Salmon Frenzy on the Kenai

I've been so busy lately, but I'm finally settling back down in Anchorage. So, I'm a little behind on my blogging, but I'll try to catch you up. Going back a little....on Monday, July 14, I worked in the office and was planning on staying with the summer missionaries in Anchorage since Mrs. Nancy had flown to Fairbanks. Instead, I stayed with the Stewart’s that night. I was up really late watching the T3(Training Teens Today) video and just hanging out with their family, so I planned on sleeping a little later the next morning.
To my surprise, I was awakened by a phone call at 8:30 a.m. the next morning from Spring (a USC2-two yr. missionary) asking me to be at Brenda Crim’s house by 9 a.m. It was a good thing that I had all of my things packed because Mr. Dave came over and I was at the house just after 9, but of course, they weren’t ready to go yet. We ran errands most of the day and even got a little lost in Anchorage. We bought tons of food from Costco and then picked up the Salmon Frenzy t-shirts from UPS.
We ended up leaving for the Kenai around 4 p.m. and getting there around 7:30 p.m on Tuesday. There was SO much to do when we got there! The team from Mobberly Baptist in Texas, was with us that night, so that was helpful, but the next day it was just the three of us. Myself, Sara and Spring stayed in the parsonage of the church that night and did a lot of preparation while there. On Tuesday and Wednesday we set up a total of 140 sleeping bags, pillows and air mattresses. Thankfully, the air mattresses self-inflated, but it was still a huge task for 3 ladies. Especially when you consider that the beds were set up in 4 different locations, some of which that were 30 minutes away. We worked on this project and distributing the food to all of the different locations the entirety of these two days. On Wednesday night, all of the teams arrived, some didn’t get there until 2 or 3 a.m. though. I stayed up till about that time to try and help one of the GO-Now missionary gals get here contact solution. Wednesday and Thursday night I stayed at First Baptist Kenai (the same place I stayed with the T3 girls) and had a great time! On Wednesday morning we woke up early and cooked breakfast for everyone at FBC Kenai. I cooked the sausage and did the dishes. While I was there, I spent a good deal of my time playing with Ty, Brenda Crim’s nephew. We played Foosball and tic-tac toe. He was a fun little kid, who told me all about his quail hunting and other stuff. That night everyone from all of the teams (140 people) went out to the beach to prayer-walk for Salmon Frenzy. It was very cold and rainy, but we had a good time and sought refuge under our big circus tent.
After hours and hours of preparation, Salmon Frenzy finally really began on Friday, the day I had to leave. I got to be involved with a lot of it on Friday too. They made 500 hot dogs to give out, along with hot chocolate and water. The main goal of Salmon Frenzy was to minister to those fishing (dip-netting) for salmon on the Kenai. There were throngs of people lined up side by side, with their waders and all their fishing gear on, standing along the shore, waiting for a nice run of fish. It is a cold, long, tiring process, but people want to get their alotted 35 fish, if they can. Each salmon weighs about 15-40 lbs, so this is a lot of fish and major work. They have to haul the fish up shore, clean them, and then go back to fish some more. Around 11 a.m. on Friday, Mr. Dave came in to pick me up and we headed back to Anchorage. We stopped at Sal’s Klondike Diner one last time for lunch. Also on our way back we stopped at a huge chainsaw carving event. There were tons of men and women carving huge wood figures with their chainsaws! It was very neat to see and the intricate detail was amazing! The picture to the left is one of these wood carvings. When we got back to Anchorage I washed all my clothes, helped shovel the last bit of gravel off of the trailer, and packed for Fairbanks. I stayed with Ms. Sylvia on Friday, July 18, and she took me out to a trail behind the airport to walk and shoot pictures, before we headed back to her place. She has such a nice home and is the primary care giver for her mother, who’s in her 90’s. I stayed in her apartment downstairs, which is very nice. It has a full kitchen, washer/dryer, TV and computer…all of the amenities!