This weekend, Ignacio will celebrate its centennial with a great feast sandwiched within a series of raucous events that include music, face-painting, bouncy castles and a greased-pig chase.
Events will kick off at 4 p.m. Saturday with a welcome from Ignacio Mayor Stella Cox, followed by a rocket launch to signal the start of a 5-mile run at Shoshone Park.
In the meantime, townsfolk opposed to exertion will be treated to the musical stylings of the Ignacio High School Band, Tom Givon and the singing group Women’s Prerogative.
Ignacio city councilwoman Alison deKay, chairwoman of the centennial organizing committee, said the really exciting stuff starts at 5 p.m., when the feast begins.
“The feast will be brisket rolls, some kind of side, chips and drink – it’s not super elaborate, but we’re expecting at the most 1,500 people,” deKay said.
The feast is free, deKay said, but Ignacio residents will be charged a nominal sum to throw pies at city officials, who recently voted to impose a permanent ban on the sale of marijuana within city limits.
“I will have pies tossed at my face. I don’t know if I’m excited about that, but I’m really excited to see the greased-pig contest,” deKay said. “I think it will be hilarious – I mean, you’re running after a greased pig.”
The greased-pig contest, which is scheduled to start at 7 p.m., has three age categories, deKay said. Whoever captures a lubricated pig will face a choice – keep the pig or claim a $100 prize.
DeKay said the town of Ignacio and the Southern Ute Tribe started planning the centennial celebration in March.
The town’s founding arguably was one of the most important things to take place on July 7, 1913. In Wikipedia’s entry for that date, the only other significant happenings mentioned are the British House of Commons voting for Irish Home Rule, Mexican-American folk hero Gregorio Cortez’s release from a Texas jail and the birth of Pinetop Perkins, an American blues pianist.
The Ignacio community as identified by government actually was formed about 30 years earlier, deKay said, as a result of the Southern Ute Indian Reservation being established as a federally recognized tribe in 1873.
“It’s a pretty cool deal,” deKay said.
cmcallister@durangoherald.com
