Hey Dave in the Bush, the community of Dillingham is conducting its second annual 4th of July "Military Appreciation Trip". It probably has been inspired in part by the generous things you have done for Vets down in Valdez. I hope to have more info later. The short version is we invite the leaders of the uniformed services in Anchorage to pick 12 deserving lower ranked enlisted personnel to have a free fishing trip to Dillingham / Nushagak River for salmon. Local people host the guests for a couple nights and then several guide camps on the Nushagak River host 2-3 service men/women for 3 days of guided king salmon fishing. a big salmon bake is then held in Dillingham honoring the troops. Other activities as hosts can provide and as guests desire are available. Cannery tours, more fishing, local tours etc. Hope to have pictures and a copy of the likely news articles. I missed this last year but I'm hosting 2 guys this summer. Its turning out to be a whole lot of fun for me with the enthusiam of my guests. Nothing like give a 23 yr old Iraq vet a world class fishing trip to make us appreciate what these young folks are doing for our country.
FOLLOW UP.
Well I had so much fun I forgot to take pictures. While on the Nushagak River all our military guests succeeded in catching their limit of King Salmon, or very close to it, and ate well at the generous lodges camps.
When my neighbor heard we were hosting some service men, he offered to bring crab for a big feed. We had all the crab and halibut we could eat. My neighbor's visiting father was retired Army and he had a ball meeting the young guys. Another neighbor who is an Airforce vet joined us as well.
On the 4th the community held a big salmon BBQ with Peter Pan Seafoods donating several cases of premium red salmon fillets - local residents applied their special expertise for a great feed despite the rain. Each service man or woman (3 ladies) was provided quite a package of gifts from the Chamber of commerce including a book on local history. Host families oftern provided additional gifts and souveniers.
Then we went for more fishing where my guests tried for red salmon with no luck, tho there were 100's. We tried for trout and hooked into several 3-5 pound char/Dollie Varden and a few 16-18 inch rainbows. We saw other host families out fishing with their guests as well. We had some great late evening talks with our guests.
All the troops seemed to have a great time and we were sad to put them on the plane the morning of the 5th. With some donated fillets from the cannery and their own catches, I think nearly every guest went home with at least 40 pounds of fresh Bristol Bay fish.
Maybe when our paper comes out I can provide more info.
