If you were anywhere near Skenesborough Park in Whitehall, New York, this past Saturday, you might think you were hearing things.
But don’t let the moans and screams scare you. In Whitehall, the annual Sasquatch Festival and Calling Contest draws visitors from around the country and the world to celebrate these elusive, mythical creatures. You know, the big, hairy guy that’s said to wander around the woods.
Barbara Spoor has been one of the festival organizers for the last five years. She said the creator, Dave Molnar, was inspired by another town’s mosquito calling contest. Except, for Whitehall, there is no other creature to call but Sasquatch.
Thousands of people attend the event every year. Activities include guest speakers, games and local bands jamming in the park gazebo. The day ends with the calling contest, featuring two divisions for kids and adults.
“Sasquatch is actually a protected species in Whitehall,” Spoor said. “It is illegal to hunt and kill a Sasquatch. Sasquatch is a beloved kind of entity here in Whitehall, and it’s given us this opportunity to create a festival where so many people come from near and far.”
Mike Familant is a full-time Bigfoot researcher from Sparta, New Jersey. He explained Bigfoot and Sasquatch are the same beasts by a different name. He got into the research after surprising his then-fiance with a spontaneous expedition trip. Though they broke up, Familant found his research subject from that trip.
Sol Sirico and James Kerkapoly are two friends from Putnam County, New York. Kerkapoly recently came across a distinctive odor while walking his dog in the woods.
“It kind of smelled like something had passed through. All these branches were messed up and everything,” Kerkapoly said. “Then I went to Sol the next day, and I was like, 'Yo, I think I smelled Bigfoot.’ And I was gonna say it smelled like a mixture of BO and like a wet dog, Sol was like, 'Oh, this smells like a wet dog and BO,' before I even said it, and I was like, 'Whoa!’ and I lost my mind.”
When it comes to belief in Sasquatch, Sirico said that to admit to knowing everything really means knowing nothing.
“We all live in our own bubbles,” Sirico said. “There’s things out there that we don’t know or that we don’t see on a daily basis. These are what the first stories of man have always been about, beasts and monsters and things outside of our perception, and I think that that’s something that we’ll never let go of.”
As researcher Familant said, “Life with the possibility of Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster is far superior to one without.”
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