University of Houston, 4333 University Drive, Houston TX 77204-2000, (713) 743-1050.
© 2013 University of Houston. All rights reserved.
| Title | Houstonian, 1997 |
| Contributor (LCNAF) |
|
| Date | 1997 |
| Description | This edition of the Houstonian, published in 1997, is the official yearbook of the University of Houston. |
| Donor | Burns, Lisa |
| Subject.Topical (LCSH) |
|
| Subject.Name (LCNAF) |
|
| Subject.Geographic (TGN) |
|
| Genre (AAT) |
|
| Language | English |
| Type (DCMI) |
|
| Original Item Location | LD2281.H745 H6 v. 63 1997 |
| Original Item URL | http://library.uh.edu/record=b1158762~S11 |
| Digital Collection | Houstonian Yearbook Collection |
| Digital Collection URL | http://digital.lib.uh.edu/collection/yearb |
| Repository | Special Collections, University of Houston Libraries |
| Repository URL | http://info.lib.uh.edu/about/campus-libraries-collections/special-collections |
| Use and Reproduction | In Copyright |
| Note | The digitization and presentation of this yearbook was made possible by a gift from Ms. Lisa Burns in honor of her service as Houstonian editor. |
| File Name | index.cpd |
| Title | Student Life |
| Format (IMT) |
|
| File Name | yearb1997030.jpg |
| Transcript | Fiesta Attracts Revelers, Critics Modern Event Strives to Recapture Past Spirit BY: Mark Smith 1957, Hollywood starlet Kathy Grant stood at the outskirts of a dusty Texas town, adorned in an iridescent white dress and flower bonnet. Two unshaven youngsters walked up to meet her, and arm in arm they made their way into Fiesta City, an authentically constructed cowtown perfumed with barbecue and buzzing with excitement. Grant wasn't the first celebrity to visit the University of Houstons Frontier Fiesta — Humphrey Bogart and Clint Walker had come before her. But this was the height of the festivals popularity, and it seemed the entire campus had some stock in it. If you weren't organizing Student Life it, you were planning to attend and in the winter months leading up to it, Fiesta was all you talked about. "The people who participated in the Fiesta were from all over the state;' explained Ryan Wolverton, 1997 Fiesta coordinator. "It was a week long event then, and (it) drew about 100,000 people:' In the 1950s, seven acres of university soil were devoted to the event. Twenty attractions kept revelers busy, including an annual beard shaving contest and folk performances. The Houstonian yearbook would exalt this as the "spirit of UH." But in 1959, the red blood of UH ran dry. Frontier Fiesta was operating on an extravagant budget and par- tisipants were missing class, so faculty members met and decided to cancel the event. Students lobbied for its return, but insistent shouts faded to weak whispers over the course of 30 years. In 1992, the efforts of alumni secured Frontier Fiestas return. It was smaller scaled than in its glory days, attendance was scant and university finance kept its heart beating. But in the five years since, Fiesta City has grown " adding an event here, an attendee there and working its way off of university funding. Continued on page 43\ quintet of talented uh students dance on chair tops at an afternoon variety show. Country music singer/songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker performed to the event's largest audience Friday evening. Photo By: Ron Temple Senior Journalism major Don Jones gives a group of scattered spectators a few notes. Organizers estimate 30.000 people visited Fiesta City this year. Photo By: Ron Temple Frontier Fiesta |