When oldest son was in grade 8, he flew with his dad to Togiak, Alaska, a fly-in village in southwest Alaska, to see his dad’s best friend from his school days back in Crosby, Minnesota. Steve, the friend, lived near Togiak with his family for a few years, teaching in a couple of schools around that area. Togiak has excellent fishing, and here they are with a couple of salmon. When it came to catching halibut, dad was the king, but that’s a story for another day. You can see who caught the biggest salmon!
Oldest son was in the process of growing his hair long. He grew it until it reached the middle of his back and wore it that way for a few years. At this stage, however, it was just long enough to curl up underneath his cap, and it was, as you can see, quite blond.
On the flight to Togiak, oldest son and his dad were the only passengers on the plane. On the way there, the plane made it’s regular supply stop in a tiny village. Every time the plane came, it was customary for most of the people in the village to come out to meet it. It was, I’m told, the big event of the week. Not only was it exciting to get the stuff the plane dropped off, but the pilot had a light complexion, and the villagers, being used to darker people, found him particularly interesting. But this time, instead of just a little giggling, they were laughing out loud and pointing at the plane. All of them. The pilot turned around and looked at oldest son. “Buddy,” he said, “they’ve never seen anything like you!”
Sort of related church history note: The church Steve and his family attended in Togiak was Moravian. The Moravians, who were descendents of Jon Hus, a pre-reformation reformer and martyr, were early missionaries in these remote regions of Alaska. In many of the villages of the Yukon-Kuskokwim region of Alaska, the only church is a Moravian one.