Denton in north central Montana may be small in the number of residents, but it is big in the spirit of food, family, and friends. The Shade Tree Cafe, owned by Brandy and Joel Barber, provides the space for people to gather for community and nourishment.
In 2010, the Barbers bought the Backroads Cafe because, “I was a single mom living in Hilger at the time, and my mom was babysitting my youngest daughter, at the time,” Brandy says. Then unfortunately, she had a horse accident and could no longer help. Brandy made the decision to move the 30 miles west from Hilger to be near her aunt and uncle who owned a second house in Denton. “They told me I could move there until I got on my feet,” Brandy shares.
Brandy initially took on house cleaning jobs to make extra money. “And then I met Joe, who is a local, and later through conversation, we decided the importance of keeping the kids in school and the café was up for sale at the time.”
Brandy believed of the café, “I thought it was super cute, and I really wanted it.” She had found a place for making a potential income for the family. With the help of Joel’s mom and her stepfather, the couple bought the then named Backroads Cafe to rename it to the Shade Tree Café.
Here, Brandy has created a place that she believes “people could come here and visit.” “And I was okay with cooking because I was a stay-at-home mom for many years,” Brandy shares. “And that’s how it seems to work. You cook and clean most of the day, taking care of customers and cleaning up. And that’s what I did as a stay-at-home mom.”
The cafe is a family affair. Her daughters, Chelsea, Laurel, Selena and Mercedes also lent a hand. “So, Chelsea is my oldest daughter. She’s 27. She helped when she was in high school here and Laurel’s 23. She moved back to Denton and helped me a lot when I needed it because I had lost some employees.” Chelsea stepped in waitressing and cooking. “And Selena is 19. She’s in school, she helped cook here. She would cook rather than waitress. And she’s helping me right now.” Her youngest daughter, at 13 years old, comes in on occasion to help clean.
About eight years ago, Brandy’s mother Karla Trask Butler joined the culinary effort at the cafe. Weekly, on Thursdays, she comes to the cafe to help make maple bars and to accept the food delivery.
Karla arrives to make the yeast risen dough. The dough is soft, pliable and not sticky for easy rolling. “I have done this quite a few times, so you kind of get everything down pat and know what’s going to happen, and what you’re going to do. So you throw in a little of this, a little of that, and hopefully it turns out real good. And it usually does,” Karla says of how she has perfected the making of the maple bars over the years. Later, Brandy steps in to cut the rolled-out dough into rectangles to then have Karla fry and frost them with maple frosting. On most Thursdays, Karla makes about 3 to 4 dozen bars.
The bars, priced at $1.50 each, are popular. Karla says, “We do as that people call ahead of time if they want a lot of bars, because we have a lot of regulars that come in every Thursday just to get their bar.” The magic hour is 10 or 10:30.
Lori Weimheimer who works down the street says, “I’ve been buying them because they’re the best maple bars in the state.”
On this day Dolly Lee, Linda Gluth, Coke Knox, and Susan Carlson are sitting at the table of honor. The sign on the wall says, “OLD FARTS CORNER” on one side and on the other, “THE LOVELY LADIES CORNER”.
Linda Gluth, who once owned the cafe, bought the business because she needed income but also loved to cook. She admits, “I’m a country cook. I’m not a fancy cook.”
“We had stuffed pork chops or ham or marinated beef or regular pork chops, fried chicken,” Linda shares of the Sunday dinners she used to cook.
Dolly Lee remembers coming into the cafe when her children were young. She says of the town, “It takes a community to raise a family, and it takes the businesses.” She remembers with a smile the local deputy telling her when she had children growing up in town, “I’m so glad I have this job while your kids are in high school. He said, I know that you patrol until midnight and then I take over from there.”
Jolie Saisbury who works as a cook, waitress and pie baker returned to town 8 months ago, shares the same sentiments. “I love the people and the close-knit community. I love that my son can go out and ride his bike and everybody is keeping an eye on him and watching him and his friends.”
For Brandy, she says, “Having the community support here is a blessing for me.” She is grateful to her stepfather and her husband’s mother for helping them financially secure the restaurant. She is grateful to her employees and her mother who comes in weekly to make the biggest treat of all, the maple bars.
