Salmon Family Vacation Hawaii for Christmas!!!
P3 Leadership Ski Retreat Lake and Peninsula School District's Leadership Ski Retreat attended by
P5
April Hostetter.
Slavi & Bonfire Photos
P7 Avery Lynne Nelson Photos Igiugig & Salmon family’s new addition!
P17
Igiugig Christmas Joy BY TANYA SALMON Christmas always brings excitement and joy. This year it was extra special for my little family and I. It all started on Christmas Eve. Jared and I were busy baking cookies and writing letters for Santa with Dolly Ann and Fewnia. The girls were so excited for Christmas and Santa, yet worried he would not find them at our condo in Anchorage. We went online to the Santa Tracker and periodi‐ cally checked to see if he was making his way to Alaska. Before the girls went to bed, I had to con‐ firm with them that Santa knows exactly where
february 2010
news & notes VOLUME 13
they are at and they could go to sleep without worrying. Right after Santa visited, I started to feel con‐ tractions. I didn’t think anything of them because I had contractions for the past week and a half (we thought for sure I was going to have the baby while my family was in Anchorage on their way to Hawaii). By 2 AM, they were so uncomfortable that I could not sleep. Around that time, the baby dropped so low that I thought for sure It (Jared and I did not know what we were having) would fall right out‐ wishful thinking, if only it was that easy! I had a feeling this was the real deal, so Jared and I left the sleeping girls and headed out to the (Continued on page 17)
ISSUE 2
Birthdays This Month:
February 2 Mary Hostetter February 7 Dan Decker, Sr. February 9 Kristin Hathhorn February 13 Blaise Decker February 14 George Wilson, Sr. February 26 Tess Hostetter
Page 2
Igiugig News & Notes
The 4-1-1 in the 5-3-3 by AlexAnna Salmon I toasted the New Year on Waikiki Beach, Oahu and then journeyed back to Alaska to meet my new niece Avery Lynne. I arrived in Igiugig just in time for Slavi—singing and feasting in the new subdivision made my new house finally feel like a Home. Blasnigo season was cut shorter than most due to the mountainous stack of paperwork requiring my undivided attention. Alas, I cannot outrun quarterly reports, performance reporting,
planning to achieve our goals: 1. Create and maintain functionally appropriate, sustainable, accessible, high quality Tribal infrastructure and facilities. 2. Protect and optimize the Tribe’s natural resources and built environment, leading by example through sustainable practices and behaviors.
and reviewing customer and vendor billing. There
3. Decrease overall community consumption of
were also award documents to sign for our Indian
non-renewable and non-recycled materials.
Community Development Block Grant (ICDBG)
4. Promote, implement, and integrate sustainable
awarded by HUD for clinic construction which
practices throughout the community in our
IVC is thrilled about, and various project updates
homes, business and everyday lives.
such as our Water Treatment Plant that is under-
5. Integrate the EECS into the long-term com-
going conceptual design. We also finalized and
prehensive community-developed Igiugig Stra-
formally adopted our local Energy Efficiency and
tegic Plan.
Conservation Strategic Plan (EECS) that was funded by the Department of Energy. Upon their approval, we will begin further strategizing and
Of
course,
the
monotony
of
this
“paperwork” is broken up by coaching basketball, participating in village events such as the Environmental Department’s grueling clean-up, a Fire
Battle of the Books
Department meeting, and running around the
Submitted by Mark Battaion
Russian New Year’s bonfire three times for good
Final BOB results: K/1 scored 80 points (highest score this year in IGI), but didn’t move on. 5/6 made it to the second round (Dolly Ann had to do the competition all by herself). 7/8 headed to State missed second round by 1 point. HS missed second round by 1 question.
measure. The January bonfire marks the end of holiday season, but sadly, never the end of paperwork. At least now I have my home office complete with Internet connection, so from now until April I will work from home on Tuesdays/ Thursdays/weekends and from the main office on mail days. If anyone has questions, feel free to call 533-2008. If not, enjoy the spectacular clear night skies as we continue our wait…for snow!
Volume 13, Issue 2
Salmon Family Vacation
Page 3
by Christina Salmon-Wassillie
From December 23rd to January 5, 2010, most of the Salmon family was vacationing on the beautiful island of Kauai, Hawaii. Jon, Sarah, Alex‐ Anna, Terek, Jack, Jeremy, Julie, Aiden, Keilan, Dannika, and I soaked up the warm rays through Christmas and New Years. After we endured a 6 hour flight with three children under the age of 5, we were extremely happy to have landed in Kauai. It was a dark and rainy night and we were worried we would not find our house. Alex and Terek in one car and the rest of us in a mini‐van, we hit the highway towards the North end of the island. We all drove straight to the house no problem. It was the broad daylight the next morning that had us lost on this little island! With so many places to visit and quite the crew to haul around, we had to be semi‐ organized and very flexible! We visited beautiful beaches, the largest coffee plantation in America,
Jack & Danni hit the water.
and a few of us even got to see whales breaching. Aiden turned out to be a little whale himself, hitting the waves in the morning and not leaving until dark. He became an expert snorkeler and even saw tropical fish and sea turtles on his underwater adventures. Keilan was a little nervous to be in the water, but enjoyed paddling around on his body board and build‐ ing sand castles. Dannika was a daredevil! With no fear she splashed around the ocean and loved her Dad to take her out on the boogie board. She is the only chubby girl I know who makes a bikini look so good!
