Friends    ----

The main activity this past week was the Arctic Winter Games.  We have volunteered for that since September.  We volunteered most days during the games - that was fine except that we were unable to watch many of the events.  But we did watch some.

The athletes came from nine different areas.  The flags from left are Yamal (area of Russia), Nunavut (split off of Northwest Territories in Canada), Northwest Territories, Alberta North, Fairbanks Arctic Winter Games 2014 flag, Arctic Winter Games, US, Alaska, Greenland, Nunavik-Quebec, Sapmi (northern Scandinavia), and Yukon.

The sports were cross-country skiing, figure skating, snow shoeing, wrestling, badminton, basketball, curling, dene games, dog mushing, gymnastics, hockey, indoor soccer, speed skating, snowboarding, table tennis, and volleyball.  Dene games and arctic games include knuckle hop, ear pull, finger pull, one-foot kick, two-foot kick, one hand swat (pictures in previous blog), and hand games.  These usually had some application to their subsistence living in generations past.  These are mostly what we wanted to see because they are new to us.  We got to some but not nearly all of these.

These are hand games.  One team (one on each side of judges) had a small object like a rock which they passed around from person to person.  The other side was supposed to keep track of the object to know who had it at all times.  Purpose was to increase the powers of observation - very important for hunting.

This is the finger pull.  Opponents hook each other's right middle finger and pull for all they are worth.  Some contestants sprained their fingers in this.  Purpose is to strengthen middle fingers for hooking gills of fish and pulling them out of gill net or fish trap.  

Snow shoe races.  This was about a half mile race.  Contestants went around a track twice.

One lap done for these girls and one to go.

 This is the one-foot high kick.  In the first picture she has barely missed the ball going up but as her foot comes down she hits it.  She must land on the same foot she kicked the ball with and maintain her balance. She set the Arctic winter games record and the world record.  The judge, left, must stand on a ladder to get a good look.  She was probably about 5 feet 6 inches tall and kicked the ball at 7 feet 10 inches!  Standing on the floor she could not reach up and touch the ball.  (I had a good movie of this but it did not transfer into the blog.)

This little girl was the crowd favorite.  She did well for being a foot or more shorter than the other contestants.  It is easy to see how small she is compared to the others next to her.  We guess she was 8 years old.  She could kick the ball when it was higher than her head, but of course that was only about shoulder high for the others.  There were two classes of competitors.  Probably 18 years and younger and any age.  The one above was in the open competition.

We also watch speed skating for a while.  The parents of one contestant from Northwest Territories were next to us in the stands.  A bunch of parents got together and chartered a jet to come to Fairbanks for the games.

Most of the time we volunteered.  Here is Elva at the door to the auditorium while the hand games were going.  She was counting spectators going into the door behind her and making sure they had tickets.

Good care was taken for the volunteers.  Here is one volunteer lounge - water, a few snacks, and a chance to rest.

More than just Arctic Winter Games were last week.  There was another dog sled race.  This was called a sprint.  They only went about 25 miles!  Of course that is much shorter than the 1000 mile races.  The race went on the river right across the road from our apartment.

Here is a dog that was not racing for some reason.  The dogs are not the Alaska huskies or malamutes, they look more like mutts.  Those breeds are too heavy to be fast, they are better for pulling heavy loads.  The ones used for racing are, of course especially bred for speed and endurance.  They are not mutts, just look like mutts

There was also a parka parade.  The only qualification was that the parkas had to be made by hand.  

There was also a fur auction.  There is a store here that sells hides and furs.  These were not going nearly as high as the prices at the store.  I don't know if these were not as good or if the store has their prices too high.  At the store a wolf hide might be $1000, depending on the color.  At the auction they were about half that, and many did not sell because the bids were too low.  A little ermine sold for $15.  A couple old timers standing next to me said, "Hmph, when we were doing this those little things would have been more like 15 cents!"

This picture is especially for my brothers.  If I remember correctly, the old gym (before January 1960) in Cheraw had a clock like this one.  This was in the main gym in one high school in Fairbanks.  They also had a much newer clock.

Last week was very busy.  Perhaps we can rest this week.

May God bless each of you.

Larry and Elva

God is love

Friends of Alaska
(or at least friends of two people in Alaska)   ---

We are busy this week with the Arctic Winter Games.  This has been one of the main things we have volunteered for while here.  The other would be school where Elva volunteers two mornings per week.  For the AWG we are to wear our official uniform, which is actually only a top.

For inside activities we are to wear the tee shirt and for outside the jacket.  The jacket is unique.  The mitten you see is built into the jacket - twist the end of the sleeve around just right and it produces this mitten.  It cannot be seen in this picture but there is also a face warmer built into the hood.  The jacket is worth $150 or more according to the company web site.  We get them free if we volunteer enough hours.

