This morning Pete had a small idea, and I had a big one. He suggested that we get a blurb on talk of Alaska, via email. It was holiday call in day. My idea was to recruit interns for our Summer in the Parks program.

A Year and two months ago, I went to Old Harbor, which is located on Kodiak Island. I flew from Kodiak to Old Harbor in a plane called the Caravan. I did library revitalization and hosted a book fair. I stayed in a really nice B and B – and I met some amazing individuals.

I did not think I would ever again meet up with those I met – but life continues to be full of surprises. Today, Nate and Emily, who are teachers at Old Harbor, appeared at the former banquet room of the historic Eagle Hotel along with two other teachers and their two children. This was at 1:00 p.m. I introduced them to Natalie and Lydia and Pam and Pam’s brother and to Lawrence, who like all six, parents are from the Philippines.

The first six seconds were awkward – then it was again like being amongst old friends. Nat, Emily, and I played catch up – with me first telling them how it’s been going with the book project and then them telling me how it’s been going in Old Harbor. The four adults who visited are now the Old Harbor teaching staff. And Nat, not surprisingly, is the head teacher. The school has 40 students, grades 1-12.

The group had decided to make Anchorage their vacation destination. They decided to come to Palmer in order to check out the Alaska State Fair festival of the lights. I added to their agenda. After sitting around the back table and talking for a while, I ran an idea that came to me this morning as I was unloading wood from the truck. It was to have two students and one adult come to Palmer in the summer and be Summer in the Park(s) interns. The interns would be Old Harbor students.

Nat and company liked the idea, so we are going to approach Alaska Native corporations and see if they might support this effort.

Today, after talking, there was a strong interest in seeing our place, so we all came here. The horses, I let them out of their pen – they raced around, stopped and said hello to the company, then went into their respective enclosures and ate their late lunch.

We returned to town and ate dinner at Turkey Red. Then we returned to the former banquet room of the historic Eagle Hotel and packed up 5 boxes of books, which Pete and I will send to Old Harbor, via the mail system after the holidays.

The crew headed off to check out the lights – their basecamp is Eagle River, halfway between Palmer and Anchorage.

I do not know if they will be returning to Palmer. They are all it seems feeling very adventurous and as such want to see as many new things as they possibly can.

Such a big plan, to have interns here this summer. I keep thinking that it does not get any bigger than this, but then it does.

345. 12/24/25: Christmas Eve