Tok, Alaska’s Fourth of July Parade
©Bert Gildart: Parades tell you much about an area, and because we are now in Tok, Alaska, we decided to take in the 4th of July celebration. Though small, this tiny community of 1400 put on quite a show, and was proceeded with several fire trucks followed by the Grand Marshall.
Grand Marshall, Tok, Alaska
After that, others followed and in no particular order included representatives from stores, veterans, the police department, and, of course, the local chamber. I photographed all representative, but included here only the ones which turned out well. Things were happening fast, and sometimes, exhibits escaped me.
Tok is a trading center for the surrounding Athabascan communities to include Northway, Tetlin, Tanacross, Mentasta, Eagle and Dot Lake. Later, we discovered that Native arts and crafts were found in the many gift shops found in Tok. Appropriately, one float included Athabascan representatives.
Tok serves many Athabascan Indian communities
Fires, and control of fires are obviously a huge concern. Tok, in fact, is engulfed on all sides with endless expanses of spruce, and several villages to the south of us were almost wiped out by fire. Appropriately, Smokey the Bear was present.
A much needed reminder that Tok is surrounded by vast forests.
Campgrounds were represented, as visitors swell during the months of July and August. In fact, the campground in which we are staying has been virtually full most every night. But we missed shots of them, but not of the Cranberry Lady. Her sign tells us when the festival occurs.
Cranberry Lady
One festival we photographed several days ago was Canada Days, and I’ve included a photo here from that celebration which we watched near the small Canadian town of Watson Lake.
Canada Days, and in the Boreal forest moose are common
80 BELOW
Janie and I both like Tok. Folks here are friendly but when Janie and I heard that temperatures this past winter dipped to -80ºF and remained there for several weeks, she decided this was not a settlement in which she’d like to winter. We know what -50ºF is like as we experienced that in Venetie where we worked one winter as interim teachers. Tok, incidentally, means water in the Athabascan language.
___________________________________________________________
