Alaska's New Quarter

So which quarter-dollar design should Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin officially select? The choices, courtesy of the Anchorage Daily News, are below.



As a native (not Native) member of the Sourdough Diaspora, I can't help but prefer AK-2. I think the other choices are not distinct enough to represent Alaska.

• AK-1: "Land of the Midnight Sun" or some variation commonly refers to Siberia and parts of Scandinavia as well as Alaska - and Polar Bears have become more synonymous with Northern Canada. Or is that Binky? No - not a mauled tennis shoe to be found.
• AK-3: Besides the North Star, the grizzly doesn't say anything unique about Alaska - this isn't Montana's quarter after all. Besides, the last grizzly bear notoriety out of AK was the Grizzly Man documentary about nutjob Timothy Treadwell's (and his girlfriend's) grisly and largely avoidable consumption by a starving bear.
• AK-4: I like the Denali image and reference; but although the goldpanner is historically significant, dog mushing portrayed in AK-2 is just as historically resonant with Alaskans and it is still an important element of Alaska's image and life today.

AK-2 features Alaska's 8 Stars of Gold (Yes, I still remember how to sing the State Anthem!), Denali, and dog mushing. And I like how the mushing/Iditarod reference alludes to different regions of Alaska at the same time by tying together Anchorage/South Central to the Bush (interior AK for you Cheechakos) and the Bering Sea/Nome.

AK-2 is also the only one that makes any sort of reference to Alaska's Native heritage, by way of the dog sled team.

So my vote as a native Alaskan and former resident for 16.5 years would be cast for AK-2.

Update: Nice Video of Zach Steer's Iditarod Finish

Click on this link for a nice interview video with Zach Steer just after he crossed the finish line of the Iditarod in Nome.

Congratulations to Zach Steer

The Anchorage Daily News is reporting this morning that fellow Service High alum Zach Steer surged into Nome past four-time Iditarod champion Martin Buser to take third place in the Iditarod.

Wow. Congratulations!

He'll take home $57,000 in prize winnings, likely to help train next year's team. I doubt there'd be much left to invest in his Sheep Mountain Lodge in Sutton.

In a way, this doesn't surprise me. I have one image of Zach indelibly burnt into my memory. In June of 1991, while hiking to the top of Flattop Mountain in Anchorage (and sucking wind while doing it), I looked up the mountain and saw a red-headed runner in shorts and a t-shirt running down the mountain path.



As he got closer, I recognized the runner as Zach, training for the grueling Mt. Marathon in Seward. He had run up and down the mountain in preparation for the July 4th race that year. That's the race that my jr. high friend Andy Hornung ran and lacerated his leg on loose shale rock when he fell on his descent, requiring too many stitches to count.

Anyway, finishing the Iditarod is quite a feat, much less finishing in the top three.

By the way, Lance Mackey - another fellow GenXer - (and yes, son of previous winner Dick Mackey and half-brother of previous winner Rick Mackey) won the Iditarod last night wearing bib #13 on March 13 - the same bib number worn by his father and brother when they won. Most notably, he made history by becoming the first to win both the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest and the Iditarod in the same year. He is also a cancer survivor, and in a pleasantly ironic way, I'm guessing a victory by anyone else could not be more appropriate in light of Susan Butcher's loss to cancer this past year.

A remarkable Iditarod all the way around: a herculean victory, a passing of the generational torch, a racing dynasty cemented, and tragic disease overcome.

Happier News of a Fellow Alum

I went to the Anchorage Daily News website this morning and was delighted to learn that Zach Steer, a fellow Service High School alum (Class of '91 - a year after me) is currently in the lead in the Iditarod. He apparently pulled into Ophir first early this morning. Looks like they're taking the Southern Route this year.

adn.com | Sheep Mountain's Steer leading heavyweights

Which reminds me of a couple more fellow Service alum's: Chad Champ and Glen (Ryan to some of you) Coulson.

I heard from both of them via email recently (both doing quite well) but I haven't posted about that yet. I'm trying to figure out how to post photos of Chad's family that he sent, but I haven't come up with a good workable solution yet.

In the meantime, here are their MySpace pages (confirmation that people over 30 are on MySpace)

Chad Champ
Glen Coulson
&
Tom Reid (nice webcam shot, hoser)

Myrtle Cash Passes

Aunt Mo Myrtle Cash (Hays) passed away around midnight, January 10, 2007. Her condition immediately prior had worsened to the extent that her physicians recommended she be taken off all but her pain medication for comfort purposes.

For anyone wanting or needing the information: they are cremating her and placing her next to Glennda Sprouse in Okolona, Arkansas. A memorial service for her is being held in Bay City, Texas. Flowers can be sent via Bay City Floral at 979-245-9492.

Uncle Jimmy's (J.C. Cash) phone number is: 979-244-2568, and their address is: 2720 Cottonwood, Bay City, TX 77414.

All of Myrtle's adult children, Uncle Jimmy and his sister Alice (92 years old) have gathered in Bay City. They would all likely enjoy hearing from everyone.

Me-Ma has been doing okay, just a little low. She is the last surviving sibling of the Dr. John and Myrtle Hays family.

We offer our most sincere condolences.

Susan Butcher

The Anchorage Daily News reported yesterday that Susan Butcher, four-time Iditarod champion, lost her long battle with cancer in Seattle late Saturday night. She was 51.

I had followed her story in that paper over the past few months. It was just a week ago that her doctors at Fred Hutchison Cancer Center in Seattle helped her to fight a further complication of her body rejecting her tissue transplant. The same day they let her know her cancer returned. If you read between the lines, she wasn't given much more time to live.

The news is sad, and her passing reminded me of a particular Robert Frost poem. I've posted it below.

Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening
by Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

SCARIEST/HARRIEST ATHLETES ON THE PLANET

Mushers clearly are not out to win a beauty contest, as the Anchorage Daily News 2006 Iditarod Musher gallery proves.

Click at your own risk.

Looked like a huge police line-up, didn't it?

If you ever worried that meth has reached Alaska, the photo of Lance Mackey (#24) will do nothing to calm your fears. Other highlights include:
Trent Herbst (#68) - Proof there's someone for everyone.
Tim Osmar (#41) - Looks like the actor who played Bluto opposite Robin Williams' Popeye finally turned up.
Sebastian Schnuelle (#34) - I guess Schnuelle is German for "Manson."
Rachel Scdoris (#42) - Finally, and admirably (and actually attractively), she's blind and running the Iditarod. Of course, I'm sure she'd reconsider if she had an inkling of what her fellow racers looked like.

By the way, as of noon Tuesday, March 14 three-time champ Jeff King was the first to begin taking his mandatory 8-hour rest at the White Mountain checkpoint, roughly 60 miles from Nome. Barring any surprise event, like collision with an insane moose - just ask Susan Butcher - he has the contest locked up.