Alex, Sarah and I were just concerned with getting our tan on, buying
a variety of tanning lotions to assist us with the perfect tan! The guys had
Aiden & Keilan near gum tree.
a fun day on the zip lines and towards the end of the trip; we had a blast at the luau. I think the free mai tai’s helped out with that, but their per‐ formance was amazing.
The arrival of Avery Lynne Nelson cut my Mom’s trip short, so, my lit‐
tle family decided to island hop. We left Kauai three days early to explore the history of Honolulu, by visiting Waikiki and Pearl Harbor. Aiden and Keilan were thrilled that our hotel had a pool and I was excited to shop in stores like Coach, Louis Vuitton and Apple! Jack’s bank account was not as happy.
We spent one afternoon at the Honolulu Zoo. The boys ran from one
exhibit to another, Danni was strolled along, suffering from the hot after‐ noon sun. They especially enjoyed the gorillas and elephants.
The morning we were leaving Honolulu, I took Aiden and Keilan to
visit Pearl Harbor. We had to be at the bus stop at 6:30 AM. Dragging (Continued on page 18)
Beach Bums
Page 4
Igiugig News & Notes
Library/Computer Lab News Betsy Hostetter - Tribal Librarian Groundhog Day is on Tuesday the 2nd; it will determine IF we will be having spring early. If you want snow, wish that it sees its own shadow! Happy Valentine’s Day and it comes on a Sunday this year. President’s Day is on the 15th, and Elizabeth Peratrovich Day is on the 16th. (see http://library.thinkquest.org/11313/Early_History/Native_Alaskans/ elizabeth.html) for more information on Elizabeth Peratrovich). I just fin“Any views, findings, conclusions or recommen dations expressed in this publication do not ished entering the new books the Village Council bought through the necessarily represent those of the Institute of Book Fair into the system. Books we bought were mainly adult fiction, Museum and Library Services” some Alaska books and some easy books. Please stop by the library to take a look at the new selection we have. I put the new books in a section in their own “spot,” so they will be easier to find.
Easy Fiction First Grade Valentines - Joanne Ryder “The children in Mrs. Lee’s first class make cards, cookies, and paper animals for Valentine’s Day.”
Junior Fiction The Warm Place - Nancy Farmer “Ruva lives peacefully with her giraffe family in Africa‐ until she is kidnapped by the dastardly Slope family and shipped to an American zoo.”
Adult Fiction The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger ***New Book*** A most untraditional love story, this is the celebrated tale of Henry DeTambe, a dashing, adventure‐ some librarian who involuntarily travels through time.
Alaska Nonfiction Beyond Road’s End - Living Free in Alaska - Janice Schofield Eaton ***New Book*** “Beyond Road’s End offers a welcome escape from crowded cubicles and the fumes of freeway grid‐ lock as readers tag along with Janice and Ed.”
NONFICTION The Cake Doctor Returns! - Anne Byrn ***New Book*** “Anne Byrn tells how to turn mixes into Masterpieces!”
INTERESTING WEBSITE OF THE MONTH www.pdf.state.ak.com Did you file for your permanent fund dividend yet? This is the website. You can save on stamps and file electronically. Don’t forget it is due by the 31st of March.
Volume 13, Issue 2
Page 5
Leadership Ski Retreat by April Hostetter ‐ 12th Grade Two of my days in January were filled with knee‐ bruising falls, an interview with Abe Lincoln, and sitting in a mono‐ski while I attended the Lake and Peninsula School District's Leadership Ski Retreat. The retreat consisted of three older students in the Leadership program (Sasha, Sam, and I) and three newer students (Jennifer, Caylen, and Jarin). In addition to LPSD students, there were twelve students from the Chugach school district. We were there to learn how to downhill and cross country ski, share our leadership lesson plans with Chugach, and create new les‐ son plans for the 2010‐2011 school year. The LPSD Leadership program is a program where students can help promote leadership qualities. In the past, the lesson plans we present were created by teach‐ ers. The goal when the Leadership program was estab‐ lished was to make the program entirely student organ‐ ized. We are very close to that goal since we developed drafts of our own lesson plans. Before we worked on the lesson plans though, we learned how to ski. The LPSD stu‐ dents drove down to Girdwood where we met with Chal‐ lenge Alaska. Challenge Alaska is one of the most amazing pro‐ grams I have ever heard of. The place in Girdwood helps disabled people learn how to ski and snowboard at Aly‐ eska, but the Challenge Alaska program is something that goes on throughout the state with various recreative sports. While we were there, they explained to us that every human has basic needs and sometimes people don't realize that disabled people also have those same needs. Challenge Alaska meets the needs of people who are physi‐ cally and mentally disabled to recreate and to have fun. We met a 17 year old guy named Andrew who was once a top wrestler in his age group in the nation. Wrestling was one of his passions in life until he broke his back in a four‐ wheeler accident when he was in his early teens. He said it took him a couple of years until he found Challenge Alaska and another passion in life. He learned how to ski on a freaky looking contraption called a mono‐ski, which he let
