Beach Party and 4th of July

Hey Rune - here is someone who has your taste in haircuts!



As I've said before, Juneau really celebrates the fourth of July! Its a several-day event in normal years and this year it was combined with a celebration of statehood.

In this year's parade, a float with some of the same princesses from 50 years ago drove down Egan Drive. Along with the marching band, antique cars, fire engines, Veterans for peace - you name it - they were there (ho, everyone except for the governor). And the candy that was thrown or passed out - every kid walked away with a grocery bag full!


And then there was the beach party and games at Savikko park - always a hit with foot races, gunny sack races, dog frisbee throw, lots of food booths, face painting, tailgate barbeques and more.

In year's past the sand castle building competition has not amounted to much. I think with the incredible weather we've been having the inspiration (or desire to be at the beach) was increased and there were some very finely crafted piles of sand around.

This was probably my favorite:


and for my nephew:


This one was fun - there were hidden toys where communities would be located, for example, Ketchikan had a little crab placed at the proper place.


After riding our bikes downtown to watch the parade in Juneau, then coming back to Douglas for another parade, hot dogs at the firehouse, watching the races, cheering on the speed racing SoapBox Derby kids and the fireworks from the night before, we were glad to spend a quiet night at home.

Statehood Quilt

I saw an article in the Juneau Empire, a while back about a statehood quilt that was being put together by quilters all over alaska. Some of the panels are really impressive - take a look at all the pieces on flickr.

Statehood Fireworks

There was a tiny little blurb in the "Around Town" section of the Sunday Juneau Empire and I don't think Tim believed me until we arrived at the new high school's parking lot and saw others gathering, but it truly was the Statehood Fireworks Display! As often happens, the show started out pretty slow and with snow falling for most of the day and during the show I'm sure there were some difficulties keeping things dry. But finally after a few single bursts the real show began and it was a good one.

There's nothing like standing out in 20 degree weather to enjoy the warm, happy feeling of fireworks, well, ok, maybe standing out at minus 30 below is a little more dramatic!





Santa put a Statehood Almanac under the tripod tree so be warned that you're going to get some facts from it through the year!

Alaska entered the union on Jan 3, 1959 as the 49th state with a population of about 225,000, of which almost a quarter of the residents were Alaska Natives. As of the book publish date the population is 691,354 and about 17% being Alaska Natives. In 1959, the federal government owned 100% of the lands and in 2000 the feds owned 65%, state 25%, private 1% and Alaska Native Corporation Land 10%.