Clammy weather doesn’t stop GEMS

PALMER — The Gathering of Educators of Mat-Su was a success despite the rain and the lack of sun. There were many people in attendance from different eras, there to connect with each other, but to also continue to look after kids through MY House.

The room was lively as people conversed with plenty of food and drinks to go around. The music being played by different groups of teachers from different schools brought a sense of camaraderie to the atmosphere. This all stemmed from the brainchild of Barb Nord and Joe Irvine. This started out as a plan to just gather as teachers from the past, but Irvine’s vision according to Nord was to also give back to the kids. It opened the door open for the likes of MY House to help raise awareness of homeless teens in the valley.

The outreach coordinator for MY House, Jay Dagenhart, felt like this was a great opportunity for them.

“Having fundraisers like this really helps out with getting the word out about what we do.” said Dagenhart. “Bringing awareness to the homeless situation that we have in the valley, and so it’s really good for the community to kind of see what we do. And to give a little information about MY House.”

To Irvine, it was always about the kids. Earlier in the program, before Irvine’s group sang, he yelled out that they needed to help out the youth in the valley. To him it harkens back to what they did originally in Alaska when they became teachers here. To help kids.

Nord, who calls herself Irvine’s executive secretary, was glad to see the vision of former teachers gather blossom.

“This has never happened before,” said Nord. “At least not here it has never happened. There’s a lot of people who couldn’t make it who wanted to.”

Among those who made it was Walt Ward, a veteran of the teaching ranks. Ward came to Alaska in 1958 as a teacher from Idaho, and taught in Palmer till 1966. Ward spoke about his adventure coming to Alaska.

“My wife drove the car, and I drove the truck,” Ward said. “We had eight blowouts, and had to cross the Peace River, on the railroad beds because the road had washed out. Had eight flats, the truck had caught on fire, and we didn’t know if we would get here or not. Brakes went out, and had no idea where we were going. It was a great experience and a good move.”

Everything came together for Irvine and Nord. As Nord described it with being Irvine’s partner in crime they had a blast doing the work.

“It was a lot of work, we had a lot of fun putting it together.” said Nord when they planned out the GEMS event. “Fun group of people, we would laugh and giggle and eat.

When asked about the partnership of MY House and the GEMS event, Nord thought it was a good fit for both groups.

“It’s a natural fit. I mean there is so much talent and resources in that room right now, and so many years of experience and caring for kids. It’s that kind of support and connection to MY House that can help them.”