Meet the Musher

Description

50 minute videoconference program for K-8 th grade students. In advance, students can view an eighteen minute, Emmy award winning Public TV 13 film called “Midnight Mushers.” They then receive a live presentation from Ms. Darlene Walch, an NMU faculty member with 12 years of dog mushing experience. With the help of one of her sled dogs, Ms. Walch shows mushing gear and a fully equipped sled. A professionally produced video includes scenes from her kennel and historical information on mushing in Michigan. Photos and images complete the presentation and introduce dogs who are not present in the classroom. This program culminates in a question and answer period. The program works very well with children’s literature such as Stone Fox, Balto,The Great Serum Race, and Born to Pull, and in conjunction with events such as the UP200 and Iditarod sled dog races. 

Background Information

Darlene Walch lives near Marquette, MI and owns Little Bear sled dog kennel. She has been mushing for twelve years and although primarily a recreational musher, she has finished several races in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Her racing experience includes finishes in the Tahquamenon Country Sled Dog Race, the Jack Pine 30, a thirty mile race from Gwinn to Marquette, and the Midnight Run, a ninety mile race from Gwinn to Wetmore. She has taken finishes ranging from 4 th place in the Jack Pine 30 to a “Red Lantern” awarded for crossing the finish line in last place. In January 2008 she completed the Tahquamenon Country Sled Dog Race eight-dog competition, taking 21 st place by finishing the 42 mile course in just under four hours. She also finished the 2008 Midnight Run and the 2008 Apostle Islands (WI) Sled Dog Race, taking 15 th place in the eight-dog event.

Eighteen Alaskan huskies and three Siberian huskies live at Little Bear kennel, including lead dogs Zelda, Jedi, and Jerome, and the kennel’s official mascot, Angel. Ms. Walch and her dogs have visited elementary schools, the UP Children’s Museum, and Northern Michigan University to share the basics of mushing and the care of sled dogs.

Ms. Walch is a past board member of the Upper Peninsula Sled Dog Association (UPSDA), the group responsible for the UP200 and Midnight Run Sled Dog Championship races in Marquette. While on the UPSDA Board, she authored a history of the races that is now on file in the Library of Congress as part of the Local Legacies project. Ms. Walch is currently President of the Jack Pine Mushers association, organizers of the Jack Pine 30.

A librarian by profession, Ms. Walch joined the faculty of Northern Michigan University in 1987 and is currently Dean of Academic Information Services.