Most of our fan mail comes from school children, grades 3 to middle school. There are quite a few teachers - worldwide - who use an Iditarod Curriculum in their class. We also get letters from home schooled children and scout troops. The thousands of letters that we have received have included poems, book reports, pictures, and even small gifts.
One of the more touching letters came to me several years ago after a mediocre preformance in Iditarod. The little girl wrote "since you didn't get any priz money this race I sent you my allowance." She had wrapped up 5 quarters with Scotch tape and slipped them in the envelope. Heartwrentching! These quarters now reside next to all of my Yukon Quest and Iditarod trophies.
This year, I had many favorites: laminated banners, dog pictures and even writing pens from homeschooled children in New Zealand. Allen and I also received hand made patches from school kids in Buchanan, New York. I hope that you enjoy them as much as we did.
The letter that came with the patches explained a few things:
(Allen) "For your patch, we decided to highlight "Happy". Our teacher told us about Happy and we loved following the race to see if Happy made it to Nome. Mrs. Simon told us that Happy showed us that anything is possible! Don't tell anyone, but your patch was the funnest to make! We wanted to put the lips on Happy's butt, but our teacher said behind it was good enough to get the point across."
(Aliy) "For your patch, we decided to highlight that you made your own boots out of a snow suit and string or tape when your got wet. Our teacher tells us the Iditarod is full of problem solving and we liked your solution."
We do enjoy all of the letters and try to respond to all. We will gladly send used dog booties or postcards, but be sure to incude a self addressed stamped envelope so we can write you back.Labels: Iditarod
