It's back: Crawdad event returns to Yaak

After years as nothing more than a memory, the Dirty Shame Saloon’s Crawdad Festival will return this summer to the Yaak.

Calling the event’s typical timing of the third weekend in April “too butt-stinking cold,” the saloon’s new owner, John Runkel, pushed the dates back to June 13-15.

“This used to be the event of the year in the Yaak,” Runkel said. “We’re excited to bring it back.”

Bar manager Chandler Gebhart said the business plans to order as many as two tons of crawfish from Louisiana Crawfish Company.

“We’re going to prepare them southern Louisiana style,” Runkel said. “We’re expecting more than 1,000 people.”

The weekend event will feature live music and open mics for local acts. Runkel is also accepting reservations from local artisans looking to sell their crafts at the festival. Attendees are invited to camp for free on the surrounding 7.5 acres with the purchase of a $25 ticket, which covers the entire three days. Those staying at the Yaak River Lodge, which is also owned by Runkel, are encouraged to use the shuttle service between the lodge and saloon.

“There’s been high demand to bring it back,” Gebhart said. “Now it’s going to be a real festival instead of just a bunch of crawdads in April. I also want to let people know there is a big surprise. I guarantee it will change the event forever.”

Once known as a bastion for the debauched, the saloon opened in 1951 and carries a rip-roaring history still visible today with the shotgun pellets left in the doors. The place that formerly never knew a degenerate too low to let in underwent a facelift of sorts years back when Episcopal priest Don W. Belcher bought the place with plans of remaking it into a bistro. Belcher’s ownership also brought an end to the Crawdad Festival.

“Who buys the place and shuts down its most profitable event of the year?” Runkel asked.

Belcher’s designs became an afterthought when he was convicted of molestation charges in Maryland in the summer of 2011. Belcher was sentenced to five years’ probation and, according to Runkel, taken out of the Dirty Shame in handcuffs, never to return.

Back on the market, the Dirty Shame, which carries a federally trademarked and copyrighted name, found a buyer when Runkel and long-time friend Ray Falzone bought the place last year. A Montana winter chased off Falzone, but Runkel said he is in it for the long haul.

“We’ve been working to clean the place up and leave it the same,” Runkel said.

Literally and figuratively. The carpets laid by Belcher were ripped up and thrown out, and Runkel’s 1981 Harley-Davidson Shovelhead now sits in prominent display indoors. A new bartop was installed, but the names carved into the building’s woodwork remain. A few Wild West brawls broke out within Runkel’s first week of ownership, but he brought an end to “that nonsense.”

Instead, the Dirty Shame’s cantankerous reputation continues on its Facebook page. Primarily written by Gebhart, the entries read like confessions of a redemptive bartender.

“WARNING: Our phone has been ringing off the hook with credible sightings of the Cokecanifferbeast. It is in the vicinity. If spotted, we cannot emphasize this enough, put the coke can down and slowly back away,” an April 23 post reads.

Through months of posts, a collection of Gebhart’s characters called the Yaak Wack-Pack, which counts characters such as Paranoid Pete, The Gripester and Mr. Inappropriate, have developed cult followings. Gebhart said customers come in to specifically ask about goofs like Mr. Selfie.  

“What happens in the Yaak might not stay in the Yaak,” Gebhart said. “The best thing is they’re all based on real people. I hate to say you have to do something stupid, but…you have to do something.”

The Cokecanifferbeast, for example, was created after a lady ordered a Captain Morgan with Coke in a can. Gebhart informed the woman there were no cans available, and, according to Runkel, all hell broke loose.

“She starts screaming and swearing about this can of Coke,” Runkel said. “She’s always upset, you know, the ice is too cold, or something. Well, she goes to the bar next door and we started posting about her. She saw it and used the f-word about six times, which, of course, prompted us to post more about her.”

The raucous attitude that should accompany a place called the Dirty Shame is back. So is its most popular festival.