BILLINGS — Sprinkled on top of shaved ice are the special ingredients of a piccadilly snow cone. Yes, it's flavored with pickle juice, odd to some, but it’s pretty popular during Crow Fair.
“They just like, appreciate it and they really like the piccadilly,” says Brother, the owner of Brother’s Snow Cones.
Whether it’s root beer, unicorn or piccadilly flavored, Brother, as he’s known, has a big smile on his 15-year-old face with every snow cone delivered, giving him a taste of sweet entrepreneurial success.
“It started actually at my grandma’s house at back housing, and then we decided to move to the park and then we just never stopped,” says Brother.
The passion of the entrepreneur is seen all around the arbor at Crow Fair with every booth space sold out.
“They come from all over. We have a lot of people from California, ya know, Arizona, Washington, you know they are from everywhere. We have 73 vendors here,” says Brinna Melendrez, Crow Fair general manager.
“It's called The Tropical Crow, and it's going to be Puerto Rican style-based food. That's mojo chicken and chicken on skewers,” says AJ, owner of The Tropical Crow.
All sales help the Crow Fair budget meet its $140,000 goal.
“What [the] tribe will help with is $50,000 and then you basically are trying to fundraise and advertise. A big help here is our vendors. They bring in vendor money that helps cover a lot with the pow wow,” says Melendrez. “You know it's just a big responsibility. It's, like, stressful but at the end, it's like a relief feeling because we made it.”
And that might just be the pickle on top of a perfect week at Crow Fair for Brinna Melendrez, the first woman ever elected to run Crow Fair in its 105-year history.
