Had a teacher, Nancy Hummell call who wanted me to talk to her two literature classes. She had seen me at the Methodist church and saw the article in the paper. It worked out that I had this afternoon off so I said yes. She talked to another teacher, Ms. Pastrow, and they combined their classes and I spent the afternoon with speech and drama students…and some science students. I really enjoy working with the older students.
It was just a spur of the moment thing and she is going to try to get some funding for it. Maybe I will get something, maybe not, but I had a good time with the kids. They are buying a few books also.
Dave
I got to Barnett Magnet School this morning and the principal, Kathie Weaver was very happy. They have been looking for something cohecive for the kids. They want to bring them together is some activity, and she saw the potential for the strings. I met with 3rd, 4th, 5/6 and 7/8. They all had a good time and are really good at it.
Collene Smith-Thomas called me this evening to see if I had some more strings. They want the older kids to teach the K, 1, 2 kids and needed the supplies. I have sold out what I brought along, so they are ordering them…pronto.
Dave.
Drove to the school and plugged the car in. In the office there were doughnuts to greet me. More in the lounge along with fruit. The office staff thanked me for the treats. (They usually never get any.)
Holly Abshire, the librarian, met me and we planned the day. Met with all the classes except K and had a great time. She sent out for Chinese for lunch and then worked some more. There was one native teachers’ aid who could do Jacob’s Ladder…she called it a fish net. She was so surprised that she could still make it… 40 years later. One of the teachers had been doing some things with her 2nd grade and they were pumped.
Off to the Presbyterian church for supper and fun.
Dave
Judy Engleman, one of the library board members brought breakfast out to my motel. What fun to be treated like royalty. Then I drove the mile to the school and plugged the car in. It was about -10. Met Peggy Menke, the school librarian. She went down to the office and they started a pot of coffee for me.
Met with all the kids at the school k - 12 and also met with 42 preschoolers and their parents or grandparents…a preschool group was included in that. The school has about 100 kids K - 12. The high school kids were the best. Such amazement on their faces as they made a figure and it worked. They even learned the spider.
Peggy made a super lunch of chicken salad on croisants…however you spell it…and a salaad with home dried wild cranberries. We all ate together and visited. One of the high school girls made some chocolate torts with pudding inside. Still warm. That and a desert that another one of the board members made. Boy am I being spoiled.
Amanda and Peggy kept things moving and some of the board members were there to help. The teachers for all the classes came as well as some of the special teachers…along with the principal and superintendant. Everyone had a good time.
(Caveat) A 5th grader emailed me on Wednesday to say that the school had sold out on all the strings and books and wanting to buy but they were gone. He is moving to Fairbanks on Friday and wanted to have strings to meet new friends. I am leaving him some at the front dest for his folks to pick up. You never know how you have reached someone.
Left after school and drove the two hours back to Fairbanks. Dry highway and a beautiful day. Checked back into the Princess hotel and David Moore, Campus Minister picked me up to go to their function at the university. We had an intimate group and did strings then ate milk and cookies.
David took me to Dennys for supper about 9:30 and then back to the hotel. I am ready to turn in. It has been a good but busy day.
Night all,
Dave
Got up a little later and packed up to check out for a day. Going to Healey later in the day. After checking out, drove down to North Pole to pick up a couple of things that I left at the school. The kids are busy with string.
At at a Chinese buffet and then went to the University of Fairbanks Museum to meet with Dr. Laura Conner the education director. She did not know the importance of string figures in Northern cultures. I gave her a brief trip through some of the figures, stories and numbers of anthropoloigists that collected the hundreds of figures. She was trying to think of how she could have her high school helpers work with them this summer. The seed is planted.
I also talked with Dan David the buyer for the Museum store. Trying to talk him into carrying the Alaska book in the store. He needs just a little more convincing.
Drove to Healey, about two hours South to the Tri-Valley school/public library. Met Amanda Austin, whoom has coordinated my trip there. We checked out the options for program places and visited. Barb walters a boardmember came to the school and drove me to her home for dinner. Moose stew, a delicious salad, garlic toast and homade blueberry pie from wild blueberries that they picked.
I had a busy day today. Started out by attending church at the First United Methodist church at 9:30 and then gave a program for the children and youth at 11:00. Clarice Moore, youth pastor for the church invited the youth to join in with the 4, 5, and 6th graders. They caught on quickly and we were able to do a number of things.
Clarice and her husband David invited me to go to lunch with them. We went to my favorite chicken place along with a few others. Felt just like home. David took me back to the church to get my car and then I went to the Public Library. He and I set up that I would be with his Campus Ministry people on Tuesday evening.
Met the staff and the children’s librarian, Susan Jones, had things set up already for me. My books had arrived and were out on a table. People started coming in and we ended up with more than 50 people. They had bought 50 strings and we ran out and got into my own stash. Great variety in the audience. Many of the parents didn’t want a string. “They just came to bring the kids”. We gave them one anyway and they were soon very involved.
There was one woman and her 7 year old who seemed to know a lot of things. We talked afterward. Susan Kerndt and her daughter Else do strings at their summer camp, Wild Rose Camp. Else…7…can do the dog, Jacob’s Ladder, and so many more things. They ended up inviting me to come to their home for supper.
Eric Mayo and the kids Coty, Wyatt, Emma and Else were there along with Susan. Eric had just finished putting in a moose meatloaf and was cooking brown rice and some home frozen greens. We also had home grown pickled beets. We did strings. Susan wanted to learn a couple of the difficult ones. Since she already knew lots, it was a pleasure to teach some things I don’t normally teach. I know they will be passed on to many kids.
