Railroad Day coming to Alberton
<p>A young contestant competes in the watermelon eating contest during last year's Railroad Day in Alberton.</p>
ALBERTON - The event known as Railroad Day will be held next Saturday in Alberton and organizers are expecting a good turnout for an event that celebrates the area’s historical connection to the rail industry.
According to Spokesman Richard Werst, the event honors the town’s long heritage of all things railroad. Alberton was named for Albert J. Earling, president of the Chicago, Milwaukie, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad. Werst said the celebration would be the 29th such event in the town’s history.
“We are striving to preserve and recognize the history of Alberton,” Werst said. “This was a railroad town. Crews would hop on the train here. They had a water station here because back in those days everything had a steam engine.”
Werst said the day would begin with a pancake breakfast followed by a fun run and the ceremonial retirement of an American flag that flies over the town. He said events would proceed throughout the day.
“They will retire the flag with full military honors and a rifle salute,” Werst said. “Then we will have a parade. There will be a Wild West shootout with re-enactors. There will be a bouncy house for the kids along with food and crafts vendors.”
The event will also feature a petting zoo for children along with a variety of games including one that will challenge participants to a sort of scavenger game. Werst said the game to find the Golden Spike hidden somewhere in the community helps relive the tradition of the railroad in Alberton.
“There will be clues throughout the day and if we get enough contestants we will also have the spike driving contest,” Werst said. “We will have people drive spikes with the old time spike hammer. There will prizes for both the contest and the Golden Spike.”
Werst said the evening’s festivities would include live music featuring blue grass and other genres of music. He said this year, the event was able to attract what he described as a very popular recording act in the area.
The live music portion of the event will feature Rob Quist and his band Great Northern accompanied by Halladay Quist. The musical group is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
“The Rob Quist concert will be very special this year,” Werst said. “He is a very popular artist in the area.”
Werst said he wanted to see the entire Mineral County community come out to enjoy an event the Alberton community has come to cherish. He said he wanted to encourage area residents to celebrate the historical heritage of the town.
“We want people to come and celebrate with us,” Werst said. “We want people to also hang around for the evening entertainment. It’s a great event and a lot of fun.”