Joining the Team

Summer is coming to life in Chatanika. The sand hill cranes who feed in the open area that passes for our yard are back again. Running Club North’s summer races are happening every weekend. You can be outside in daylight till 11 PM. And we all know what that means…

Yes it is time to start thinking about Iditarod 2012, the sign up picnic is Sat, June 25!

There are 2 very good reasons to sign up on the first day at the picnic. First; you set yourself up to draw a better starting position for the race. When we all draw our number at the start banquet the mushers who signed up on the first day get to draw numbers first, and draw out of the top. So if 25 mushers sign up on the first day then they all get to draw from numbers 1-25 for their starting position in the race. Second; at the picnic there is a drawing and 2 people who are present will get their entry fee returned. This lottery is a chance at getting a free run in the Iditarod. Of course I also love the social aspect of the Iditarod picnic, getting to see mushing friends from all over the state.

The timing was perfect, as I am here thinking about starting to seek sponsors for the 2012 race, Marlys Sauer was hitting the ‘Donate’ button to become a member of Team Dew Claw. Mush thanks to Marlys for your generous support, and thanks for joining the team. You can donate using pay pal from our web site, or if you prefer you can mail them directly to us. (Support Dew Claw) Her donation got me thinking about what it means to be part of a team.

In my life I am lucky to be a part of some pretty interesting teams. First and foremost, Team Dew Claw. But I am also part of a team of people committed to education in rural Alaska, as an Instructor for the Interior-Aleutians Campus UAF. When I go out and teach classes in rural Alaskan communities we actually become a team working together to accomplish educational goals. I have a group of friends where we all encourage each other to commit to our fitness goals. Thank you Sarah and Ashley. Tanka Bar worked with me to make sure I had nutritious trail treats, and Bailey Farms (no relation) made sure we had excellent freeze dried meat for the dogs. I will also be joining the folks at the Yukon Quest offices this summer to help share information about mushing, our dogs, and the amazing long distance races we run, with visitors this summer. And of course I am very thankful for the companies and businesses who join our team, thank you so much to our sponsors!

Through my involvement with Iditarod I have also had the opportunity to reach out to students in classrooms around the country. In return I have been honored to have students also reaching back to be a part of Team Dew Claw. It is great what can happen when mushing and education team up. Most recently I want to thank the students in Mrs. Ogintz and Mrs. Hoffman’s class for making me a McKnight Mustang.

Mrs. Ogintz and Mrs. Hoffman’s class sent me this mascot and made me a honarary McKnight Mustang.

Here are photos from some of the other wonderful classes we teamed up with last year.

Students in Mrs. Koble's 3rd grade, Roosevelt Elementary School, Mankato, MN. make our special foot ointment we use to care for the dogs. They also sent wonderful hand made cards, and decorated freezer bags we used to pack human food and gear for our drop bags.

Joy Davis's class in Connersville, IN made neck and wrist gaiters for Dan and I. We were able to send gaiter to every checkpoint.

The wonderful quilt with motivational messages made for us by Mrs. smith's class, Eisenhower Middle School, Lawton OK.

Yes you can see at Dew Claw we are lucky to have a great team. We invite you to join us and be a part of the 2011-12 race season. There are lots of ways to get involved, and I hope you will contact us if you have an idea or want to get involved. I make every attempt to check email regularly, but as you might guess some days I am offline, I like to joke that I have gone to the dogs 🙂
We also have Dew Claw Kennel gear for sale at Cafe Press if you want to show your team spirit.