We had tea with home grown honey and then visited and ate to our hearts content. What a fun evening in a log cabin outside of Fairbanks. Bringing me back into town, it was snowing that sparkely kind of snow. Just beautiful.
Full and content,
Dave
My hotel room overlooks the Chena river. It is of course frozen and is one of the main highways through town. Cars, trucks and snow machines are on it constatnly. The whine of snow machines is very destinctive. It doesn’t sound fun to me to have that whine going for the whole trip. I enjoy silence too much. But it is a great way to get around in the snow.
It is snowing lightly and about 20 degrees here. I am having a quiet day. Went to the lobby of the hotel. There is a banquet tonight for the “Ruffed Grouse Assn.” They are having a silent auction and the halls are filled with tables, covered with hunting supplies, art work about the grouse and other related paraphenalia. There are also poster boards telling about the Associations work to improve habitat. I am learning more about this than I will ever use.
Went out for a $10. hamburger at the Family Restaurant then to the store to buy a pastry for breakfast and some fruit. Plugged in the car when I returned so it will start in the morning. That is really nice. The car warms up inside very fast because of the plug in.
Have been relearning a couple of string figures from the Arctic String Figure Project site on the web. What a handy way to learn. Of course I am having trouble with some of the directions. I’m not good with the professional terminology used.
Well, back to practicing.
Dave
Home of, well, you know. But I didn’t see him. I was busy at Badger Road Elementary School in North Pole. Librarian Jamie Fine did a great job of taking a very busy day for the school and having a workable schedule for all 600 of the kids. They were pumped. They had seen the books at the book fair and were ready to learn.
The special teachers were supervising for the most part…when they weren’t showing off what they could do. They learned very fast…well, most of them. Some people are just string challanged, but he did a good job. Dan File the principal came in two or three times and stayed to learn some things. He really grasp the educational benifits of this activity. Everyone in the school got involved and some of the teachers gave up their planning time to come in and learn with their kids. Good job, Badger Road.
The school had a pot luck for me. (Don’t tell anybody but it was just planned that way.) Tacos and all the fixings. Wow, what great cooks. Hot rolls, moose hamburg, lots of deserts and a two crusted strawberry pie…my favorite of all times. I probably don’t need any supper. Need and want are two different things.
Tonight I am going to family game night at the First Methodist Church here in Fairbanks.
Dave
I am in Fairbanks, AK to work in the schools and attend the Alaska Library Association annual conference. I traveled on frequent flier miles and had to change my itinerary once, so I could not get the best connections.
Left for Oklahoma City at 1:00 yesterday afternoon and caught a flight to Atlanta, GA. Yes, Atlanta and at 9:45 PM left Atlanta for Seattle, WA. Almost flew over OKC on the way. Got in at 12 something in the morning and left for Fairbanks at 6:00 in the morning. After a stop in Anchorage, made it to Fairbanks about 10:45 this morning. What a long trip. Just to save some money.
Got my rental car. Had to unplug it from the post and keep the extension chord. Everything up here has a post to plug your car in so it will start in the morning. Actually, I only have to plug it in if it is going to be 10 below or colder.
Went to the museum and left a book and video for the gift shop to consider and made an appointment with the education person to acquaint her with string figures and their place in Native culture. Stopped at the Public Library to check out where I will be on Sunday afternoon and then back to the Princess Hotel. My room is nice but the sauna is out of order. Checking to see if it is temporary or what.
Think I will take a nap. I didn’t sleep much on the bench in Seattle.
Dave
Well, it was a 30 hour trip from house to house. I was exhausted and took a couple of days off to regroup.
Tuesday night as I was packing, Osama suggested…rather strongly, that I not take the magazine that I had on Palestine in my luggage. He said that if the Israeli guards saw it, they would detain me for a little while.
The Palestinian driver, Issa picked me up at 5:00 in the morning in Beit Sahour to drive me to the airport. We went through one checkpoint to get into Israel. The guards checked my luggage there. We had to show our ID and they let us through. As we were approaching the airport, Issa told me to say that I had spent my time in Israel and stayed in the Jerusalem Hotel. He also said that I did not know him, that the tourist agency sent him to pick me up.
At the enterance to the airport there was another checkpoint. All the Israeli drivers were allowed in and our car was diverted to the side to be “checked”. We had to get out and take everything out, even the mat on the floor of the trunk. They checked through my luggage and used mirrors to look under the carriage of the car.
(Editorial comment) They seemed to take an awfully long time to do the paperwork and I was wanting to get to my plane. Finally they let us through. Issa was furious and says that he comes to the airport 3 or 4 times a week and they know him but still check only the Palestinians.
Everything in the airport went well and I had a cup of “American” coffee and a roll before boarding the plane. In Paris, the plane was 1 hour late leaving because of a mechanical problem but I had plenty of time in Atlanta and made it through customs and to the concourse with no problem. Delta’s new exercise program had us change gates three times. Finally made it home about 1:30 AM.
It was a great trip and I would reccomend it for anyone. Maybe not in the middle of the winter, though. I was only in one dangerous situation and that was when I went to the “nonvionlent” demonstration. I would not change the experience as it added so much to my view of what the Palestinian goes through every day.
Well, not to leave that experience behind, but I do need to concentrate on what is happening here now.
Dave