Anchorage Fur Rendezvous
Memories

These precious Anchorage Fur Rendezvous memories will fill your heart as you recall Rondys gone by.

The above, late 1960s narrated film includes:

George Attla, Dr. Roland Lombard, Bergman Sam and Jimmy Malamute.

Plus footage of 4th Avenue, Jonas Brothers and Hewitt's Drug Store.

Blanket Toss

Remember When? KENI-TV Fur Rondy Coverage

Left to right are KENI General Manager Al Bramstedt, News Anchor Ty Clark, Camera Operator Jim Balog, Bill Stewart and Host Orville Lake.

For many years, KENI-TV (now KTUU) televised the Fur Rendezvous World Championship Sled Dog Races.

You could go into town to take in the Rondy, then head home to warm up while you watched the races on TV and cheered for your favorite musher.

Remember the

KENI-TV Rondy Sled Dog Race theme song?

It's De Selvera's “Sleigh-Ride in Alaska” (1959).

Enjoy this vocal version and remember when.

Fur Rondy Street Sign, 4th Avenue 1957

Anchorage Fur Rendezvous Memories

Fur Rondy, 1946

Photo by Gene Gough

Notice, in the picture above, that the idea of kids and sled dogs being a part of the winter festival was still going strong in 1946.

The following 3 minute, 1959 Anchorage, Fur Rendezvous Film Has no Sound

Are you, your family or friends in this film?

The name “Fur Rendezvous” came into being when fur trappers got together to sell their furs and kick up a little snow as a way to shake off the long winter in early Anchorage.

In Alaska, everyone knows that late February is time for Rondy fun.

Now, people from all over the world converge in Anchorage, Alaska for events like:

• Blanket Toss

• Fur Auction

• Melodrama

• Miner's and Trapper's Ball

• Outhouse Races

• Carnival Rides

• Fur Rondy Parade

• Snow Shoe Softball

• World Championship Sled Dog Races

And much more fun, food, and games

1964 Rondy Parade, and Sled Dog Race

This color super 8mm film has no sound

Do you know anyone in this film?

Anchorage Fur Rendezvous Memories

Have you ever ridden a Ferris Wheel in the winter when it was below zero outside?

That's just one of those fun and unique attractions Mike and Mary, the authors of Anchorage Memories.com, remember enjoying.

One year, Mike, and his brother Tom and their band “The Matadors” played to a delighted crowd on the Melodrama stage during Rondy. Great fun.

Each year, Anchorage's popular 4th Avenue Theater played a movie to compliment the Fur Rendezvous.

Remember seeing the Charlie Chaplin silent movie “The Gold Rush”? Another time, the 4th Avenue played “Joniko and the Kush Ta Ka” an Alaskan movie produced in Juneau, Alaska by filmmaker Chuck Keen.

And one year they screened a locally produced movie about an Iditarod dog sled team titled “Hot Foot to Nome.”

Rondy Memories

Mike of Anchorage Memories recalls getting out of school to enjoy the Fur Rendezvous.

“When we were teenagers, mom drove me, my sister Anna and brother Tom to downtown Anchorage during the Rendezvous, gave us each some spending money and told us where she would meet us later and to enjoy our day.

We would walk around, watch the dogs getting ready to race, go to the Carnival, or maybe even see a special movie at the 4th Avenue Theatre.

The Fur Rendezvous was a fun time for everyone. And we could also stay home (and stay warm) as we watched all the excitement of the sled dog races on KENI-TV channel 2.”

Remember George Attla?

The Rondy dog sled race featured mushers from all over Alaska and around the world.

One local favorite was dog sled musher George Attla. In fact, he was so popular that his life story became a movie.

Take a look at this clip from the movie, featuring Buffy Sainte Marie singing the title song of the George Attla movie, “Spirit of the Wind”.

World War II and the Anchorage Fur Rendezvous

In the photo above:

Notice the advertisers listed above the show's cast.

In the 1940s, during the years of World War II, Anchorage did not have a Fur Rendezvous. So, Anchorage residents did not have their favorite winter gathering.

But in 1943, Lorene Harrison (the Hat Box), who was very talented when it came to music and putting together shows, had an idea.

She decided that Anchorage still needed some fun, even if there was a war.

Harrison put together a show to provide the community with some homegrown entertainment.

It wasn't the Fur Rendezvous, but it had to do for the moment.

“Bonanza Days” enjoyed a full house at the Log Cabin USO.

It became a big hit and the show played to standing room-only crowds.

How it Began

A trip to Fairbanks in 1934, to participate in that city's Ice Carnival and Dog Derby, gave Vern Johnson and his friends an idea.

Fur trappers and miners came into Anchorage every year during the month of February to sell their furs and other things.

So, what if there was some kind of fun gathering, like they had in Fairbanks, where everyone could take a break from the long winter and cabin fever?

To start things off in Anchorage, in 1935, Vern Johnson and his friends put together a community dance. Plenty of folks came and had a great time.

And that was the beginning of the Anchorage Fur Rendezvous.

The following year, in 1936, Johnson put together the Winter Sports Tournament, a 3-day event held February 15, 16 and 17. Events included a children's dog sled race, a skiing contest, a hockey game, and a parade right down 4th Avenue. There was also a dance and a bone fire.

Later, the name of the event became the Fur Rendezvous, and it still takes place every February in Anchorage.

Today, people remember Vern Johnson as the father of the Fur Rendezvous.

In 2012, the Anchorage Fur Rendezvous Festival became the number one Winter Carnival in the world, an award from National Geographic Traveler.

Now people from around the world come to Anchorage, Alaska each year to experience North America's number one winter carnival.

Alaska is a special place and the Fur Rendezvous is a great experience.

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