The 2008 Seppala Heritage Grant will go to 17 year old Melissa Owens from Nome, Alaska. Melissa has been mushing most of her young life. In 2005, Melissa placed first in the Jr Iditarod. She has competed in quite a few mid distance races including the Jr Yukon Quest, and the Don Bowers 200.
Applicants for the Seppala Heritage Grant must own their own dog team and operate their own kennel. Persons eligible for the grant include any youth, junior musher or rookie (a rookie is any person regardless of age who aspires to run the Iditarod for the first time), and who demonstrates the qualities outlined above. Financial need will also be considered.
Two members of the Little Su 4-H Club signed up for the 2008 Jr. Iditarod on Saturday. Meredith Mapes and Yuta Takagi were excited to get the sign-up out of the way so they can focus on the training season.
Yuta is from Anchorage and is an active participant in Alaska 4-H dog mushing program. He has been running dogs for four years now and has participated in junior sprint races. He also enjoys long distance skiing. Last year he placed 4th in his age group for the 40 km Tour of Anchorage Ski Race. The 2007 Cantwell Classic Junior race was his first mid-distance race.
Had you wandered into Iditarod Headquarters today in Wasilla, you might have been forgiven for thinking you'd somehow stumbled into a political gathering. Alaska's Governor Sarah Palin was there, shaking hands, posing for photos, and even signing a few autographs. If you took a closer look, however, you might have noticed something strange. While the Governor was certainly drawing a crowd, much of the audience was elsewhere. They were in search of mushers to sign autographs and pose for photos, not hometown-girl-made-good Sarah Palin.
In a year of many firsts for mushing, Lance Mackey has become the first Alaskan musher in history to be nominated for an ESPY award. Lance has broken records, survived cancer and overcome many obstacles to make this honor a reality. Not only does the ESPY award recognize the achievements of great athletes - it raises awareness for the ongoing battle against cancer. ESPN and the V Foundation use this great event to raise awareness and funds to continue the battle against cancer. Lance would almost certainly agree with the late Jimmy Valvano's quote, "Don't give up. Don't ever give up."
June 30, 2007 Dog Pull Clinic in Sequim, WA
-- LAST CALL --
Sequim, Washington, June 2007- K9ScootersNW.com, the largest dog dryland dog sports club in the northwest, is sponsoring an all-day Dog Pull Clinic in Sequim, WA, on the beautiful Olympic Peninsula. "We have a full day of hands-on plus a lunchtime discussion of food and care & feeding, then all will get to run a sulky, scooter, or mountain bike around the land!" stated Lynne Angeloro, primary facilitator of this event.
June 23, 2007 - Glacier Pilot's versus Alaskan Athletes and the Governor
What should have been a night of well known Alaskan athletes and celebrities enjoying a night of Glacier Pilots baseball at Mulcahy Stadium in Anchorage, Alaska, turned into a game of celebrity softball. It was Alaskan Athlete Appreciation Night and the Glacier Pilots were supposed to be playing baseball...but the opposing team had a conflict and was unable to show. What to do?
June 23, 2007 - The Wasilla, Alaska Home Depot hosted a Pet Appreciation event with the local pet adoption agencies and special guests; author Mike Dillingham and Iditarod/Yukon Quest champion Lance Mackey. A steady flow of visitors came through to see the puppies, dogs and celebrities.
In addition to the success of the celebrity visit, several pets found new permanent homes which made everyone happy. Home Depot manager Keith Blaha seen here with Lance Mackey was the man who organized the event. Thanks Keith!
Lance has been out of the state for a week or more attending a conference and having some fun. He will be returning to Alaska just in time to attend a couple of great event this weekend. This Saturday, June 23rd, Lance will be appearing at two events in the Anchorage, AK area. Come out and enjoy the festivities...and don't miss your chance to catch up with the Iditarod/Yukon Quest champion!
Pet Appreciation Day
Home Depot
Wasilla, Alaska 12 noon- 3pm
Mike Dillingham will be there with Rivers (book about Rivers), there will be a dog
obedience demonstration, police K-9 dogs, dogs available for adoption
and...Lance Mackey will be there for photos and autographs. Special thanks to Keith at Home Depot Wasilla and Donna Quante for inviting Lance to this event.
