Houston Founders Day celebration draws hundreds

HOUSTON — For more than 30 years, the Houston Founders Day event has grown in size each year,, and 2017 was no exception. Hundreds of people gathered at the Houston Fire Station to tackle a slew of activities, games, and spectacles. It was also a chance to listen to live music, grab a free hot dog and shop from local vendors and food trucks. It is Houston’s largest celebration of the year, with family and community at its core.

“It’s the busiest time of the year for people stopping in Houston,” said Jessie Meybin, Public Works Clerk for the City of Houston.

Meybin supervised the Turkey Shot game where children shot BB guns at targets to accumulate points. The top three winners received frozen turkey breasts. The Houston High School football team helped Meybin with the Turkey Shoot and also helped with other activities throughout the evening.

All the events — save a few Houston High School fundraisers — were free of charge. Volunteers fired up a huge grill and handed out free hot dogs, soda and water to attendees. According to Christian Hartley, Chief of the Houston Fire Department, the focus of Founders Day is the kids, saying it’s all “family oriented.”

“It’s basically a block party,” Hartley said. “A lot of people call it a mini-fair.”

Houston Mayor Virgie Thompson was adorned in the classic red and white “Where’s Waldo” costume, complete with a knit cap. For the past few years, this get-up has been a part of Houston’s effort to make the free activities “fair” for the public. The idea is that people wanting to participate in events like the egg toss or pie-eating contest have to “find Waldo” and sign up with her because “you can only buy so many pies.”

“This kids know it’s all about them,” Hartley said.

A popular Founders Day game, the egg toss, drew several participants. Most of the event attendees circled around the egg tossers, cheering with eager interest. The goal of the egg toss was to chuck an egg to the opposite side of the circle — about 20 yards away — to another person without breaking the egg. The last two standing with their winning egg received $50 cash apiece. This year’s winners were Ty Campbell, 16, and Landon Taylor , 15, both from Meadow Lakes.

“It was all skill,” Campbell said.

This was Campbell’s second time attending Founders Day and Taylor’s first. They both enjoyed the fact there was so many activities for them to do.

“It’s a great time with my friends and family,” Taylor said.

The Society of Creative Anachronisms performed armored battles at the center. The SCA is an international group and has more than 200 members all across the state of Alaska. Members pick times and locations then research and gather materials to reenact their chosen era (roughly 600-1600 A.D). The armored fighting is just the tip of the iceberg and the anachronistic community engages in various activities like woodworking, blacksmithing, and pottery.

The SCA holds events throughout the year. They will hold medieval courts where they appoint a herald then hold ceremonies, make announcements and divvy out awards. Members will often host a range of battles both physical and artesian to see who’s “top dog.”

Bryan Nelson, or “Rodrigo deReinosa” Nelson said the armored battles are dangerous and they limit the amount of audience interaction for safety reasons. He currently has a metal plate in his arm from an accident during battle where he was hit by a shield trying to do a “special maneuver.” The SCA takes numerous steps to ensure the safety of its members and spectators.

The SCA has been performing for Houston Founders Day for 15 years. It’s become a tradition for both sides. Nelson said they were asked to come back for this event and it’s “nothing new to us or to Houston.” He said their presence at the event raises their exposure and opens the possibility for new members.

“If you like what we do, join in the fun,” Nelson said. “It’s more of a passion than a hobby for most people.”

According to Hartley, the Houston Founders Day coordinators shift every year and is split into different modules. The fire department has always been the hub for the event and the department lends its staff to patrol security, helping lost kids find parents and so on.

“It’s just awesome to have a fire department that’s so devoted,” Hartley said.

This year, the event had help from the mayor’s office, auxiliary, and the Houston Lions Club. There was also a mass of volunteers from the community, which Hartley cited as the “key to the event.” The city does background checks on all of its volunteers. Hartley said besides the volunteers, the sponsors are also a big part of the event’s success each year. Thompson said the fireworks show is the largest demonstration in the state besides the state fair.

This celebration is the 51st anniversary of the city of Houston and the 33rd Founders Day. Hartley said that the apostrophe for the Founders Day title is intentionally left out because it is still unknown if there was one founder or multiple founders. According to the City of Houston’s website, the city sprang up due to the use of Herning Trail (now Willow Creek Sled Trail) for freighting supplies to the Willow Creek Mining District. "Houston Siding" was first listed on a blueprint map of the Alaska Railroad in 1917. The name came from Congressman Houston of Tennessee and the title has stuck ever since.

Houston was officially founded on June 6, 1966. Houston is 18 miles northwest of Wasilla. According to Thompson, Houston is the largest landmass city in the borough. Thompson said the population runs about 2,000 residents and the boundaries recently expanded by 1,500 acres, growing to a 43 square mile radius.

Thompson said that the city recently ironed out a new comprehensive plan two years in the making. She said it took a lot of steps but the list of community goals and aspirations were finally approved in January and has outlined a 20-year plan for the future of the city.

“It sets the plan for how we want to grow as a community,” Thompson said. “The future I would like see is a town center,” Thompson said.

On Founders Week, the city formed a new Parks and Recreation Committee. The first order of business is to start a community project and create an “actual park.” Bear Paw Lake is at the top of the list for park locations.

It takes more than 25 minutes to get from Houston to Wasilla. Thompson also wants more things to do for the community’s youth because “everything is so far away.” Along with new parks, she hopes to establish more facilities and programs for the Houston youth to develop specialized skills, like those acquired in trade schools.

“There would be nothing more awesome than a tech school to get kids in the workforce right away,” Thompson said.

The city of Houston’s slogan is: “Live, Work, Play.” All three elements of the city’s mantra seemed to be showcased last weekend.