When a cruise ship docks on Labor Day, Nome shows it’s best face

Nomeites were joined by a few extra spectators for the Labor Day festivities as the cruise ship visitors on the Hurtigruten ship Nansen, docked at the port of Nome, caught a look into the whimsy of Nome’s traditions.
At high noon three bathtubs on wheels began their journey from City Hall to the Post Office with a large crowd of locals and tourists around to cheer the teams on for the Great Labor Day Bathtub Race.
Sandwiched between the Junior volleyball team and the Underclassmen volleyball team was the Running Club, a tiny but mighty crew of youngsters.
Juniors were made up of Brooklynn Crowe, Cassidy Martinson, Benny Lie, Claire Fagerstrom and Sara James. Audrey Bruner-Alvanna, Sage Gregg, Nyelle Lie, Nutaasaq Ahnangnatoguk,Angela Omedelina  and Sherilyn Anderson comprised the Underclassmen team. The Running Club kids were Martin and Liliana Bickford, Paige Savok, Elizabeth Phan, Douggie Coulter, and Caleb and Ellen Stewart.
They barreled down Front Street as the first raindrops of the day fell. The “captains” of the team, according to race rules sitting in the tubs filled with water, didn’t look as uncomfortable as pervious years as they were floating in warm water siphoned from the Checkpoint Center, General Manager of KICY and race organizer Patty Burchell said.
Tossing tiny foam volleyballs in their wake, the Juniors took first place, followed by the Underclassmen. Though they had a few trips and slips getting to the finish line, the Running Club was all smiles as they took home the crowd favorite, awarded to the team who received the most cheers from the crowd.
As the excitement from the race wound down on Front Street, spectators approached Rotarian Lew Tobin to purchase last minute tickets for the Rubber Duck Race put on by the Rotary Club at 2 p.m.
The curious and the brave meandered over to the Snake River to watch 3,000 rubber ducks enter the water. Tobin was joined by Charlie Lean, Nicole Santonastaso and David O’Neill in a motorboat to dump the ducks and follow their path to the finish line, a rope across the river.   
Wind chilled fingers crossed, a much smaller group of spectators than seen at the earlier tub race walked or drove along the bank as the slow-moving ducks bobbed, weaved and, mostly, got stuck on their way to victory. Among the onlookers was Michael Wenger and Annina Egli, tourists in from Switzerland on an Alaska honeymoon who snapped photos on their cameras and shared their excitement about Nome, wishing they could stay longer.
Darlene Katchatag joked that she never thought she’d be watching a race where the participants are plastic birds, “They’re not even edible!”
As the race wrapped up, it seemed there were two clear winners, prompting kids to stake claims on either the pink or yellow duck. Shouts in favor of both grew louder and pink pulled ahead.
Rotarian Adam Lust closed off the race with a reading of the winners: First prize of $1,500 went to Andy Serrano; second prize of $750 went to Oliver Hoogendorn; third prize of $500 went to Gary Bush and the lucky winner of the Wild Duck $250 was LA Williams.
“Yay! Now we get to pick up ducks,” Lust quipped. The Rotarians did spend the next few hours collecting the contenders to be reused for next year’s race.
The Richard Foster Building was also open for the over 600 cruise passengers that moved through town Monday, with a last-minute craft fair next to the museum and open house from the Bering Land Bridge National Park crew.