City Wide Festival to Honor 106th Anniversary of Seagraves, Texas
A small West Texas town is holding their annual celebration in honor of their small but growing city. This Fall the city of Seagraves will be hosting a huge three day celebration that will have plenty of fun things to keep everyone in the family busy.
This celebration seems to have been celebrated in prior years but was recently brought back within the last six years. This annual event will be on the 106th anniversary since Seagraves became an established community back on May 22, 1917. The Curator of the Seagraves Loop Museum & Art Center Leslie McConal did inform us that the town was named after a Santa Fe Railroad official, C.L. Seagraves, was dedicated by Thomas Spearman on June 8, 1917.
The Seagraves celebration will include the regular things you would expect from any town celebration such as music, food trucks, vendors and of course fireworks. There will be some other activities that are out of the regular activities you would expect but twice as fun because of how unique they are. There will be a karaoke contest which is fun but also a grito contest for anyone who wants to showcase that they have the best grito in all of Seagraves. A grito is that shout you might hear during mariachi music or at a Mexican/Hispanic family gathering that carries a lot of soul.
Seagraves was originally known as Blythe, after the post office that was on the Blyth Ranch headquarters to which Sam Blythe was the first post master in 1911. Seagraves was given the slogan "The City That Oil Built" which seems to be a very hot commodity even now. This hot commodity could explain the even hotter jalapeño-eating contest being held during this celebration. If some hot peppers aren't your thing then there is always watermelon, which is part of the watermelon seed-spitting contest, or you could try your hand at the barbecue cook-off to show that you're a real grilling master.
This event will be on Saturday, September 23, but will officially kick off during Seagraves ISD's homing night on Friday, September 22. After their homecoming football game there will be a street dance with food for all kids after the big game from 10 p.m. to midnight. To end the festivities a worship service, named "Celebrate Jesus", will be held at 11 a.m. on Main Street along with a meal. The weekend festivities are free to attend and everyone is encouraged to enjoy the fun in Seagraves.