Watching a child run with scissors might be cause for alarm, but seeing a daughter run with an axe was cause for pride for one mother at the 31st annual Juneau Gold Rush Days on Saturday at Savikko Park.
Competitors in the women’s spike driving competition were required to dash to a thick wood beam, pound three spikes into sections painted with the patriotic red/white/blue, then dash back to the starting point. Chatter from dozens of spectators in the nearby grandstands stands and the cluster of competitors were an expected range of observations such as “use your muscles,” a wincing “ouch” when a glancing blow sent a spike flying and “if you take a moment to notice she is pulling nails from her hair…she is dedicated to this.”
Veronica Friend, right drives spikes into a wood beam using an axe as contest officials and spectators watch Saturday during Juneau Gold Rush Days. The crowd also sang “Happy Birthday” to mark that occasion as she competed in the event, which was won by her daughter, Allesandra. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Less expectedly, upon a prompting from the announcer, was a singing of “Happy Birthday” for Veronica Friend that brought a mirthful laugh from her in the midst of her pounding.
“That’s why I didn’t win,” she quipped afterward.
But the real reason was also cause for celebration, as the honor went to her daughter Allesandra, 18, who took less than half as much time to drive her spikes in as her mother. The winner said she’s been competing in Gold Rush Days events since the age of six and took part in her first spike driving contest at age 13.
“You kind of pick up little things everyone is doing,” she said.
This year, however, the teenager may need to pick a lot more up since she’s competing in eight women’s events during the weekend, a majority of them for the first time.
“I just signed up for all of them,” she said.
James Whistler, 8, operates a mini excavator during Gold Rush Days on Saturday. People young and old were offered a chance to place tires around traffic cones and other challenges after getting a brief introduction to the excavator. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
A different sort of pick-up effort was being made by James Whistler, 8, in a small fenced-off circle where for $5 people could spend five minutes trying to perform feats with a mini excavator such as ”ringing” tires around traffic cones. He managed to drape a couple of tires over the tips of cones and, even though he knocked the cones over doing so, it was more than some older novices with heavy equipment achieved.
“All you had to do was pick it up and put it on,” Whistler explained about the tires afterward, although his five-minute-lesson didn’t quite allow him to describe the controls that accomplished the feat.
Making considerably more racket during the first competitive event of the morning were the men participating in the jackleg drilling event, involving boring deep holes in concrete with a water-flushed drill that weighs considerably more than a DeWalt cordless. It’s not something the competitors typically train for in these modern times.
Jesse Stringer, a former worker in Coeur Alaska’s Kensington mine competes in the jackleg drilling competition Saturday during the 31st annual Juneau Gold Rush Days. The event in Douglas at Savikko Park is scheduled to continue with logging competitions on Sunday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
“I used to be an underground miner, but now I just do this,” said Jesse Stringer, 40, a worker in Coeur Alaska’s Kensington mine from 2009 to 2014. He’s now a research analyst for the state, noting “I mined to earn enough to get my degree from the University of Alaska Southeast.”
But certain elements of the gritty mining days remain present even with just the brief revisit to his past profession.
“I’d hug you, but…” Stringer said as a friend greeted him afterward, trailing off with a gesture to his heavily soiled clothes and skin.
The event typically attracts thousands of local residents and visitors during the weekend, and for many it’s because the traditional mining and logging events are a novelty.
“I like the logging event a lot more than this,” said Rick Deising, who worked for the Alaska Marine Highway for 33 years, over the racket of the jackleg drill as the final competitor bore in. “There’s a lot more going on than just noise.”
Deising said he drops by Gold Rush Days every year to watch whatever events are happening and greet old friends, who generally are working at a booth in the exhibitors and food tent.
Ivan Adams, owner of Twhrly Whrliy (yes, that’s how it’s spelled), offers fresh-spun cotton candy to a customer in the food and exhibitor tent during Juneau Gold Rush Days on Saturday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Inside the tent were local vendors selling a mix of what would have been familiar and unfamiliar foods to old-time miners and loggers, including grilled chicken, fry bread, adobo, Mexican hot dogs, musubi, cotton candy and smoked ribs. There were also booths ranging from exhibits of local mining projects to children’s face painting to a recruiting effort promising large hiring bonuses for corrections officers.
Gold Rush Days is scheduled to continue from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, with logging events for men, women and youths. A beer garden is scheduled from 2-5 p.m. and an awards ceremony for all competitions will conclude the weekend.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
Officials and spectators watch an event at Juneau Gold Rush Days. The two-day event typically attracts several thousand residents and visitors. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
