Talkeetna bachelors ready for ball

TALKEETNA -- It's time for Wilderness Women to get their snowshoes ready, and for single women from around the state to convene in Talkeetna to pluck one of the area's bachelors off the stage.

The 17th annual Wilderness Woman competition, and the 22nd annual Bachelor Ball, get under way in Talkeetna on Dec. 7.

The events are held during Talkeetna Winterfest, a celebration of winter living in the Last Frontier.

The Wilderness Woman competition begins at noon in the Village Park, with registration taking place during the morning.

Organizers said the competition is "conducted in a spirit of good fun; a sense of humor is highly recommended." Single women must complete a number of tasks, including hauling water from a mythical creek in five-gallon buckets, catching fish, hauling wood, shooting a ptarmigan and escaping from a make-believe moose and making a bachelor a sandwich and finishing chores while he watches television.

Later in the evening, the Talkeetna Bachelor Auction kicks off. At the VFW post in Talkeetna, at 7 p.m., bachelors get auctioned off to the highest bidder.

"The ladies may purchase the company of a bachelor for a drink and dance at the Bachelor Ball -- with honorable intentions, of course," organizers said.

The ball follows the auction, and begins at 10 p.m. at the Fairview Inn.

Women can get a look at the men during the day, when the bachelors greet all women arriving Talkeetna via the Alaska Railroad.

The contest is rooted in a loosely-organized social club. In 1981, with the dead of winter firmly entrenched in Talkeetna, the society began because of the nearly five-to-one ratio of single men to single women.

Several bachelors were sitting in the Fairview and decided to raffle themselves off. Winter's doldrums are also cited as a factor in the formation of the club.

"To everyone's surprise, it worked," organizers said. "The Talkeetna Bachelor Society has somehow managed to survive the restless population and economic ups and downs."

While the day is one giant party in Talkeetna, it is for a good cause -- actually, many causes.

The money raised during the day is donated to several charities, including the Alaska Family Resource Center (with the money earmarked for local women's needs), the Denali Arts Council, KTNA community radio and the Talkeetna Youth Hockey Association.

Several other local organizations receive donations from the events.

For more information about the day's events, interested people can call DX at 733-3939.