everyone sit in. I almost fell over, but another Chal‐ lenge Alaska volunteer was holding it so I was saved from the embarrassment. Andrew is one of many people who Challenge Alaska has helped reach their full potential. We were lucky enough to be taught by those same instructors. My instructor's name was Michael. He helped me get back up again after each fall (metaphorically and sometimes literally). I am so thankful for his kindness and patience... without them I don't think I would love skiing so much. I spent one day sliding (Continued on page 11)
Page 6
Igiugig News & Notes
Letters to the School Board By the Elementary Students
01-21-10 Dear LPSD School Board Members and Superintendent Mase, Hi, my name is Dolly Ann Margaret Zharoff. I’m in 5th grade and I’m 10 years old. This is my 6th year in Igiugig School. We really want to travel to the wonderful Southwest so we can carefully learn about the Navajo and Hopi cultures and because we never get to go on many trips. So please let us go on this awesome trip! We want to go to Zion to see lots of cliffs, red rock mountains, colorful landscapes, and we are going to do lots of hiking. Next we will learn about safety and about natural history, and geology. I’m very interested in geology because you get to learn about lots of amazing things, such as rocks if you don’t know where they came from and what kind of rocks they are. We also want to go to Las Vegas. Mark said that we might get to go on the New York, New York roller coaster! Next we want to go to the Grand Canyon! We want to go there because the Grand Canyon is a very beautiful place. We want to learn about plants, animals, pictographs, wildlife, and petroglyphs in the Grand Canyon. We are going to check out the Sunset Crater and look at plenty of lovely Navajo Indian jewelry. We will examine many of ancient dwellings and learn about safety. I really hope you will let our class go on this trip. Sincerely, Dolly Ann Zharoff - 5th Grade
1‐21‐10 Dear LPSD School Board Members and Superintendent Mase, My name Is Joshua Brown, and I am 9 years old. I live in a lovely place called Igiugig (it is pro‐ nounced like this: Ig‐e‐og‐gig). I really want to go on our spectacular Arizona trip. We will stroll and travel through Arizona. We will see a lot of arches, snakes, and sandstone. Will you let us go? We will go to a lot of places when we happily travel to Arizona. We will go the rocky Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, and the Valley of Fire. We will see nightlights, ride a roller coaster, and will learn about safety and how to find our way home in Las Vegas. In the Grand Canyon we will see the Colorado River, picto‐ graphs, petroglyphs and amazing mountains. In the Valley of Fire we will see pictographs, wildlife, and beautiful landscapes. We will learn to behave, be polite, learn about money, how to carefully follow directions, and take care of ourselves. So will you let us go? Please. Thank you for reading my letter! Sincerely, Joshua Brown ‐ 4th Grade Continued on page 11
Volume 13, Issue 2
Blasnigo & Slavi by Yako Nickoli January 7th is Slavi time. A time to celebrate Russian Christmas. The first thing I had to do was build a new star. We burned the old star in last year’s bon‐ fire. We make a new star every three years. The new one is kind of heavy. I was supposed to make a small one too but I didn’t have enough time. Slavi here in the village was fun. We started at the church and the graves. Then we went to the Chief’s house where we did our singing and ate. We all en‐ joyed the meal they served and we were off to the next house and continued house to house ending at Ida’s. We visited a total of 11 houses here in Igiugig. The next day we went up to Kokhanok and Slavied there. We started at one in the afternoon and we were done at 10pm. We spent the night in Kokhanok and came home the next day and Kokhanok and Newhalen came to Igiugig. Thank you to Kokhanok and Newhalen for coming to our village. We will be expecting you again next year and many more!
Page 7
Page 8
Announcements February
3rd-5th, Basketball @ Port Heiden. February 11th, Igiugig Volunteer Fire Department Regular Meeting, 8:00PM at Barb’s House. February 14th, Igiugig Volunteer Fire Department All-You-Can-Eat Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser. $15 per person. Where? At the school, 3PM. Door Prizes! February 15th, Dessert Auction - Poetry Slam, 5PM @ School. February 18th, LSAC Meeting, 3:30PM at the school. February 22nd, Igiugig Village Council Meeting, 2PM at the office. February 25th-27th, Basketball districts @ Newhalen. VOCATIONAL TRAINING Tribally Eligible Adults residing in Igiugig who are in need of Vocational Training to become gainfully employed in the village should consult with Tanya Salmon, Social Services Director, on available programs.
CONTROL YOUR PETS...
REMINDER! Please help us get the March newsletter in the mail on time by having all newsletter items turned in by...
February 24 by 7PM Thank You!
PLEASE remember to chain up your dogs! People have been complaining about loose dogs hanging out in porches, trash bags being ripped open, and poop on the roads. TAKE CARE OF YOUR PET!
Food Bank The Igiugig Food Bank is now open and is located in the hangar. If anyone has excess food, they can make a donation to the Food Bank. Although the Food Bank is open to everyone in the community, families in need will have priority. Thanks!
WORD BUILDING Use the following letters to make words in the spaces provided.
EMUPBR 1. _ _ _ 2. _ _ _ 3. _ _ _ 4. _ _ _ 5. _ _ _ 6. _ _ _
7. _ _ _ 8. _ _ _ 9. _ _ _ 10. _ _ _ 11. _ _ _ _ 12. _ _ _ _ 13. _ _ _ _
14. _ _ _ _ 15. _ _ _ _ 16. _ _ _ _ 17. _ _ _ _ 18. _ _ _ _ _ 19._ _ _ _ _ _ Answers can be found on page 13.
