A member of the Mat-Su Covenant Church and a fan of the Iditarod dog sled race, Chandler has been distributing the helmets to members of the Norwegian team as well as team fans who line Anchorage streets, where the race starts. (The accompanying photo shows Linda, Jesse and Phil Chandler at the official start of the race on Sunday.)
“People take pictures of us continually,” says Chandler. Two-time champion Robert Sorlie (2003, 2005) was pictured on the front page of the Anchorage newspaper recently wearing one of the helmets. The helmet was red, white and blue, the colors of the Norwegian flag.
Chandler, who is of Norwegian and Swedish background, says she initially began making the helmets for the mushers (racers), but their popularity has spread. “It has since then taken on a life of its own,” she adds. “People really enjoy the craziness. Tourists and locals come to have their pictures taken from the helmets.”
Chandler purchases the multi-colored duct tape from the local Walmart, which boasts that the store sells more duct tape than any other store in the world. Chandler also uses arctic fox fur.
She recently made a fluorescent pink helmet for herself that has been pictured on web sites in different countries. She decorated it with strings of pearls and earring jewelry among other items, she says.
Chandler lives with her husband, Phil, in Wasilla, “The Home of the Iditarod.” The couple was living in the community when the competition first began in 1972.
The race – which lasts 10 to 17 days – stretches a grueling 1,150 miles to Nome. Racers must endure sub-zero temperatures and burning winds as they cross mountain ranges, dense forests and desolate tundra. The race began on Sunday.
The Chandlers belong to an organization called the Sons of Norway, which among other activities sets up banners and flags at the start of the race and hosts a dinner upon its completion. Chandler grew up in the Lewis Lake Covenant Church in Ogilvie, Minnesota, and has attended various Covenant congregations as the family has moved across the country.
Copyright © 2011 The Evangelical Covenant Church.
