Cym & light sabers; 12-13-09

Cimeon has turned 13. Here is the photo of him signing up for pool; his first time ever! Woo hoo, Cym.

And the "light saber" thing is really "Marbles" making a threatening gesture with a pool cue while I was taking her picture. No worries; the force is with me.

Audrey has turned 13 recently as well, so the pool table just got a bit more busy.

"DV" training

Last week we had a training / workshop in the Rec. The topic was Domestic Violence (aka "DV") and the presenter was Katie TePas. Katie does a lot of training for AK State Troopers (and other law enforcement agencies, I think).

It was kind of a technical affair, focusing a lot on definitions, procedures, etc., but, like I said, she works with law enforcement agencies, so that fits. Over all, it was a good event and most of those present seemed to appreciate it.

In attendance were visitors from Koyukuk, Kaltag, AK State Troopers, Nulato VPOs, Nulato service providers, community members and more.

It was arranged and put on as a collaborative effort by the Nulato Wellness Group, Violet Burnham/Mental Health, the AK State Troopers, etc.

For more info on domestic violence contact Clara Peters, Nulato Community Counselor, 898-2335.

Mo Ho ho ho; 12-5-09

Mmmmmm hmmmm. This crew can really work it out. Shake it you guys, John Travolta is sooo jealous!

Ho ho ho! 12-5-09

Check out the moves

Travis is a great break dancer. Who knew?

12-5-09

OK, time to get this thing goin' Three months since the last post...P-L-E-A-S-E! Way over due.

I found an interesting article on Ron Artest (you know, "Ron-Ron", "Malice at the Palace", now with the Lakers, NBA player, basketball??? Whatever.)


He talks about some of the mistakes he's made in life, especially about drug and alcohol abuse, with the view of positively influencing kids who are going through similar difficult times. You can read it here

OK...so you can't read there. The Sporting News is being difficult and won't cooperate; track it down on your own. The point is Ron is wanting to help kids struggling with drug/alcohol issues. More on that as it comes.

More photos/ "Go Figure!"; 9-04-09

File these three under "Go Figure!"

I caught Kendra in a Paparazzi moment, Daphne doesn't look real happy with the hand she was dealt, and I'm not really sure what is going on with Carol's arm.

9-04-09

Here you get an assortment of Rec. photos, taken a few days ago, Enjoy!

8-25-09; Misc. stuff

-Fall is here. The leaves are starting to turn. Hope the moose start moving early this year.

- I heard Peter D. got a moose around Bear Creek. Good work!

-We have a new computer for the Rec. Not "new" as in NEW, but "new" as in different.

-I was pretty bummed about the Rec window getting broken. Bad move by some one.

-Camping in Kaiyuh looks pretty bleak right now; no water.

-A whole lotta kids are now gone, off to Sitka, Nenana or Galena. We'll miss 'em.

-Rumor has it the new Madden is coming for the Rec.

The SEND Team; 8-1-09

Well here is the scoop on the team:

-Jesse; He's from Strasburg, PA, he's 23, he has 2 brothers and 1 sister, all married. He is a full-time student at Philadelphia Biblical University (in Philly) working on his masters degree in counseling. His pastor was the person who recommended spending his summer working with SEND, and the thing he enjoys most about it is learning village life and culture.

-Josh; from Claremont, NH. He's 21, he has 3 sisters, he's a student at Cedarville University in Ohio, he got into this through a recruiter visiting his school, and he has enjoyed worshipping the Lord with others in all the different places around the state.

-Julie; she is from Glennallen, Alaska, she's 22, she has 1 brother and 1 sister, she is busy as a student and serving in ministry, a friend suggested she spend her summer working with SEND and her favorite part has been experiencing village life and culture first hand.

-Valerie; Wolf Lake Minnesota is her home, she is 21 years old, she has 5 sisters and 1 brother, she is also a student at PBU (with Jesse, who got her into doing this) and she has really liked interacting with all the kids around the state.

Thanks for coming to Nulato, you guys. We're glad you're here to work with our kids and share a week with us.

7-31-09

The SEND team is here. They will start their kids program...well, in about 15 minutes, at the Rec.. Afternoons at 3pm will be the time. Every one is welcome (especially kids). The Rec will be open for teens in the evenings, which will be nice if the rain continues. More about them later.

7-17-09

Here is a video of the cake walk. Conrad absolutely "owned" that thing; he must have won about half of the cakes. I don't know how he did it, but he always seemed to be on the right number.