Volume 13, Issue 2
Page 9
GARDENERS GOODIES by Sandy Alvarez
Note: Sandy is enjoying the fun, sun, and surf in Hawaii at the time of printing so we are reprinting her February 2004 Gardeners Goodies with great February planting tips.
FEBRUARY garden activities: Early FEBRUARY – Take time today over a few cups of some‐ thing warm, to make your “planting plan”. 1. Decide what things you are going to plant (make a list on paper). 2. Decide if you will buy plants from a green house or start them yourself from seeds. If you’re buying plants determine how you’re going to get them—travel yourself to buy, order from a catalog or have them shipped from town. If you’re starting from seed determine when you will need to start each one and re‐do the plant list (on pa‐ per) in order by the date you plan to start them. Some long season items may need to be started in the next few weeks. 3. Go over your plan and note all important dates on your regular calendar to be sure you don’t forget to do the tasks and to make sure that you don’t have other commit‐ ments that would keep you from being able to stick to your plan. FEBRUARY – Check over your houseplants for pests, and trim back any long or weak growth. Then provide your plants with their first shot of fertilizer for the year. The longer daylight will inspire them to put on a good growth spurt soon. FEBRUARY – If you will be starting your own seedlings, begin now with your spring cleaning so there will be room on your sunny windowsills to set up trays and pots when the time comes. FEBRUARY – After thinking about the layout of your garden, consider whether you could do with some more fences or edges to your beds and plan ahead for materials, etc. to do that. REMEMBER those Re’s Reduce – Refuse – Reuse – Renew – Recycle – Remodel – Refurbish – Rebuild – Recharge – Refill – Refinish – Repurpose – Recover – Reclaim – Reload – Reinvest – Reinvent – Re…something.
Sudoku answers can be found on page 13.
Page 10
Igiugig News & Notes
Environmental Report by Christina Salmon-Wassillie—Environmental Director
January First of all, I would like to thank all of those who braved the cold January weather to participate in our New Year Village Clean‐Up. Dan, Susie, AlexAnna, Mark, Jason, Julie, Jeremy, Angel, Amara, April,
Tess, Lukas, Blaise, Josh, Josephine, Dan Jr., Fewnia, Jolynn, Molly, Maggie, Andrew, DollyAnn, Kiara, Aiden, Keilan and Kaleb! You all rock! The school kids had no choice in the matter, but they assisted happily and it was all the better. Due to high winds, loose dogs and recklessness, trash was blowing rampantly around our beautiful village. Cigarette butts still manage to take away the attractiveness from our community, smokers; please do not litter your bad habit on our roads! It is disgusting and rude, young school children are the ones cleaning up after adults, when we are supposed to be their role models. When the chilling clean up was over our village was looking healthy again. As a model community, we need to remember that we set the standards in recycling and village cleanliness for our region! Take pride in the village you live in. In other environmental news, I am sad to announce the departure of Wenona Wilson, our Tribal Coordinator in Seattle. We enjoyed the time we worked with her, loved her visit to Igiugig, and will miss working with her in the future. We wish her the best of luck in all her future endeavors! From February 7th to the 14th Angel and I will be in Anchorage attending the Alaska Forum on the Environment where we will be presenting twice. Our first presentation is on our Demo‐Grant and will be an iMovie made by AlexAnna and our second will be on the fee structure of our landfill operations. We are nervously excited about both opportunities. Read our news again next month for a full report on our conference. Letters continued from page 6
01-21-10 Dear LPSD School Board Members and Superintendent Mase, Hi my name is Fewnia Zharoff and I am in 4th grade. This is my 5th year in the amazing IGIUGIG SCHOOL. I want to go to the lovely Southwest and sojourn at interesting places. I want to go to Las Vegas so we maybe can go on the mega roller coaster and so we can learn how to be safe. Next I want to go to the amazing Zion National Park so we can carefully go hiking and observe gorgeous landscapes and look at ancient red, rocky, mountains. After that I would like to go to the great Valley of Fire so we can go look at the wonderful wildlife and pictographs. We hope to see lizards, snakes, deer and ferocious mountain lions. Everywhere we go we will have to be polite to everyone there and we will have to behave because we do not know anyone. Then we will happily learn lots about money and how we spend it. Since my mom or dad will be gone, we will have to take care of ourselves. We will have to carefully follow directions to keep from getting lost. It will be lovely to go on the trip to Arizona, so will you let us go please? Sincerely, Fewnia Zharoff - 4th Grade
Volume 13, Issue 2
(Ski Retreat continued from page 5)
down the slopes of Alyeska and I loved it! I definitely crashed, fell, slipped, and made a lot of mistakes, but that's how I learned to be better. I was a little freaked out when I had to go down a steeper slope (I actually ended up sliding down on my butt, instead of stand‐ ing) but Mike and Sam Foss (another student from Pedro Bay) and her instructor all helped me get down the hill and realize that even if something is kind of scary, you just need to follow through. We eventually made it down the hill... and even though I was scared skiing down it, I'm glad I was faced with that chal‐ lenge. The end of the day came much too quickly, but we went to talk about our experiences and share with everyone what we l earned. I was tired out so I slept most of the drive back up to Anchorage. When we got to the Anchorage house, we started working on our leadership curriculum. We also presented the leader‐ ship lesson plan (an interview with Abe Lincoln) to the Chugach students. The goal of this lesson was to help students realize how important finding a passion and standing up for what they believe in is. The next day we were taught how to cross country ski by Kirsten, one of the facilitators at the School to Life Program. We didn't get to go out as
Page 11
early as we planned since it was too cold, so we used that time to develop our lesson plans a bit more. When we finally were able to get out, I found it frus‐ trating at first. I fell down way more than I did when I was learning to downhill ski (and the fall‐downs were significantly more painful). It seemed like I would never get the hang of gliding and coordinating pushing with my feet and the poles. I didn't want to give up, even though it seemed like I wasn't getting anywhere. We took a break for lunch and got to eat at McDon‐ ald's (yay!) before we went back out on the trails. We learned how to go down a hill which, thankfully, was very similar to going down a hill slowly in downhill ski‐ ing. After awhile I realized that I wasn't struggling as much skiing and I found a steady rhythm while sliding on the snow. It became more and more relaxing and although it was a workout, it made me feel so peace‐ ful and happy. Thanks to Kirsten I now have a new‐ found love of cross country skiing! The leadership retreat was very productive... we played hard but we also worked hard and finished fairly comprehensive drafts of two lesson plans on encourage‐ ment and initiative. While at the retreat, I found two things I love to do: downhill and cross country ski. I hope that I can learn how to be better at both. I want to con‐ tinue cross country skiing here in Igiugig and I'm not‐so‐ patiently waiting until it will snow so I can go out and ski.
