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From the Brian Miller Family: Well, our
fundraiser banquet is over and it was a great
success. We had 300 people in attendance and
had a great time. Gloria Karmun's dad, Dan
Karmun, played his accordion and told some stories
about his dogmushing days, Trooper Ed Halbert's wife
Galilee sang her heart out, Joe Garnie, Howard
Farley, Herbie Nayokpuk, Sue Steinacher, Kirsten Bey,
Greg Parvin all spoke about their tales from the
trail. Libby Riddles was due to come up but her
father passed away during the night and she had
other things on her mind.
The kids all did very well thanking their sponsors
and telling a little about themselves. At 14
and 15 years of age, in front of 300 people, this is
quite a feat! Michael thanked Trooper Honie
Abercrombie for his new "Jeff King Boots" which make
him about 4 inches taller than he normally is and
which keep his feet warm. He also thanked his
biggest sponsor PSEA. He did a great job
explaining to the public what PSEA is and mentioned
all of the agencies which PSEA represents.
We
had a great time here in Nome and I am sorry you
could not come and join us in the fun.
Junior Iditarod XXXIV
The weather
on Saturday morning February 25, 2006, in Willow, Alaska,
was snowing and overcast, with temperatures hovering around
0 degrees F. Twenty-Three Junior Mushers aged 14 – 17
years gathered for the race start with several thousand
spectators. For many, like Michael Miller, it was
their first time running this sled dog race, they were
rookies. They were facing extreme challenges.
They were
racing 10 dogs across the Alaskan Wilderness, from Willow to
Yentna Station and back, for a total of 139 miles.
Racing through extreme temperatures and white-out
conditions, these teenagers drove their dog teams to the
halfway point of Yentna Station where they would have a
mandatory 10 hour layover before racing back to the finish
in Willow.
They slept
outside on the ground with their dog teams. They
melted snow for water and cooked food for the dogs and
themselves. It was cold, with temperatures down to -25
F at night. Many of them did not sleep as they were
anxious about the return trip.
All but 2 of
the mushers did finish this race, with a sense of
accomplishment and pride, with Michael Miller coming in 13th
place with a total race time of 14 hours 51 minutes.
By
sponsoring Michael, The Public Safety Employee’s
Association, PSEA, made this race possible. Without
their generous support, this would have been nothing more
that a dream for him. Thank you!
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