Bittersweet in Leola

By Katie Hunhoff

Bonnie Gill with her rhubarb cookbook.

Bonita “Bonnie” Gill loved rhubarb. She helped spearhead Leola’s first Rhubarb Festival in 1972. She compiled a cookbook, wrote a poem about the town’s favorite vegetable, and was even crowned the town’s Rhubarb Queen.

Gill died at age 96 in January of 2023. Just as she would want, the town’s festival continues, though for many it’s as bittersweet as a stalk of unsugared rhubarb.

Merilee Beck, one of Gill’s seven children, remembers her mom working on the first rhubarb cookbook in the 1970s. A few years ago, she and her sisters decided to redo the local bestseller. “We gathered even more recipes from our kitchens and from others and published a new version. And since it’s our mom, we decided to name the cookbook after her.”

Beck says they come from a long line of bakers. “Mom grew up in a bakery and had a natural start, as did her six siblings. Her dad was a lifelong baker, owning several bakeries during his lifetime. His parents, originally from Sweden, were bakers as well.”

In 1942, Gill’s dad moved to Leola to start a bakery, which was eventually taken over by Gill’s brother, Tubby, and his wife, Agnes. “They made bread, buns and rolls — and kuchen was a specialty,” Beck says. Kuchen, a German fruit pastry pie, is now South Dakota’s state dessert.

Swanson Bakery was a mainstay for decades in the little McPherson County town of 440. “People passing through Leola would make a point of stopping,” Beck remembers.

Richard Jasmer, one of the 2023 festival organizers, says Bonnie Gill was a dedicated promoter of “the pie plant,” her nickname for rhubarb. “She will be missed because she was one of the originals. She helped get the festival started and was such a sweet lady. She did so much for our community and so much to promote the use of rhubarb, especially through her cookbook.”

Jasmer says volunteers work throughout the winter and spring to get ready for the biennial event. “Planning for the festival really brings people together. And it gives us a fun activity to do while we go through the winter blahs.”

Gill's daughters (from left) Merrilee Beck, Kimberlee Geary and Lorrilee Gill at a recent Rhubarb Festival.

Activities include a poker run, bake sale, turtle races, craft show, bean bag competition, street dance, fireworks, kiddie train rides, face painting, watermelon feed, pig scramble and street picnic. Another good-natured highlight is the battle for biggest rhubarb leaf and longest stalk. “We have quite a few entries,” Jasmer says. “It is like a reality show. People are measuring each entry. It’s always close and there are always disappointed competitors.”

Rhubarb royalty is determined every year by a dessert contest. Entries are judged by a panel. “The tastiest entries win. There’s a waiting list for people who want to be judges. Any age can enter. One year the king was a boy of just 10 or 12,” Jasmer recalls.

Though Bonnie Gill will be missed, her children emphasize that she would want everyone to celebrate with the same sense of fellowship and fun that Leola residents and guests have to come expect at the festival. In fact, she expressed that very sentiment in a poem she once wrote about rhubarb:

The lowly pie plant has come a long way

And finally been honored with a special day

So when life goes sour add a little sweet,

and you, too, will be like a rhubarb treat.

Mom’s Easy Layered Rhubarb Cheesecake

2 pounds rhubarb, sliced into 1/2-inch pieces

2 cups white cake mix

1 egg white (reserve yolk for filling)

1/4 cup unsweetened rhubarb juice

3/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons unsweetened rhubarb juice

2 (8 oz.) packages of cream cheese

2 eggs, separated plus reserved yolk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan. Place 2 pounds of rhubarb into the saucepan and add water to almost cover the rhubarb. Bring to a boil and continue cooking until rhubarb is mushy. Pour rhubarb through a sieve, but don’t force it; you want clear rhubarb juice. Combine cake mix, egg white and 1/4 cup of rhubarb juice. Beat batter as directed on the cake mix box. Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 12-15 minutes. While baking, mix together sugar, 2 tablespoons of rhubarb juice, cream cheese and 3 egg yolks. Beat 2 egg whites until stiff and fold into the cheese mixture. Remove cake from oven and spoon filling over baked base. Return to the oven and bake for 20-22 minutes. Cool before serving. Spoon your favorite rhubarb sauce over each serving. 

Editor’s Note: The 2025 Rhubarb Festival will be June 27-29. This story is revised from the May/June 2023 issue of South Dakota Magazine. To order a copy or to subscribe, call (800) 456-5117.