Glennallen, AK
September 6, 2017
Population: 483
Venue: Glennallen School, Upstream Learning
Glennallen was the biggest of the three towns we were visiting in Copper River Valley, meaning they have a gas station, grocery store, and espresso station - amenities we did not encounter in Kenny Lake, 45 miles away. As you drive down the main road in Glennallen, the volcanic Mount Drum looms ginormous through the windshield. I’ve trekked to the base of Himalayan mountains, but somehow the optics of this mountain and highway make Mount Drum look like the most colossal mountain I’ve ever seen.
This was the 3rd to last day of tour, and I guess I thought I should really maximimize my remaining time in Alaska; I gave three in-school presentations at Glennallen School, the biggest school in the district, followed by an evening concert for the public. It is all a bit of a blur, but I loved the playful interest and the warm welcome I was given by the students. It is striking to watch over the video footage now and seeing how some of the students are absolutely transfixed by the music.
The evening concert was also at the school. In small towns, it is often the case that the only public gathering place is school, like it was at Cooper Landing. The highlight of the concert was playing with Caden, a serious high school cellist (and champion wrestler!). He and I had rehearsed “The Swan” by Camille Saint-Saens earlier that day, and he performed on my concert. Following the concert, his family had me and Andrew (videographer/photographer) over for dinner - Caden’s father is a Glennallen School teacher and wrestling team coach. This dinner was one of the more memorable evenings of tour, and Andrew recounted it for me:
What I remember...Caden's parents, Chad and Kelly, invited us to have dinner with the family at their home in Gakona. Two large bear pelts that casually hung on the coat rack. Chad told us he shot the larger bear one night from his porch as it rustled through the trash cans in the dark. "Had I been able to see how big it was, I would've just went back inside." Instead, he took a lucky shot. Over homemade bear stew, we discussed Caden taking second place at the Alaska State Fair talent show playing a string rendition of ACDC's Thunderstruck, the Glennallen wrestling team on which he competed and Chad coached, traveling by puddle hopper for matches outside the Alaska interior, their eldest daughter running cross country at college, and how Kelly's grandfather played in the NBA. The youngest son, Zane, was also quick and plentiful with his adolescent stories.
However, it's not those stories that bring this dinner to mind so often. I was struck by their hospitality and intimacy. The entire family gathered around the table to spend time with us, strangers, with whom on the surface they shared little in common except their son's love of music. How many other topics might have divided us? The reason this particular meal is so memorable for me is that this was the moment that I got it, the moment the Gather Hear mission became a reality for me. In that remote home on the edge of the Alaskan wilderness, your music birthed friendship and camaraderie where it otherwise never could have existed.
Caden’s cello case with the Gather Hear sticker, with hide from bears the family hunted.
Photo by Andrew Rizzardi