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A-2 Peninsula Clarion, Sunday, August 3, 2014

Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion

Several dozen danced during the Blackwater Railroad Company’s set on the River Stage at Salmonstock on Saturday in Ninilchik.

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“Everyone is more kidfriendly,” said Sasha Samaniego, Abby’s mom. More than 60 bands in-state and Outside gathered to play on three stages during the threeday festival. For Samaniego and her sister Ivy Anthony, this is the first music festival they have brought their girls too. The sister’s father plays drums and guitar, so they were introduced to music at a young age, as were their daughters. They said their parents are frequent music festival followers. Megan Murphy, whose husband Steve Collins plays in the Holy Santos Gang and The Barroom Roses, brought their 16-month-old daughter Olivine Collins to the festival. Collins played Friday and Saturday night at the festival. With her dad in two bands, Olivine has been exposed to an array of music, Murphy said. Murphy plays piano, percussion and the harmonica. She

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ing their kids out into the wild. She said it also works for all kinds of learners. “Some people learn visually, some are kinesthetic,” Eskelin said. “It’s also just more fun to learn through hands on activities.” Randy Lightfoot attended Saturday’s walk with his mother Kristi Lightfoot and his sister Taylor Lightfoot. He said he enjoys attending refuge activities because they take him into

said Olivine plays a little bit as well, and likes to dance. “We leave instruments out for everyone to play with,” Murphy said. The family lives in Homer and Olivine saw her dad perform at Concert on the Lawn in the town earlier this summer, but Murphy said Salmonstock is “way more of a festival.” The Holy Santos Gang performed at 8 p.m. on Friday, which Murphy said is past Olivine’s bedtime. “We’re going crazy — staying up, having ice cream,” she said with a laugh. The three day festival opened at noon Friday and runs through 9 p.m. Sunday. Ninilchik is swarmed with people for the weekend. Traffic backs up for miles as many park along the Sterling Highway and the narrow side roads in the small fishing town on the Kenai Peninsula. Around the Kenai Peninsula Fairgrounds, a sea of tents pops up Friday night. Among the tents are RV’s and larger campsites where children and pets run among the campfires and chrome Salmonstock Klean Kanteens. the wilderness. The Lightfoots often take walks around the refuge together, and attend movie screenings at the visitor center. Randy Lightfoot said during the family explorer program he learned the names of several plants. Kristi Lightfoot said she takes her two homeschooled children to the Refuge programs because it is another method she found that they enjoy learning. Eskelin said the programs are never cancelled due to bad weather. She said some of the best walks she has been on this summer were during or right

CLARION P

E N I N S U L A

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Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion

Tony Furtado plays an acoustic banjo set on the Ocean Stage during Salmonstock.

On Saturday, Samson Henneous, 13, sat on a blanket in front of the Ocean Stage soaking in the sun and music. His 6-inch rainbow-colored mohawk stood out in a sea of dreadlocks and hats meant to shield the bright noon sun. The Bend, Oregon youth said his family makes the trip to Alaska every summer to run a lodge in Willow. This year was the family’s first time travelling to Salmonstock and they’re camping in Ninilchik for the weekend. “The music is great, the food is good, the people are cool,” Henneous said. In front of the main stage, the area was awash in odors — most of it wafting over from

a row of food vendors parked nearby. Henneous said the best food he ate at the festival came from the Bombay Thai curry cart which had a long line for most of the day Saturday. As he watched the show, a steady parade of people walked in front of him, some elaborately costumed, others nearly nude; yet Henneous remained focused on the music and didn’t spend much time peoplewatching. “I’m used to all this,” he said. “I’ve been to so many concerts.” Eric and Becky Engman and their kids, Elias, 9, and Ella, 7, of Fairbanks, made their first trek to Salmonstock this year.

after rain. The refuge has a set of 30 digital cameras used for teaching purposes, Eskelin said. A handful of the explorer programs used digital photography as a way of teaching about the area, she said. Once after an early morning rain, with all the undergrowth covered in dewdrops, it made for beautiful photographs, and turned the walk into a lesson

on how the forest uses rain to grow. Eskelin said this summer the number of participants in the family programs vary from 7-33. Each activity is completely free and requires no preregistration. The final Family Explorer program will be held Saturday, August 8 at 2 p.m. Randy Lightfoot said he will be sure to be there.

During the first year they pay a percent of the adjusted income in rent while the remainder is paid by the AHFC, according to the release. More information on eligibility and rules for renters

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there are any animal-related infections that can be tested or measured based on climate and winter shifts in pathogens over time. The water aspect of the project looks for tundra water sources where warmer seasons could result in a bacterial impact of mercury that is transported by air from Asia, according to the project proposal. Village water treatment systems don’t measure or treat the bacteria, but the researchers wrote that it could be found in village water sources due to changes. The project looks at PSP because shellfish are a common subsistence harvest, and there could be increasing PSP levels

due to more algae blooms from environmental changes. The team will also look at some data on contaminants that already exists, as well as information about animal movements, to gauge future changes. Eventually, the research will include an adaptation plan “That will be heavily driven by communities,” McOliver said. The researchers plan to work with Tribal councils and community members to identify top concerns and develop strategies to handle changes in foods, water supply. ANTHC researchers have had two previous projects funded through similar EPA tribal

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ously collected data to look at contaminant shifts, work with communities to gauge the potential impacts and collect more data. The fieldwork component of the project includes water sampling, looking at tissue of subsistence-harvested animals, and sampling shellfish for the presence of paralytic shellfish poisoning, or PSP. The researchers are interested in macrobiological pathogens that can move between animals and humans, McOliver said. The idea is to see if

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They try to attend a music festival every year; usually they go to Forest Faire in Girdwood. When they realized they had a scheduling conflict, this year they opted for tickets for Salmonstock. The Engmans have been taking their kids to music festivals since the children were babies. Becky Engman said Elias was only a few days old when he was taken to an outdoor music event. She said parents have to make small sacrifices when going to music festivals with their kids and shift the focus to make it fun for them. Eric Engman said even flexibility and openness, even when a band is playing that you want to see, is required when going

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to festivals with kids. Along with eating festival food like soft pretzels with cheese, the Engmans have a few family festival traditions. Ella likes to get her face painted, and Elias likes to buy useful items — wooden swords, PVC pipe marshmallow shooters and stilts are a few interesting festival finds he has brought home. The Engmans are making a week-long family trip around the festival. Becky Engman said while she doesn’t like fishing the rest of the family will enjoy some time casting into the water after Salmonstock. Reach Kaylee Osowski at Kaylee.Osowski@peninsulaclarion.com

can be found at www.ahfc. us/rent/applying. Applications are available at www.ahfc.us or in the AHFC’s public housing locations. Completed applications are accepted online, in person or by mail. -Staff Report

health grant programs, McOliver said. “They’ve been very successful as applicants,” she said. A past project, which ends this year, was focused on environmental justice and climate change, particularly maternal and child health. That project also looked at the human health impacts of different contaminants, and focused on Alaska Natives in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Region. ANTHC worked with the Center for Disease Control, or CDC, on that project, McOliver said. Molly Dischner can be reached at molly.dischner@alaskajournal.com