HUMAN

Name: Dennis Kacian

Age: 72

Residence: Salmon, Idaho

Occupation: Retired

Years involved with Iditarod: 2

Iditarod Roles: Volunteer/Trail Crew

Current Location: Nikolai, Alaska

Date of Photo: March 8, 2022

Temperature: 20F Outdoors 

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

I first became involved with the Iditarod in the late 1990s, just on a superficial basis. More recently though, starting in about 2007, I enrolled in the Insider and became more educated in what is all involved as far as mushing, dog care, et cetera. And at the present time, I started volunteering in 2020 at the restart in Willow, helping with the setup the day before and with the restart the day of. And presently, I am here in Nikolai for a few days, and then we’ll be heading out to White Mountain to be part of the trip.

What is your Why? Why are you here TODAY and involved with the Iditarod?

I’m here today and involved with Iditarod because, actually, I wanted to get on the trail. And by doing so at the checkpoints, you can get up close and personal with the mushers, asking them questions, and they all seem to be very congenial and polite and cordial.

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

One of my most memorable Iditarod experiences was, again, my first time here in 2020 at Willow at the restart. I helped out with setting up on Saturday and with the restart on Sunday. The memorable part was, is that it snowed for two solid days and there were at least 12 inches of new fresh snow on the ground. And it was a chore putting up fencing and taking down fencing, et cetera.

What in life do you know for sure?

What I know for sure in life is that if you don’t make it enjoyable and don’t make it fun, it’s going to be a very short life.