A team from Alaska 529 recently took part in the Fairbanks Golden Days celebration, joining first responders, local clubs, civic organizations, and military personnel. The week of events honored the city’s gold rush history.

Golden Days, held each year in July, is one of Fairbanks’ favorite traditions. The community gets together to celebrate the city’s founding event – Felix Pedro’s discovery of gold in the area. The Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce hosts most of the events, including a rubber duckie race, a street fair, and the biggest parade in Alaska.

The Chamber came up with the idea of a reverse parade to allow for proper social distancing and to ensure the safety of participants and spectators. The parade was held at the Tanana Valley Fairground, and the “floats” were stationary, while the spectators drove through the fairgrounds to admire the displays and greet the participants.

“We have never participated in a Golden Days Parade before but decided to jump on board this year because so many of our usual events got canceled,” said Lael Oldmixon, Executive Director of Alaska 529. “We had a lot of fun and were very excited when the judges brought us the Best Non-Commercial Float banner.”

Alaska 529’s theme was “These Kids are Going Places,” in keeping with our support for access to educational opportunities and of initiatives designed to help children reach their full potential.

Two Golden Days Rubber Duckie Race winners received Alaska 529 scholarships. We also sponsored free ice cream for the Golden Days Street Fair participants and gave the parade participants the opportunity to fill out an online form to request a free “Going to College” T-shirt.

Happy Golden Days from Alaska 529!