Esto gears up for return of Two-Toed Tom Festival

With the next year on the horizon, the small town of Esto is preparing to hold the Two-Toed Tom Festival again.

The event recognizing Esto’s legendary folklore alligator and celebrating the area in general will occur September 14, 2024, at John Clark Park. The festival started in 1987 but has been dormant for several years.

To that end, the town will continue to contribute $450 a month to help fund the event after deciding to do so this past summer. The festival is being organized by a separate committee.

“Since then, y’all paid for some cups and the $1,000 reservation fee for the lumberjack show instead of that monthly donation,” Town Clerk Ben Tew said to the Town Council during a meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 21. “Now we’re getting to the point where the Two-Toed Tom Festival should start bringing in its own money, whether it be through merchandise sales or business sponsorships.”

Council Vice President Josh Davenport said he would like for the town to still contribute funding during the festival’s first year back “to get it started.”

“I hope that we have corporate sponsorship for this event and I hope we have some other means of funding it through other stuff but, for me, for the first round it makes sense to continue to give this committee a budget because it’s a good place to start from,” Davenport said.

Councilmember Garet Skipper said he was okay with the monthly donations “as far as if we’ve got the money” and “if it’s not going to put us in a bind.”

“We committed to it back then,” Skipper said. “I kind of want to honor that commitment and have it in there where we can amend or change that as we move forward. Each month, if something comes up.”

Tew said the council can amend their previous commitment as need be.

In related news, the Town of Esto also has a new city seal. Tew, who has experience with graphic design, created the new seal which features an alligator. The council accepted the new seal design.