BUTTE, Mont. — The Hillcrest Bazaar has been a fall staple for shoppers looking to buy locally made food and art while supporting schoolchildren, but for food vendors Helen and John Reynolds, the event is also a place to see friendly faces that they miss since they closed their restaurant nine years ago.
As Helen washes her hands, John pulls on a pair of plastic gloves. Three large containers of sauce sit by the kitchen table, where dozens of empty containers rest.
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Helen dips a measuring cup into the freshly made peanut sauce while John shuffles containers onto a tray. Their mini assembly line begins.
"When we closed down, everybody was so sad that we closed down, and so they kept saying ‘Oh we miss the peanut sauce,’ especially the peanut sauce," Helen said.
The couple owns Northwest Noodles and Wraps, where their secret sauces have been charming the Mining City for almost three decades. They closed their brick-and-mortar business about nine years ago, but demand from the community would not let their sauce recipes die.
"I always say to him, I have a need to feed. You know, food always brings happy times," Helen said.
"It brings people together," John said.
With fresh ingredients, the finishing sauces are packed with dozens of spices and a healthy splash of love, creating a rich, nutty, spicy finishing sauce that brings customers to their front door.
Helen said once a huge man lingered on their doorstep, telling Helen that the flavors remind him of his grandmother, who used to bring him to the brick-and-mortar business when he was just a little kid.
This weekend, the beloved food will be joining over a hundred other vendors at the Butte Civic Center to raise funds for Butte school children.
"So, this is the 50th year that this volunteer-run, handmade-only event has been put on in Butte, and we’re excited to bring it forward to make sure that the 112 vendors that are here showing up have a great shopping experience," said Shannon Moyle, the event organizer.
As she and a dozen parents and their children prepare the space with Civic Center staff, Moyle says the secret sauce of an event with this longevity stems from the heart of the community.
"It’s so important to help shoppers to see the craftwork of somebody who spent hours building something versus just clicking online and buying it from somewhere else," Moyle said.
Moyle is not just the event organizer. She is also the mother of Hillcrest Elementary students. She said the event typically welcomes about 4,000 shoppers who will visit vendors offering everything from food to fiber art to jewelry and upcycled art.
Over the years, the bazaar has become a way to reconnect with community members that the Reynolds miss seeing at their old restaurant.
"It is a fun event cause you see many people that you just don’t see throughout the year cause everybody goes to the bazaar. So, it’s fun," Helen said.
The bazaar takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Oct. 17 at the Butte Civic Center, and features a commemorative tote bag and drink tickets from Headframe Distillery, and costs only $1 to enter. Proceeds support academic events at Hillcrest Elementary School.
