Happy Thanksgiving, Must Read Alaska readers from Ketchikan to Kaktovik! I’m so grateful for you and that you care so deeply about Alaska, her economy, cultures, and future. Thank you for returning to this conservative news and commentary site day after day and, for those who comment on stories, thank you for keeping it civil and interesting. Thanks to those who help keep the lights on here!
I have spent most of my career as a political analyst and writer. From my days at the Juneau Empire, then down to the Augusta Chronicle, a short stint in Florida, and back to my home in Alaska, it’s a lot to be thankful for. Must Read Alaska has been the best endeavor of them all, and I’m grateful to all who make it happen.
However, we could all use a breather from politics. Maybe some football and pumpkin pie, and no discussion of who won, lost, or the voting system wrought by Ballot Measure 2.
One of my favorite memories of Thanksgiving is the 1984 Juneau Thanksgiving Day storm, and how we had to move the cooking of the feast to the wood stove, which had a wood-fired oven, in our cabin on the shore of Auke Bay. That cooking adventure for everyone in Juneau was one for the ages, but it didn’t hold a candle to the hardships endured by the settlers who came to the Americas and set up a rustic and fragile community. The first Thanksgiving celebrants in 1621 never had an expectation that the electricity would ever come on, while in Juneau, Alaska Light & Power and road crews were on the job that day. Juneau friends will never forget that day.
Other fun memories of growing up in Juneau include having community potluck Thanksgiving dinners at the Methodist Camp, a tradition that continues today out at the Eagle River United Methodist Camp. If you’re in Juneau and your plans fall through, the lodge will open at 10 am and the Thanksgiving dinner is served at 1:30 pm, out at Mile 28 Glacier Highway.
What are your fond memories of an Alaska Thanksgiving? What Thanksgiving adventures stay with you all these years? Share them with all of us in the comments below, and enjoy your day, however you celebrate it. (Extra credit if outboard motors, skiffs, snow machines or dog sleds are involved.)
(Photo above is a snapshot from this morning on the Nome web cam, one of my favorite web cameras in Alaska.)