Page 12
Igiugig News & Notes
Laughing Matter of the Heart by Ida Nelson Did you know that laughing is not only a good way of relieving stress but it is also good for the heart? May 29, 2009 research studies at the American College of Sports Medicine's annual meeting in Seattle has discovered that laughter can improve the blood flow of the heart, which can help ward off high blood pressure. The first study included a small group of healthy adults who were asked to watch a comedy or a documentary film. The subjects were then checked for activity of the carotid arteries--the main arteries in the neck that bring blood to the brain and face---during the films. People who watched the comedy displayed improved "arterial compliance"--the
amount of blood that moves through the arteries at a given time. Decreased arterial compliance is often linked with high blood pressure and heart disease, according to an American Collage of Sports Medicine news release. "Arterial compliance was improved for a full 24 hours after subjects watched a funny movie," said lead researcher Jun Sugawara. "Laughing is likely not the complete solution to a healthy heart, but it appears to contribute to positive effects." The second study focused on vascular function and the dilation of blood vessels. When a second group of adults watched either a comedy or a serious documentary, there was more dilation of blood vessels during the comedy. Constricted blood vessels can be a cause of
VPSO News By Dan Decker - VPSO
Well it has been a month since we transferred to Igiugig and a good month at that. Seems that Susie and the kids are fitting in well and have been enjoying themselves with basketball and Susie has been beading up a storm. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed village life until we transferred here. I have been enjoying getting out and looking around the country some and Randy has been great in showing me around. We have been made to feel welcome and it has been a great relief to us as moving into a new community can be hard and worrisome. So thanks for the welcome and making us feel comfortable in our new home! The Decker family
high blood pressure, the news release said. "Not only did comedies improve vascular dilation, but watching a documentary about a depressing subject was actually harmful to the blood vessels," said Takashi Tarumi, lead researcher on the second study. "These documentaries constricted blood vessels by about 18 percent." In both studies, the beneficial effects of laughter lasted for 24 hours, the researcher said. (Source: May 29, 2009, news release American College of Sport Medicine. Can be found at health and fitness on MSN. ) For more information on healthy lifestyles for heart health visit the American Heart Association online at: www.AmericanHeart.org.
IVFD News By Chuck Brown - Fire Chief
January’s meeting was used to fill out applications and forms. Volunteers, if you have not yet turned in all of your forms please remember to bring them to the next meeting on February 11th. If you need forms or would like to volunteer, please contact Chuck or Barbara Brown. We also need copies of your certifications and current driver’s license or other form of identification for your files. The bonfire on January 13th provided the opportunity for an impromptu training session on how to use fire extinguishers as well as learning how to look for hidden hot spots. We had some fun with this and I think everyone left having learned something. We just completed our Southern Region Emergency Medical Services Council (SREMSC) mini-grant and purchased four ICOM M-88 radios, two emergency first-responder kits, and paid for our ETT class that was held last fall. We also purchased some miscellaneous equipment for distribution at our monthly meetings in the form of door prizes. Our 2010 State Fire Marshall’s registration was also completed in January. At the February meeting we will be finishing up paperwork, setting up a time for ICS classes, discussing the Alaska Uniform Response Online Reporting Access (AURORA) system, and scheduling the volunteer on-call calendar. Tentatively scheduled for April, we will have a visiting firefighter from Naknek, Jesse Ranke, who will be in Igiugig for 4 days. He is a certified Code-Red trainer and will provide Code-Red training to our volunteers.
Volume 13, Issue 2
Page 13
Clinic News by Barbara Brown
February is American Heart Month
In January, we had a productive visit from Dr. Norris who was here for four days. January also marked the beginning of DARE education at the school. I am looking forward to working with our VPSO, Dan Decker in the weeks to follow. If any family members would like to observe what we are doing in DARE, join us every Friday from 10:45-11:45 at the school. I will be traveling to Kokhanok from February 7th-11th for postsession patient count and mentoring. From February 19th to March 1st I will be in Dillingham for Pediatric Emergency Response classes. I will also be taking a lay-vaccinator course for pets during this time. Ida will be in the clinic all month for your health-care needs. Happy Valentines Day! Don’t forget to LOVE YOUR HEART! Barb
Important Clinic Dates:
Barb Brown will be in Kokhanok from February 7th‐11th, and Dillingham from February 19th‐March 1st. Ida Nelson is scheduled to be in the clinic for the month of February.
