Alaska’s Anchorage (AP) You can’t count on DoorDash to bring Thanksgiving dinner—or any dinner—in the most isolated parts of Alaska. However, because of the Alaska Turkey Bomb, some people who live far from the grid are still able to enjoy turkeys this holiday season.
For the third consecutive year, a local called Esther Keim has been delivering frozen turkeys to those who are unable to go to the grocery store by flying low and slow in a small plane over rural areas of south-central Alaska.
About 20% of Alaska is reachable by road, making the majority of the state wilderness. Many people who live in isolated places depend on snowmobiles or tiny airplanes to get anywhere during the winter, and frozen rivers can serve as temporary highways.
Growing up on a homestead in Alaska, Keim’s family friend would airdrop turkeys to her family and other neighbors around the holidays. At other times, the pilot would bring Keim newspapers, occasionally with a bag of gum.
Her family still owns the homestead even though they moved to a more urban area of Alaska about 25 years ago. A few years ago, Keim learned about a local off-the-grid family that had little for Thanksgiving dinner, so she started her turkey delivery operation using a small plane she had repaired with her father.
“I was told,” Keim said, “that a squirrel for dinner did not split very far between three people.” I was thinking of airdropping them a turkey at the time.
She made the decision to continue. Through social media posts and word-of-mouth, her work has expanded. She is bringing thirty-two frozen turkeys this year to residents of year-round cabins without access to the road.
By Tuesday, all but two had been delivered; Alaska’s erratic weather prevented the remaining two birds from being delivered.
Dave and Christina Luce, who reside on the Yentna River some 45 miles (72 kilometers) northwest of Anchorage, are among the recipients. They have stunning mountain views in every direction, including North America s tallest mountain, Denali, directly to the north. However, once a month or so, they take a 90-minute snowmobile trek to the closest town during the winter.
Dave Luce stated, “We make fewer and fewer trips now that I’m 80 years old.” The sense of adventure has kind of faded.
Keim has been with them since she was a young child. The 12-pound (5.44-kilogram) turkey she delivered will provide more than enough for them and a few neighbors.
Dave Luce stated that it would make a wonderful Thanksgiving. She has been a wonderful friend and a true sweetheart.
Keim makes 30 to 40 turkey deliveries yearly, flying as far as 100 miles (161 kilometers) from her base north of Anchorage toward Denali s foothills.
Sometimes she enlists the help of a turkey dropper to ride along and toss the birds out. Other times, she s the one dropping turkeys while her friend Heidi Hastings pilots her own plane.
Keim buys about 20 turkeys at a time, with the help of donations, usually by people reaching out to herthrough Facebook. She wraps them in plastic garbage bags and lets them sit in the bed of her pickup until she can arrange a flight.
Luckily it s cold in Alaska, so I don t have to worry about freezers, she said.
She contacts families on social media to let them know of impending deliveries, and then they buzz the house so the homeowners will come outside.
We won t drop the turkey until we see them come out of the house or the cabin, because if they don t see it fall, they re not going to know where to look, she said.
It can be especially difficult to find the turkey if there s deep snow. A turkey was once missing for five days before it was found, but the only casualty so far has been a lost ham, Keim said.
Keim prefers to drop the turkey on a frozen lake if possible so it s easy to locate.
As far as precision and hitting our target, I am definitely not the best aim, she joked. I ve gotten better, but I have never hit a house, a building, person or dog.
Her reward is the great responses she gets from families, some who record her dropping the turkeys and send her videos and texts of appreciation.
They just think it s so awesome that we throw these things out of the plane, Keim said.
Ultimately, she hopes to set up a nonprofit organization to solicit more donations and reach people across a bigger swath of the state. And it doesn t have to stop at turkeys.
There s so many kids out in the villages, she said. It would be cool to maybe add a stuffed animal or something they can hold.
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Bohrer reported from Juneau, Alaska.
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