HUMAN

Name: Deborah Davis, I go by Deb.

Age: 68

Residence: Ketchikan, Alaska

Occupation:  Retired nurse 

Years involved with Iditarod: Since 2009

Iditarod role: Trail Comms

Current Location: McGrath, Alaska

Date of Photo: March 13, 2020
Temperature: -8F/Outdoors

What, who or how and when did you first get involved with the Iditarod?

So I got involved with Iditarod because a very good friend of mine from Ketchikan whose name is Sarah Justine Black, who is a teacher in Ketchikan, but also extremely close friend of Ray Redington’s, who did this every year. And she would go to Nome, and she would do the trail mail, and she would go to Ray’s, and she would talk about mushing and I said, “Boy, I should do that one day.” And finally one day, that was 2009 she said, “You’re going.” So she took me to Nome with her. We stayed in the Polaris Hotel, which some people will recognize. It’s no longer there. And I volunteered for everything that you could volunteer for in Nome. I worked in the dog lot, I worked on the desk, I worked, they call it security, but mostly it’s keeping people out of the shoot for the winner, and just whatever they wanted me to do, I was like, “Okay, I’ll do that. Okay, I’ll do that. Okay, I’ll do that.” Since that time, I have now switched over to Trail Comms. This is my third year in Trail Comms. It’ll be my third year in Safety. That seems to be a home for me. I like Safety. It’s kind of an unusual checkpoint. And this year I was also a McGrath and that’s where you found me. Last year I got a chance to go to Yentna and Safety. So now it’s McGrath and Safety. And I hope I’ll get to do this for a long time. I’ve met so many people and that could be the mushers, that’s their dogs. I have good friends amongst mushers now that –I don’t live in an area where we have mushers; although, we do have an Iditarod musher. That would be Angie Taggart who ran in 2011 and 2013, but I’ve good friends, people up in snow country that I correspond with year-round and I have spent some time with. I’ve had chance to go mushing and they’ve become very good friends, and I wouldn’t give that up for anything. It’s been great.

What is your Why?..Why are you here today and involved in Iditarod?

So I am here today and involved with Iditarod because I’ve gotten so much satisfaction out of helping. This is such a huge undertaking, and being able to actually help smooth the cogs or be a piece, and get a piece done, and make it easier for the mushers. And you know when a musher says, “Thank you, you made that easier for me.” Or “You made that easier for my …” if it’s not the musher, maybe it’s a family member, “Oh I’m so glad you were here to explain why … whatever.” That’s why I do it. I love the dogs. I would go sleep with the dogs probably, but I continue to do it because, one, they need volunteers and they need people that are just willing to fill in and do stuff to make this race happen. And I really love this race.

Tell me about just one of your most memorable Iditarod experiences?

One of my most memorable Iditarod experiences actually happened in my first year. I had gotten left in charge of the dog lot in Nome for a couple of hours. The manager was in making space for other dogs, and I had someone come in and say, “Hey, you’ve got one of our dropped dogs.” And I said, “Okay, well you can have him. His name is Beemer.” and she’s like, “Yep.” And I said, “You’re going to have to sign for him.” And she goes, “Yep.” And this lovely young woman whose name is Bridget came over and she picked up this dog, and she signed for him. She took off. And only later did I find out that this was a dog off Allen Moore’s team who was a yearling, had made it 800 miles, and I ended up being on their web page giving Beemer back to Bridgett who’s Allen’s daughter. And it was just the sheer joy of the dog getting reunited with his pseudo-mom, I guess, his sister may be in one way to put it. And I got to know Allen, and Aliy, and Bridgett, and some of their family, and they just epitomize that to me. And it hooked me. It hooked me on those personalities, on the people that care more about their dogs than anything else, that the first thing they want to do is get their dog back in their kennel, and they’re just as joyful as you can be about it. It’s cool.

What do you know for sure?:

What I know for sure in life is there will be change, after change, after change, and by gosh, you better be ready for it and take it one day at a time.