Chatanika Days

Chatanika Days

Spring is coming. Days are getting longer. Now it doesn’t get dark till almost 9 pm and starts getting light shortly after 7 am. Right now it is about 3 degrees here on the river 2 pm, and is predicted to be in the 20s next week.

Last week, Saturday, went to Chatanika Days in Chatanika, AK. This is a community about 25 to 30 miles from Fairbanks on the Steese Highway. This event has been going on for 30 years and it was the 6^th annual last event to be held.

The events they had there were the outhouse races, see pictures and video, snow machine tug of war, human bowling ball contest (see videos and pictures), log cutting, pool competition, this is the one participated in.

I wont discuss the out house race because you can see the videos here. They have shortened the race from what it originally started at to about a ¼ of a mile. The original race was several miles long.

The snow machine tug off war is exactly that, two snow machines going in opposite directions with a rope connecting them, see who can out pull the other.

I got videos of the human bowling ball competition. It was interesting to see the different forms of sliding someone down the alley. When I talked to the competitors, it was the one in the sled they said was the competitor, but I believe they both were a team. The reason they believed only the human ball was in the competition is because they were the only ones required to sign a waiver.

I got involved with the pool competition. About 20 of us and it was double elimination. It started at 4 in the afternoon. I got eliminated at about 1130 and I believe the person who won it was the only sober one left. Even the score keeper was a little tipsy. When I left he was arguing with some spectator on how to keep score.

I claimed 4^th place, who is to argue with me over this. I don’t think they remember. As I walked to my room, I saw one of the guys I played pool with on the dance floor in another competition. It had something to do with women’s stockings and a potato. I didn’t ask.

They had other stuff on the dance floor too. I remember seeing them doing hula hoop competition. The women’s stocking and potato really got my attention.

It continued the next day too, but we had breakfast and were home by noon. They also have dogs that rome the restaurant. None of them look like they are starving,