I first became involved with Iditarod when I moved to Alaska. I wanted to become a part of it because on the Wide World of Sports on ABC, I was in college and saw their weekend special about the Iditarod and was just in awe of the beauty of the area, the lonely dog team with this huge mountain in the background and all of the experience and thought that’s something I want to do. And when I moved into the Matsu Valley, I was like two miles away from headquarters. So, when it came time for the Iditarod, I went down and signed up as a volunteer and have been helping here ever since.

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

I’m here today to coordinate the dog handler class. The volunteers are required to take our dog handling class, so that they know the protocol for being safe around the dogs and how to get the dogs from the dog trucks to the starting line in a way that allows everyone to be safe.

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

One of my most memorable Iditarod experiences was involving a teacher on the trail. I used to be on the Iditarod Teacher Selection Committee, and we would select a teacher from the whole United States that applied and became the teacher on the trail. And one of the things they would get to do is ride as an IditaRider at the ceremonial start, and I helped collect the musher bibs at the end. And when I saw the look of pure joy on this teacher’s face coming into the dog lot area at the end, it was just so entrancing. And it’s the reason that all the volunteers are doing this is for the joy, the love of the Iditarod.

What in life do you know for sure?

What I know for sure in life is you need to be flexible. No matter what you have planned, something is going to change it, and you have to be flexible to survive.