FATFAR FOUNDER EMAILS V1
    Regarding the FatFar tube float in the Thanks for Asking section ... My wife Margery and I started the tradition in 1977 when we invited a bunch of local musicians to jump in the Chippewa behind our home (now demolished) at 19 N. Main St. The total number of tubers in that first event was 17. After floating down to Two Waters Bar, we returned to Frenchtown, and, grabbing our instruments, proceeded on a musical pub crawl of the five bars on Canal Street. The event was so enjoyable we agreed to meet on the same Sunday in June the next year. Friends told friends and the Second Annual Frenchtown Tubing Festival and Regalia saw more than 50 people, including musicians from Milwaukee and Chicago. Several bands set up a sound system at Kempe’s Bar and music went into the wee small hours. The third annual event saw the musical portion move into the ballroom of the Hotel Northern in downtown Chippewa Falls. More than 200 people attended and we found that actually hosting the event out of our tiny house was no longer possible. People were coming from all over the U.S., camping out and staying in motels around the city. In 1981 we moved to Iowa City, but FatFar had already gained a life of its own, growing larger and larger each year. We returned for the 10th annual tubefest and were interviewed at length by WEAU television. I believe that head count for the 10th annual was over 4,000 people. That was the last time we attended, but we have continued to follow the event with news articles sent to us, and last year watched the 32nd FatFar on YouTube.

– Robert “One Man” Johnson, Iowa City