Transitioning into the Holidays

Having a change in staffing at Nome Community Center and a background in planning events, I was once again in charge of the Community Thanksgiving Meal this year.  I kept it fairly similar to last year, but was able to tweak numbers to avoid too many leftovers.  We handed out about 250 meals again this year!  All were welcomed to the event and we encourage people to come have a sit down meal and converse with others. The chairs were all filled for the first hour and half, which was so wonderful! Then we had another large hand out of food towards the end for those who wanted to take their meals with them, especially to loved ones who were unable to attend. I was quite pleased with the turn out and how smooth things ran, but I was sure tired by the end of the event. After traveling twice in November, planning the community meal, and still maintaining my regular responsibilities, it was nice to have a three day weekend.  I made sure to keep those three days wide open for a chance to rest and rejuvenate.  Greg and I got to join friends for a refreshingly cold walk with our dogs in the rising sun, which was about 11am. We also used the time to get in touch with
our artsy side to make ornaments and other decorations for fun.  Greg put up our pallet board Christmas tree that he made last year and we decorated it. I also spent some time at the pottery studio working on some pottery pieces.  With my schedule changes this year, I was finally able to sign up for a community class and it has been so much fun.  I'm learning a lot, getting to know more people, and will hopefully have some pottery pieces worth keeping! Greg and I are still actively involved with the ambulance department.  We've been assisting the EMT 1 class and are helping our new recruits learn the ropes.

As the temperature continues to drop, Greg and I continue to find new and exciting things to do in Nome. We finally went ice skating for the first time since we've been here.  Greg is hoping to set his own crab pot this year, too (I'm sure there will be a blog post on it at some point!). It is definitely colder this winter here in Nome.  Some days if my skin isn't covered, it burns.  I have to be really careful about my choice of layers based on how long I plan to be outside.  It's not unusual to see people with face masks and hoods on here.  There are still some kids that don't wear coats or gloves, though, and it just blows my mind.

Now I am getting ready for the Boys & Girls Club Christmas party and many other events I will be attending over this month.  Greg and I also plan to deliver presents with Santa on the ambulance Christmas Eve.  The sun may not shine very long in Nome, but the events and our schedules continue to be busy!

We enjoyed a hike out of town with the rising sun and friends.

Conference here, Conference there, and another Conference!

Greg and I had the privilege of joining the Alaska United Methodist Church Workers retreat in October.  We were able to make connections to people of all different backgrounds all over Alaska. It was amazing to compare our communities and share stories. Alaska is so vast and unique.  Even though we all live in the same state, our climates and geography are so different from one another. Even though the community sizes may vary, the weather drastically different, and the dynamics unique, we all share similar struggles and joys and just love for others. We also enjoyed relaxing and rejuvenating with the theme of Sabbath for the retreat.  It was a much needed step back from our busy life to breathe and enjoy the nature setting of Birchwood Camp in Chugiak.  Not only did we get to enjoy meeting new people and spending time focusing on Sabbath and God, we also got to meet the new Bishop, Elaine Stanovsky.

I was also able to attend two Conferences in November for the second time.  The first was for the Alaska Afterschool Network conference, which I attended as the representative for Nome Boys & Girls Club.  I was able to regain some energy for our programs and I acquired some new ideas and resources.  I also continued to build relationships with other afterschool programs in the region. This was a very jam-packed conference, so it was tiring, but well worth it. I loved being able to hear about all the different ways that people are engaging youth and providing opportunities and empowerment.

The second conference I attended was as a chaperone for two high school ladies.  Lead On is a conference for high school youth who want to be leaders in their community. It is amazing to see the transformation that happen with these youth in just the short amount of time during the conference. Youth become empowered and are able to express themselves wholeheartedly. These individuals want to make a difference and Lead On gives them tools and opportunities to help make that happen.  We heard quite a few success stories while we were there from other Lead On attenders from over the years. The two ladies that I chaperoned thought about what they see in our community, both positive and negative, and what they would like to see in our community.  They decided to focus on positive outlook and attitude this year by leading a positive campaign and making a video.  Youth in our community often struggle with positive attitude and hope for the future. There is often a feeling of being "stuck" and isolated, especially in rural Alaska, which is one of the highest suicide rates in the country. I'm excited to support these two as they embrace this goal.  They were lots of fun to chaperone on our trip and I look forward to continuing that relationship throughout the year.

