The 65th Beaver Round Up is underway, and the days are packed with events. Read more about the Beaver Round Up events scheduled for this week at the bottom of the article or on the BRU website.
On the first day of festivities, KDLG caught up with two of the Beaver Round Up 2023 organizers, Chrissie Messer and Charlene Lopez.
Izzy Ross: It is Beaver Round Up and fittingly enough, I am here with two of the organizers of this year's festival. Welcome. Can you both introduce yourselves?
Chrissie Messer: Hi, good morning. I am Chrissie Messer, and this is my second year helping out organizing the annual Beaver Round Up events.
Charlene Lopez: Good morning. My name is Charlene Lopez. This is my 13th year running Beaver Round Up. Super excited.
Ross: Wonderful. And it sounds like it's going to be an excellent week of events. What can people expect?
Messer: So to start off our first day of Beaver Round Up, we are bringing back the annual outhouse race that they used to host. It'll follow after the parade that starts off our day, and we will also be having the costume fun run as well after the parade.
Lopez: Some of our new events this year, the hospital and NMS, which is Nenana Management Services, brought out a food truck, they have fair-like foods, we posted the flyers last night, they're going to be having a barbecue this afternoon from noon to six down in front of NushWac Saturday in front of the school from noon to five. And then they're gonna do a free hamburger feed which will have chips and water. It's during the fireworks but it will start at six o'clock down at the harbor.
Another new event we're super excited about is traditional foods competition. So we have five categories. If you haven't heard about it yet, check out our Beaver Round Up Facebook page, which will have all of our announcements and any kind of updates if there's weather issues or anything that has to be postponed for any reason. All of those updates will be on our Facebook page.
Ross: Awesome. And I have never personally participated in Beaver Round Up before, and I'm very curious about what an outhouse race is.
Messer: So an outhouse race is where businesses or individuals built their own outhouse. And typically it was built around either a bicycle or a sled or a scooter, something that had wheels on it, or even skis. And they would usually have somebody sitting inside the outhouse and then they would have a couple of runners pushing the outhouse. In the past, it would start from N&N and it would end at AC and it was a pretty awesome competition to witness. There are very competitive businesses out there. So it was a lot of fun. There were some accidents where they would actually run into each other and they'd go into the snowbank. But it's definitely a lot of fun to watch.
Lopez: So this year, thanks to Willard Construction, we're bringing it back. He approached us just this weekend, and we were able to hurry up. That's why it's not on the schedule, but it is online and we do have fliers for it. As Chrissie was saying it did used to start at N&N and go to AC. This year we're starting it between the old Hildebrand building and Nushwac, just so that one corners kind of slippery. So we want to prevent any kind of accident. So we're starting it right there, and it's gonna go all the way to the fire hall.
Ross: Wonderful. Wow, it just sounds like a great week. I'm really looking forward to everything and I look forward to hearing more about how it goes. Thank you both so much for joining today.
Messer, Lopez: Thank you.
Here's the BRU schedule:
Friday, March 3 - Community Spirit Week - All about Sports - Show us your favorite team!
All day – Mystery Beaver – Clues will be announced on KDLG and posted on the website. Find the beaver and win the prize!!
When found, please contact 842-5218
10:00 am-1:00 pm Bristol Bay Job Center Open House- Bristol Bay Job Center (located inside the Bristol Bay Campus)
10:00 am-5:00 pm Small Skin Sewing Project-UAF Bristol Bay Campus Free Event. Families Welcome. Ages 14 and under must have adult present
11:00 am-4:00 pm BBNC Open House- BBNC Offices
12:00 pm-4:00 pm Snowmachine Drag Races-Lilly Pond
Registration starts at 10 am and closes at 11:30 am
Hosted by Dillingham Snowmobile Association
2:30 pm Kid’s Paint Night with Danielle Larsgaard – Middle School Gym
4:00 pm-9:00 pm Beaver Round Up Basketball Tournament – High School Gym. Hosted by DHS Basketball Teams
4:00 – 7:00 pm Snowshoe Myachi – Softball field.
