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!

A Taste of the Bearing Sea

Subsistence is alive and well in Nome. We were offered a chance to go out on the ice to check crab pots by two Nome residents. As always, we enjoyed both the learning experience and having someone with ice safety knowledge take us out on the Norton Sound.

Pulling up a pot set a few days earlier.

Drilling a hole with another crabber
to set a pot for the first time.

Chipping away the collected ice
from an existing pot.

After showing us how to set/ check the traps, we were given a few of the smaller crabs to try for ourselves. Even with the small ones, I had a hard time fitting them in a 12qt pot! These Red King Crabs are huge and they are definitely not the largest in the region.

Kimberly, showing off the catch. 

We learned a few fun pieces of information about crabbing:

1). To have a legal trap, you need to have a flap on the side tied shut with cotton string.

This is so that if the pot gets lost or the rope gets cut the string will rot and the crabs can escape.

2). If you cover the hole with foam insulation board,  the hole won't freeze shut nearly as fast.

Saves you some work.

3). It's common to have a lot of snow fall on top of the ice, if you shovel this off, throw it down wind so snow won't drift even higher on top of your work area the next day.

4). Keep the crabs in a cooler. You want them cool, not freezing or they'll die. Crab is far better if cooked when it's fresh.

5). When using your ice pick (pictured above behind Kimberly), put a string on the end and tie it to your person.

If not, when it breaks through the ice it may fall 35' or more to the ocean floor and there's no getting that back...

6). Scoop as much of the ice slush out of the hole right away, otherwise the hole disappears and can't be seen. 

Zoey didn't realized this and almost fell in. 

Zoey checking out the strange hole
we were creating after she dried off.

What hole in the ice?

The kids at the Boys & Girls Club
enjoying the live catch.

7). Lastly, share your catch.
It's tradition here to provide for others in your family and community when you have a successful hunt. Since we were given the crab to eat ourselves, I decided to share the experience with the kids that Kimberly works with every day. Before they were cooked, the four king crabs made an appearance at Boys & Girls Club.

Kimberly's Work Life

Working at the Nome Community Center has given me the opportunity to work in a variety of ways, including event planning, Food Bank support, leading group activities, and working with people of all ages.
The majority of my time is spent at the Boys and Girls Club assisting the director.  The Boys and Girls Club is open after school every day for children 1st grade and up.  We lead activities and games, provide homework support, offer snacks, and provide a safe and healthy environment.  We have weekly activities, including game night, bowling, and movie night.  Occasionally we offer field trips to different events, such as, family fun day and ice fishing.  Some other activities I have lead include teen yoga, crafts, and holiday parties.  In addition, we have a monthly theme to promote different topics, such as healthy relationships and career opportunities.
 
With the remainder of my time, I assist Nome Community Center as a whole.  The first activity I planned was the team building portion of our staff retreat in August.  I also organized the Halloween Carnival for the NCC's portion of the event.  We provided free activities for children of all ages on Halloween night.  Then, I planned and coordinated the Community Thanksgiving Meal.  This included requesting and gathering donations, organizing volunteers, promoting the event, and orchestrating everything on the day of the event.  I enjoy organizing events despite the challenge of not knowing many people or the businesses in town.  I learned a lot about where businesses and organizations are in town and met many new people!  I also had the opportunity to chaperon two wonderful high school students to a convention called "Lead On!," which empowers youth to be leaders for their peers.  This year the focus was on healthy relationships and community projects.  The two girls I chaperoned planned a program that would promote students to be proactive in engaging and learning about their culture.

 
Some of the miscellaneous jobs I do are supporting Greg with the Food Bank, helping at the Children's Home as needed, visiting the XYZ Senior Center, and assisting in the office.  In addition, every Monday and Friday, Greg and I lead games at the elementary school before classes begin.  This gives the children an opportunity to expel some of their energy before school begins and encourages exercise.  On Wednesdays, I attend lunch at the High School as a way to engage in conversation with teens.  This has been a challenge for me because I'm not always sure what to talk about, but I think some of them appreciate my efforts.  I also oversee the donor database, which keeps track of donations NCC receives and makes sure that individuals receive thank you notes and receipts. At the end of this month, I will also be leading a cooking class for a tobacco prevention group.  Along with all of that, I've had the opportunity to receive a variety of training and have been able to attend several conferences.  I am continuing to learn and grow as I share my gifts and passions.
I'm sure there will be many other opportunities and projects that I'll get to be a part of in the future, too!

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.