The Silver Salmon Award Goes To...

We did not watch the Olympics. This year, our free time was almost completely diverted to fishing. We have just completed our first full year here in Nome, becoming eligible for subsistence fishing and hunting. While The hunting might become a possibility in the future, fishing seemed like the better first step.

In my humble opinion, Silver salmon are the best to fish for. There are several types of fish including 5 types of salmon commonly seen in Alaska: Pink salmon, Silver salmon, Chum Salmon, King Salmon, and Red Salmon. The differences between them make them each a unique prize of the river.

Pinks or "humpys" are the most numerous. They are, however the least wanted. They are a bit smaller and are more fatty than some other types. They come up stream early in the summer and will bite almost any hook. They are the "practice fish" while you wait for the Silvers. Many people catch these for food themselves because it is possible to catch enough to feed a family for much of the year, however, some people catch them primarily for sport or dog food. Not a bad idea considering how much dogwood it takes to feed a team of sled dogs.


Chum salmon or "dog salmon" aren't ones that I have seen much and therefore don't know that much about. They are a decent sized fish that seemed to taste okay once grilled. I think they aren't in high numbers in the river.

King Salmon and the Red Salmon both are very desirable fish, as they have a very tasty meat and have a lot of it. Kings are usually the largest of the salmon types and reds are, in certain locations, in huge numbers. The problem with fishing for Kings or "Chinooks" and
Red's or "Sockeye salmon" is that they just don't bite a hook. To catch them you need a net. Dip netting is very popular, but can leave you with any where from 4 fish after a day, to 450 fish. You have to be able to deal with that many at a time.

Silvers or "Coho salmon" are the ones to fish for. They can get pretty large (I caught one about 22" last year) and are not nearly as common as the Pinks. They are a little pickier about the lures they go after and once they bite, they'll put up an amazing fight before you can bring one to shore. Silvers are the most fun of all the fish to fish for and are super tasty. 
Learning to fillet our own salmon has been an exciting part of this subsistence experience.

Joseph Balderas, Friend and Coworker

Nome has experienced a tough loss, one of our own went missing. Earlier this year, on Monday, June 26th, news went out that our coworker, Joseph Balderas, had taken a trip out into the backcountry on Saturday and had not shown up for work that day. Search and Rescue efforts were already underway and getting organized by the time the Community Center caught wind of his disappearance on Monday afternoon. If you've never experienced a friend going missing, it's an incredibly gut wrenching experience. As an organization, Nome Community Center immediately shut down all of our programs to join the search efforts. Kimberly and I found ourselves out hiking/ scouring the countryside for four of the nine long days that the search lasted.

Neither of us have taken part of an organized search and rescue effort before. This was also true for many people who came out the woodwork to try to help. Although the event caused many people to be anxious, something can surely be said for the organization of our local responders. Despite the obvious physical obstacles like the terrain challenges and dangerous wildlife (bears), the search was handled very well. However, those nine days of searching yielded no signs of Joseph.

The search was not some small group of volunteers trekking through the bushes near his truck, either. The Coast Guard had a Jayhawk helicopter with thermal imaging capabilities flying over a 30 mile radius of Joseph's truck. There were two additional R-44 helicopters supplied by Bering Air for several days of the search, and 5 total search and rescue dog teams brought in. There were well over 60 searchers who volunteered for the search. This included a team lead by the fire dept. and leadership from the Alaska State Troopers.

          
          
          

After the first day of searching, Kimberly and I found ourselves taking lead for several of the smaller search groups. However, after several long days of hiking, 4-wheeling and bushwhacking, we were spent. We did experience our first encounter with bears on one of our hikes. After about 4 miles of hiking along a nearby river path, our group spotted two large blonde colored bear cubs across the wide (yet shallow) river. They had been playing with each other and either heard us or caught our scent because they quickly stopped playing and started making their way down into the river to appease their curiosity. We were on the far bank of the river  (first picture) with a lot of willows between them and us so we kept a close eye on them. We decided that we didn't want their company and called in to the main search group and asked for the helicopter to make a pass nearby to scare the bears back up the hill where they came from.

