On May 18, Bethel’s tripod fell as the river thawed to a breaking point. On May 20, Bethel residents met on the riverfront to celebrate the annual breakup bash. There was sunshine, hotdogs, a long line for shaved ice, and chunks of ice flowing down the Kuskokwim. Some were like crystals, flat and glassy, others were like mounds of snow or mud; some were like smooth rocks.
The band Velma Lyle performed. Lead singer Paul Basile wrote the songs and performed on the bed of a large truck, with a crowd of kids, families, and Elders on folding chairs and the ground.
“Beautiful day, and this is always a really fun community event,” Basile said. “She kind of brings all parts of the community together for celebration of spring, and music, and hot dogs, and sunshine. You can't beat it.”
Some of the ice chunks coming down the Kuskokwim were so big that people all along the walkway contemplated hopping on.
This year, the winning time for the Kuskokwim Ice Classic was 4:48 p.m. on Thursday, May 18. Ice Classic Manager Haley Hanson called the winner, Mona Morrow, from the stage during the Breakup Bash to congratulate her on being the sole winner of the jackpot worth $19,420.
Morrow is from Aniak, but is temporarily in Anchorage helping a loved one. In total, she won nearly $30,000 because she was also one of three winners for Minute Madness. The other two winners were also from the Y-K Delta: Dora Kozevnikoff of Akiak and Willie Frank of Tuntutuliak won $10,000 each. The committee asked Morrow about her lucky guess.
“It just came to me. Usually I like God’s numbers, but for some reason 48 came to my mind. And then I was picking the numbers 448,” Morrow said.
People celebrated the breakup wins, the flowing river, the dancing, music, and the end of winter. Michelle DeWitt is the director of Bethel Community Services Foundation, which sponsors the Kuskokwim Ice Classic. She wrote the winning names up on a whiteboard in front of the stage.
“It's always fantastic when we have the backdrop of the ice flowing, you know. Of course, really thinking about some of the communities that experience flooding upriver. I mean, that was really concerning. And I know we're still worried here as well. And so that's, like, on everyone's minds. It's certainly on my mind. But in terms of the weather for the breakup bash today, it's been so lovely,” DeWitt said. “We've been so lucky.”
So far, Bethel itself has weathered this year’s breakup without much flooding.
