EBS STAFF

While we all find different reasons to give back to our community, Ryan Blechta’s gateway into involvement in Big Sky was his love for hockey. One of the founders of the Big Sky Skating and Hockey Association, Blechta has not stopped his public service, today serving on the board for the Big Sky Community Organization and Peaks and Prairies at Spanish Peaks Golf Course. Blechta truly believes that part of being in a community is giving back to it, which is one of the many reasons he, alongside his wife Sarah and their daughter, love living in Big Sky.

Blechta is the senior director of ground and mountain operations at Spanish Peaks, and chatted with Explore Big Sky not only about his time with nonprofits, but also Spanish Peaks’ environmental efforts and his favorite part about work—watching those mountain sunrises on the golf course at 6 a.m.

This series is part of a paid partnership with the Big Sky Chamber of Commerce. The following answers have been edited for brevity.

Explore Big Sky: Ryan, tell me a little about yourself. What brought you to Big Sky initially and what made you stay?

Ryan Blechta: In 2005 I moved here from Minnesota to take a job as an assistant golf course superintendent. I was looking to get away from the big city life and Big Sky seemed to be a chill town with a lot of potential to grow. Originally my plan was to stay a couple of years, get experience and move on to a golf course superintendent job somewhere else in the west. After one winter of being here I met my future wife Sarah who had grown up in Big Sky and was back for the summer. Fast forward almost 20 years and now we are raising our daughter here in Big Sky, involved in the community and love what Big Sky has to offer for families.

EBS: What led you to your position today with Spanish Peaks Mountain Club?

RB: In 2011 when Spanish Peaks was going through bankruptcy, I had the opportunity to help a small team ensuring preservation of the course during those two years. In the fall of 2013 when CrossHarbor purchased Spanish Peaks I was promoted from my position at Yellowstone Club to the superintendent position at Spanish Peaks. We reopened the course in the summer of 2014 and it’s been such a great opportunity and experience over the last almost 11 years.

EBS: Tell me a little bit about what you do at SP and what your favorite thing about your position is:

RB: In my role I oversee all the grounds and mountain operations for Spanish Peaks. From the 18-hole golf course and the new par 3 course to the Nordic and member access grooming, there isn’t much I won’t help with around the club. You can find me all over the property, mostly outside if I have my way, and I really enjoy working with and getting to know our members and other associates. One of the things I love most about my job is managing people, teaching them what I have learned and it’s a real bonus watching the sunrise over the beautiful landscape and golf course at 6 a.m.

EBS: What other organizations or groups—inside of work or outside—are you a part of? Do you believe it is important for locals in Big Sky to get involved in some fashion?

RB: I first started getting involved in the community back in 2010 when Marty Pavelich got together with a group of us hockey guys to talk about getting a rink for Big Sky. It was then we created the Big Sky Skating and Hockey Association and my passion for giving back really began. It was such a great experience to help start a nonprofit from the ground up and see it through to the end, over 13 years we accomplished so many things I am proud of. In my own industry I became involved in the local golf course superintendent’s association called Peaks and Prairies and just finished my term as president. The organization I am focusing my efforts with currently is Big Sky Community Organization and I sit on the board of directors. I have served on the BSCO board for four years and am focused on the parks and trails programs as well as being heavily involved with the new park design. I truly believe that if you want a voice in Big Sky you should join an organization and get involved. I really care about our community and want to be involved in the community my family calls home. I think everyone who lives here should get involved in something they are passionate about, it can be as simple as helping on trail clean up day or as involved as joining a board. 

EBS: With no formalized government, local businesses such as SP have a strong voice in the way Big Sky operates—what responsibilities do you see SP holding in the community?

RB: I believe Spanish Peaks is an organization that has a lot of responsibility in the community through the Spanish Peaks Community Foundation. They have supported many employees and organizations in Big Sky. Through their efforts they have funded grants to local organizations and projects that help enrich the greater Big Sky community. This town is continuing to grow and is going to continue to need support through organizations like the SPCF with funding projects that help identify community needs. 

EBS: Are there any environmental initiatives SP is involved in when it comes to the ski area or golf course?

