Bear Paw Festival!

Yesterday was a busy day. I awoke early and headed to church for the pancake breakfast fundraiser. The fundraiser was for Justin’s (a youth at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church) Eagle Scout Project. For his project Justin is building an awning outside the kitchen where heavy ice and snow patches often develop. I was able to connect with several members and got the inside scoop about the Bear Paw Festival.

The Bear Paw Festival takes place each year in Eagle River, Alaska. The Bear Paw Festival is a very large and celebrated event in the community. Highlights include The Grand Parade, 5K Race, Bear Paw’s Got Talent, photo contest, Car Show, Dog & Owner Look a Like, duck race, and Slippery Salmon Olympics.

I began my Bear Paw adventure by watching the Grand Parade. I was impressed with the number of entries as the parade was quite long. After the parade Toonie (the dog) and I went walking around to see what was happening.

5K start!

Hannah and Ryan leading the Bagpipers--both from Our Redeemer Lutheran Church!!

Several of our members are bagpipers

We first made our way through the carnival area. There were lots of different rides set up. Farris Wheel, carousels, mini roller coasters and lots of vendors with food. I was not interested in rides since most carnival rides make me sick due to the continuing circular motions.

Lots of rides!

Toonie and I then made our way over to the vendor’s area where there were over fifty tents set up with different products, crafts and service information. After waltzing through the crowded vendors we gathered with another crowed at one of the stages. It was at this area where I witnessed the Slippery Salmon Olympics.

Tons of Vendors

Hula hoops, orange cones and a very slippery salmon are the ingredients for this comical event. People from the crowd are selected and go head to head in two teams with various Olympic events. At each event one must carry a salmon. It was comical to see the variety of competitive participants and watch some vary squeamish contestants react to the slimy salmon. (click on images for larger view)

Slippery Salmon Olympics

Slippery Salmon Olympics--True Alaskan Sport

After the excitement of the Slippery Salmon Olympics Toonie and I headed over to the Bear Paw Classic Car Show. There were lots of old cars, I took pictures of my favorites. I cannot appreciate them for their rarity or engines because I do not know what to look for, but I did appreciate the aesthetic appeal.

Volkswagen Karmann Ghia-Best Import Award

1967 Corvette won the Best Sports Car Award

 1968 Camaro received the Best Street Machine 

1955 T-Bird took the Bear Paw Award and the Best Stock Post 1958 Award!

Another event is the I-Did-A-Duck Rubber Ducky Race. It’s a quacky contest, that is the final major event of the Bear Paw Festival. The Eagle River Rotary Club members dump more than 1000 numbered, plastic ducks into the race slough in front of the main stage.  Each duck was “sold” beforehand, and the lucky ducks whose quacker cross the finish line is the grand prize winner. They used to float the ducks down the river but due to the lack of eco-friendly rubber ducks and difficulty of retrieval there been a shift to now float them down a giant trough. 

TONS of ducks!

And they are off!

 Of all of the things at the event I was impressed with the amount of free entertainment. I came across a circus act with men juggling flame and doing acrobatic stunts, and also found some amazing guitar players. My personal favorite was the robot bear show which reminded me a lot of Disney World and the "Bear Country" show.

Bubba Bear Show...It was a lot like the "Bear Country" Disney world robot show. All the robot bears played instruments and such.

My most exciting moment was when I found free pop. Dad, you would be proud! At the Blockbuster booth there were blow-out deals on DVDs and free pop. Needless to say my only expense for attending the Bear Paw Festival was a sunburn... yes you can get sunburnt in Alaska! 

Free Pop! Dad always taught me the value of money :)

Dad's Root Beer--the best!