in some remote areas of Alaska this Thanksgiving. There’s another kind of bird in the sky, like a frozen turkey dropped down so residents can’t pick up their own bird for the holiday table.
Alaska native Esther Keim is on the scene for the third year in a row of the Alaska Turkey Bomb Project, a service in which she delivers frozen turkeys from small planes to remote areas in the south-central part of the state.
Keim told Alaska Gear Company that she remembers living in a farmhouse in Alaska as a child.
“I grew up in Skewtna, Alaska, which is about 50 miles northwest of Anchorage,” Keim said in a video about her endeavor. “In the fall During the cold weather various families Must be stuck there because you can’t travel. Everything will freeze. It’s not safe.”
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Keim said she sends 30 to 40 frozen turkeys every year to rural families around Thanksgiving. (Alaska Gear Company via AP)
She continued: “We had a friend who was flying in to drop a turkey for Thanksgiving. I remember it being very exciting and fun. He would throw out a newspaper and in the newspaper there was a pack of chewing gum.”
She said to one of the children. “That’s not just not being able to go to the store. A pack of chewing gum means a lot. You know, you don’t have easy access to stores. And you have to plan ahead.”
Keim said that the stagnation in early winter and the breakup in late winter are “minimum three weeks” when travel is difficult
After moving to Anchorage She said she was inspired to start the Alaska Turkey Bomb project from her childhood memories. And after hearing about nearby family near where she lives on a farm that was going without Thanksgiving in 2022.
“He said a squirrel doesn’t go three different ways for dinner. And I thought to myself when he said I was going to send him a turkey,” Keim told Alaska Gear Company.
She said it quickly became “Did you know that ‘I would do this for all the families stuck there. Because I remember what that meant to my family and to the rest of my family. It is quite special.”
Keim noted that there are no roads in the “bush,” and the only way to get home is by plane, snowmobile or boat during Thanksgiving. “Everyone is stuck”
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She said aerial release of birds is effective. “Because we can reach many families quickly.”
Keim added that she wore “Something special” in a turkey bomb for the three families she left for who had children because “As a child growing up there I understand what dessert means. and the lack of it.”
Keim and her pilot, Heidi Hastings, flew so low when dropping off the packages for the children that she told the Associated Press that she could see some of the children’s reactions “and I could see their excitement.”
This year, Keim’s delivery of 30 turkeys included 80-year-old Dave Luce, who lives with his wife northwest of Anchorage on the Yentna River.
The Luces family has known Keim since childhood.
Keim and pilot Heidi Hastings share her newly built plane with her father. They flew over the house until they saw someone outside. Then they come “low and slow” and drop the bird. (Mountain Mind Media/Alaska Gear Company via AP)
They travel into the nearest town about once a month in the winter on a 90-minute snowmobile ride.
Luce said: “I’m 80 now so I travel less and less. The adventure is over.”
“She is truly a sweetheart. And she’s a really good friend,” he added about Keim, who sent them a 12-pound bird this year. “It’s a big Thanksgiving.”
Keim and pilot Heidi Hastings share her newly built plane with her father. They flew over the house until they saw someone outside. Then they come “low and slow” and drop the bird.
Keim relies heavily on turkey donations and buys about 20 turkeys at a time, which she leaves in the truck until it’s time to fly.
“Fortunately, Alaska is cold. So I don’t have to worry about the freezer,” she joked to the Associated Press.
Keim said she wants to turn Alaksa Turkey Bomb into a non-profit organization. (Esther Keim via AP)
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“My vision for this is to make it a non-profit organization where I can get additional funding and support to be able to reach more areas. of Alaska This is because there are many families living in rural areas and living off the grid,” Keim added.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
