Famous People, Dogs, Places, and "Things"

Meet Photographer Mike Kenney

….Hi Boys and Girls, When we think of the Iditarod, we think of dogs and mushers. Did you know that there are ….many other people who work very hard to make the Iditarod successful? These people help get things ready,   ….work at the start and restart, work the checkpoints, get the banquets ready for …

Winning Dog Care

When the mushers begin arriving in Nome at the finish of any race, there is a lot of focus on the race winner and who’s coming in next at the finish chute on Front Street. But, in the dog lot, where teams rest, eat, and wait for their airplane rides home, another winner is being …

Spotlight on McGrath

McGrath is located where the Kuskokwim and Takotna rivers meet.  The population of the village is roughly 400. There are two stores along with a restaurant. The school in McGrath has nearly 50 students. The village has a public library, a regional health clinic and an air strip. A person traveling to or from McGrath would go …

Dropped Dogs Are…

  supervised, examined, kept safe, fed, loved on, and are the dogs that mushers drop from their teams when they arrive in checkpoints along the race. A dog can be dropped for a number of reasons–perhaps it has a sore wrist or shoulder, perhaps it isn’t feeling 100 %, perhaps it is running a temperature, …

Serum Run, the Rest of the Story

Back in January of 1925 there seemed to be an outbreak of tonsillitis in Nome – except tonsillitis is rarely fatal. Nome’s sick children were dying. With more research into the symptoms of the children, Dr. Curtis Welch realized Nome was on the brink of an epidemic that could take as many lives as the …

Pam Flowers – Heroine

Pam Flowers is a small quiet woman who considers herself a loner. Her idea of fun is to travel with her dogs in lonely desolate places. This may or may not sound like fun to you but Pam’s adventures captivate the interests of adults and children alike. After graduating from college, Pam held a good …

DeeDee Jonrowe – Heroine

The heroes and heroines that have been featured in these stories thus far are made of some pretty tough stuff. The same is true for DeeDee Jonrowe. Have you created a definition for heroine? How is a heroine different from a hero? If you’ve done your research, you’ll realize they are the same except hero …

Jeff King, Rick Swenson & Lance Mackey – Idols

I left it up to Smoke, the youngest dog at Just Guts to determine the difference between an idol and hero. It was a tough job because often the two words are used interchangeably. But Smoke, who is  very bright, came up with a good answer. An idol is a shining example, a superstar, a …

Official Artist for the Iditarod – Jon Van Zyle

Jon Van Zyle turns his artistic talent to support the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race every year when he creates the official race poster. Beautifully done, each poster expresses an important race theme or historical viewpoint. The 2010 poster juxtaposes current racing against the backdrop of the history of running dogs in Alaska, showing a …

Scotty Allen – Scotland to Nome

Allan Alexander Allan was born in Dundee, Scotland in 1867. The boy became known as Scotty. Growing up, he loved to work with animals. At the very young age of 12, he began vocational training on how to train horses. At the age of 19, he accompanied a beautiful Clydesdale Stallion on a voyage across …