NorthernStar Kennels Press Release – January 29, 2009
In conjunction with our great sponsors, FirstMate Dog food, Skookum Parkas, UpHere,and M&M Meats, it is with great excitement that NorthernStar Kennels, located in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories and home to musher Warren Palfrey and his mushing family, announces our entry in the 2009 Iditarod in Alaska AND entry into the 2009 Yukon Quest! A feat that has only been tried by a handful of mushers! We are the first to enter both races in the same year from the N.W.T. We will have a team powered by FirstMate dog food made in British Columbia and the support of our amazing Northern sponsors, UpHere magazine and dressed to stay warm thanks to Skookum Parkas, and a musher fed well with M&M Meats meals. We continue with our partnership with Whistler Dogsledding.
The 2009 Yukon Quest has special meaning for one rookie musher from Nunavut and Yellowknife this year. Warren Palfrey, a first time entrant is planning to run the Quest and then continue on to race the Iditarod as a third time returning participant.
What makes this special is not only his running the two races back to back but the symbolism that running the Quest in 2009 has for Warren. Warren is paying a special tribute to his family members who participated in the famed Klondike Gold Rush.
Over one hundred years ago in l897 his Great Uncle Tom Hourie and Great Grandfather Sam Hourie traveled north along with hundreds of other hopeful men to seek their fortune. Both men worked the Chilkoot trail for months freighting goods to earn a grubstake so they could enter the Yukon. In l898 they arrived at Lake Bennett and eventually made their way down river. Sometime around l905 they found gold. Sam departed to travel the world but Tom chose to stay behind in the Yukon and ultimately passed away in Dawson City, Dec 3 l908.
So respected and well-known was Tom that the Legislative Association on hearing of his death held a special meeting and voted to attend his funeral en masse. Prior to living in the Yukon, Tom had worked as a Métis Scout during the Riel Rebellion and was renowned for his heroic deeds. He was one of three scouts to whom Riel had surrendered and was heralded across Canada as the man who, all alone and during the month of March, braved the icy Saskatchewan River swimming across to carry an urgent dispatch.
Warren will be carrying the Métis Flag and two sashes as he travels by traditional dog team across the country his family lived and worked in over one hundred years ago. This is to honor and commemorate his Great Uncle who is buried in the Yukon and to pay tribute to his Great Grandfather, both men who remain sterling examples of the best of qualities in the early Klondike pioneers. The memory of their strength, stamina , and determination will act as inspiration to Warren as he faces off with his dogs for the challenge of this years Quest.
Warren and Kate can be contacted at 867-766-3950 or at [email protected].
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