Just a real quick post of thanks for the gig yesterday: It was by far the best-ever event so far down at the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner (link for subscription/support here). Starting back in 2021 and featuring a beaver, moose, bear or dog (here + here); then again back in 2022 with a choice of either raven or salmon: then again the following year with a hare (here & here) for 2023; and last year, 2024, wound up with a walrus. The Singing Vole (here + here) went over wonderful as well: even though the numbers were comparatively the lowest to date - approximately 35 drawings were given out - it was a nicely paced day with steady company & conversations throughout the nine-hours total behind the table in the lobby area. Some folks even stopped by just to visit and simply say hello, and personally thank me, which is always so humbling to interact with real, live readers. And the most surprising was not a single kid, which stood in stark contrast with the numbers over all the other years. It may have just been bad timing and/or with the benefit of hindsight I didn't alert any other art teachers in the district with a heads-up. But instead it was so many intimate connections -lotsa ol' timers and sourdoughs sharing nostalgia, and including touching base with both old and new staff, since really half the whole thing was dedicated to expressing gratitude for all that they do. In fact, as I have belabored here many a time, it's incumbent on any cartoonist to develop such events with their home-town paper, as a way to support local, independent journalism, as well as literacy.
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