8 minute read
Jenny Evans: A Table for All
By Megan Crawford
Past the bridge where the Swan River meets the north end of Flathead Lake, tucked into a stand of pines off the highway, is Max’s Market. There’s an old International tractor out front, dried flowers hanging in the window, and a happy bed of marigolds. Inside, you’re greeted by Charley, the shop dog (a staple for a lot of small businesses in Montana). There are crates of organic produce, a table of goods from local artists and makers, and, more likely than not, Jenny Evans— co-owner of Max’s Market.
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She’s there at 5am, prepping soups and cooking meals for the day, but she wasn’t always a cook. “I would love to have this beautiful, profound story for how we came up with Max’s, but honestly— I did not cook, ever. I did not bake. I never thought I’d be so happy to wake up at 4am to cook every day, but I love it.” Before Max’s opening in 2019, Jenny lived in New Jersey and commuted to Los Angeles, selling private jets and flying test flights around the globe. Her travels have taken her from the mountains of New Zealand to the icy terrain of Greenland to the metropolitan deserts of Saudi Arabia.
But, despite the roughly 55 countries she’s visited in her travels, Montana was the first place that felt like home. It’s that sort of indescribable magic that’s drawn a lot of us here— the nearness of nature, the sense of community, a slower pace of life. You don’t feel so lost in the crowd.
“In all the places I’ve lived, in all the places I’ve traveled, I’ve never felt home. I’ve never felt home— I’ve never felt safe and secure and at peace the way I do here,” she reflects.
So how do you go from a town in Alaska with a population of seven to selling corporate jets in New Jersey to opening an organic grocery in Bigfork?
A love of family, food, and community.
Growing up around planes in Alaska, Jenny always thought the routes for aviation were bush piloting or flying for airlines. But, after leaving Alaska, taking time away from college, and backpacking around New Zealand and Australia, she decided to get a pilot’s license.
“I called my dad and said, ‘I still don’t know where I’m going to go back to college, but I really want to get my pilot’s license, will you pay for it?’ and he said no… so I got online and did a bunch of research and realized you can get a degree in aviation, so I called him back and said ‘hey dad, I’m gonna get my degree in aviation, will you pay for my license now?’ And he said, ‘yeah, absolutely,’” she laughs.
At 22 with a degree in aviation from North Dakota, Jenny got an internship with Hawker Beechcraft as a demonstration pilot, which allowed her to travel around the world, showcasing jets to potential clients. After five years as a demo pilot, HawkerBeechcraft approached Jenny about moving into sales. From there, she was based in New Jersey for seven years, commuting to Los Angeles, and still traveling from country to country. “And then I moved to the suburbs, and it was not okay,” Jenny says as we share a round of laughs. “I need to connect with nature— I’m not myself if I’m not outdoors.”
After those seven years of selling corporate jets and working between Los Angeles and New Jersey, Jenny was offered a remote sales position— she could live anywhere in the world.
Max's Market
image by Megan Crawford
So in 2015, Jenny visited her aunt in Woods Bay, Montana— a small, unincorporated town five miles south of Bigfork. Summers in Woods Bay were regular trips for Jenny since her aunt lived there for the last 40 years. Two weeks after her 2015 visit, Jenny called her aunt to ask if she could live with her for a month or two while she made the move to Montana. Recreating in the outdoors was always a cornerstone of her travels, so setting down roots in northwest Montana made sense. A stone’s throw from Jewel Basin, Badrock Canyon, the wilds of the Northfork, the forests of the Swan, and, of course, in the neighborhood of Glacier National Park.
It’s what pulls a lot of people to Montana: easy access to some of the world’s greatest outdoors. But oftentimes, the other side of the small town coin is fewer community spaces— places where people can gather and connect.
image by Megan Crawford
In her travels, Jenny always sought out local farmer’s markets. “For me, communicating through food and connecting with the community meant what is getting dugup from the ground, today, right now, in this location,” she recalls. “When I came to visit my aunt here and realized that there isn’t a farmer’s market, I couldn’t believe it. How could this awesome community not have a farmer’s market?” So, Jenny and her husband, Chris, along with a sevenperson committee, started the Bigfork Village Market in 2018. Now, every Monday night from May to September, farmers, makers, musicians, locals, and visitors come together on Mill Street in downtown Bigfork.
“The community had a need, Chris and I had a need— I was still commuting to LA from here… but I wanted to be here, I wanted to be home. I also was definitely no longer passionate about selling jets to billionaires.”
Max's Market
image by Megan Crawford
From the Bigfork Village Market came casual discussions about creating a year-round farmer’s market— a small organic shop. “Absolutely not, we don’t know anything about grocery!” Jenny remarks.
At a crossroads between jobs— Chris leaving forestry after 20 years and Jenny leaving aviation— still mulling over ideas at their cabin, they had a sign. “This sounds so cheesy, but it’s absolutely true— we look up, and an owl had come and landed right above us. He was just staring at us, blinking his eyes. Chris and I looked at each other and thought, ‘okay, the owl’s a sign.’” That was in March 2018, and work on Max’s Market started five months later. “It was out of compassion for the community,” she notes.
On May 24, 2019, Max’s Market welcomed the valley through their doors. Named after Chris’s son, Max, the Market is exactly what a community needs. Roughly 80% of the Market is locally sourced, from paper goods to produce to olive oil to skincare. Through the grocery side of the Market is a lounge where people can gather, chat (or, in this case, interview) over coffee, put on an album from the newly-built record wall, or stop by for live music. In a town whose main gathering spots were bars, Max’s is a breath of fresh air.
image by Megan Crawford
Everything— every summer trip to Woods Bay, every journey to another country— led here. Traveling, learning from different cultures, growing up in a small town: these things directly funneled into the Bigfork Village Market and Max’s Market. The experience of meeting farmers, supporting local economies, and eating in relation to time and place is at the heart of community, and community is at the heart of Max’s.
Through 2020, which was the Market’s first full year in business, Jenny and Chris continued to support local farmers (an industry hit incredibly hard in the pandemic). At a time when people slowed down and took a greater interest in baking and cooking, Max’s supplied fresh, local ingredients as the in-between for farm to table. And now, as the world opens up again, the Market is a safe haven, an intentional space. “You can just be,” Jenny says. “People are craving it right now— you can see it in people’s faces. They’re just so happy to be out and seeing other people, listening to live music.” A space where everyone is welcome— another lesson Jenny gained from her years of travel.
image by Megan Crawford
“Accept everybody and everything because you have no idea why something is the way it is or why someone is the way they are. It’s acceptance of other people, the environment, acceptance of yourself. This is a hard one for me, but realizing that you’re going to fail sometimes! You don’t have to do it all— it’s okay to ask for help.”
And, lastly, “Pay attention. Listen to people and observe what’s around you and take time to ask questions and actually listen to the answer— both with people and nature.”
Max’s Market is a place that feels like home because that’s what it’s rooted in. It’s because Jenny & Chris have cultivated a community within the community; you feel welcome as soon as you walk in. Employees are friends, Charley is an excellent greeter, and there are bits & pieces of life scattered throughout the shop— Max’s name scribbled on a chalkboard, mementos from Chris’s time as a sawyer, the Evans’s extensive record collection. It feels lived-in because it’s loved-in. A culmination of life, experience, and love, drawn together with twine like a bundle of dried lavender.
Jenny Evans at Max's Market
image by Megan Crawford
Max’s Market | 125 Village Ln, Bigfork, MT 59911 | @maxsmarketmt
MEGAN CRAWFORD is the owner, editor, and designer of Montana Woman Magazine and would like you to know that this issue was designed to ABBA’s complete discography.