Day after day of no news eats away at you. Having that recent memory of seeing Joseph in passing that Saturday morning, makes it feel like it's impossible to be true. How can he be gone. Is there more that I could have done. And of course, the thought of if I could only go back and convince him to spend that day differently, would he possibly be here with us now. I have to remember that Joseph is without a doubt in God's hands.

Summer Fun for Everyone!

Summer hours are so much longer when the sun never sets.  Greg and I have been out in the wee hours of the night on ambulance runs and we'll see kids and others out at every hour.  The activities are endless during the summer, yet so many people struggle with boredom.  At Boys and Girls Club, we made it our mission to keep kids active and involved this summer to help keep them engaged in healthier lifestyle choices.  Some of the weekly activities we led were fishing, beach shenanigans, and field trips.  Beach shenanigans included a bonfire on the beach, a walk along the shore, collecting sea glass, and climbing around on the port seawall.  The kids also took advantage of getting soaking wet by jumping into the ocean (why anyone would jump in to ice cold water is besides me!).  Friday Field Trips were different every week.  We went on a hike to Dorothy Falls and Anvil Mountain, had a beach BBQ with games, went to Salmon Lake to explore, paddle boarded, picked berries, went fishing for pink salmon, and more!  In addition to our regular activities, I also took kids rock climbing at our recreation center, led a variety of rainy day crafts, and played games.  It has been a lot of fun being able to get out of the building more often and to be able to explore the beautiful surroundings.  It has been a refreshing change of pace from the school year and cold, winter days.

Three weeks out of the summer, Greg and I took part in leading Camp CRAVE out at Council, which many of the B&G kids were a part of.  Camp CRAVE is organized by Nome Community Center and funded and supported by many organizations.  The focus is on healthy living with topics covering tobacco prevention, nutrition, Inupiaq values, and more.  Council is a beautiful area located at the end of the Council Road, 72 miles from Nome.  The camp we stayed at was about a mile boat ride from the end of the road.  Crystal clear rivers, pine trees, fresh clean air, towering mountains, and blue skies (and mosquitos) welcomed us.  During camp, we played games, sang silly campfire songs, swam in the COLD clear water, fished for salmon,  taught about healthy living styles, hiked, and camped out in God's amazing creation.  Even though it was challenging and stressful at times, it was a highlight to my summer.

Other than work, Greg and I spent our summer enjoying the outdoors as much as we could.  We went on several hikes, picked berries, went on a few four wheeling trips, camped, explored more areas of Nome, and more!  We also enjoyed getting to know more people in town and being involved in community events.

MIDNIGHT SUN FESTIVITIES!!

Nome is very active this time of year. Between the summer solstice celebrations and the events happening around the 4th of July, there is something happening here in town almost every day.

For us, the festivities started with the Nome Volunteer Ambulance Department's participation in both the Polar Bear Plunge and the Midnight Sun Parade on Saturday, the 18th of June. I was up helping the department set up the emergency shelter tent on the east beach, which is on standby for the "Plunge" event. Once the tent is up, then event persons quickly got started clearing the beach area for the masses who would later participate in the run into the brisk ocean waters. Kimberly and I did not attend the Polar Plunge ourselves, though we will have to make sure we do next year.

From the beach we both went back to the ambulance garage to quickly wash the dept. vehicles for the parade. (Washing the vehicles felt somewhat pointless because Nome is so dry and dusty that they were dirty again by time we got to the parade 1/4 mile away...) Kimberly drove down front street with one of our ambulances while I rode shotgun tossing candy to the kids lining the street.

Following the parade, there was a bank robbery reenactment on Front Street in front of Wells Fargo, which our mayor participated in.  The robbery consisted of bags of candy that were then thrown to the crowd for all the children to scamper around and collect.

Then came the Nome Raft Race on Sunday. This particular event consists of 4(+) member teams, creating their own makeshift rafts, and racing down the Nome river. We were talking with some friends in town, and several mentioned interest in possibly entering the raft race. I decided to look into the idea and happened upon a raft from a previous year that would not be entered otherwise. We went rafting in 38º water with 8 other teams while most of Nome stood on the bridge and on the shore attempting to soak us by any means necessary.

