George is 80 years old and he still runs dogs. Many dog mushers seek his advice and he occasionally lets others use his dogs. A couple of years ago, he loaned his dogs to a young musher in Fairbanks. George started thinking about his yard full of dogs and how to engage youth in Huslia. Having been involved with dogs for most of his life, he understands the benefits they provide to a person’s mind and body. George wanted to share his knowledge with youth and this became the inspiration for youth to participate in the recent Junior North American Dog Sled Races in North Pole.

Kathy Turco is a RurAL CAP is a second year AmeriCorps Member and has been volunteering on the youth mushing? “They are not lazy and they really make George smile, that is, to know how willing they are to work and do a good job.”

According to Teresa Cox, Principal at Huslia’s Jimmy Huntington School, the youth are learning to feed dogs, learning about nutrition, and how to hook the dogs up to a harness. They are also learning to work as a team. Teresa says, “They come back so excited.” They are learning how to race and handle dogs, how to become race marshals, race timers and checkpoint volunteers. George and Kathy brought four youth to participate in the 2013 Junior North American Sled Dog Races in North Pole, Alaska. According to George, they’ve never had a junior musher from Huslia participate in the Junior North American Sled Dog Races. The youth from Huslia had to decide who to send to the races and elected four students to participate. Student Thomas Henry placed second in the three day race. He enjoyed listening to stories and hanging out with George. He said, “It keeps me out of the house and is pretty fun.”