Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! 

The People of Nome love to  celebrate, and New Years Eve is no exception. 

Message after message was sent out through the community for each of the parties that would be thrown and places that people should check out. When midnight finally rolled around, much of the town gathered near the harbor beach for the fireworks show. This display has become a loved tradition despite the fact that the fog is normally too thick to see much more than a red or white flash. This year was better than average.

Following the fireworks, Kimberly and I started our shift on the safety patrol (sounds dorky, but is super helpful).  One of the common dangers that comes from the combination of alcohol and extreme cold, is the potential of passing out and freezing. The citizens of Nome have organized the safety patrol to be a positive support system so people can get help if and when they need it on such busy nights.  Though, when our shift ended at 3:30am, it sounded like many of the parties were still going strong.

December in Review:

As is our normal habit, we have been very busy recently. Along with our missionary work, taking care of the new puppy, and trying to get ready for Christmas, Kimberly and I have been enrolled in an EMT course. I am proud to say that after 10 weeks of studying and training, we have passed our exam and have been accepted into the Nome Volunteer Ambulance Department as EMT 1's. For those that aren't familiar with the EMT provider scale, it means we are able to respond to any ambulance call as a driver or emergency responder. We are able to administer a few basic medications and/or any basic life support that is deemed necessary by the situation.

Starting this new year, we will be adjusting our schedules to be on call several days/ nights each week. This is something that both Kimberly and I believe will help us further our ministry in Nome and help us get to know both the people we are serving and the people we are serving with. We are blessed to have the encouragement of our site director who had been running with the department as well.

Our Christmas was fairly low key here, as it was just the two of us celebrating a wonderful day of rest on Jesus' birthday. We did managed to put together a small Christmas tree despite the distinct lack of trees here in Nome. It was a nice symbol of a family tradition, made from reclaimed wood from the community. Donned on top as our star, a dried and decorated starfish made by a creative citizen of Nome. We thoroughly enjoyed our holiday and the last snowfall that made the whole town look clean and new as a fresh snowfall often does. However, following that snow we had several very warm days that got up into the mid 30's (After 1º- 12º averages, that feels very warm). This means the ice on the roads and sidewalks melt and refreeze creating a fresh, slick layer for cars and walkers. This made us realized that the warm weather has become an abnormal occurrence and that cold and windy is the way it should be. Just goes to show that we're becoming Nomites at heart.

In other exciting Nome news, Thursday, Dec. 17th,  we had a young bearded seal make his way out of the harbor and up toward 1st street. While we have yet to see one of these awesome creatures in person, this isn't that uncommon of an experience here in Nome. These two pictures were taken from the Nome Nugget Newspaper which has a free PDF to download each week. If there is anyone interested in the reading more about the local Nome news you can check out the newspaper's PDF at nomenugget.net. We've heard about sightings of a Walrus on the beach, Beluga or Minke whales riding the waves during storms. Grizzly bears on the mountain behind the high school, and otters in the Nome river. A few people think this might be the year to see a polar bear, too. Though, they've stayed further north since 2005, I believe.  There's all sorts of fun, new pieces of God's beautiful creation for us to discover. While we may want to keep our distance for some of the animals, we are both excited to keep exploring.

Thanksgiving Feast

For Thanksgiving, Greg and I organized the Community Thanksgiving Meal, which is open to the entire community.  People are welcomed to bring their own dishes, but the main course is provided by donations from the community.  We reached out to the local businesses and they chose what to donate, whether that was food, monetary donations, or supplies we needed.  We then reached out and asked for volunteers to help set up, bake desserts, cook turkeys, help in the kitchen, and clean up.  On the day of the event, everything came together to for a successful celebration filled with gratitude and community connections. The entire day ran smoothly and I was so pleased with the how everything turned out.  We had about 200 sit down meals and about 50 meals to-go.  Many people took food home to those who couldn't make it out for various reasons.  We received lots of compliments and gratitude for our hard work, which was very rewarding.  Now that we've done it once, it'll be much easier the second time around!  The hardest part for me was reaching out to businesses and people I didn't know, since I'm new to town.  I've gotten to know the town a lot better and met a lot of great people.  There is something special about celebrating the holiday with people you don't know from around the community with so many rich stories.