Other photos included; Jerry helping out with the rubby-ducky squirt gun race, Patrick, Audrey and Agnes

7-17-09; "Back to Portland"

Today the group from Oregon took off. They had a great week here; their fourth in as many years. We all love having them and we appreciate all they do for the kids. The carnival on the last day was a blast.

They were able to catch a couple of canoe rides on the Nulato River. The first group saw some grizzlies and a cow moose. On the second float they saw a couple of bulls; one was pretty hefty, I saw the video (I hope he hangs around until September). They also saw the usual other stuff; lots of beaver, an eagle, fish in the river, etc.

Many thanks again for the team coming and spending a week with us. See you next year!

"The Record"

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new champion!"

On Thursday, July 2nd, Wesley Evans broke the long-standing pool record for consecutive wins. For about FIVE YEARS Starina Madros has owned the previous record; 22wins. That's 22 games she won...in a row! Her record was seriously threatened only once in that time, when Glenn "Glenn Boy" Demoski tied it. An amazing piece of history.

But not it's history! Wes crushed her record by dropping 24 consecutive opponents. He took on all challengers and put them away, one by one, twenty four times!

Nice work Wes.

I wonder how long this one will stand?

4th of July

Happy firecracker day everybody!

We had ourselves a little cookout. Well, not really all that little, I guess. We served about 60 dinners (+/-). I grilled burgers, hot dogs (I made the mistake of calling them "wieners" and everybody laughed, giggled, blushed or otherwise got embarrassed) and served up some chips jello and pop to go with.

The crowd included the standard "Reccies" and a lot of folks from around town. They all seemed to enjoy; well, Matthew was my ONE complaint. "It's too burnt", or something along those lines. Sorry Matt.

The weather was good and it made for a great day.

Camp Fire crew; 7-2-09

As promised, here are the bios on Lizzie and Monique. We'll go in alphabetical order, so Lizzie is up first.

full name; Lizzie Slegeir

age; 20

hometown; Longview, Texas

other info; she has one older brother, attends the University of Texas, enjoys swimming, biking, reading ("Catch 22") and the outdoors

fav food; grasshopper cheesecake (I'd check out the ingredients before eating)

fav movie; nada

why Camp Fire? she checked it out at a summer job fair at school, it sounded awesome and she wanted to go to Alaska

best part? working with kids and seeing Alaska, especially different villages

worst part? dealing with the limited village resources

OK, Monique, your turn.........

full name; Monique Marian Malua Miller (hmmm, wonder if she likes M&Ms?)

age; 21

hometown; Copake, New York

other info; she has two older sisters and a new nephew, attend the University of New Haven Connecticut, and she likes running, hockey, soccer and camping

fav food; salad with M&Ms (figures)

fav movie; American Tale

why Camp Fire? she googled it. She love kids and enjoys being a camp counselor

best part? this is her first time in Alaska

worst part? the mosquitoes

Thanks for coming ladies. We're glad you are here and hope you have a great time!

More CampFire pics; 7-1-09

Some nice photos of the kids. The somber faces might give you the wrong idea; theses guys were actually having a great time. They just gave me the tough look when I took their pictures

"Camp-Fire!!!"

Ok, calm down, everybody. No need to panic. We're talkin' CampFire; as in doing things with the kids, swimming, crafts, that kind of stuff.

This year's crew is "Lizzie" and "Monique" (hope I got the spelling right). I'll have their personal bios coming soon, but you can stop by and meet them. Better yet, bring a kid so they can get in on the food, fun and all that.

Today's pics are from their craft. They were building some "paper mache" thing-a-ma-bobs. My love of Mexico has me hoping they will turn out to be Pinatas filled with candy. We'll see.

6-28-09

The Rec has gone green! No, I'm not talking about recycling; I mean the pool table. I recovered it and it looks new; well, I guess that's because it is new (dumb).

The Rec is rockin' now with a pool table re-do, internet access, two flat sceens with x-box and ps3 games. So much fun in one little place. Gotta love it!

So you're wondering about the truck with the flowers? That, my friend, is my "stylin' ride".

Some of the girls dolled it up one night. Pretty sweet huh? I felt like I was in a parade cruisin' in that thing. Thanks Ladies!

Nulato wellness; 6-26-09

In case you haven't heard, Nulato has a wellness team (or wellness council, or wellness group, or whatever it's called).

We've been meeting for a few months now. Violet Burnham is mentoring us and she's a HUGE help; we couldn't do it without her.

The meetings are open to all who are interested in working together to improve our community, or to any one else who's interested. Check it out sometime. You'd be surprised what YOU can do, if you try.

This photo is from our last meeting . We are planning a pot-luck in the next few weeks. The date will be announced later. Better come!