Future of Moose Dropping Festival unclear

TALKEETNA — It’s open season on the Talkeetna Moose Dropping Festival.

Following a weekend of rowdy crowds and general after hours mayhem associated with this year’s event July 11-12, area residents are preparing to meet to discuss the fate of the annual fundraiser for the Talkeetna Historical Society.

“I’ve been here (almost) as long as the festival,” said Billy Fitzgerald, a former historical society board member and current Talkeetna Community Council member. “And boy, I don’t want a repeat of what we’ve seen.”

A rash of unlawful and drunken behavior has been escalating over recent years as the festival, in its 37th year, has grown too large for the community or historical society to handle, Fitzgerald said.

“I don’t think it’s possible to avoid a repeat and provide the necessary infrastructure, and at the same time make enough profit for the historical society,” he said. “So, we are going to have to talk about an alternative.”

The safety and serenity of the Talkeetna community was disrupted by multiple incidents of random physical assaults and drunken fights downtown, according to Alaska State Troopers reports. A Nikiski man is still missing after jumping into the Talkeetna River near the Alaska Railroad trestle despite warnings from law enforcement.

“There were also breaches of private property,” Fitzgerald said. “The noise at 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning was just unbelievable.”

An emergency medical service call to downtown in the wee hours of the morning July 12 had trouble navigating Talkeetna’s main thoroughfare because of intoxicated individuals partying in the street, he said.

“They said the drunkenness was horrendous,” Fitzgerald said. “This doesn’t happen on a regular basis. It’s directly associated with the festival.”

The Talkeetna Historical Society relies on proceeds from the Moose Dropping Festival to bolster its annual budget, said president Rich Crane. However, he did admit to problems associated with the event’s growth, which brings an estimated 5,000 visitors to a town with a summer population of about 800.

“There’s a lot of activity that went on that was caused by the festival, but wasn’t part of the festival,” he said. “I’m always in the festival working to keep that going, so I don’t really see what goes on (around it). Every year it seems like there’s more undesirable behavior, whether it’s legal or illegal. It seems to grow away from being a family atmosphere.”

A public meeting with the historical society and community council is in the works to determine what Talkeetna residents think about the future of the event, Fitzgerald said.

Although the historical society is “trying very hard to try and accommodate the community,” Fitzgerald said the organization is fighting an uphill battle. “I think the society has a huge job in trying to coordinate to carry on this festival in a manageable way. But this is, like, the third year in a row there were gross exhibitions of drunkenness and private property damage. It’s unacceptable.”

Crane agrees, and said the historical society would hate to abandon such a longtime happening. At the same time, he’s prepared to abide by the majority wishes of the community. Should the Moose Dropping Festival be canceled or put on hiatus, other fundraisers will be pursued.

“The festival itself went quite well,” he said. “Most of the vendors were complimentary. It’s just that the other activities sort of took the shine. Right, wrong or indifferent, a lot of that is out of our control.”

As a 35-year resident of the Talkeetna area, Fitzgerald said something has to be done. “It’s like, what’s happening to our community?”

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.