June 11, 2006 - Lance Mackey was in Anchorage visiting sponsors, friends and supporters when he took a few hours to socialize at the local Harley-Davidson dealership. Showered with applause from the crowd, Lance was invited on stage by Anchorage's House of Harley owner, Barry Matteson. While on stage, he shook hands with Jim Ziemer, CEO of Harley-Davidson and Joanne Bischmann, VP - Licensing and Special Events.
MUSH with P.R.I.D.E. has a new board of directors, spanning a wide area from Canada, New York to Alaska. This is a good mix of people to continue guiding the mushing community. Below is a list of board member names. Form a relationship with board members in your area, and let them know how you feel about PRIDE issues!
Bob Anderson – Mt Morris, Michigan, Jane Fuerstenau – Soldotna, Alaska, Jolene Giese – Laramie, Wyoming, Nils Hahn – Nome, Alaska, Shawn Linendoll – Fort Ann, New York, Mitch Michaud – Soldotna, Alaska, Karen Ramstead – Alberta, Canada, Bridget Schwafel – Fairbanks, Alaska, TC Wait – Morrison, Colorado, C. Ben Woodard – Norway, Maine. For more information on Mush with pride visit their web site at http://www.mushwithpride.org/
Lance Mackey appeared live on KAKM (Anchorage, AK) tonight during the premiere broadcast of the newly released Iditarod video "As Tough As They Come".
Along with Lance, Zorro made a special appearance live in studio. Zorro is Lance's primary stud and has contributed greatly to the team. Zorro was lively, alert and a bit nervous with all the lights and indoor spaces - but was a great addition to the show.
Program will air again this week
June 6, 2007
8:30 PM AKST KAKM TV
Special thanks to Will Peterson (interim General Manager of KAKM) for inviting Lance to host the show.
The great new live show in town has dog stars, a wonderful canine event!
Huskies and malamutes create a wonderful spoof of the Last Great Race. The performance will have you in stitches, impress you with the intelligence of the canine cast and create a good feeling in this wonderful live presentation downtown Anchorage, next to the Comfort Inn. A must see if you are in town in the summer!
It is wonderful, a wholesome family affair also featuring some stars from Disney's Eight Below movie. A champion production by a champion cast! My entire crowd of 22 day care kids were impressed.
Had you wandered into Iditarod Headquarters today in Wasilla, you might have been forgiven for thinking you'd somehow stumbled into a political gathering. Alaska's Governor Sarah Palin was there, shaking hands, posing for photos, and even signing a few autographs. If you took a closer look, however, you might have noticed something strange. While the Governor was certainly drawing a crowd, much of the audience was elsewhere. They were in search of mushers to sign autographs and pose for photos, not hometown-girl-made-good Sarah Palin.
In a year of many firsts for mushing, Lance Mackey has become the first Alaskan musher in history to be nominated for an ESPY award. Lance has broken records, survived cancer and overcome many obstacles to make this honor a reality. Not only does the ESPY award recognize the achievements of great athletes - it raises awareness for the ongoing battle against cancer. ESPN and the V Foundation use this great event to raise awareness and funds to continue the battle against cancer. Lance would almost certainly agree with the late Jimmy Valvano's quote, "Don't give up. Don't ever give up."
June 30, 2007 Dog Pull Clinic in Sequim, WA
June 23, 2007 - The Wasilla, Alaska Home Depot hosted a Pet Appreciation event with the local pet adoption agencies and special guests; author Mike Dillingham and Iditarod/Yukon Quest champion Lance Mackey. A steady flow of visitors came through to see the puppies, dogs and celebrities.
Pet Appreciation Day
June 11, 2006 - Lance Mackey was in Anchorage visiting sponsors, friends and supporters when he took a few hours to socialize at the local Harley-Davidson dealership. Showered with applause from the crowd, Lance was invited on stage by Anchorage's 
Lance Mackey appeared live on KAKM (Anchorage, AK) tonight during the premiere broadcast of the newly released Iditarod video "As Tough As They Come".
