Drop everything! Talkeetna plans 35th annual moose menagerie

July 10, 2007

By John R. Moses / Frontiersman

TALKEETNA - Winged traffic on the Village Airstrip will be replaced by rows of cars and trucks Saturday and Sunday as the Talkeetna Historical Society throws a fundraiser that draws thousands downtown annually for a festival, music and a chance to win $1,000.

The 35th annual Moose Dropping Festival also attracts participants in a 5K Fun Run and a Saturday morning parade. Organizer Debbie Whitecar is holding her breath a little waiting for a weekend weather forecast.

&#8220Normally we're always lucky,” she said on a drizzly Monday.

Talkeetna is a small town that's already bustling with mountain climbers and tourists. Streets are full during the days with private vehicles as well as tour buses and vehicles belonging to river charter businesses. Announcements are tacked to the U.S. Post Office bulletin board warning aviators to remove planes from the historic airstrip, which becomes a parking lot this weekend to accommodate the extra traffic.

The actual moose dropping happens at a raffle. Just who wins the Moose Dropping Raffle hinges on the aerodynamics of a single moose pellet landing close to a bullseye target.

Shellacked and numbered dried moose droppings will be dumped outside Talkeetna's VFW Hall from a net high above a bullseye. The numbers painted on each nugget correspond to the 2,000 raffle tickets sold each year. Then it's bombs' away at 6 p.m. Saturday when the moose poop falls and lucky number-holders win $1,000, $250, or one of several $100 prizes for proximity of their pellet to the target.

This is not a game of skill - especially for the participating moose that donated the raffle markers.

What does take some skill is the Moose on Parade Auction's artistic entries. Sponsors pay $100 for a wooden moose cutout they decorate and sell at a fundraising auction. The 3-D moose puzzle is decorated and then reassembled for sale. Last year a Talkeetna moose was purchased by tourists and shipped all the way to Minnesota, where there is also a fair share of moose. They will be auctioned at 3 p.m. Saturday at Talkeetna's Sheldon Arts Hangar. Auction proceeds after expenses will be split between the Talkeetna Chamber of Commerce, the Talkeetna Artists Guild and the Talkeetna Historical Society.

Beth Valentine of the Beadberry Patch bead shop produced two moose for the auction. The bead shop's moose took about 10 hours to complete. A second moose took more than 40 hours to paint.

Peter Pack Moose rests outside the U.S. Post Office rain or shine. He was designed by McKinley View Real Estate's staff. Realtor and owner Holly Stinson said it took 18 hours and four volunteers two days to get the grizzled prospector moose into shape.

&#8220Sandy Sturdy was really the brains behind it,” Stinson said.

There were some last-minute changes - the McKinley View crew realized that Peter had to stand up to the elements, so an emergency run for rainproofing spray was made. Stinson and crew expect their moose to fetch a fair price. &#8220Last year's came apart easier. Someone in Arizona bought it. People in motor homes were buying them.”

This year's festival theme is &#8220Treasure Trail - 90 Years at Mile 0 of the Petersville Trail.” That refers to the start of the gold rush trail. Miners would leave from Talkeetna and be towed across the water on a barge to reach the gold fields.

Organizers say this year's festival is also dedicated to the memory of Bradley Washburn, a mountaineer who mapped and explored Mount McKinley and who is featured prominently in the Talkeetna Historical Museum. He died recently.

For more festival information visit www.talkeetnahistoricalsociety.org.

Contact John R. Moses at 352-2270 or e-mail john.moses@frontiersman.com.

If you go

35th Annual Moose Dropping