Kids & Adult Snowshoes are provided. Hosted by DLG Volunteer EMS
4:00 pm Beaver Round Up Egg Hunt – Soccer field. Welcoming Kids Ages 0-5, 6-12 and 13-17. Bring your bags or buckets
5:00 pm Beaver Round Up Kids Bingo – Head start Building
5:00 pm-7:00 pm Beaver Round Up Native Food Competition-High School Lobby
5:00 pm Paint Night with Danielle Larsgaard – Elementary School Gym
6:00 pm Singspiration-SDA Church
6:00 pm-8:00 pm Board Games & Magic the Gathering- Public Library
6:00 pm-8:00 pm Commercial Fishermen for Bristol Bay Fisherman’s Contest- Willow Tree
6:00 pm-10:00 pm Community Dance with New Stuyahok Band- Middle School Gym. Free Admission
6:00 pm Potluck-Bristol Bay Church
6:30 pm Singspiration– Bristol Bay Church
7:00 pm “Black Panther-Wakanda Forever” Kids Drive in Movie– UAF Bristol Bay Campus Lower Parking Lot
9:00 pm “Magic Mike-The Last Dance” Adults Drive in Movie – UAF Bristol Bay Campus Lower Parking Lot
Saturday, March 4 - Community Spirit Week - Cultural Regalia - Show us your cultural wear!
7:00 am-2:00 pm Tide Table’s Rock Hide and Seek- Boat Harbor
10:00 am – 3:00 pm Beaver Round Up Community Arts Bazaar – Middle School Gym
10:00 am-12:00 pm Mary Magdalene Orthodox Sisterhood Breakfast-Home Ec Room
10:00 am-8:00 pm Beaver Round Up Basketball Tournament- High School Gym. Hosted by DHS Basketball Teams
11:00 am Sledding – Russell Nelson Hill
11:00 am Paint Night with Danielle Larsgaard – Elementary School Gym
12:00 pm-4:00 pm Snowmachine Oval Races-Lilly Pond
Registration starts at 10:00am and closes at 11:30 am. Hosted by DSA
12:00 pm-5:00 pm NMS Community BBQ- School Parking
1:00 – 3:00 pm Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup & Chili, Hot Dogs, Hot Coffee, and Cocoa-Aleknegik Building Parking Lot across AC
2:00 – 3:00 pm Bake Off Entries Accepted - Home Ec Room
Hosted by Dilly Sweets
Bake-Off Categories: Sweet or Savory and Kids Free Choice
2:00 – 4:00 pm Snowshoe Myachi - Softball Field. Kids & Adult Snowshoes are provided. Hosted by DLG Volunteer EMS
3:00 pm Paint Night with Danielle Larsgaard – Elementary School Gym
3:30 pm Bake Off Judges Tasting – Home Ec Room
Hosted by Dilly Sweets
4:00 pm- 7:00 pm Beaver Round Up Food Court- High School Lobby
5:00 pm Bake Off Public Tasting/Voting – Home Ec Room
6:00 pm – 9:00 pm Beaver Round Up Wine & Cheese Event- Willow Tree
6:00 pm Singspiration-SDA Church
6:00 pm Kid’s Paint Night with Danielle Larsgaard – Elementary Gym
8:00 pm-10:00 pm Dilly Capers-Elementary Gym
Hosted by Japan Student Trip 2023
8:00 pm Beaver Round Up Basketball Championship Games-High School Gym. Hosted by DHS Basketball Teams
9:00 pm-12:00 am Beaver Round Up Lip Sync Battle- Willow Tree
Sunday, March 5 - Community Spirit Week - The Golden Years - Show us your Beaver Round Up apparel!
10:00 am – 3:00 pm Beaver Round Up Community Arts Bazaar – Middle School Gym.
11:00 am – 4:00 pm Snowshoe Myachi – Softball field
12:00 pm-5:00 pm Poker Run- Flensburg Hill
Registration starts at 12:00 noon and closes at 3:00pm
Hosted by Dillingham Snowmobile Association
2:30 pm Children’s Bible Hour – High School Band Room
Hosted by Bristol Bay Village Outreach
3:00 pm Beaver Round Up Tug of War– AC Parking Lot
3:00 pm – 5:00 pm Cornhole – Middle School Gym. Teams of two
4:30 pm Beaver Round Up Adult Can Race-NUSHWAC Parking Lot
5:00 pm Tide Table-Boat Harbor
Open for Beaver Round Up and Fireworks Extravaganza
6:00 pm Beaver Round Up Virtual Closing Ceremonies – NUSHWAC
Tune in to Beaver Round Up Facebook Page for our LIVE Virtual Closing Ceremonies
6:00 pm Board Games-SDA School
6:00 pm Teenagers Basketball Open Gym (13years and up)-SDA Gym
6:00 pm “Golden Classic: The Goonies” Kids Drive in Movie – UAF Bristol Bay Campus Lower Parking Lot
6:00pm-9pm NMS Community Hamburger Feed (No Charge) - Boat Harbor
9:00 pm Beaver Round Up Fireworks Extravaganza – Boat Harbor
Get in touch with the author at izzy@kdlg.org or 907-842-2200.
