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Posted by Sally Collins, Historian on 4/30/2008, 6:03 pm, in reply to "Bike-A-Thon 5/15/08"
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It is so great that folks are keeping this tradition alive. Thirty years ago the first Ski-a-Thon took place to raise scholarships for the graduating Seniors. Up to that point about the only "perks" for a few Seniors were the University of Alaska-Fairbanks free room to the Valedictorian, and a subscription to the Reader's Digest! Principal Mike Knapp was always embarrassed to not be able to give anything more significant so a PTA (Parent Teacher Association) was formed and we came up with the idea of a fund raiser. Some of us had skiis and the rest walked an 11 mile course that went out through HUD by Judy Vanderpool's house to the bottom of the hill at the Harris homestead, up the hill, then down about where the road goes down through the cut now - then through the woods (way before the Cranberry Ridge Road was constructed) past the swamp at the KSKO transmitter site and back into town. It was a challenging course for people who were new to skiis.
Pledges were pretty wild the first year. One teacher couple, Tom and Sharon Sheets, pledged their oldest daughter Kelly something like $7 a mile thinking she might go a mile or two. She went the whole distance and they paid up with big smiles and some groans. Brett Gibbons' sister (sorry, I can't recall her name) also went the whole distance, taking about 6 or 8 hours - you should have seen her skiis! Old military style (looked like they were about 6 inches wide and 12 feet long! Well, maybe 4 inches by 8 feet...) with peeling paint - we did not have a lot of sophisticated equipment back then! Whole families went, some walking.
It was a popular event. People set up checkpoints and served hot chocolate and cookies, and hauled the worn and weary back to town as needed. The trail was later changed to go through Old Town and up the Takotna River to the bend above Blueberry Hill, through the woods back down to Tatalina Creek and back to town.
Then racing really started when Vince Johnson introduced kick-skiing (prior to that Peter Schneiderheinze and others set a track so we could stay "in the groove" - the older style of racing.)
One year we had an early spring and it became a walk-a-thon out to Cranberry Ridge on the road. Eventually bicycles took over - but the event goes on - regardless of the route and the conveyance.
After Carol Dietrich died in a snowmobile accident, it became the Carol Dietrich Memorial Senior Scholarship Ski-a-thon. Carol and her family lived here for several years (Walt worked for National Weather Service and Eric and Scott were young boys) and she was an active member of the PTA and in other community activites. Scott married Francine Whitworth, Carl and Marcia's daughter, and they come back to McGrath occasionally.
A big "Thank You" to all who work each year to make the event fun and a success - planning, route marking, checkpoints, refreshments and rides, totaling each pledge sheet and collecting the money pledged, donating prizes - and especially to those who do get pledges and walk/ski/bike, etc. Many students have benefitted from your efforts. You younger students - thanks for your help - your year will come!
Maybe some other folks will want to share an experience from years past. Hundreds of people have been involved over the years....
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