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Bear Lake's Berried Treasure

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Bear Lake Red Raspberries Living in Northern Utah, one may be familiar with the delicious, red raspberries that speckle the hillside on the West side of the exceptionally blue lake. History, farming and family are brought together all by a little red raspberry. Prehistorically, pioneers stumbled upon this beautiful valley in the mid 1800’s, a land untouched by tourism and shake shops. Young children and their families looking for new ground to call their own. The wonderful red raspberries became the ‘icing on the cake’ quite literally actually. Purple, black and red raspberries are only a few genres of this fruit that grows in select seasons. The Purple raspberries are considered ‘hybrids’ of the red and black raspberries but favor growing in less cold climates similar to the black raspberries. Black raspberries are smaller and contain more seeds compared to the red raspberry. The larger red raspberries favor a colder climate making them ideal for the ...
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Raspberry Days Festival

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The first weekend in August is the annual Bear Lake Raspberry Days Festival. Thursday through Saturday with events including parade, craft fair, fireworks, 5k fun run, golf scramble, live concerts, and pie eating contests. All activities involve everyone who wants to participate. The environment of the festival is fun, enjoyable, relaxing, and entertaining. For the first time, I attended almost all of the activities and events they had going on. The first day included a parade that was four blocks long full of the normal businesses from the local area. The entire sides of the streets were covered in little kids looking to catch some candy. Even adults in their 40’s were walking out in the roads gathering their favorite treats. Throughout the entire parade, I did not recognize most of the food businesses from Garden City. About half were associated with ice cream shakes that included the areas famous raspberries. One of the recently new restaurants called Zipz, were ...
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Raspberry Folklore

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When first thinking of ‘folklore’ I often remember old stories told by my Grandpa Fritz. Many of which, changed by the minute to keep me on the edge of my seat anxiously awaiting what would happen next. Now knowing these stories are a ‘variation’ of folklore I was curious to learn more about these ancient ways of learning. After reading more about the different types of folklore, I wanted to dive deeper into the unique methods and materials specific to different cultures exclusive to the red raspberry. According to an article written in 2008 by The Practical Herbalist, a nursemaid to Zeus was picking white raspberries and pricked her finger on the thorny cane stalk. The blood from the prick then fell onto the white raspberries causing them to turn a deep red hue. This ancient story tells of how the red raspberry achieved its vibrant color that we all enjoy today. The Latin name Rubus idaeus means “bramble bush of Ida.” Ida was the name of Zeus’ nursemaid and was ...
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Farm to Table

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The manpower needed to get the red raspberries from the fields to the dinner table has been cut in half in recent years. Growing raspberries is a task taken on by many people who live in the Rich County area. There are many steps in the farm to table process. Here is how it all works. The optimal time to begin planting red raspberries is the beginning of May. Families and friends will come together to dig hundreds of holes to kick off the season. The manpower needed to plant the seeds or first year stalks is crucial so the plants will have the proper amount of time to grow to maturity. The soil must have proper drainage because raspberry plants do not like standing water. The proper pH level is between 5.8 and 6.2. Each row needs to be 8 feet apart from each other and two feet between stalks going down the row. This allows the the stalks to lay out like a bush and absorb as much sun as possible during the heat of the day. In past times, harvesting the red raspberry could have po...
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Visual Rhetoric for Raspberry Shakes in Bear Lake

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Just over the mountain and down into the beautiful, blue valley of Garden City, Utah an oversized ice cream cup catches the naked eye. La Beau's fast food restaurant excels at visual rhetoric by displaying something the little town of Bear Lake is most known for.  I noticed right from the beginning that the business used two different text styles and three different size fonts for the sign. The restaurant's name is using a style of font that looks to be fun, warming, and inviting. The entire text is easy to read creating less friction for the new customers to make a quick decision. Bear Lake is very well known for their famous raspberries and this restaurant takes advantage of this well known fact for advertising purposes.  “Famous Raspberry Shakes” is printed in a bold, capitalized font to indicate a statement. After learning more about visual rhetoric, I believe this is a valued advertising technique that tells others, ‘this place is famous, you...
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