We wanted to go to the famous 4th of July parade in Ester, Alaska. We checked the Daily News-Miner calendar for the start time. Nothing. We googled and found that the start time was privileged information. On the blog of the Ester Republic we found this explanation from Deirdre Helfferich:
Mary Beth Smetzer called Mike Musick who called me wanting to know when the Ester Fourth of July parade was so she could put it in her calendar of events for the News-Miner. My immediate reaction was–gads, don’t publicize it!–but I wasn’t entirely sure about that. Mike didn’t know exactly how he felt about it, either, apparently–”Do you want her number?” he asked. I said no, but I kept thinking about it. Do we really want a ton of Fairbanksans showing up? Do we want to advertise it? I mean, it’s fun having an audience, but it’s not a commercial event, it’s just fun. And it’s just us and our neighbors, goofing around for ourselves and our neighbors.
So we were left with the question: Do we add ourselves to the ton of Fairbanksans who might show up? We decided yes, we’d respectfully crash the event. As the parents of two little girls who love parades, but who can’t stomach much more Bush administration, Bible-thumping patriotism, we decided the Ester parade was just where we belonged. Here’s Helfferich’s description of what sets the Ester parade apart and why Fairbanksans show up.
. . . so they come out to Ester to watch the parade, where satire and foolishness and spur-of-the-moment costuming are the norm, and sacred cows and politicians are regularly lampooned, as befits a proper jest.
And a proper jest it was. The perfect parade on the perfect day in our imperfect world. Here are some highlights.
Bagpipes sounding in the hills.
Really big tires.
The folks from Calypso Farm encouraging eating locally and handing out radishes.
Mandy and Cedar enjoying the show.
Representative David Guttenberg represents.
Alaska, where pork is king (and a parade float).
Young puppeteers.
Where else does the grim reaper make an appearance at a parade? He was coughing uncontrollably and staggering down the hill.
Scooter Libby. You can’t tell from this picture, but he’s riding a scooter. His sign reads “C’mon, It’s a War Worth Lying For!”
George Bush wishing Scooter Libby “Happy Independence Day.”
Cedar makes the acquaintance of Uncle Sam.
Commentary on Congressman Don Young.
Getting a closer look at the wrong end of “Pork Politics”
Thank you independent republic of Ester for the wonderful parade. You’re an inspiration. In her post about publicizing (or not publicizing) the Ester parade Helfferich called on other communities in Fairbanks to host their own parades. I agree. We should. She closed by reminding everyone:
All you need for a parade is a beginning, a middle, and an end. That’s three people in costume, and poof! You’ve got a parade. Easy.
That is awesome. LOVE the pictures. totally a different world from Seattle!!
OK, that looks totally fun–I’ve never been and I am so crashing next year! Unless I can organize fellow downtown Fairbanksans to have a parade without any cheerleading for Bush or anybody handing out those little Chick pamphlets.
Found by chance your blog a couple weeks ago, after you mentioned it at the Fairbanks Summer Folk Festival. Cool blog! Martin says hi to TJ, he enjoys your entries also.
Sonja and I would have made it to the Ester 4th of July parade except that she fell asleep in the car on the way to Ester, after playing for several hours in the mud of a slough of Tanana. (Nothing like a naked baby playing in the silty sand – naked after I tried to deflect the playing dogs from running into her, only to have them bump her straight in. Luckily the water was shallow, so we just took off all the clothes stained from the silty water, and the rubber boots, and she continued to play in the sun and the dirt for another hour.)
After Sonja fell asleep in the car, I thought we could just park at the Ester community park, and I could watch the parade from the car. As we arrived in Ester, I realized there was fat chance of that, with the line of parked cars extending far along the Parks highway. So we skipped it altogether.
We had gone to the Ester parade twice in the last four or so years, and, if we’re in town, will go again. Even if we don’t live in Ester
Ha! Great pictures, Nicole! By the way, it’s fun having a ton of designated spectators (even from Fairbanks!) out here at the Ester parade. It gets a little overwhelming when there’s more people in the crowd than live in the entire republic, though. Spectators must be prepared for irreverent, sometimes bawdy, frequently satirical, and always silly floats. Glad you enjoyed yourself.
That’s funny! I’ve never seen politics play such a huge part in a parade before. My kids were amused by the dancing Jesus in the ANchorage parade.
Now THAT’S a parade! Looked like loads of fun.
What a fun parade! It was raining down here and we were overwhelmed by home improvement projects, so we didn’t make it to the parade. It looks like you had great weather and who doesn’t enjoy a good parade on a sunny day?!
cant find info about the Ester seafood buffet and staying in the bunk house–do u hav any info