Do you remember when little Alna, Maine was home to an eclectic gathering of mule and donkey owners? The daylong celebration was called fittingly enough, The State of Maine Mule and Donkey Day. It was held around the end of August and hosted by Myron Long at his Roundabout Farm off Route 218. The pictures here are among those I took for the Wiscasset Newspaper one overcast Saturday in 1979. It was so long ago, I’m unable to identify anyone shown but maybe you’ll recognize a face or two.

The event was celebrating its seventh year that summer, which means it got its start in 1973. To learn more I searched through the newspaper’s old bound editions in the basement of the Boothbay Register in Boothbay Harbor; the Register owns and publishes the Wiscasset Newspaper. It wasn’t long before I found a front page story with the headline: “Donkey and Mule Day Aug. 18 in Alna.” The article was actually a press release written by its organizers and included a rather striking picture of a mule that I’d taken the summer before – not in Maine but at the Lincoln County Rodeo in Hugo, Colorado. I remember the late Mary Brewer, who was the managing editor of the Boothbay Register/Wiscasset Newspaper, shaking her head and saying, “You know Phil, Maine has its share of mules too, and not all of them have four legs.”

Mules, more so than donkeys, have a reputation for being rather uncompromising animals, “mule-headed” as the old saying goes. (Yes, I freely admit it, I’ve been called that a time or two.) But, mules behaving “mulish” isn’t true, at least not according to that press release which says, and I quote – “The event gives people a chance to see donkeys and mules are not the stubborn creatures of stereotypes.” It went on to add, the Alna gathering was the “only event of its kind held regularly in the northeastern United States … Donkeys and mules from as far away as Rhode Island, Cape Cod and Ontario will be in attendance. Spectators will have a unique opportunity to see donkeys and mules at work and at play with their owners – driving, riding and competing in timed events.”

I’d covered Western-style gymkhanas and rodeos but a mule, donkey festival was a first for me. Because I was the Wiscasset/Edgecomb/Alna news reporter, the task of covering it fell on my young shoulders. I was unmarried, 24 years old and recently graduated from Colorodo State Univeristy’s school of journalism. I rose early and found my way to Roundabout Farm and saw where some of the mule and donkey owners had arrived the day before and camped out. I made my way to a fenced area that served as the show ring. I don’t remember there being any bleachers or stands; the spectators, there were lots of them, stood around the fence and watched the competition. Velma Sutter the editor told me the newspaper was only looking for a picture or two for publication but I hung around there for most of the day.

The festivities got going around 9, or 9:30. There were a number of so-called, skilled competitions among the “Jacks” and “Mollies” – the nicknames for male and female mules and donkeys. I was told by one of the bystanders, mules are a cross between a horse and a donkey and “weren’t fixed proper” to make baby mules. Besides being the symbol of the Democratic Party since President Andrew Jackson’s time, a mule is the athletic mascot of Colby College in Waterville. As for donkeys, according to the Holy Scriptures, Jesus made his triumphant arrival in Jerusalem on the back of one.

Alna’s Donkey and Mule Day featured a lot of fun-filled events: racing, pulling, trick riding, a jumping contest, the ever-popular egg and spoon competition, and something called, “Coon Hunters Mule Jumping.” The day’s activities concluded with a crazy costume parade in the show ring. One owner had dressed her male donkey in a tuxedo. Another one poking fun at America’s so-called, “Energy Crisis” held a sign reading, “Save Gas – Use Ass!” Pretty funny. Ribbons were awarded to the winning contestants in each of the categories. The promoters also gave away a commemorative lapel button to everyone paying admission to attend. To help defray costs, hot dogs, burgers, coffee and sodas were sold throughout the day. Well time marches on; the Longs moved upcountry and Roundabout Farm is just a memory. If you’re curious it was located about seven miles north of the Wiscasset Post Office. Along with Myron, Susie Stump of Warren was listed as a Mule and Donkey Day contact for the 1979 event.

Sometime in the early 1980s the gathering moved to a new location, I think maybe to the town of Warren where it was maybe held at the fairgrounds. Eventually, MOFGA, the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association and sponsors of the popular Common Ground Fair in Unity began holding a “Donkey and Mule Show.” Their event featured a lot of the same fun-filled activities including mule jumping, an obstacle course and costume competition. I gather their final Donkey and Mule Show was in 2008.

Phil Di Vece earned a B.A. in journalism studies from Colorado State University and an M.A. in journalism at the University of South Florida. He is the author of three Wiscasset books and is a frequent news contributor to the Boothbay Register/Wiscasset Newspaper. He resides in Wiscasset. Contact him at pdivece@roadrunner.com