Building a legacy and a community one cherry at a time

Every time that Sean Bogue drives a box van full of cherries from his Tir Na Nog Orchard in the Flathead Valley to Virginia City he is building both a community and a legacy. 

“That's what it's all about,” Bogue explains. “I set the Susanna Bogue Charitable Foundation up four years ago after Susanna passed.” 

The foundation provides scholarships to indigenous people and springs from the impact the indigenous community made on the Bogues. 

 “We were long ago discussing doing a scholarship in Browning in honor of long-standing Bear Chief, who was a dear friend of ours for years, and he was the medicine chief of the Blackfeet until he passed,” Bogue explains. “He was our connection to Montana, and kind of was the door opener for us about 20 years ago. “When he passed, we were going to set up a scholarship in his name at the Blackfeet Community College, and when she passed, I set one up in Stonechild Community College, which is in Rocky Boy, which is a very beautiful place, but a place that definitely needs help with everything as reservations go.”

The Bogue’s early efforts to memorialize a friend has grown into an organization that is making a difference in native lives around the state. 

“I've expanded the foundation to have three scholarships for Indigenous studies. One with the Blackfeet In Browning, one on the Rocky Boy Reservation with the Stone Child Community College, and the last one we set up is with the Salish Kootenai in the Flathead, where my cherry orchard is,” Bogue explained. 

“The foundation’s sole purpose is for Indigenous studies with Native Americans, and it helps,” he continued. “It really does. Each person that receives it, they get a start in life that would be not possible without the scholarship. That's the basis of the foundation, and we are working forward.” 

Bogue, who is Irish by way of San Francisco, didn’t set out to be a farmer. As he tells it, the orchard found him. 

“After Susanna passed, I was kind of, you know, lost for a couple of years,” said Bogue. “About a year after she passed, a friend of mine, Rebecca Ramsey from the Swan Valley, who is a dear friend and  knows Virginia City, texted me and said you might be interested in a cherry orchard in the Flathead. This was totally out of the blue.”

“I said, ‘Oh, I don't know. I know nothing about cherries except when you put them in a drink,’” he continued. “I looked at the orchard, which got named Tir Na Nog, which means "land of the young" in Gaelic,  I said, "Where do I sign? It was just an amazing spiritual intervention or epiphany because I just knew something was important while I was connected to Tir Na Nog.”

Bogue’s Flathead cherry deliveries to Virginia City got the attention of the community and resulted in the creation of the Virginia City Cherry Festival which will take place this year on Aug. 8 in the town parking lot next to the Pioneer Bar. 

“Every dollar made through the Tir Na Nog Cherry Festival goes to the foundation,” he said before going on to describe his vision for this year’s festival. 

“It’s going to be an outdoor concert with five bands,” he said, painting his vision for the event. “The big Love Bus is going to be the backstop to the festival. I envision that it's going to be a lot of fun, and everything goes to a good cause, which is even more fun because having fun and doing good is a good thing.”

In addition to music, which will feature the likes of Cousin Joe Two Shacks, Dammit Lauren, Montana Exit, local legend Dave Walker and more. The festival will also feature art and cherries.  

“This whole thing is mind blowing,” Bogue said. “My girlfriend Birgit is putting together such a fabulous display of cherry swag and stuff of that nature.”

It wouldn’t be a cherry festival without cherry pie. In that department Bogue and his Flathead cherries have caught the attention of some of the best bakers in town. 

“In this town, I’ve had the privilege of meeting three amazing bakers,” said Bogue. “You got Sherry Jarvis, Johnny Beth Lee and Jamie Barta. All excellent bakers. I can't tell which one I like best because then I would offend the other two.” The pies at this year’s festival will be provided by Lee, who plies her trade as part owner of Sunflour Sweets in Sheridan. 

The event will be the first held in the Virginia City town parking lot. While Bogue is confident it will be a good time, he’s got big plans for the future of the event and the future of Flathead cherries in Virginia City. 

“Polson, Montana, lookout,” he said with his trademark Irish smile.  “Travers City, Michigan. I'm challenging you to a cherry pie eat-off in years to come because Flathead is the center of the universe for cherries. Cherries are magic. There's no doubt about it. And Tir Na Nog cherries are super magic.” 

The Tir Na Nog cherry stand is open next to Kirk Bob’s Slice Shack and the VC Cafe from now until the cherries are gone. More information about the orchard and the festival can be found at https://www.tirnanogorchards.com.