on the countertop the night before my visit, Dickey helped himself to the squash pie, prompting Christy to bake a new one before the race that takes place on Thanksgiving Day at 10 a.m. The entry fee is $35 and entrants must be signed up by midnight on Thanksgiving Eve to participate.
