Kiefer's Interviews
Ben Hughes
If you were to walk down the middle of the solstice festival in Anchorage, Alaska you would hear music. Ben Hughes is playing this music. Ben sounds like a pro in my book, he has a great talent. He is 22 years old and lives in Wasilla. Ben has never lived in a different state before. The reason why Ben has lived in Alaska so long is because he loves the mountains and seeing new things everyday. He works as the main chef at Red Robin. Ben always tries to get time to play music in his hectic schedule.
He has been playing the guitar for over 7 years, but this is not his only talent. He plays every instrument you could think of including the bass, the drums, and the bongos. Ben started playing music when his mom came home with a guitar. He was influenced by his mother to start playing the guitar. He said, "My Mom is my role model."
Over the years Ben has developed a huge passion for music. He just recently made a band with 3 other music players. This has not always been the case though. Ben said, "I was a one man band for a long time." The music they play is alternative rock. Their name was really hard to think of but they agreed on the name "Peach" and just stuck with it. He said that they thought of different food names, then they pulled names from hat, and Peach just came up. They have a total of 2 gigs of music already and their band is hoping for more. If you ever hear of a band called "Peach" it started in Alaska!
Jen Raffaeli
Pretend that you are back in the days when the most efficient way to get around in the snow was by dog sled, where life was more still than it is today. There is a place that is still like that. That place is the Denali Dog Kennel, in Denali National Park. Jen Raffaeli, general manager for the kennel, has been working there since last summer.
"Right when I heard about this place, I knew I had to be here," she said. Jen is now 35 years old and hoping to continue working here for a while. Everyday she gets to work with the dogs that pull the parks' sleds. She does not have a favorite dog because every day a new dog stands out to her. The dogs all have good and bad days just like people. Each dog starts training just after birth, and by seven months, they usually get to go own on their own run on the sled. By that time, the dogs are excited and ready to pull the sled.
Jen also went to college and got a masters degree in earth science. She's always been a science girl and an outdoors person. In science, she likes to look at things and try to figure them out, which is pretty cool because it can take time and be a lot of fun.
If you go to Denali National Park, make sure you visit the kennels. You will relax as you go back to the time when life was more still than it is today. Jen is a fun spirited person and if you are lucky enough to meet her she may even show you her favorite dog of the day.
Monica Chase
Have you ever wanted to be a captain of a boat? Monica Chase is the captain of the Rainbow Connection for six summers. She had to do a lot of tests and spend many days at sea to become a captain. She began all of this work in 1999.
Monica grew up in North Carolina. She went to school in Portland. The reason why she wanted to work at sea is because her family went go out to sea a lot when she was growing up. She said, "I have been on the sea since I was 14."
The Rainbow Connection is not just a whale watching boat. During school time Monica takes kids to school on it like a school bus or teaches kids in the boat. She said, "The best part is whale mugging, which is when a whale comes to you." Monica also said, " One time a whale went under my boat and measured up, and also stuck its head out all the way around the boat."
Another good part is that Monica gets to drive wherever she wants. The hardest part of being a captain is docking the boats and having the responsibility of taking care of other people. Even though being a caption is hard at times Monica says it is a very rewarding and enjoyable job.
Matt Longacre
It takes many years to be in good enough shape to hike challenging mountains. They have to be in really good shape and know a lot about safety to be able to hike these mountains without getting hurt. On June 28, 2011 Matt Longacre hiked the 26-mile long Crow Creek Trail.
Matt is one of these people who have a lot of experience with hiking. He rock climbs by himself and with his friends. He also skis for fun. He has been skiing for 14 years and hiking for 13 years now. Matt is 18 years old and lives in Girdwood, Alaska. He has always lived in Girdwood. When he finished his hike he went to celebrate at "The Bake Shop," a local favorite for its delicious soup and sticky buns.
He just finished high school and he is going to college in Colorado in the fall. This will be the first time he has lived somewhere other than Girdwood. Matt is going to be an engineer. The reason he wants to be an engineer is because he loves math and he is good at it. After Matt finishes college he will return to Alaska and continue hiking.
Dan Olsen
Have you ever thought of living on a boat? How about being the captain of a boat? Well, Dan Olsen does both of those things for his job and he loves it. Dan has been the captain for seven years on the Fjord Land. Dan could have been a captain for 16 years because of his experience.
He has lived in Seward for nine years. Dan is 42 years old. When he was young he didn’Äôt even want to be a captain on a boat. Dan had to do a lot of work to be a captain. He had to spend 720 days at sea for 8 hours every day. After that he had to take a series of tests to make sure he knew what he was doing.
Dan has many favorite things when he is at sea. His overall favorite thing while at sea is the different kinds of whales that he is able to see. There isn’Äôt anything Dan doesn’Äôt like about being a captain. Overall Dan is a very outgoing person who loves to help people and hopes he can keep working as a captain for a long time.