JR thought he was volunteering for a WINTER sport.  Then found himself prepping the Team AK hills for plastic and year round use.
JR transitioned from volunteer to jumper.  He writes:  “I always wondered about jumpers as I had seen them on the outruns and they did not seem to be great skiers.  So I figured what the heck.  Give it a try.  I put on a pair of jumping skis and holy moly, those things do not turn.  Of course I crashed giving myself a black eye from my glasses hitting the goggles as they hit the snow. I was hooked.”

J. R. PATEE 
Anchorage, AK
jrjeanne@mac.com

Volunteering- an Exercise in Community

In 2014 I was working part time as a nurse, easing into retirement, and received an email asking for volunteers to work as hill markers at the local ski jumps.  Wow, I did not realize the jumps were even still being used and here was a Jr. National Championship.  I had grown up downhill racing and since moving to Anchorage many years ago had been involved with the cross country community.  But here was a chance to see a new aspect of skiing.  I signed up and was wowed.

For 3-4 days I volunteered and became enamored with the graceful flights.  After the event I went to the coordinator, Karen Compton, and asked to be put on the volunteer list.  She said I did not really want that, as they would call me.  I said I could unsubscribe and now 4 years later they cannot get rid of me.  Perhaps it was my desire after retirement to volunteer in the community, an activity I already did working with the Anchorage Nordic Ski Association in a variety of duties: timer, course setter, announcer, first aid ( I had worked as an emergency nurse for years), but the jumping club was different.  In the cross country club you are one of hundreds and thousands, in the jumping club you are one of dozens.

I asked and pondered what made it so exciting as I do not have a vested interest in the way of kids jumping.  Michael Brubaker, one of the parents, said it was like being a little kid going out and making anything into a jump to jump off.  Perhaps that was it as I had made lots of jumps on the potato cellars of Idaho growing up.  Perhaps it was just being in a small energetic community, perhaps just another activity adding to the benefit of Anchorage, maybe just being around the kids and their excitement.  Whatever it is I cannot argue with the joy it brings me.  Learning new things is great, snow making, construction, repairing, and just helping out. Now my wife has joined in the volunteering effort and has become the seamstress for the club, fitting and repairing the dozens of suits which seem to be in need of constant attention.

Of course it is not all snowflakes and good times.  Volunteering seems to take its toll.  I tell people ski jumping is safe but volunteering has its risks.  Every year a purple heart is given out for injuries sustained in volunteering.  The award is not given out lightly, one must require a visit to hospital, doctor, or surgery.  Luckily I have received only one, for slipping on the icy steps and breaking a wrist.

I have found in retirement one cannot just sit in front of the TV, but must get out and explore new horizons.  Ski jumping has provided my wife and me a new activity to pursue.  Yet another “job” (I didn’t know it was a year round activity)!  During my tenure I have seen the Alaska Club grow from tiny to thriving.  I feel proud to be a part of the community.

JR’s Team AK volunteer purple heart.  He only had to break a wrist to get it.

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