Greg's Work Site Positions

Here's an update about work sites, sorry about all the acronyms. There are Three main positions I take here at Nome Community Center (NCC). Where I work most every day, is at the XYZ Senior Center. The XYZ (meaning X-tra Years of Zest) Senior Center, is a non-profit that is operated under the NCC. This facility was designed to create a supportive space for local elders to improve their quality of life. Here they can receive weekday meals (breakfast and lunch), be social, and use our laundry facilities


**Side note: If you do not own a washer and dryer in Nome, it is Very difficult to get your clothes washed. The only public washer/dryer is at one of the local bars. Having 3 washers and dryers available to those who are 60 and up is a privilege to many of the elders.

1st Floor Dining Room

My job title at XYZ is Dining Room Manager. This means I make sure that everything keeps running in the kitchen and dining room. More specifically, I am a supervisor to the halfway house residents who use our facility as a worksite for working off their probationary hours. While I do sometimes have to act as a babysitter, this is generally a group of men that wants to shape up and are interested in helping.

At XYZ we offer rides to and from the senior center, and two chauffeured grocery shopping trips a week. I am now in the process of being trained as the back up driver. The roads have been covered in a decent layer of ice since Nov. 1st and will probably stay that way until mid May. Thankfully, in the case of driving, Nome is mostly flat.

2nd Floor Breakfast Room

We also plan activities and day trips for the elders to be apart of here as well. These include berry picking trips, regular bingo and Eskimo bingo tournaments, and a recent trip to the Teller Cultural Festival. There is also a monthly trip to the sewing shop and holiday events that we put on - like the halloween costume contest. This week we're hoping the weather will be nice enough to go ice fishing on Monday. Of course I am excited to go as well. This is something many of our elders grew up doing throughout the winter months.

My second position here at NCC is the Food Bank Manager. I am responsible for the organization of both food donations and volunteers to man the building during open hours. I also have a responsibility to the Food Bank of Alaska to keep records of food given and an updated inventory of shipments that come in. 

The Food Bank is currently giving away free frozen turkeys from now until Thanksgiving. Along with that, I am happy to say that we are nearly at our full storage capacity for food. 

My third position is a little less official. After only two months here, I have replaced plumbing, rewired a few fixtures, worked on the construction of a new storage room, and repaired cabinets, washers and ovens. I am an on call handyman of sorts. This shouldn't come as shock to those of you who know me though. When this isn't my job, it's my hobby.

I can honestly say that I am thoroughly enjoying myself here in Nome, despite the cold and other challenges. I am feeling at home here and I am sure God has some awesome things planned.

Halloween

Although the sunlight gets shorter each day, the amount of activities keep growing.

For Halloween, Nome Community Center partnered with two other organizations to create the ultimate Halloween Festival.  There was indoor trick-or-treating, a haunted house, carnival activities and games, a costume contest, food, a photo booth, and much more!  It turned out to be a successful community event.  I organized NCC's portion of the event and coordinated with the other organizations, which was quite rewarding.  The children scrunched their noses as they felt brains, intestines, maggots, and other "ewwy gooey" objects (disclaimer: not really brains and maggots, etc).  They colored different pictures, made spooky picture frames, got their faces painted, made and ate witch hands (popcorn), and proudly displayed their costumes.  We raised money for three organizations, collected six full boxes of food for the Food Bank, provided free activities, and had a great time.

In addition, XYZ Senior Center had their own costume contest, complete with judges and prizes!


Coming up next, we have a Community Thanksgiving Meal happening on Thanksgiving Day.  The entire community is welcomed to this event (we're expecting about 300 people).  Nome Community Center organizes this event every year with the support of many local businesses.  Greg and I are organizing this event and it's been a challenge.  I've really appreciated getting to know more about the local businesses.  It is a struggle, however, since we aren't as familiar with the town and have never been to one of these events before.  It's going to be worth it, though!  We are looking forward to Thanksgiving for many reasons.

The Fall Has Come and Gone

Blueberry season is over and cranberry and blackberry season is quickly ending.  Most of the fall colors have faded away to brown.  The birds continue to fly in formation above us heading south.  The ice in the puddles get thicker each morning.  The vehicles need to be running a while before they can be driven (and defrosted).  Snow has already begun to fall and the mountain tops are white.  The sun rises later and sets earlier.  I think Nome is confused about what season it is because it feels a little too much like winter already.  I may be in trouble when the real winter hits!

Greg and I continue to explore, learn, and familiarize ourselves with the area and the culture.  We love being here and know that this is where we are meant to be right now. 

