All the races that occur the weekend of the Kuskokwim 300 Sled Dog Race only happen with the support of volunteers all along the trail. The reporters in Rachel DeHaan’s third grade class at Gladys Jung Elementary School give us an inside look at some of these important helpers.
Transcript:
All: Welcome to Cranes Corner News
Gracie Greusel: Your reporters this month are:
Gracie Greusel
Kylelynn Kassock
Julian Sebastian
Brad Judy
Sadie Flickinger
Flickinger: The K300 race is coming up this weekend. It is a fun and exciting event that happens in Bethel every year. Many people in our community volunteer during this time to help make the race happen. For our news show this month we wanted to highlight some of the major volunteers.
Greusel: One of the major volunteers is Rafe Johnson. His job is to mark the trail for the mushers. Rafe drives his snow machine and puts stakes in along the trail. He says it takes around one to two days to get the trail marked. He has three other people that help him mark the trail.
Judy: Many people in Bethel host mushers while they are in town for the race. The Judy family has volunteered to host a musher this year. For their job they provide shelter for the musher, their dog handlers, and their dogs. The Judy’s are hosting Jessie Holmes and his dogs this year. In order to volunteer, they called the K300 and signed up. The family is really excited to host a musher.
Flickinger: Kathy Baldwin is another major volunteer for the K300. Her job is to sign people up to work at headquarters. For her job Kathy, calls and emails people to work at headquarters. She also makes a schedule for the weekend to make sure every job is filled. Kathy has always loved the K300 and she really likes to show her support for the race.
Kassock: Taking care of the dogs is a very important job during the K300. Jackie Klejka is the vet coordinator for the race, and she has been doing this for over 24 years. Her job is to offer help to the mushers and do physicals on the dogs. Her favorite part of the job is getting to know the mushers and dogs. Jackie wants to wish all of them good luck during the race and a big welcome to Bethel.
Julian: Andy Angstman is also a major volunteer. He is a race judge for the K300. For his job he will be at the Kalskag checkpoint, making sure the mushers and dogs follow the rules and are respectful. He helps to make sure everything goes smoothly during the race. Andy likes to volunteer because this race is very important to him and his family. He has been helping out since he was a little kid.
Judy: All of these people really help to make the race successful. We really appreciate all the hard work that people do in order to make the race happen. We want to thank everyone that volunteers their time to help the race even though they don’t get paid.
Kassock: Thanks for listening. Stay tuned next month for another episode of….
All: Cranes Corner News
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