Community Answers to WORD BUILDING (game on page 8) REP, RUE, RUM, RUB, EMU, PER, PUB, UMP, BUR, BUM, RUMP, RUBE, PERM, PURE, BURM, BURP, BUMP, UMBER, BUMPER www.dictionary.com definitions
REP – noun, a transversely corded fabric of wool, silk, rayon, or cotton. RUE – noun, sorrow; repentance; regret; pity or compassion. EMU – noun, a large, flightless, ratite bird, Emu (Dromaius) novaehollandiae, of Australia, resembling the ostrich but smaller and having a feathered head and neck and rudimentary wings. RUBE – noun informal, an unsophisticated person from a rural area; hick.
Women's Heart Health Week February 1‐7
National Wear Red Day Friday, February 5th Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women ages 20 and over, and the disease kills approximately one woman every minute. More women die of cardiovascular diseases than the next five causes of death com‐ bined, including all forms of cancer. National Wear Red Day urges every‐ one to show their support for women and the fight against heart disease by wearing the color red.
Answers to SUDOKU (game on page 9)
Page 14
Polyeth-huh-da-what?!
Igiugig News & Notes
By Angel Alvarez - Environmental Intern
We recycle, we, we recycle! (Chanted like a
at the bottom. People often buy items contained
cheerleader). Why yes, this is your monthly environ-
within a PET container because they are lightweight,
mental fill, informing YOU about the wonderful
low in cost, they do not shatter as glass would, and
world of recycling! This month we are taking a look
they are recyclable. When PET is recycled it is made
at polyethylene terephthalate (also known as PET or
into other items we use such as carpet, fiber, furni-
PETE) plastic. What in the world is it?! PET Plastic is
ture, new containers, paneling, polar fleece, straps
a thin plastic commonly found in containers such as
and tote bags. Pretty neat, huh? PET plastic is also
some beer bottles, cosmetics, mouth wash containers,
transparent and pretty strong. So, now that you have
peanut butter jars, salad dressing containers, soft
been somewhat informed about PET Plastic, think
drink and water bottles. It is any plastic container
about it! Tell a friend! You may be hearing about this
with the number “1” inside of the little recycle triangle
again very soon.
Moving to Igiugig by Dan Decker, Jr. ‐ 10th Grade We have lived many places before Igiugig, so we’re used to moving in a way. We moved here from Glennallen. Glennallen is way bigger and it’s on the road system so it’s different. We have lived in small places before and it can be really boring at times, but it can also be a lot of fun. Moving here was fun; it’s kind of difficult at first but it did get better. It’s been fun so far and I hope that it continues to be. There was a Chrismas play a few days after we got here and it was funny. Iguigig is fun because we can ride on the lake and ride in the hills with dirt bikes and other machines. I hope we don’t move again because I am tired of moving.
Moving to Igiugig by Josephine Decker - 7th Grade When I found out my family and I were moving to Igiugig I wasn’t very excited. After I thought about it a bit, I was happy because I didn’t like living in Kenny Lake much, nor did my family. I didn’t like it there because we lived too far from the school, grocery store, and everything else. Here it isn’t too big and we can just walk to school instead of taking a bus. Our family lived in a lot of places when my mom and dad’s children were growing up. We lived in, from what I can remember, Hooper Bay, Bethel, Kotlik, Ekwok, Dillingham, Glennallen, Copper Center, Kenny Lake and now here. Some places we lived multiple times. Out of all these places, only a few I really liked to live and this village is one of them. I like Igiugig because it’s not so big and the people here are nice. It is different from all the other places we lived in and my whole family likes living here. We like it because my dad doesn’t have to go on a call in the middle of the night like he did in Glennallen. It is nice and quiet here and I would want to live here until I get older and decide to move or decide to stay.
Volume 13, Issue 2
Page 15
WALK TO BE FIT contributed by Sandy Alvarez Total Village Mileage through January - over 73,500
What a Day!!! If you’re saying that because it’s been way too stressful, then you need to take a break and get some exercise ‐ warming up your muscles as you cool down your mind. However if you say that because as you look out it’s an awesomely beautiful day, you are on the right track with a positive attitude but you still need to get out and do something physical to boost the positive benefits to your immune system.
Healthy body, healthy mind: You can picture yourself as a line of dominoes. When you knock over the first one (for exam‐ ple healthy food), it will knock over the next one (poor immunity/sickness), and continue on down the line until every part of you has become less able to do it’s best. If we allow our body to go with‐ out proper exercise our metabolism level becomes lower and leaves you with a constant need for that afternoon nap. If you want to stay alert, lose weight, or just feel better about life in general, re‐ fer to the article featured in this issue “Boosting Metabolism: 10 Tips That Work” (April 2006 avail‐ able at Igiugig Library or download online at www.igiugig.com) As you go through your day just remember that the things which cause you to have a strong and healthy body are the same things that cause oxygen filled blood to pump through your brain al‐ lowing you to have good concentration, coordination, and functioning deductive skills. (Reprinted from April 2006 Igiugig News and Notes.)