RB: One of the great things about working at Spanish Peaks is the environmental aspect of my job.  We just finished our Best Management Practices manual for Spanish Peaks last year and having this guiding document in place really helps us make the right decisions when managing our golf operations within this beautiful and sensitive environment we call home. We carefully use reclaimed water under approvals from the state to water the turfgrass and other areas at Spanish Peaks. This practice is widely used by golf courses across the county and allows us to reuse this resource in a beneficial manner. By using reclaimed water, it avoids the need to supplement that same watering need with valuable groundwater sources, allowing more groundwater to reside within the watershed that aids in the overall watershed function. Golf courses are also great wildlife corridors and managing these successfully makes me proud of what I do. We accomplish this by maintaining proper messaging throughout the SP community and ensuring that our staff is adequately trained to share that messaging to our members and guests. I am part of an internal wildlife working group, and we meet quarterly to find ways to improve our practices to manage the human/wildlife interactions within our community. More information can be found on wildbigsky.com. Utilizing these sensitive management practices on our golf course has been beneficial in my time at Spanish Peaks, and I hope we can be a model for others to follow within the industry. 

EBS: Anything else I missed that you would like to tell the Big Sky community, whether it be about your work, or yourself?

RB: When I am not at work, I love to spend time with my family. I have a 12-year-old daughter that loves soccer, so we get to travel all over to watch her play. In the summer months we love to hang out at Hebgen Lake and wake surf; I obviously love playing golf and try and get out as much as I can to work on my handicap. In the winter months I love to play hockey and nordic ski and we enjoy skiing as a family. I just love being outdoors, I will find something to do as long as it is outside.

There has been a lot of chatter about Montana getting a location of this famous, much loved furniture retailer. However, it appears that we’re NOT getting a location in Montana or anywhere near us, anytime soon.

We’re talking about the world’s largest furniture retailer, as of 2008. Their blue and yellow buildings can be found all over the planet – but NONE are located in Montana or anywhere surrounding us. (As of this writing, there are no locations in Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, North Dakota, or South Dakota.)

The closest IKEA location to Montana is in Draper, Utah. (Draper is south of Salt Lake City, about halfway to Provo, Utah.) There is also an IKEA location in Centennial, Colorado which is just south of Denver.

Montanans are quite keen on getting our own IKEA location, but unfortunately that isn’t going to happen in the near future. Yes, IKEA is opening more showrooms in the United States, but their list of ‘coming soon’ stores still does not include Montana OR any of our neighbor states.

MORE: Theses Are The Most Popular Restaurants In Montana

IKEA’s layout is famously enticing – with full room settings that inspire customers to purchase entire room sets. Even though many folks simply walk out with only a bookcase to put together at home, IKEA is incredibly good at selling a particular style and furniture ‘vibe’.

If you’ve shopped at an IKEA, you know that each of their products has a name – making it easier to remember than some random code number. That naming of items is done on purpose, and has an interesting reason behind it:

“(IKEA) Company founder Kamprad was dyslexic, finding that naming the furniture with proper names and words, rather than a long product code, made the products easier to identify and remember.” (wikipedia.com)

So who is getting a new IKEA location? In January of 2024, IKEA announced where they’d open four new locations in the United States. (These new locations are being called “new format” stores.)

“In 2024, IKEA U.S. is excited to welcome customers at new Plan & order points with Pick-up in Austin, Texas, the Atlanta Metropolitan area, two locations in the greater Los Angeles market and more to come.” (IKEA.com)

With a shred of luck, the ‘Montana area’ can hope that the ‘more-to-come’ part might include a nearby location in the future. The impeccable design of IKEA and their occasionally frustrating assembly instructions are wanted in Montana. Not to mention their tasty in-store restaurants and bistros

Does IKEA still serve meatballs? You bet they do. Items on IKEA’s menu include: “Breakfast Plate with Swedish Pancakes. Swedish Meatballs, Served with Mashed Potatoes and Lingonberry Jam. Garlic Lemon Cod. Marinated Salmon Wraps.  Stockholm Salad, Served on Mixed Greens with Marinated Salmon.

MORE: Where To Find Montana’s Best Burgers

Water’s Edge Winery owner Angela Zuba was shocked when she was contacted by producers on “America’s Best Restaurants,” a show that highlights eateries and bars all across the country.

“To be on a show that is broadcast all over the world, so it’s not even limited to American TV … It was elation,” Zuba said. 

Zuba and her husband Trevor opened Water’s Edge Winery in 2020, the franchise has 11 locations throughout the United States. The award-winning business is known for its large wine menu and made-in-house blends, and is a popular place for locals to grab a bite to eat. They make all their wines on location, using grape varieties from all over the world to create a truly unique product. 

