Richard Crain, president of the Talkeetna Historical Society, sent a letter to news media last week announcing the mid-July festival is canceled.
By phone, Crain said maybe festival hosts will reconsider the decision, but only if more people in the community step up.
"If it is ever to happen again, we need help," Crain said.
Problems, including a huge and sometimes rowdy crowd, marred the celebration this year and culminated in the presumed death of a partyer who went into the river and didn't come up. His body still has not been found.
Business owners at a public meeting pledged to help with future festivals. Crain's letter said employees at Twister Creek, the town's new brewery, and Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge offered to pitch in with funding and manpower. For now, though, the Historical Society is holding to its decision not to host another festival. And without some concrete changes --- more policing done by organizers, a better parking and traffic plan -- the festival might be gone for good.
The Moose Dropping Festival has mushroomed in recent years, overwhelming the town of about 850. Attendance topped 5,000 this year, according to Alaska State Troopers.
Problems followed the growth. There were more fights and general "drunken rowdiness" among campers this year than in the past, said Sgt. Jake Covey, a trooper stationed at the Talkeetna post. It was a hot weekend, alcohol flowed.
"The amount of people and the amount of alcohol being consumed was a major, major problem," Covey said. "The festival itself was pretty tame during the day."
There were persistent problems at the river.
The Talkeetna and Susitna rivers form the western boundary of town. People frequently camp beside the river or out on gravel bars in the riverbed. Covey said a lot of underage drinking and some fighting happened there this year.
People were jumping from the railroad bridge into the Talkeetna River. Covey said troopers working the festival were called there a few times but the jumpers scrammed by the time they arrived.
The bridge-jumping turned from reckless to deadly Sunday afternoon when 22-year-old Jacob Larson of Nikiski jumped and disappeared. Troopers and volunteers searched but found nothing. He's presumed dead, a trooper spokeswoman said Friday.
Before they can support the festival, some business owners say organizers need to get a handle on the riverfront "lawlessness."
"All of the bad stuff was happening down at the river. Most of the people who were participating in the Moose Dropping Festival didn't even know that was going on," said business owner Beth Valentine. She said the festival is important to local businesses and should continue.
"It's one of our largest income days," she said.
The festival has strayed a long way from its roots. Talkeetna Gifts owner Suzy Kellard said early festivals were mostly intended to give locals an opportunity to sell handmade items. Now, vendors who travel from fair to fair show up. The festival had a paid, part-time organizer in recent years. There are permits to get and a lot more paperwork than festivals in the '70s required.
The event has become too much for the Historical Society board to handle, Crain said. With all the people it drew this year, groups like the Alaska State Troopers and the Talkeetna Airmen's Association say organizers have to get a better handle on things.
Trooper Lt. Nils Monsen said the festival has grown to a point that "they need to provide their own security." In addition to four troopers from Talkeetna post, Covey said at least three more drove up from Palmer to assist during the event. They wrote a lot of tickets for minor-consuming alcohol, arrested a few drunk drivers and stopped a few fights, he said.
"We've offered that we don't have the manpower to provide the security that a private security organization might have," Monsen said. "We don't have enough troopers to go out and provide close police oversight to the community."
The Airmen's Association has a different concern. The group owns the village airstrip downtown. Most festival visitors park there -- without it, the festival would have to rethink how traffic is handled in a big way. In a July letter, the association told the Historical Society it's not interested in closing the airstrip so people can park at festivals in the future.
Airmen's Association president Robert Gerlach said the festival was "too out of control." Their concern isn't about underage drinkers or fights, but about a general lack of organization, he said.
"We did not get a meeting with (the organizer) until two days before the festival, which was pretty unacceptable," Gerlach said. "We felt they were not doing their homework and doing what it took for the safety of the community," he said.
Gerlach said the Airmen's Association wrote the letter because it fears being held liable for an accident on airstrip land. Permits and permission to use the land need to be handled upfront, he said. If that happens, the Association may allow use of the airstrip again.
Crain said the festival just might not be worth all that hassle. It was set up as a Historical Society fundraiser 37 years ago. But with new expenses - for things like portable restrooms and parking attendants - the society barely makes a profit. With growth, the event is now more difficult to organize than they bargained for. Although plenty of people say they like the event, few actually pitch in to do the hard work that makes it happen, he said.
"We've run out of steam."
Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2009/08/23/908842/talkeetna-moose-dropping-festival.html#storylink=cpy