The Animas Museum is an avid collector of Snowdown memorabilia. With help from Snowdown Durango Inc., the museum has almost all the collectable items going back to the first Snowdown in 1979. Like the rest of Durango, we will sorely miss the annual festival this year. Forty-two years ago, an event was first held in Durango that has now become a part of our history. The story of Snowdown is best told by the event organizers themselves:
...A long time ago back in 1979, the Land of Durango was covered in winter's darkness and the People and Commerce were depressed.
And so, it came to pass one dark day The Founder John Murrah (the man who originally came up with the idea), heard this hue and cry. He enjoined the Lords of Business (DACRA, as it was then known) and the Lords of Information Dissemination (The Durango Herald) that a winter celebration would bring Enterprise to the land and raise up the people in their time of need.
And so, it came to pass that the Lords agreed and they seeded the project with $2,000 from The Durango Herald.
But a Celebration such as this requires more than a Founder to get started, and so a Great Coordinator was to be found, one to spread the word among the People. And so, it came to pass that Terry Fiedler was hired at $1,000 that first year to organize the project (but to be paid only after all expenses were recouped). The Coordinator's word was good and jollity, commerce and mirth spread among the people.
And so, it came to pass that SNOWDOWN survived and continued into subsequent years and Fiedler usually volunteered his time, occasionally relieved by others (which helped a lot).
All was good in the land.
It came to pass that SNOWDOWN became well-known, even beyond the borders of the Land.
In January of 2018, the Museum held a mini-exhibit featuring some of our collection of Snowdown memorabilia. Enjoy the exhibit!
