Durango Fiesta Days celebrates diverse cultural roots
Anne Rapp, left, and her miniature horse, Mike, pull past Gary Forrester and Paul Richardson in their modified Chevy pickup while getting into position for the start of the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Parade downtown on Saturday morning. With Rapp are Alexandra Wilson, 8, center, and Caroline Wilson, 10, who are the daughters of Greg and Lisa Wilson of Boston. Forrester and Richardson were transporting the candidates for Durango Fiesta Days royalty.
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald
Paul Richardson and, from left, Holli Timmerman, 9, Karley Pollack, 10, Jessica Looman, 15, and LaVonne Queen, 21, greet the crowd gathered for the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Parade downtown Saturday morning. The girls were contestants for Durango Fiesta Days royalty. Holli is the daughter of Abby and Drew Timmerman, Karley is the daughter of Cindy and Mark Pollack, and Jessica is the daughter of Philip Looman.
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald
Jesse Juergensmeyer, 3, and his parents Erik Juergensmeyer, back, and Chiara Cannella (not pictured) watch the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Parade downtown on Saturday morning.
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald - Paul Richardson and, from left, Holli Timmerman, 9, Karley Pollack, 10, Jessica Looman, 15, and LaVonne Queen, 21, greet the crowd gathered for the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Parade downtown on Saturday morning. The girls were contestants for Durango Fiesta Days royalty. Holli is the daughter of Abby and Drew Timmerman, Karley is the daughter of Cindy and Mark Pollack, and Jessica is the daughter of Philip Looman.
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald - Dana Conway and the Golden West Cowgirls Drill Team from Gilbert, Ariz., take part in the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Parade downtown on Saturday morning.
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald - Donald Anderson, center, Billy Hawkins, left, and Richard Rohrbacher, far right, of the Al Kaly Temple Tin Lizzies get their vehicles running for the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Parade downtown on Saturday morning.
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald - Silver Belle Tracy Harwood flirts with the crowd.
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald - Jesse Juergensmeyer, 3, and his parents Erik Juergensmeyer, back, and Chiara Cannella watch the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Parade downtown on Saturday morning.
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald - Main Avenue was crowded with onlookers during the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Parade downtown on Saturday morning.
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald - Paul Richardson, left, and candidates for Durango Fiesta Days royalty greet the crowd gathered for the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Parade downtown on Saturday morning.
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald - Anne Rapp, left, and her miniature horse, Mike, pull past Gary Forrester and Paul Richardson in their (ahem) modified Chevy pickup while getting into position for the start of the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Parade downtown on Saturday morning. With Rapp are Alexandra Wilson, 8, center, and Caroline Wilson, 10, who are the daughters of Greg and Lisa Wilson of Boston. Forrester and Richardson were transporting the candidates for Durango Fiesta Days royalty.
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald - Jennifer Craig, left, Kaelin Roach, right, and the rest of the Silver Belles wait for the start of the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Parade downtown on Saturday morning.
In an age where people have the technology and the wherewithal to do almost anything and travel almost anywhere for entertainment, Cindi Brevik knows that a small-town parade faces some tough competition for people’s time.
“We’re a mobile society, and we have to compete with all manner of activities all over the world,” said Brevik, who organizes Durango Fiesta Days, the annual celebration of the area’s multicultural history and cowboy roots.
Brevik’s words may be true, but the hundreds of locals and tourists who lined Main Avenue on Saturday morning show that in many people’s minds, parades continue to be well worth the while.
Initial numbers and other anecdotes paint a bright picture for this year’s Fiesta Days events, which will run through today. The first rodeo performance Friday night was a packed house, Brevik said. And with 25 entrants, this year’s Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Parade leapt ahead of the 14 entrants from last year.
The crowds lining Main Avenue also have been stronger over the past few years, after about five years of sparser numbers, said Dean Dooley, a perennial parade participant and member of the Al Kaly Shrine Tin Lizzies, who drove the parade route in miniature cars.
The Fiesta Days events – especially the rodeo – now attract tourists from as far away as France, China, Scandinavia and Japan, Brevik said.
On Saturday morning, the Durango Welcome Center was buzzing with people asking about Fiesta Days, front desk staff member Kim Seitz said.
In the past week, the Welcome Center recorded 91 inquiries about special events, the vast majority of which were likely connected to Fiesta Days, Seitz said. Though most tourists don’t plan their vacations around Fiesta Days, they flock to the events once they find out about them, she said.
Many tourists, especially foreigners, want to see rodeos when they visit, and though Durango advertises its Western town authenticity, Fiesta Days is one of the only opportunities to see one, Seitz said.
Now in its 78th year, Fiesta Days began as a community event to celebrate the area’s diverse cultural roots. Local merchants promoting tourism in the area were the first organizers of the event, according to the Fiesta Days website. The celebration drew Native American tribes from across the Four Corners, and some tribal members were grand marshals of the parade, Brevik said.
Saturday’s parade was a small and decidedly simple affair, but what it lacked in marching bands and fancy floats, it made up for with a healthy dose of horses, cowboy hats and old-time dancers. A giant yellow monster truck may have made the biggest impression as it carried a very precious, and very petite, cargo: the six contestants for junior princess, princess and queen of Fiesta Days.
The girls, perfectly coiffed and decked out in glitzy Western attire, had to climb a ladder just to get into the truck. In their quest to become royalty, they had already made it through written tests, interviews and a horsemanship assessment.
Durango resident Greg Smith and visitors Kathy and Don Smith were lucky enough to snag a bench spot to watch the parade. The three had never met, and as the parade ended, Greg Smith commented on the Durango-ness of the whole experience.
“This is just another Saturday morning in Durango,” he told the visiting Smith couple. “Breakfast at Durango Diner and then a parade. It’s why we live here.”
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