For her, creating a good menu to go with their wines was just as important as the drink itself.

“I am a foodie, always have been. And in my world, wine can’t be drunk without food and food can’t be enjoyed without wine. So I developed the menu, and it’s constantly rotating — it’s all about what is going to pair best with your wine. But the key is simple. A lot of times you get things that are really over complicated and it can take away from the beauty of the natural essence of the food,” Zuba said. 

That’s why they don’t fry anything or buy frozen food, Zuba said everything is made fresh as much as possible, including all of their sauces and salad dressings. She said wine is incorporated whenever possible too, like their baked white wine cheese dip.  

That freshness was on full display when the “America’s Best Restaurant” crew came to film at the winery in April. Host Theo Williams said they were setting up to film him trying some of what their menu has to offer.

“We’re going to be drinking some wine. I know Angela, the owner here, she has a blended wine that she’s making with grapes imported from Italy and from South America. So I’m gonna get to try that,” Theo said. 

There are three different ways a restaurant can get on their show: it can be scouted by the TV’s team, owners can submit a request themselves or they can be nominated by a customer. Zuba said for Water’s Edge, she reached out to them after seeing an ad on social media. When she asked if they’d ever been to Montana, that spurred a conversation with the show’s producers.

“They contacted me and then did research on us, our restaurant, our story and concept. Then it went back and forth,” Zuba said. “We had about six different interviews. And at that point, they said, ‘Yeah, you have something really special.’ And so they wanted to feature us.”

Customers think so too — Water’s Edge Winery has won Best Winery and Best Wine Selection in the Best of Flathead competition for three years running. Zuba said she wants to keep the food and wine menus fresh, while appealing to a wide range of tastes. When it comes to the wine, she said she’s got a wine for every kind of pallet. And for those who just aren’t wine drinkers, Zuba said they also make a hard cider. 

“Right down from the sweet line all the way up to those big, bold red wines, because I want everybody to enjoy the world of wine. And the wine palette is a circle, most people start their journey with sweet wines, then they progress to the drier whites, then they go to the sweeter or little bit darker reds. Then they go to the dry reds and then they start back over again,” she said.

During the springtime and summertime, her mind is on sangrias. But, she said they take a different approach to the drink by infusing the wine with natural plant extracts, as opposed to soaking fruit in the wine. 

“So for summertime, we’ve actually done coconut rum sangria. We do pineapple yuzu, raspberry dragon fruit, mango citrus and we have a new one coming out for summertime— a kiwi strawberry. They’re slightly sweet and just really refreshing,” Zuba said. 

The winery’s giant stainless steel tanks can be viewed from the dining area, as a reminder that Zuba and her team are always coming up with new combinations for blends. She’s decided to name their selections after birds in Montana, so if she comes across a cool bird name, she’ll start thinking about how the wine can best emulate it. But, her inspiration comes from all kinds of places. 

“Sometimes it’s my mood, a lot of times it’s music or the weather. I look for inspiration in nature, and that sounds kind of corny and cheesy, but it’s just how I feel that day,” Zuba said.  

Since opening in 2020, Zuba said they’ve expanded the business to include catering. She said her “answer is always yes” and that she’s open to everything, an ethos for her business overall. 

“Because you need to be relevant and you need to be fresh, and you have to constantly be changing and evolving,” Zuba said. “That’s how we keep our audience engaged, you don’t just hang a sign that says ‘we’re open,’ it’s active. Hustle, promotion and getting out there being present in the community. I sit on multiple boards, I try to donate as much as I can back to the community.” 

Zuba calls it a “givers game,” she said if she is always asking the community what they can provide to make people’s lives easier, they in turn might think of them when they want to go out somewhere.

It’s rare to see Zuba not working, according to her staff. But she’s not ready to slow down any time soon. She said when she thinks about the future of her winery and restaurant, she has goals of possibly expanding to other locations or getting a bigger kitchen to accommodate more catering events.“But, we’re not going anywhere, we’re here for the long haul,” Zuba said. 

Water’s Edge Winery is set to be featured on “America’s Best Restaurants” sometime in June. That episode can be watched on “America’s Best Restaurants” Youtube channel or Facebook, and will also be posted to Water’s Edge Winery’s Facebook page.

To learn more about Water’s Edge Winery, visit their website www.wewinerykalispell.com/.

Reporter Taylor Inman can be reached at 406-758-4433 or by emailing tinman@dailyinterlake.com