Monthly Archives: January 2012

Goody (Gudrun) Sparling – Good to be Home by Claire Festel

I’ve always been in close touch, never away for very long from the Yukon. – Goody Born February 10, 1926 in Whitehorse, Yukon   Goody leans on her aluminum cane and looks through the picture window of her third-floor condo in Whitehorse. She gestures toward the Yukon Legislative Building on the opposite side of Second [...]

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Alex Van Bibber – An Old Hand at New Frontiers By Claire Festel

Veteran trapper, guide, and outdoor educator Alex Van Bibber is a living Yukon legend. At 93 years of age, the experienced woodsman still takes time to show younger trappers how to survive in the wilderness. Alex Van Bibber stands in front of 15 would-be trappers enrolled in the Yukon trappers’ education course. He’s wearing a [...]

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Betty Taylor – Grace Among Us By Claire Festel

Betty Taylor has a reputation for providing a warm hearth and a helpful hand to those in need. Betty Taylor sits in her daughter’s Whitehorse home, where she lives, and fumbles with a remote control, quieting the noise of an afternoon newscast. The frail 93-year-old turns to me and looks confused when I remind her [...]

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Straight Ahead, a Profile of Stan Bridcut – Yukon Bush Pilot

Stanley Bridcut - Straight Ahead By Claire Festel At 1545 on May 24, 2008, the north’s signature bush plane flew low over the Watson Lake airport and dipped side to side in the bush pilot’s salute. A few minutes later Frank Close addressed the more than 200 people gathered to celebrate Stanley Bridcut’s life, a Yukon [...]

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