newsminer.com

If it looks like there are more teens than usual out and about next week, it’s because there is an extra 154 of them.

They’re not just hanging around, however.

They are here for World Changers, an initiative of the North American Mission Board, a southern Baptist convention, in partnership with the Tanana Valley Baptist Association.

These youngsters, from all over the country and including a group of Denali Borough teens, will aid some low-income residents in local communities by painting houses and helping with community construction projects.

At last report, they were expected to build the long-awaited pavilion at Otto Lake, for the Healy Valley Lions Club, and also to construct some soccer shelters at the school soccer fields in Healy.

They will work on improvements for the Healy Ice Rink, replace windows at the Denali Preschool and Learning Center, paint the home of a retired couple and build a couple decks on houses.

According to Peter MacMaster of Morning Star Baptist Church, who helped organize this week, they’ll have some fun while they are here, too.

The Denali Borough is only one of a number of places that will benefit from World Changers.

This summer, more than 22,000 students nationwide will pay an average of $260 to participate in 95 construction/community service projects from Alaska to Pennsylvania and South Carolina.

These students undergo a six-session, pre-project “how to” class before arriving.

They’ll be here Saturday through July 12 and will be staying at Tri-Valley School in Healy.

Tundra Challenge

For the second year in a row, the Healy Tundra Golf Tournament raised more than $10,000 for local programs at the Denali Education Center, in memory of Scott Menke.

Black Diamond Golf Course sponsored the annual event, which always draws a crowd.

This year’s winner of “Closest-to-the-pin” was Greg Lahaie. Ben Jordan of Healy won longest drive for men; Peggy Menke, longest drive for women; and Kaz Cizmowski, for youth.

Overall winning team? Black Diamond Golf and Northern Lights Gift Shop, with a score of 4 under par.

Moose Scat Scoot

A 3-year-old zoomed past me during the 13-mile Moose Scat Scoot bike race last weekend — of course, he was in a cart being pulled by his mother, but somehow that didn’t make me feel much better.

A couple joggers also sprinted past me on the 4-mile uphill, as I pedaled my bicycle from Savage River to the Riley Creek Mercantile in Denali National Park.

But none of that dampened my enthusiasm for this fundraising event, which raised more than $2,700 for the playground project in the McKinley Village neighborhood.

Funny how you never notice those uphills when riding the same route in a vehicle.

As one of those joggers passed me, I gasped, “Where is the downhill?”

“Hey, some don’t make it at all,” he replied, and pointed to a squashed rabbit in the road.

I had plenty of company. About 62 people signed up for the 13-mile bike ride, half-marathon run, 5K run/walk or 1.5 mile run/walk.

One of the participants included Sonja Schmidt, who spearheaded building the current playground at the McKinley Village Community Center, when there were only four children in the area, so many years ago.

Now, on a typical play day, about 20 preschoolers show up to swing and slide.

She just returned from biking around Europe for a month, so after the starting line, I never saw her again until the finish.

Aramark sponsored this event and donated prizes and water stops along the race route.

Nenana Art Guild

Art is alive and well in the next generation, if the art show by the Nenana Art Guild is any indication.

In addition to the talented adults displaying artwork at the Sheldon Center last weekend, two teens also showed off their “stuff.”

Sam Saylor, a young talented cartoonist from Anderson displayed a couple of his drawings and Sammy Dempster showed off a collection of glass beads he created after a beadmaking class with Floyd Brooks.

Sammy was a dedicated participant who helped create the glass mosaics now hanging in the foyer of Anderson School.