Here's my quick video of our race :)

https://youtu.be/gVfhmhJR7lY

There aren't many rules for this raft race. While I never actually saw the official rules, I have heard about a few.
1) The craft must be all home made, and it must be half as wide as it is long.

2) There must be at least 4 persons on the raft when the race begins and the same people have to be on it when you cross the finish line.

3) All members of the team must be wet and fully submersed by the finish line.

4) Any paddles must be home made. (This one was not enforced and many teams had real paddles)

5) No motors allowed.

6) No firearms allowed.

7) Civilized fun is encouraged.








Some other events that happened during the Midnight Sun Festivities were the Gold Dust Dash (4 mile race with winners receiving gold nuggets!), Street Dance, Stoke-n-Croak Triathlon, Lemonade Day (a day for kids to practice being entrepreneurs), Eskimo Game demonstrations, Eskimo Blanket Toss, and more!  Kimberly got to try the blanket toss and got some air!  The "blanket" is made of Walrus skin and ropes and is rather stiff.

 Following the Summer Solstice events, 4th of July brought more activities and reasons to celebrate in Nome, Ak. 

Changing It Up

Greg and I had an extended weekend for Memorial Day and chose to spend it in God's beautiful creation.  We camped out at Salmon Lake with our boss and her family.  With the rushing river, never ending sun, and abnormally warm weather, we had a wonderful time of rest. The temperature spiked all the way up to 79 degrees on Sunday!  It's really difficult to get out of the sun when it doesn't go away... So was sleeping in a tent when it's so bright outside.  Zoey (our pup) had a blast the whole weekend running free chasing birds and playing with the other dogs.  She slept for days after we got back.  We also got to see a moose on our way home!

Waking up to a sunshine that never sets is a whole new experience.

We were in love with our camping spot!

Front view before renovations.

Behind the counter before renovations- YIKES!

After a much needed step back from our busy life, we jumped right back into work when we got back.  The week following was spent remodeling Boys and Girls Club and covering in the kitchen at XYZ Senior Center.  Since Greg's time was more valuable with the remodeling and XYZ's cook had just retired, I spent my mornings preparing lunch for the elders.  Afterward, I joined Chris and Greg at B&G to help with the remodeling.  It was a great way to change up our rolls and routines.  Nothing made me happier than to have a water fountain, a 3 compartment sink, and an oven installed.  We basically took an inefficient snack shack and turned it into a kitchen.  The entire counter was torn apart and rebuilt reusing the lumber. The counter was shortened to better assist smaller children and put on wheels.  Since one portion of the counter can move, we are able to expand the kitchen for cooking classes or open up the room for larger space needs.  The sink we were using before was really meant for cleaning/ mopping supplies, so having a legit sink now makes a world of difference.  Before the water fountain, we were using cups (which were either wasteful if they were disposable or gross because they weren't washed often due to our sink situation).  We also added a window between the entrance way and the kitchen for more visibility.  So now we have a kitchen, better use of space, and a more efficient system!  The kids were pumped when they saw all the changes and said, "it looks like a real kitchen!"

We felt great about our accomplishments, even though it meant working over the weekend, and are happy with the results!  Greg did a wonderful job of designing, implementing, and leading the crew.

Wow, it's been a while! Let's catch up.

We have been BUSY! Kimberly and I have quite a few things keeping our time occupied, both work and play (mostly work).
In an effort to catch up on our blog posting, we thought we'd simply touch on the events that have been taking place throughout Nome and in our lives. Of course, we mostly manage to document the fun stuff.
 

Our First Iditarod!

This is a big one. I had started this draft during the event, and unfortunately, it never made it past that stage. Many of our co workers planned ahead and had taken time off during this week. We did not, and found ourselves working through many of the most eventful moments. Next year we will be sure to set a little time aside to live into the festivities.

