May & June 2006
Items of Interest
January & February 2006
Dave Hollis: Dave must be a great first name because our town has more than a few Daves. Perhaps that is why Dave H. picked up the nickname “Hollis.” He just recently returned from his Winter 2005-2006 adventures and is getting settled back into his summer quarters just down the road from Rick and me. I’ll let Hollis tell you what he’s been up to in his own words:
“I spent three months on the big island of Hawaii. I was having fun and harvesting Kona coffee. Then I spent about 2 months in Anchorage hanging out with friends. I returned home to McCarthy in early March. I’m living on my land, doing chores, and getting ready for work to start up in Kennecott mid-May. I’m looking forward to “summer camp 2006” —my eleventh here. I’ll be busy biking and hiking this wonderful wilderness area...Happy Trails!”
Don, Lynn, René and Sarah Welty: Hawaii must be THE state this year for winter travel. At least it has proved popular among local McCarthyites. Don and Lynn just returned from a 10-day excursion to the island of Kauai. As a surprise and in celebration of their 25 th wedding anniversary, members of their family presented them with the April trip. They both are sporting sun tans and say they had “a wonderful time and enjoyed being together.” Kayaking, hiking, snorkeling and taking in the sites of the island provided them with lasting memories. Even a bona fide luau was on the list of those fun things they did “together.”
Sarah and René may have wanted to tag along but I had the feeling they weren’t invited. Actually, to be fair to all concerned, Sarah, 21, will be finishing her studies and acquiring her associate degree at Fairbanks around May 9th. She will soon be winging her way south to Colorado where she will work at Camp Red Cloud as a wrangler.
René, who just recently turned 18, is eagerly (I think!) working on graduating from high school. Lynn says the tentative date for her graduation ceremony is June 10. Lynn’s folks, John and Nancy Burtch of Xenia, Ohio, are hoping to make the trip up for this grand occasion.
While her folks were gone, René participated in a Chugach School District spring celebration held in Whittier. She, along with two other students, were part of a leadership group in charge of providing fun activities for the 89 kids in attendance. According to Lynn, it was a great time for students in the Prince William Sound and Chugach’s extension schools to get together, have fun and attend special classes. Other McCarthy kids who attended the festivities were Tessa Bay, Matthew and Robert Shidner.
The McCarthy (and beyond) Rowland family: The majority of the Rowlands have serious roots in McCarthy but, for the most part, I lean towards writing about the Keith Rowland family. After all, they are the ones I see on a regular basis. However, come spring break, the local population of Rowlands more than doubles in size. Keith’s brother, Roger, and his family from Dutch Harbor arrived on schedule. The ladies in town enjoy seeing Roger’s wife, Tammy, show up because she always brings a fun supply of Mary Kay products with her. Let’s see... the local Rowlands add up to 7, the Dutch Harbor Rowlands increase that total to 14. Then there is Keith’s sister’s son, Keithy from Oregon, who joins his Alaskan cousins for what Laurie describes as “Mega-Holiday.”
With all their grandkids in town, the elder Rowlands, Ken and Nancy of Palmer, were right on time for the March festivities, too.
The Rowland clan swelled when Laurie’s brother, Dave Person, and his family arrived from Fairbanks. Close friends of the Persons and Rowlands, Jay and Kim Williams and two children, followed suit and arrived with snowmachines in tow. Another family of four, the Randby’s, joined the entourage. Keith puts it this way, “With nearly a dozen Tundra snowmachines and their rotating staff of young operators diligently attempting to pack down every square inch of snow in the valley, McCarthy was no longer a sleepy, idyllic winter wilderness town.”
Prior to his family’s arrival, Keith began preparing for an overnighter “big guys” trip to the Bremner Country. A week earlier Keith, and neighbor Don Welty, scouted the desired route from the air in Don’s Super Cub. With everyone accounted for, (continued in full version)
