Doug & Elaine Flack – Early Fund Donors and Winners of Alaskan Fishing Expedition
KUDOS! go to Doug and Elaine Flack who purchased drawing tickets at the Weston A. Price Foundation 2007 Conference for an Alaskan Fishing Expedition, donated by Dave Wetzel, Green Pasture Products.
Here’s their account of the trip -

“I could not believe my good fortune, winning Dave Wetzel’s funding raising “Alaskan Fishing Trip” lottery in November, 2007.  My wife, Barbara, was blown over with the news; the trip was to Seldovia, Alaska!  It was meant to be!  For I had worked in  Seldovia Alaska’s salmon cannery back in 1961, I was also the 2nd to contribute to the Famer Consumer Legal Defense Fund and I had bought a lot of tickets! 

Seldovia is as far west as Hawaii, a very long way from Vermont.  We flew to Anchorage, rented a car (our only real expense) and drove ‘west’ 280 spectacular miles along fjords, through glacial valleys, forests, along salmon rivers and enormous lakes to Homer.  Dave had arranged for a room in a B&B above the best bakery in town, with a magnificent view from our windows of the beach, bay, mountains and glaciers.  While in Homer we walked for miles on the beach and bluffs, enjoying flora and fauna, including sand hill cranes, bald eagles and cliffs full of lignite coal veins. 

On our 3rd day in Alaska we took a water taxi 15 miles across Katchemak Bay, passing three spectacular fjords, places I had fished in 1961.  A back road van taxi met us at a remote dock and the driver clued us in on the latest news in Seldovia, a town of approximately 300 year round residents. This tiny village, home to world class fishing, is on a fjord looking out on Cook Strait and the volcano strewn Alaskan peninsula. We had a successful and exciting day on board a private charter boat catching halibut in the middle of Cook Strait.   In the evenings Dave arranged for us to visit and dine with interesting local folk. Our Seldovian B&B provided bicycles and the fishing guide and boat. We caught our limit and the fish arrived in Vermont the day after we got home, ready to cook. Halibut is a remarkably delicious food. We flew out of the village and back to Homer in a little Cessna enjoying the aerial views of this wild and glorious place.  This trip is really high end; thanks to Dave’s great generosity. 

The evening flight home to the lower 48 was over 500 miles of ice fields, valley glaciers and views of Mount McKinley, Mount Fairweather and interior Yukon.  It was a visual feast. 

The trip was fabulous, but note what your 2008 ticket will do for you: help ensure that nutrient dense food will be available everywhere, giving farmers like myself access to farmer friendly lawyers and legal support.  In a recent Rural Vermont survey we found that our consumers were relatively unaware that support for activism and legal change were important as buying direct from farmers.  I can sell a small amount of raw milk but Vermont regulations prevent me from selling my cheese and butter and farm slaughtered meats.  Imagine how our farm could thrive on sales of these foods?  Imagine the new small farm economy we will build!  Buy lots of tickets!”