The Iditarod was here in Nome in March and there were many festivities! 71 of the total 85 mushers made their way into Nome and crossed the finish line. There were sirens blaring as racers came in to town and the news cameras were rolling. There was even a new track record set by this year's winner. Dallas Seavey crossed the finish line at 2:20am Tuesday morning with 7 of his original 16 dogs with a time of 8 days 11 hours and 26 min.
All the excitement had us up late Monday night trying to decide if we should stay up and wait to cheer the winner or settle into bed and try to get back up for the event. We had seen the last checkpoint record that Dallas had left the safety location at 11:40pm and had heard that it normally takes a few hours to cross that last leg. Since there is no live tracking, we asked around and the consensus was that 3am would be a good guess as to his finish time.We decided to sleep and set our alarm for 3am. Knowing that if he made better time the 15 minute warning of the fire siren would wake us up.


No such luck. By the time my 3am alarm went off, the first TWO mushers had come in and were already resting. We still had to get up and walk down to Front St. just to be sure there wasn't anything fun we were missing. Of course, everyone was just scattering back to bed or to the bars. Next year, we'll be sure to take the next morning off so we can stay up for the full event. This is a big week for the town and brings in a lot of money for the city. The town population has been known to more than triple for this week long event! Even for locals who have seen the same celebration year after year, this is a time when everyone seems to get excited.

Inside Out. 

Many of you have seen this movie by now, but it's a good one. Kimberly took on the planning of the community wide movie night this past March. It's the type of event that can really stress you out since you never know what crowd to expect. The last movie night had brought out nearly 300 people. Despite these challenges, she did great. We rented out the mini convention center and held our free showing with complimentary popcorn, cookies, lemonade and coffee. Things went well and we have perfected the setup for future movie showings.

Midterm Training at Global Ministries in NYC

We are already nearing the half way point in our missionary training. It hardly seems possible. This midterm training signifies a point at which our cohort of missionaries is able to gather and talk together about how perspectives have changed now that we have some experience in our placement sites. We talked about problems we are facing, how we might address them, and what more we might be able to do to further God's reach into each community.

We also attended Ecumenical Advocacy Days in Washington, DC. For three days, we gathered at this political convention, learning about injustices in our world. We learned about how to lobby for the interest of the people and we got a chance to put that lobbying into practice. On Monday, April 18th, we met with a House Representative for Virginia and a Senator for Alaska to speak about two bills currently in play.

Spring Breakup! Days are getting LONG

An empty truck and boat trailer. The sign
 of seal hunters out and about. So far, we've
heard it has been a very good year for
seal hunting.

Sea ice hopping

The temperatures have started to go up and the snow is fading. The ice covering the ocean is quickly breaking up and the town is bustling with people coming out to enjoy the warmer weather. Nome is a totally different place now that the snow is almost gone. It's the beginning of May and it is light out for more than 22hrs each day. The kids are out playing on the playground late into the evening, and it gets harder and harder to block the light from coming through the window to sleep.
With the warmer weather and extra hours comes even more opportunity for adventures. Recently Kimberly and I joined another couple to spend a Sunday afternoon on the beach. We drove southeast of Nome to an area along the mouth of the Nome River. It is the perfect place for a driftwood fire by the water and to let the dogs run free.

Here's Zoey burying herself in the sand by me. She's loving the warming weather. 

I borrowed a four wheeler this past Sunday and took it to explore one of the abandoned dredges outside of town. It's an amazing piece of engineering that was used (until a decade or two ago I think) to dig up the earth in search of gold. The dredge was designed to dig a pond size area along the stream to dig up gold. This abandoned dredge is one of the largest around and is still in good enough condition to explore.  We were able to see some parts on how it ran and what it would have looked like in operation. Although there are sections of the flooring that are rotting and a "basement" level that is below the water line, it's an exciting place to explore.

The crane-like tower is about
10 stories high.

This is probably the tallest
structure in Nome.

Exploring the levels of the dredge. 

Kimberly made it in the newspaper!

One annual event that is put on by the Nome Rotary Club, is the SOUP-ER BOWL. Twenty or so local artisans and college art students created one of a kind bowls that were put on sale for the event. With the purchase of a bowl, you were given entry to the cafeteria where you could try any three of the 16 wonderful soups along the buffet line. The best part of the whole event was that all proceeds went to the Nome Boys & Girls Club. We were stuffed by the time we had our share of delicious soups!