Moving to Igiugig by Amara Decker - 11th Grade At first I wasn’t so excited to move here to Igiugig; I thought that I wouldn’t like it here. After a while I started thinking about it and was remembering all the things I could do in the village that I wasn’t able to do out on the road system: like snow machining, four-wheeling, boating on the rivers, hunting, fishing, and just enjoying everything about the outdoors without all the tourists invading the whole area. A week or two before we moved here, I was getting very excited, I became very anxious to get out of Kenny Lake/Copper Basin area and move back to the village. On the plane ride over, it seemed to me, like a very long ride. I didn’t like it because it was kind of bumpy. Once we came out of the clouds and came close, I was very impatient to land once I saw the darkness of the village. Now that I live here I don’t want to move because I like the quietness, the beauty, and how the community works together to make it a better place to live. My family and I really like it here and I hope that we don’t move again.
Page 16
Igiugig News & Notes
Home Energy by Tanya Salmon Last month our focus was on conducting home energy audits (I hope several readers actually did it, I know I did). The next step after identifying where your home is losing energy is to ask yourself a few important questions:
How much money do you spend on energy? Where are your greatest energy losses? What can you do to decrease your energy consumption? Do the energy‐saving measures provide additional benefits that are important to you (for example, increased comfort from installing double‐paned, efficient windows)?
What is your budget and how much time do you have to spend on maintenance and repair? Once you have assigned priorities to your energy needs, you can form a whole house efficiency plan. For example, Jared and I realized that we lose a lot of heat through our door and windows. In order to fix the problems without spending too much money, we went ahead and bought extra thick curtains to put over our biggest windows. The curtains were rather expensive since they were made to hold in heat, yet we figured they would pay off in the end. Our windows and doors need to be caulked and when the temperature dips to the negatives, we will put a thick blanket over our door. These are simple and quick fixes that fit within our budget, yet help make our home more energy efficient. Other Heating & Cooling Tips:
Set your thermostat as low as is comfortable in the winter and as high as is comfortable in the summer. Clean or replace filters on furnaces once a month or as needed. Clean warm‐air registers, baseboard heaters, and radiators as needed; make sure they're not blocked by fur‐ niture, carpeting, or drapes.
Bleed trapped air from hot‐water radiators once or twice a season. Place heat‐resistant radiator reflectors between exterior walls and the radiators. Turn off kitchen, bath, and other exhaust fans within 20 minutes after you are done cooking or bathing; when replacing exhaust fans, consider installing high‐efficiency, low‐noise models.
During the heating season, keep the draperies and shades on your south‐facing windows open during the day to allow the sunlight to enter your home and closed at night to reduce the chill you may feel from cold win‐ dows.
During the cooling season, keep the window coverings closed during the day to prevent solar gain. If you use your woodstove often, buy a fan you can put on top of it. The heat from the stove makes the fan spin and spreads heat throughout the room. http://www1.eere.energy.gov/
Volume 13, Issue 2
Page 17
(Christmas Joy continued from page 1)
hospital to find out. The security guard at the desk was asking me who I was visiting. He couldn’t believe that I was pregnant and in labor. The nurse in the labor and delivery also thought I was visiting somebody and didn’t believe me when I told her I was 39 weeks pregnant. After verifying that, yes indeed I am pregnant, possibly in labor, and that YES I was sure how far along I was, she took me to a curtained area and hooked me up to monitors. By 4 AM, Christmas day, the nurse said that I was in labor and that I should walk around the empty hospital for a few hours to help speed up the delivery process. I told her that I needed to go home because I had 2 little girls home alone who would be up‐ set/scared if they woke up and found that Jared and I were gone. She advised me not to leave but I insisted, so she discharged me from the hospital. Once we were home, I laid in bed and watched TV. By 4:30 I could hear the girls thumping and giggling upstairs. I thought I would make them wait until at LEAST 6:30 before they could open their pre‐ sents. However, by 5 my contractions were starting to become more painful, closer to‐ gether, and longer so we went upstairs. The girls happily showed me the letter Santa wrote for them, dumped their stock‐ ings, and after oohing and ahhing over their stuffers, they began ripping through their presents. I tried to be excited and snapped pictures of them in between contractions, all the while trying to keep a smile plastered to my face so that they wouldn’t know that I was in pain and that all I wanted to do was sleep. By 6 I told the girls that I was going to go downstairs because I was really starting to hurt. Three hours later, Jared and I were cruising to the hospital. The girls were given strict orders to stay within the yard, keep the doors locked, and that if they needed any‐ thing, to call me or run over to the other side of the condo to get Uncle Mike. I didn’t know it at the time, but the nurses put me straight into the delivery room. There were 2 other women in labor and the nurses were busy bustling between the different rooms. I told the nurses since day 1 that I wanted an epidural, so I was taken by surprise when the nurse told me I was ready to push. “Where is the epidural?” I asked. Through‐ out the whole pregnancy, I remained calm with all the changes my body was going through. I was calm whenever I had false contractions and I remained calm when they informed me that I was in labor. Yet when it came time to push, I couldn’t help but feel scared about the pain I was going to endure and that by the end of the day, I would have a baby…someone who I will be responsible for, love, and care for the rest of my life! At 12:19 PM the mid‐wife placed a screaming baby on my belly. “I am going to let Daddy tell you what it is,” she told me. Jared shakily cut the cord. When I spoke to the baby, it stopped crying and looked up at me with big eyes. I couldn’t help but get teary eyed. “WHAT IS IT?” I asked. Jared was so overwhelmed that it took him awhile to check. “It’s a girl!” Avery Lynne Nelson weighed in at 6 pounds 13 ounces and a long 20 inches. The nurses rated her a 9 on the APGAR and kept telling me that she was a really alert baby. After 5 hours of sleep in 2 days and having a baby, you would think I’d fall right to sleep. However, I was too excited to sleep and I couldn’t stop staring at my baby girl. Corny but true, it was love at first sight and I couldn’t get enough of her. Avery is a little over a month old and is doing well. She loves sleeping, being cud‐ dled, and enjoys it when I read aloud to her. She looks exactly like her daddy, minus the light colored skin, hair (my mom says her reddish hair looks like mine when I was born), and eyes. I LOVE being a mom and caring for my baby. Sometimes I can’t stop staring at her, soaking in every detail about her. I am excited for her to grow, yet sad that she will never be this small again. Her cousins happily help me with feeding her and holding her. Keilan keeps asking me if she walked yet and “where her teeth is?” One thing is for sure, Avery is the BEST Christmas present EVER.
