Lew Tobin and Sandra Medearis
Lew Tobin and Sandra Medearis Lew Tobin and Sandra Medearis Lew Tobin and Sandra Medearis Lew Tobin and Sandra Medearis

Lew Tobin and Sandra Medearis

Recorded May 10, 2009 43:08 minutes
Lew Tobin and Sandra Medearis
0:00 / 0:00
Id: akb000122

Description

Charles “Lew” Tobin, 59, tells Sandra Medearis about running the first clown and juggling act in Nome in the early 1970’s. A tug boat captain, Lew would cruise into villages on the bow of is boat with a lot of balls in the air.

Subject Log / Time Code

2:00
He came to Nome, one of three jugglers in Alaska. He also did clowning with makeup and suit. Villagers thought white people were clowns.
3:00
He shares an anecdote about former Gov. Bill Sheffield diving into cleavages at Renaissance Faire to retrieve strawberries: snarfing. He is still teased to this day.
9:00
Lew would enter village waters standing on bow of tug boats juggling. Kids loved it.
18:33
He begins telling about himself and Joe Davis, the clowning librarian going to the remote island villages on Alaska Army National Guard flights as Santa’s helpers at Christmas.
20:00
He talks about the dids’ merry reception of Santa.
23:00
He talks about going to Little Diomede Island via helicopter with Santa, greeted with Eskimo dancing.
25:00
He talks about his passion for the wilderness. *************
27:00
In the old days, people walked long distances. Jimmy Kealiher and his brother were so mad about Pearl Harbor, they walked 80 miles to Nome from their gold mine to enlist. There wasn’t an enlistment office so they walked 1,200 miles to enlist in Seward, Alaska.
29:00
This Alaska was crazy. People looking for something or getting away from something.
29:30
He tells about renting from Elmer Straub.
30:30
Leonard Sarja would move his house from street to street until he found a lot to put it on.
31:00
He starts to tell about bizarre arctic construction in Nome.
32:00
Ramon Gandia raised his house a story to get his taxi communications antenna higher.
33:00
He talks about houses rocking and rolling on the permafrost.
36:00
Elmer Straub plumbed his entire house with garden hoses.

Participants

  • Lew Tobin
  • Sandra Medearis

Venue / Recording Kit

Partnership

Partnership Type

Outreach