7/7/2009 Mail, Whales and a Flag

Another spectacular day weather wise here in Alaska! Shorts all around for another day.

OUR MORNING

Bob started his day off by catching up on emails, reading his forums and such I joined millions of people around the world watching the Celebration of Life service for Michael Jackson. He truly was an exceptional entertainer. Rest in Peace Michael.

MAIL

We had called for our mail to be delivered so we set out to find the post office. Now I want you to understand that Seward is NOT a large town, truly small. Maybe two miles from one end to the other and maybe six streets wide. Small, tiny, probably everyone knows everyone else. As much as we had driven the streets we had not noticed the post office and had no clue where it was. It took us asking five people where the post office was before we were given the correct directions. We got answers like, a) one street over and down a bit, b) I know its on the other side of town but I can't tell you exactly where, c) turn left here and go a half mile, I think, d) wow, I never had to give directions to the post office before, I don't know what to tell you. I guess when you live in such a small place that you don't give it a thought on how to get somewhere, you just go. Well, we finally found it and collected our mail. Mostly junk and to think we pay to have it delivered to us.

WHALES

We decided to take a drive on roads we haven't been before. We were in the right place at the right time because the whales were playing in the bay.








WILDFIRES

The wildfires further up north in the state are starting to affect us down here in the southern section. Look how hazy it looks here. It's smoke! We can smell it in the air. We're hoping for the winds to come or rain to clear the air.





This is what it looked like several days ago.

A FLAG

Fifty years ago Alaska became the 48th state of our great nation. When it was bought from Russia in 1867 it was known as the Territory of Alaska and flew just the American flag.


In 1926, when Alaska Territorial Governor George Parks was on a visit to the U.S. Post Office building, he had noticed that, while there were flags for every state displayed, the territory of Alaska had none. It was time to remedy that.


It was decided that a contest involving school children, grades 7 through 12, would be formed for the design of the flag. The rules called for 8½ x 11-inch paper, color or plain ink. Each community formed a panel to select the 10 best entries, which were then forwarded to the final committee in Juneau.


John Ben "Benny" Benson was 13, a 7th grade orphan at a mission school in Seward, when he created his design for the flag for the Territory of Alaska in 1927.


Benny looked to the sky, choosing the Big Dipper and the North Star for his symbols. He described his choices this way: "The blue field is for the Alaska sky and the forget-me-not, an Alaska flower. The North Star is for the future state of Alaska, the most northerly of the union. The dipper is for the Great Bear symbolizing strength."


This young flag designer was born in Chignik in 1913, part Russian-Aleut and part Swedish. His father put him in an orphanage, the Jesse Lee Home in Unalaska, at the age of 3 when his mother died. The home moved from Unalaska to Seward in 1925.


Benny learned about his win in March 1927. “One day our teacher’s husband came in the room and he brought a telegram,” Benson recalled in 1971. “She just looked at it and her mouth dropped open. She was speechless. … And I darned near fell out of my seat, I guess.”


The only change that was made in his design was the removal of the “1867”, the year the territory was bought. His design was favored over about 700 entries from schoolchildren around the state. Many of the other entries had variations on polar bears, gold pans, the state seal, the midnight sun, or northern lights.


Benny's prize for winning the contest was a gold watch with his design engraved on the back and $1,000 that he later used for diesel-engine repair school. The watch he donated to the Alaska State Museum in 1963. The original flag, made of blue silk and appliquéd gold stars, was first flown July 9, 1927.


Alaska's Flag




On the 5th of July I posted a picture of a young boy riding an ATV in the mud bog race. I said that his mom must have nerves of steel or that she was.....home. Well, I heard from the mom. She was none other than Heather from Fairbanks that I also wrote about and had a picture of. In case you don't read the comments, here's what she wrote.

Thanks for the great pictures!!

Just a fun fact... the mother of the youngest racer on the 4-wheeler is also Heather driving Dirty Thrills from Fairbanks. Yes... it is a family thing. My husband was also there racing and my other son has a truck that we left home this time.

We had a fabulous weekend in Seward and a super time playing in the mud. The Seward Racing Lions are doing a great job and we appreciate all the Seward hospitality.

Thanks!
Heather Heineken
Dirty Thrills
Fairbanks Alaska

She googled "Mud Bogging Pictures Seward 2009" and was directed to this blog.

I wonder what tomorrow will bring.