FAN ART: Iditarod 'groupies' gift photo to Jonrowe

ANCHORAGE — Some self-proclaimed Iditarod "groupies" from out of town got their wish when they were able to give veteran musher DeeDee Jonrowe a gift of their own making at the mushers' banquet on Thursday.

In Anchorage's Dena'ina Civic and Convention Center that night, New Hampshire fans Candi Kane and Zoe Roberge approached Jonrowe's table around 7 p.m. and waited patiently for her to return from the restroom.

The kuspuk-clad musher returned a few minutes later, "full of energy," Kane noted, and asked the women to hold on one minute while she signed posters for a few fans at the table behind hers.

Once Jonrowe was seated, Roberge handed her a flat, rectangular package wrapped in blue, tie-dyed paper and string. As she unwrapped the present, Kane began to explain the significance of the gift, which the musher realized when she saw her mother's face staring up at her from her lap.

Roberge said she snapped the photo during last year's Iditarod — her first time up for the event — as a member of the trail committee. Jonrowe's mother, Peggy Stout, was wearing Jonrowe's fur hat at the time.

After learning that the hat burned up in the Sockeye fire last summer, shortly before Stout died of cancer, Roberge thought the photo would be an especially meaningful gift to Jonrowe when she saw her at the 2016 Iditarod mushers banquet.

Jonrowe took the white-framed photo in her hands, tears rolling down her face, and gave the women a quiet "thank you."

Then she quickly wiped the tears away and posed for a photo with her fans, all smiles. Kane and Jonrowe hugged, Roberge smiled, and they parted ways to enjoy the rest of the evening's festivities.

Roberge said she was excited for the race, and even considering moving to Alaska to be closer to the Iditarod, its mushers and everything about the sport that's come to inspire her.