Last Thursday the staff at KTNA held their annual ‘volunteer appreciation picnic’ and I was impressed no end with the great food and wonderful companionship as well as some truly memorable live music.  I’d guess there were maybe 60 to 75 folks in attendance; the staff set up a large tent to cover the food and a myriad of tables and chairs.  They cooked a variety of hamburgers, sausages and vegetables to order which went well with all the ‘fixin’s’ and, of course, a couple of pony kegs of locally brewed beer.  We even managed to get a group picture of the current bevy of volunteers who help make KTNA the ‘Voice of the Susitna Valley’.  My neighbor Larry was there and played his electric guitar with another gentleman who was very skilled on his acoustic guitar.  As good as these folks played when Kayti sang with them it was just incredible.  She’s obviously a very young woman but she has a very strong voice and she was equally adept at rock, blues and jazz vocals.  She could sing most song’s lyrics from memory.  I know there is a plethora of artistic talent in the Talkeetna area but in my estimation Kayti should be singing for some group touring the US!  Even the weather cooperated with overcast and cool temps with just a brief period of misting.  The locals told me last year the air temps were in the upper eighties; I’ll take the upper fifties we saw this year any day!!

All told this was a wonderful time and a great way for KTNA to thank us volunteers for our time.  Personally I’d continuing doing what I do for the station without such a great ‘reward’ but it did feel good to know our efforts are appreciated…

The studio and the picnic with the huge grill in operation

Kayti (red jacket) singing with Larry to her right

Great people, great food, really great music and a fantastic Thursday afternoon!!