Southwestern Quilt Design
Do you wonder about the Musher Banquet that is held before the start of the race?
by Sally Simon, Finalist for Target® Iditarod 2011 Teacher on the Trail™
The Thursday night before the Iditarod is full of traditions. The dictionary says traditions are “long-established actions or patterns of behavior in a community or group of people”. Well, if the mushers and their fans are considered a community of people, then the Musher’s Drawing Banquet is full of traditions.
One tradition that’s noticed as soon as one enters the room is the music of Hobo Jim. Hobo Jim is a legend in Alaska and his song “Redington’s Run” is virtually a trademark for the Iditarod. Hobo Jim has been the opening entertainment for the banquet for many years. To learn more about Hobo Jim or to listen to some of his songs visit his website: http://www.hobojim.com.
Another tradition is quickly noticed when one finds his seat. Each table has a centerpiece made by students who have submitted their design to the Education Department months in advance. Each classroom selected makes the centerpieces and sends them to Alaska in time for the event. Two of this year’s designs came from Arkansas and Indiana.
During the banquet there are also several auctions to raise money for the Iditarod. Some items are live auctions and some are silent. For the silent auction there’s usually art work, crafts and jewelry from Alaska. This year there were several items donated to raise money for a special cause, Four Paws for Logan. This is an initiative to buy a dog for an autistic boy from Unalakeet. Dee Dee Jonrowe announced during the banquet that the goal of raising $13, 500 to buy the dog has been reached! That was so exciting. The family will still need money to support the everyday needs of the dog, so if you haven’t donated yet, you still can! To find out more about this worthwhile cause visit the website: http://www.4pawsforlogan.com.
Another long standing tradition of the banquet is introducing the Honorary Musher for the race. S/he gets to wear bib #1 and start the Ceremonial race at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. The Honorary Musher is selected because of his contributions to the sport of dog sledding. This year’s Honorary Musher is Orin Seybert, the founder of PenAir, a commuter airline that services Southwest Alaska. PenAir transports hundreds of volunteers and dogs to and from checkpoints along the Iditarod Trail during the race. Orin Seybert started the company in 1955 and it’s grown into a thriving company of over 450 employees. PenAir also sponsors the PenAir Spirit of Alaska Award for the first musher into McGrath. That lucky musher receives a beautiful “spirit mask” and $500 credit towards travel or freight shipment.
Finally, the tradition that everyone in the room looks forward to the most is the drawing of bib numbers followed by an autograph session. The traditional way a musher selects his bib number (which is also his/her starting position) is by picking it out of a mukluk, or native Alaskan boot made of reindeer or seal skin. After the musher announces the number s/he goes into an autograph area where a variety of things are offered for signing: annual race guide, posters, drop bags, and dog booties. It’s an official rule that all mushers must be at the Drawing Banquet, so it is a great place to get autographs while the mushers are still in a jovial mood. You can read all the rules of the 2010 Iditarod here: http://www.iditarod.com/race/iditarodrules.html.
This year, I decided to combine the tradition of the Musher’s Drawing Banquet with the tradition of the Traveling Quilt. The Traveling Quilt is a project started in the summer of 2005 at the Iditarod Educator’s Conference. The teachers created quilt squares which shared their educational journey and messages to students. The 2006 Iditarod Teacher on the Trail sewed the quilt together and it traveled to classrooms throughout the United States. There are now four quilts and a fifth one is in the making.
At the beginning of my experience at the Winter Educator’s Conference this year, I was given a blank quilt “square.” I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with it until I was walking into the banquet. I realized I didn’t have anything for mushers to sign. I saw the “square” in my bag and remembered how the students in my class loved seeing my autographed drop bag last year. The light bulb went off. I could get the mushers to autograph my square and make it part of the quilt to be shared with students around the country.
Signing one’s autograph represents a certain level of accomplishment. It’s a souvenir of meeting someone who has hopes and dreams–someone who has followed his dream and been recognized by others. So, my autographed “quilt square” will now be part of the Traveling Quilt tradition: Tradition meets tradition. But, it represents much more. It represents having goals, working toward those goals, and being proud when those goals are realized. To learn more about how you can become involved with the Traveling Quilt visit this website: http://iditarodblogs.com/teachers/traveling-iditarod-quilt-one-two-three.
View Pictures of the Musher Banquet
Lesson Plan Ideas:
*Create an autograph book for yesteryear (social studies & language arts). Here is a sample lesson plan to get your ideas flowing: http://www.nea.org/tools/lessons/14683.htm.
*How much is an autograph worth? (math): Here is a sample lesson plan to help you get started: http://www.pass-ed.com/Sports/EconomicsofAutographs.html.
*Handwriting analysis (science). Here is a great lesson to give you lots of information: http://www.handwritingscience.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9&Itemid=12.
*What are traditions in your family? Community? State? Interview or research to find out and share.
It's April 9th here in South Western Australia, and I think the last of summer's intense heat has finally subsided. We've had some lovely Autumn days recently, and the nights are cool enough to sleep under a soft, fluffy doona at last.What I like about the impending winter season is being able to quilt once more...in summer it's just too hot to hand quilt, but winter? Bring it on!
Over the next month I'll be assembling all 4 Wonky Houses blocks into a cute, but wonky, wallhanging - then quilting it before unveiling it to my fellow Wonky Housers with the final 4th block on May 9th. :-)
I just hope me hand improves as it's sure been hurting these last few days.
Here is your 3rd Wonky Houses block! I hope you like it. :-)
To upload the pattern go HERE.
Have a blessed Easter dear friends!
Jenny
