Three Times More Fun

Last spring, the good people of Bluff came together to establish a new tradition, a one-day event called Founders Day. The first go-around was so successful we are expanding the occasion next year, and Bluff, Utah, is the place to be April 6, 7, and 8, 2018, for three days of festivities. The earliest Mormon settlers reached our location on April 8, 1880, and last year, our entire community came together to celebrate that event. We believe this year will be three times more fun.

A committee of volunteers from Bluff and the surrounding area planned last year’s Founders Day. Bluff Fort, St. Christopher Mission, Business Owners of Bluff, White Mesa Ute, San Juan County School art programs, Navajo children singing groups, and Twin Rocks Café and Trading Post coordinated activities. The 2017 Founders Day packed a lot of fun into only one day.

 

Afterwards, it was generally agreed in Bluff that one day was just not enough. We needed to make it a three-day heritage spree.

Preliminary events for the upcoming 2018 Founders Day will begin on Friday, with activities being offered by Bluff Fort. As with last year, descendants from all the original sixteen pioneer families will make the cabins at Bluff Fort their home base. Old friends will meet, remember, and share the joy of coming back together. Each family gives out different colored ribbons to indicate their individual clan, and many visitors sported a rainbow of local ancestors. 

The Fort’s activities will begin on Friday, April 6, with workshops on beginning genealogy being offered. In the afternoon, a “Taste of Dutch Oven Cooking” celebrates this staple of traditional pioneer cuisine. Learning from the best local cooks, coupled with sampling the pioneer gourmet food, will create a need to exercise. On Friday night at Bluff Fort, a traditional square dance will be held on the grounds to work off a few calories.

Again this year, Saturday morning will begin with a parade, featuring costumed marchers, family and tribal floats, Navajo princesses, horses, and maybe even Smoky the Bear. The parade ends up in the parking lot of Twin Rocks where a traditional Ute Bear Dance will be held, with dance lessons provided for visitors and other first-time dancers. Throughout the afternoon, musicians will provide entertainment in the box canyon just behind the Navajo Twins rock formations.

Throughout Saturday, volunteers from Fort Bluff will conduct hayride tours of historic Bluff. Docents are stationed around town and wagons of passengers will hear brief descriptions of local landmarks, the cemetery, and many of the distinct sandstone mansions that dot our town’s landscape.

In the afternoon, many activities will shift to Twin Rocks, with artists conducting demonstrations of basket and rug weaving in the Trading Post. At Twin Rocks Café, frybread is the thing, and we will be heating up the oil for an expanded version of last year’s Frybread Festival. This year we will have an outdoor frybread bar serving build-your-own Navajo Tacos or Deserts. We also will be offering the indescribable Bears Ears Ice Cream Sandwiches (on frybread) and other treats.

A frybread speed-eating contest will lead to a highlight of the Founders Day celebration, the annual Frybread Fling. Last year’s 60 foot-4 inch toss is the current record, and challengers are expected to see who can propel their Frybread Frisbee the greatest distance.

All over town, artists and craftsmen are invited to set up booths to sell their creations. In addition, regional food trucks will offer hot meals to visitors and residents alike. 

Founders Day weekend will conclude Sunday afternoon with an interdenominational service at St. Christopher’s Mission, with religious leaders from the area sharing their faiths with our visitors. The Mission, located just two miles from Twin Rocks, has been an integral part of Bluff since the 1920s. Preliminary conversations indicate a barbecue and dinner-on-the-church grounds will follow the service.

If you know Bluff, you know that accommodations are limited, so folks are encouraged to make reservations in advance to be a part of the sharing, comradery, and fun that will be Bluff Founders Day 2018 on April 6, 7, and 8.