Left: At the hospital. Below: A few hours old.
Right: No more stinky girl. Below: Working at the office.
Left: Up close sleeping.
Page 18
Igiugig News & Notes
(Vacation Continued from page 3)
two tired boys down the street, Keil complaining about no coffee and Aiden just plain grouchy, I was beginning to worry about this little ad‐ venture. Once we arrived at the park our day was looking better. We sat through a short movie about the actual bombing and saw real footage of the events that awful day. I had the boys introduce them‐ selves to one USS Arizona survivor and they studied the elderly man with awe. From there, we climbed aboard a ferry and were shuttled to the USS Arizona Memorial. We walked right over the sunken ship and looked at the ship itself with amazement. Oil still leaks from the
Above: Family Dinner Below: Keilan & Aiden at Pearl Harbor.
tanks below and we watched it bubble out until we were asked to board the ferry. It was definitely a trip worth taking, a little piece of American history we can say we experienced.
That night we loaded up in a cab and headed to the airport, thank‐
ful we had a night flight into Anchorage. Our long family adventure over with we were all a little sad to be headed home. I think next year, we are hitting up the Bahamas! I will spend this long cold winter planning for our next warm weather excursion.
Recipe Corner Contributed by. . . Nancy Nease Smoked Salmon & Tomato Pizza 8 servings—Prep / Total Time: 25 min.
Ingredients
1 prebaked 12‐inch thin pizza crust 1 cup Kraft Philadelphia® Cream Cheese ‐ Regular Whipped 4 ounces smoked salmon or lox, cut into thin strips
Directions
Place the crust on an ungreased 12‐in. pizza pan.
1 cup chopped tomato
Bake at 450° for 8‐10 minutes or until heated
1/4 cup chopped red onion
through. Spread with cream cheese.
2 tablespoons capers, drained
Sprinkle with salmon, tomato, onion, capers, pars‐
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley Pepper to taste
ley and pepper. Cut into slices. Yield: 8 slices.
Smoked Salmon Tomato Pizza published in Taste of Home December/January 2007, p17
21
Village Council Meeting 2pm 28 @ the office
22
Dessert Auction Poetry Slam George Wilson, Sr. 5pm @ school
15
23
16
Fire Dept Spaghetti Dinner 3pm @ school
14
24
17
10
Basketball Districts Newhalen 25—27
25
LSAC Meeting 3:30pm @ school
18
Fire Dept. Regular Meeting @ 8pm Barb’s House
11
Tess Hostetter
26
19
12
Basketball Port Heiden
Basketball Port Heiden
Basketball Port Heiden
Mary Hostetter 9
5
Fri
4
Thu
3
Wed
2
Tue
Kristin Hathhorn
8
1
Mon
Dan Decker, Sr.
7
Sun
February 2010
Calendar
Basketball Newhalen 25-27
27
20
Blaise Decker
13
6
Sat
Igiugig Tribal Village Council PO Box 4008 Igiugig, AK 99613 Phone: 907.533.3211 Fax: 907.533.3217 AlexAnna Salmon, Pres. & Acting Tribal Admin. Randy Alvarez, Vice-President Dallia Andrew, Member Christina Salmon-Wassillie, Member Kevin Olympic, Member Sandy Alvarez, Administrative Assistant Betsy Hostetter, Librarian Christina Salmon, Environmental Director Angel Alvarez, Environmental Intern Tanya Salmon, Social Services Director April Hostetter, Tribal Clerk Intern Nancy Nease, Newsletter Editor
we’re on the web! www.igiugig.com
Weather Watch January Highest Wind Speed . . . 56mph - 5th Average Wind Speed . . . 8.3mph Dominant Wind Direction . . . NNE Highest Temperature . . . 41.7°F - 5th Lowest Temperature . . . –9.8 °F - 12th Below Freezing . . . 28 days Below Zero . . . 7 days Precipitation . . . unknown
PLANNING A VISIT TO OUR AREA? CONTACT US FOR INFORMATION ABOUT ALL THAT IGIUGIG HAS TO OFFER. PHONE 907.533.3211 FAX 907.533.3217 EMAIL
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Igiugig Tribal Village Council Newsletter