Fremont gets a walking tour nearly as ‘peculiar’ as itself | Business

On June 10, a half-dozen members of PAWS and their canine companions wandered downtown Fremont as J-efe, “half rapper/half Aladdin” with a fez and baggy pants, explained the history behind the neighborhood’s landmarks.

It was a bizarre sight. But, then again, so is a statue of Lenin, a Soviet-era rocket and a giant troll.

The walking tour of Fremont, aptly called The Fremont Tour, is the brainchild of teacher Mark Ukelson and launched earlier this month. It’s part history lesson and part improvisational street theater.

The guides – J-efe, beauty queen Miss Center of the Universe, a thawed-out grunge rocker and many more – lead the tours, which start at the Fremont History House and take in Waiting for the Interurban, the Center of the Universe, the Fremont Rocket, the statue of Lenin and the Fremont Troll, while entertaining groups with jokes, skits and improv.

Each tour is different, depending on the combination of guides (local actors and friends of Ukelson) and the way the group interacts with them.

Friday’s tour with PAWS was one in a series of test runs leading up to the June 19 official grand opening of The Fremont Tour. Though the dogs weren’t always interested in the history lessons, their owners got into the spirit of things, posing with the Interurban, launching the Rocket at City Hall and bribing the Troll’s cousin to leave them alone.

One of the most impressive moments in the tour was when audience volunteer Eleanor Blackford donned goggles and a lab coat to launch the Rocket at City Hall as a warning shot against being more “peculiar” than Fremont.

The Rocket, which had previously only emitted a small puff of smoke when activated, was souped up recently by a handful of volunteers. The visitors from PAWS were the first to see the new-and-improved rocket launch in action.

Ukelson is offering the half-mile, 80-minute tour at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays through Sept. 4. For more information and tickets, visit www.TheFremontTour.com.