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.