For those who are still unsure what we are doing here in Nome, I wanted to share a brief outline of what we do.  We work for Nome Community Center, which is an organization overseeing many other organizations that work to enhance the quality of living here.  Greg works at the XYZ Senior Center, which is a program to help support and promote independent living for seniors.  They offer lunch every day, lead various programs, and go on trips around the area.  He also runs the Nome Food Bank, which provides food items for individuals and families who cannot afford it. We are in the process of starting the coat drive for this winter, as well.  I work for the Boys and Girls club providing a safe and healthy environment for children after school.  We do a variety of activities, provide snacks, help with homework, and build relationships.  We will share more about our roles and activities that we are a part of as we go.

I realize that we have been sharing the many bright and cheerful aspects of Nome, but we haven't been sharing much about the hard reality here.  There are some spoken and unspoken challenges in this community.  Alcoholism, abuse, and poverty are very real here.  We have seen first hand the hardships of this beautiful and broken community.  As we build relationships, we begin to hear stories and witness the pain surrounding us.  We see the abundance of how people live off the land, yet we also see the struggle families have to provide meals at home for themselves and their children.  We see inebriated individuals wandering throughout town at all hours of the day.  As the winter gets harsher, there will be volunteers that patrol the streets to make sure that no ones passes out in the snow and freezes.   Children share their stories of what home life looks like for them, many would rather be other places.  One young child I met had a swollen black eye from his father (it's been reported).  An older women told me about her grown children and how one of them died younger in life from alcohol poisoning.  There were five suicides during the summer in Nome alone.  The pain is real and prevalent.  As a missionary, I only hope that I can share my love and hope for life.  I hope that I can share a glimpse of God's light and joy and plant a seed for a healthier and stronger future.

As Greg and I continue to learn about the culture, the lifestyle, the weather, and ourselves, we understand more and more about why God has called us here.  We are both blessed to be in such an amazing community and called to help in ways we don't even know yet.

        Labor Day weekend. 

                                                                                Working for Nome Community Center, we were invited to join in the fun at the work retreat. Kimberly offered to help by leading the group in some team building activities. It was a great way to get to know everybody that we will be working with over the next two years. We are feeling so blessed to get to work with such great people.

 

The community center had rented out the boy scout camp, which is 30 miles north east of Nome, by Salmon Lake. There are salmon all over the place just spawning and splashing a few feet from the shore. It's a whole different type of terrain than I am used to, but really beautiful.

 For our evening campfire, we hacked the salvaged drift wood down to manageable sizes. 

Here's Kimberly, trying out one of the paddle boards on the lake. The water is cold, but it's so worth getting a little wet to stand above the water like this. The lake is crisp and clear, and standing up, you can see the bright red of the salmon streak by as you paddle around.

                                                                                  The real festivities didn't begin until Monday. We were excited to experience our first bathtub race and duck race! The first of which is an event that combines fundraising  and ridiculous sports that everybody loves making traditions out of. I haven't figured out how many years this race has been going on, but everybody in town knows about it and tries to be there. The bathtub race is a lot like it sounds. There's a few bathtubs (on wheels) and people race them down the busiest street in town right at noon. This year, there we three entries. 

 

The winner was the blue one with the bike tires.

 The Duck race followed at 2pm and just about the whole town drove to the stream next to Bering Airport. Both races are organized as a fundraiser for the Rotary Club. They have been selling duck numbers for weeks. Then, they dump a couple hundred ducks in the snake river, each with someone's number, and let the current do it's job. 

There they go!

While, this is a little slower pace than the bathtub race, or most other races, it was really cool seeing so many people gathering for such a unique event.

 

We have completed one and a half weeks in Nome!  We have done, seen, tried, and learned so many things in such a short duration of time.  Each passing day seems to bring us closer to feeling at home.  We have eaten caribou, reindeer, salmonberry jam, and fireweed jam. We've seen musk ox, a moose, a reindeer, a fox,
beautiful mountains and tundra, and much of the town and surrounding area.  We have picked wild blueberries, caught, gutted, and filleted salmon, collected sea glass, panned for gold, and boated along the snake river. We visited a rusty steam engine train that was left stranded in the marshes.  There are layers and layers of history embedded in the area both visible and hidden.  Nome was established as a town when the gold rush sprung to life.  Although there is another rush for gold since the discovery channel highlighted it, the city thrives because it is a center point for many local villages and surrounding areas.  With a port, access to groceries and other goods, many come to town for resources.  There is so much to learn still and many more things to experience.  As the first frost has come, we can now begin picking blackberries and cranberries!  Hunting season has begun (not that I'll be rushing out there to do that, but many are eager to do so!).  School is in session, Boys and Girls club has resumed, and the Food Drive is in full swing.  Halloween and Thanksgiving events are already being discussed and coat drives are about to launch.  We are hoping we are prepared for the winter as it seems to be rushing its way to the shore.