Event of the Month

vent of the Month

Text by Joseph Stocker Ostriches are the largest of all birds. They grow to 8 feet in height and weigh around 300 pounds. The females lay eggs 12 to 15 times as large as chicken eggs.

Another interesting fact about ostriches: they can't fly. But they run like heck: about 35 mph full-out. All of which plus a soupçon of history helps explain why one of the biggest-draw gatherings in Arizona every year is the Chandler Ostrich Festival in mid-March. The main attraction: ostrich races.

Okay, now that bit of history: Dr. A.J. Chandler, founder of the town, builder of its famous San Marcos Hotel (on the National Register of Historic Places), raised ostriches.

He was a veterinarian, and, around the turn of the century, he cashed in on a fad for ostrich feathers to adorn ladies' hats. (See Arizona Highways, May '79) The fad didn't last very long. "There's really not a big demand for ostrich feathers right now," says Lori Daniels, chairperson of last year's ostrich festival.

No matter. Ostriches became the logical theme for a Chandler festival. To be sure, other things go on during the event: a parade, country music, a carnival, the obligatory booths, a puppet show, a petting zoo. But it's the ostriches that pull the crowds. Long before each race, folks gather just to stare at the huge birds. Then, at race time, people pack the grandstand, encircle the oval track, even stand on the roof of a nearby parking garage to watch the great, ungainly creatures run.

WHEN YOU GO

Festival dates: Thursday, March 12, 4:00 Ρ.Μ. to 10:00 Ρ.Μ.; Friday, March 13, noon to 10:00 P.M.; Saturday, March 14, 8:00 A.M. to 10:00 P.M.; Sunday, March 15, 11:00 Α.Μ. to 6:00 P.M. A carnival kicks off the festival on Thursday; ostrich races are scheduled Friday through Sunday. Chandler is 19 miles southeast of Phoenix. Take Interstate 10 to the Superstition Freeway and go east some 8 miles to Arizona Avenue then right to the heart of the city. Or if you're driving from Mesa and the east valley, go south about 4 miles on State Route 87, which becomes Arizona Avenue. You'll find the festival in and all around A.J. Chandler Park, which straddles Arizona Avenue. Motels aplenty thereabouts (and Chandler's historic San Marcos Hotel) if you're staying over. For further information, telephone the Chandler Chamber of Commerce at (602) 963-4571.

The ostriches bear fitting names: Big Bird, Crazy Legs, Thunderchick, Superchick, Henhouse Harry. Nobody really bets on them. It's more of a CHANDLER'S A show than a race. GREAT PLACE FOR THE BIRDS The ostrich jockeys mostly young men with rodeo experience steer the big birds from lightweight chariots or they ride bareback (a technique that is called "feathAND THEY LOVE IT erback" by those engaged in the ostrich-racing business).

They use brooms to guide their strange mounts. A broom waved on the right side of an ostrich's head should turn it to the left and vice versa. If the ostrich really needs some encouragement, it's prodded firmly in the tail feathers with the broom handle.

Joe Hedrick, proprietor of Hedrick's Exotic Animal Farm at Nickerson, Kansas, supplies the ostriches. Besides the big birds, he raises camels and llamas (they also race at the Chandler festival), plus, among others, zebras, kangaroos, emus (ostrich-like birds from Australia), and eland antelopes, Africa's largest.

Hedrick says ostriches aren't exactly a "run-up-and-sit-on-yourlap-type animal." They can get pretty nasty, especially in breeding season. What they do is, they kick. And they kick hard. It's told in town that one of Dr. Chandler's ostriches kicked a handler and killed him.

Still, the great birds can be trained. It takes about a year to get them ready for the racetrack, says Hedrick. But the investment of time and patience pays off. Ostriches live 50 to 60 years, and if you can book them into enough festivals and county fairs, you can make a buck or two.

What's it like to ride an ostrich featherback? "It's lotsa fun and pretty smooth," says Cody McGuire, a 23-year-old farmer, rancher, and sometime rodeo clown from White Tanks, west of Litchfield Park, who hires out to Joe Hedrick as a jockey for the Chandler festival. "You just kinda sit yourself in the middle and hold on to the rigging, and you go."

Moreover, if you're looking for something different to do this month, drop around Chandler way and watch the ostriches run. It's kinda weird but a nice change from the horses and the dogs.