So far we have been busy volunteering and have not had the opportunity to watch any of the games.  Thus there are no more  pictures.  But we have the opportunity to visit with many people.  My volunteer jobs are mostly being janitor.  That goes okay if the person I am to work with wants help.  Yesterday evening the person did not want much help.  That made me feel sort of useless but it did give me the opportunity to visit with other volunteers.  There is a special daily newspaper that accompanies the games.  We were featured one day.  I think you can see that article at this site   http://www.newsminer.com/arctic_winter_games/elva-and-larry-evers-embracing-awg-spirit/article_7e08452a-ada9-11e3-9547-0017a43b2370.html#.UycysxZztMw.email

One man I visited with was from Canyon City, Colorado, and knows where Cheraw (where I grew up) is and where Wiley (where I taught for three years and where I met Elva and where she taught for one year) is.

Another man I worked with for a few hours is a native of Laos.  He was about 9 years old when his family escaped the coming Communists.  He saw many people killed and tortured.  he traveled with a group of 30 to 40 people.  As they traveled on foot through the jungle there were several times when the group ahead of them and the group behind them were all killed, but they got through safely.  Several of his extended family were killed by the Communists.  I asked, since he had suffered so much from the Communists, how he felt about China and other Communist countries now.  He said he has forgiven the Communists.  He has become a Christian and has forgiven them.  Before coming to America his family believed in Shamanism(Shamanism follow witch doctors.)

Monday Elva was helping to sell AWG merchandise.  Some young ladies were discussing whether to get a $19.00 T-shirt.  They must have been watching their pennies as they were wondering about tax in Fairbanks. Well the city of Fairbanks has no tax.  The ladies were very surprised at that.  Elva asked where they were from and they were from New Mexico.  They were here to see AWG on their spring break.  Maybe they thought seeing the sites at AWG and around Fairbanks was better than going south for their break.

A big deal about the AWG is all the pins that are produced to go with the games.  One man, perhaps in his thirties, has collected hundreds of AWG pins over the years.  His father collected pins before this man started.

Pins can be bought, traded, or given free.  They usually depict particular sports, the various nations participating, or activities surrounding the games.  We were each given a pin for volunteering.  Some people have hundreds of pins.  An individual pin costs $6.00.  There are some that come as a set and may cost more.  Elva saw one person buy 12 or so pens at once.  Some are only sold on certain days, so those who are really into the pins would buy some on most days of the competition.  Officially the games start March 15 and end the 22nd.

Visiting participants, coaches and chaperons are housed in various schools around town.  Some schools are boys' dorms and others girls' dorms.  They all eat in the same high school.  Chartered buses are continually going around to the events and dorms.  The city buses are free this week.  There are about 2000 participants, 2700 volunteers, many fans, many dignitaries from the various places, and many spectators.  There are officially 20 different sports.  Some are in school gyms, school tracks, college facilities, and ski slopes.  The games are expected to add $13 million to the Fairbanks economy.

Some people have asked how we knew to come to Alaska this year.  After all, the weather here has not been as severe as many places in the lower 48.  Most events we have been involved with are not usually here.  The last time AWG was here was 1988.  AFN (Alaska Federation of Natives) usually does not have its meeting here.  The Yukon Quest Sled Dog Race starts here only half the years.  All I can say is that this must be the year that God wanted us here.  We did not know ahead of time about any of these things.

Thanks for your interest.  We hope to have more pictures of the games next week.  God's blessing to all of you.

Larry and Elva

Greetings    ----

Guess what!  As I write this at 7:30 it is 43 degrees outside.  That is more than 60 degrees warmer than it was yesterday morning.  It felt very warm out today.  I think there have been three times since early November that it has been this warm.  Once in mid November, once in January, and today.

Pioneers of Alaska crowned their king and queen.  One must be a resident of Alaska for at least 30 years to join the club.  They do the official crowning outside and then go inside.  The thrones are ice.  They did have polar bear hides to sit on.  Notice that the queen's feet miss the pavement by about 18 inches.  She needed help getting into and off of the the throne.

We went to the ice art again, actually a couple times.  This is an ice chapel.  First under construction and finally complete.  We hear that some people plan to have their wedding ceremony here.

Next is the altar in the chapel.

Does it look like a good place for a wedding?

Entering the park they had a couple snow sculptures

 At night they had this bonfire in ice.  We didn't stick around to see how long it took for the ice to melt.

He must have wanted two pieces alike, so he had a piece double wide in the shape he wanted and then sawed it in half with a chain saw.

A piece ready to be frozen onto the sculpture.

They also worked with chisels.

 They also did intricate carving with the chain saws.  Most saws had four-foot blades.

Enjoy the art!

 Close-up to show feathers in dragon's head

We also went to some Native Youth Olympics.  The most amazing event was the one hand reach.  Contestants must balance on one hand - at their center of gravity and then reach up to hit a ball suspended above them.  First they balance on two hands.

Then gradually shift their weight to just hand.  Once started, they can only touch the floor with their hands.  Here the judge is also watching to make sure nothing touches the floor except his hands.

Once balanced on one hand they reach up to touch the ball.

They cannot just make a wild swing for the ball.  After touching it they must maintain their balance on two hands until the judge says they are done.

I played football and basketball in high school and ran track.  I did hard farm work.  I played basketball up until four years ago when I hurt my shoulder.  But I could never have done this.

Thanks for your interest.  God's blessings to each of you.

Larry and Elva in Alaska.