May & June 2008

Daniel Rowland took home a prize for catching the most fish. His older brother David hauled in the largest fish, a beautiful Dolly Varden.  Ross Bass and Kaylan Moffitt joined in on the fun and didn’t go home empty-handed either. Prizes were supplied by the creator of this now-yearly event, Jim Kreblin. A variety of fine-looking fishing poles, a floating filet knife and a dandy tackle box went to the young fishermen.  By the way, Jim, did David receive an additional prize for those 20- some holes he drilled? Maybe you chalked it up to “research”—seeking those weeds of the past where the Dollies used to hide.
Thankfully sampling Mark Vail’s famous “North Slope” Chili didn’t require a freshly-caught fish. Some of us may have starved out! Twenty hungry folks took full advantage of the roasted hot dogs, chips and soda. Hot dogs roasted over an open bon fire on the ice tasted better than ever.
Although Cal Ward Jr. was scheduled to serve as judge this year, he actually ended up serving as an honorary judge emeritus, due to the fact he had to make a trip to Fairbanks. According to Jim, the one catching the most fish this year, Daniel Rowland, will be bumped from the competition next year and promoted (demoted??) to judge. (I’m beginning to see how this works!)
Thanks, Jim, for providing us all another fun-packed Derby.
Meg Hunt: Meg is back home for the summer season, she says. Not wasting any time, she has already planted her early salad starts in the greenhouse. When I saw her at mail today, I asked her if she was aware our low temperature was 2 degrees. She assured me that her tiny seedlings were safe and were finding shelter underneath Styrofoam coolers. Once the sun does its thing and warms up the greenhouse, the coolers come off and the salad shoots stretch for the roof top.
It won’t be long before Meg is enjoying her first homegrown salad of the season. Welcome back, Meg!
Jim and Audrey Edwards: Since our last issue of WSEN, the Edwards’ have done enough traveling for themselves and a few others as well. They both are glad to be home, even if they didn’t miss McCarthy’s spring break-up!
From Alaska they flew to Orlando, says Jim, “Where we had decided to try one last fling in life to see if Mickey Mouse was still fun at our age.” Their favorite hotel, The Polynesian, provided them just the opposite decor than McCarthy’s landscape —trees and bushes, mostly from the south seas, and a lobby complete with a waterfall with an abundance of exotic plants.
They decided to take a train up to Virginia where Audrey’s grandson, Jason, is living and learning to fly with the Marines. He is doing really well, says Jim, and has already achieved rank of Lieutenant.
On this trip they planned on purchasing a new truck for Audrey. Jason helped them find a suitable truck so they could bring back a 4 wheeler they had bought from their grandson. I expect we’ll see a bit more of Audrey this summer trying out her new toy!

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