Arctic Winter Games volunteers, their children and grandchildren were all abuzz during the Games pin trading party at Central Peninsula General Hospital in Soldotna.
The card suggests kids keep one pin and trade one away.
That quickly many became pin traders, a hobby that has become synonymous with the Arctic Winter Games.
Some Games volunteers also were on hand giving out Soldotna city lapel pins and badge-like pins reflecting the Kenai Wild brand salmon.
Beyond the two dozen children in the room, some grownups were striving to add to their more seriously studied collection of pins from these Games.
“Some of the harder-to-get pins are the feather from the Dene games; bronze, silver and gold ulus from the International Committee; the 10-piece igloo set from Nunavit; and the individual athlete and coaches pins,” said Jackie Ansotegui, a volunteer from the Care and Comfort Committee.
Although Ansotegui moved to Washington in August, she had lived in Alaska for 20 years and volunteered as soon as the Kenai Peninsula won the bid for the Games.
She had to come back.
One of the more interesting pins on her blue volunteer vest was actually a set representing the committee she’s on.
“It’s the Care and Comfort Committee pin with a little piece for each of the parts of the committee: transportation, foods, accommodations, medical and security,” she said.
Ansotegui explained that some people go to every Arctic Winter Games, held every two years, with books of pins, solely for the purpose of trading.
She said some collect every kind of pin they see, while others only collect those that say “Arctic Winter Games” on them.
Just what the pin addiction can lead to can be seen by a quick visit to the Games exhibit at the Kenai Visitors and Cultural Center in Kenai.
An exhibition room there is filled with large, poster-size displays of the various pins designed specially for each of the Games over the years. Pins number in the hundreds.
Some pins represent countries, some individual cities. There are pins for each sport and pins for the various Games committees.
Vendors, sponsors and media outlets have Games pins proudly displaying their own logos.
Most pins are made of shiny metal with bright enamel designs, though some are carved out of wood.
While the adults seemed the most serious about collecting, the children began somewhat shyly, but soon caught on.
Sisters Rachel and Bell Henry, 9 and 7, are in their first year of trading, and both reported to be having a fun time.
Both had a Soldotna city pin, a Safe Kids pin — and “some toys” handed out at the pin trading party by Rascal Raven, the Games mascot.
Their friend, Tehya Nichols, 6, was also in her rookie year, and she already has a prized Nunavit pin.
Phil Hermanek is a reporter for the Peninsula Clarion.
to you
Upon entering the hospital’s Iliamna conference room, even rank amateurs were given a stake in the pin-trading habit — a card with two specially created Kenai Peninsula Safe Kids pins.
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