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Articles by Randy Freeman
Better Late Than Never
South of 60, young men’s thoughts may turn to love as April surges over the horizon with its promise of May flowers, green grass and balmy evenings under the stars. Not up here. Spring in the North doesn’t really get going till May, and it mostly means three things: muck, a shuddering halt to off-road travel, and skyrocketing food prices in highway-served communities of the Mackenzie Valley and the western Arctic.
They’re Flying High
Published in Up Here June 2012 Tiffany Ayalik(Performer, Outdoor Guide) Depending on who you ask, Tiffany Ayalik is an Arctic butterfl y, or an underwater goddess, or a child of a residential school survivor, or a paddling instructor who rides serious rapids. That’s because this 24-year-old Yellowknifer is all of those: an actor, model, playwright and co-owner of an adventure company.
Why Is This Man Smiling?
The Iqaluit Qajuqturvik Community Food Centre doesn’t look like itself. The local soup kitchen—the name means “place to eat” in Inuktitut—is usually busy providing 300 to 500 caribou stews, chicken soups or Arctic char steaks to more than 100 Iqalummiut a day. But on this Saturday night in late March, drapes cover the windows and dark cloth hides the grey plastic tables.
Nature... and Nurture
Since 2017, I’ve been on a slow tour of the world’s hot springs. I’ve driven hours on rough logging roads in British Columbia, visited a cave spa in Colorado and soaked in the ancient Roman city of Hierapolis in modern-day Turkey. There’s something magical and mysterious about these rare places where hot water boils to the surface from deep underground.
Things that Go Flap in the Night
Colin Fraser steps out of his office and heads down to check the water intake for the desalinization plant at B2Gold’s marine port at Bathurst Inlet. This long fjord extending inland south of Victoria Island is mostly ice covered, with deceptive bits of open water, in late November. The lights from this large camp reflect brightly off the snow. In the dusk, movement overhead catches his eye—six birds, circling, flashing wingbeats in the glow of the lights.
Dual Citizen
The most anxious moment of the day occurred a few hours earlier. Phil Timpany had taken a pair of guests to a gravel bar on the Nakina River where hundreds of spawnedout chinook salmon lay in the water, either dead or dying. They were a feast for the three or so dozen grizzly bears, more in some years, that gather along the river every August to meet the run. One had sauntered past only a few minutes earlier, ignoring the people who’d come to see them.
Riders in the Snow
A flock of more than one hundred Yellowknifers pedal along two lanes of a busy street on an assortment of mountain bikes, cargo bikes, tricycles, e-bikes, children’s bikes, expensive road bikes and old dump bikes. It’s late April, but the sun has dried the streets and provided a cordial welcome for the cyclists on a group ride to city hall. Once there, Becca Denley, in a puffy jacket and blue helmet, pulls out a loudspeaker. “Do we need more secure downtown bike storage?
Hare, There… and Everywhere
Picture the scene. It’s around dawn on an August morning at Pellat Lake on the headwaters of Nunavut’s Back River. I’m sitting on my cabin porch to watch the sunrise when quick movements on the esker high above camp catch my eye. Foxes? I leave the porch and creep up the slope, staying low in the heather. In a moment, I’m treated to the sight of creatures making great aerial leaps. These aren’t foxes, but arctic hares—three of them—engaged in an energetic ballet.
UP HERE - NOV/DEC 2024
Edmonton newspapers hoped James Balsillie would be a Rip Van Winkle of the North. Better luck next time. A murre colony on Nunavut’s Coats Island has a lot to say about the future of animals and plants in the North—and elsewhere. As the Eskimofo, Dez Loreen is Finding his mojo, one body slam at a time.
Hometown Heel
Deztro the Eskimofo emerges from behind a curtain to a chorus of boos and jeers. A group of kids meet him, flashing L-shaped hand gestures and pointing their thumbs down. One boy hands him a folded-up note. It reads, “You suck!” Deztro chuckles and makes his way to the ring. The self-proclaimed “King of the North” has cultivated this twisted fandom for years. This is a big night for the Eskimofo, known by day as Dez Loreen, the face of CBC North in the NWT’s Beaufort-Delta region.
On The Trail Of The Lonesome Cowboy
Art Johns is hard to find. The 78-year-old Tlingit cowboy says he's deathly allergic to sitting around. The best time to catch him, he advises, is in the morning, before he leaves the house. Like, 7 am. Otherwise, you'll have to go looking for him. He might be snowmobiling up his trapline, or riding a packhorse into the mountains. Or teaching sixth-graders how to butcher a moose, or presiding over a high-stakes wildlife management meeting, or crooning for a crowd with his guitar.
Neighbors: Yorktown Lowe’s Developer Promised Sewer Connections
A map drawn up in 2011 by TRC Engineers and approved by the Town Board in 2015 shows the properties included in the new sewer district extension. A map drawn up in 2011 by TRC Engineers and approved by the Town Board in 2015 shows the properties included in the new sewer district extension. YORKTOWN, N.Y. – Neighbors of the new Lowe’s on Crompond Road say the developer that is building it is going back on a promise to build and pay for sewer connections to their homes.
Photos: Yorktown Families Enjoy a ‘Screening Under the Stars’
YORKTOWN, N.Y. – Yorktown families enjoyed a “Screening Under the Stars” on Thursday, July 19, at Jack DeVito Veterans Memorial Field. The annual outdoor movie night was presented by the Parks and Recreation Department. “The Emoji Movie” was shown. All photos were taken by Deena Bell for Yorktown News.
Yorktown Author Publishes Second Children’s Book, ‘Kindergarrrten Bus’
YORKTOWN, N.Y. – Even pirates get the blues. “Kindergarrrten Bus,” a new children’s picture book authored by Yorktown resident Mike Ornstein, details the trials and tribulations of a pirate, his parrot, and a school bus full of kindergartners. At first, the pirate driving the bus is rough and tough on his young sailors, whose anxiety about their first day of kindergarten is heightened by the pirate’s demeanor. They long for their teddy bears and moms, which the pirate sees as a weakness.
Yorktown Author Publishes Second Children’s Book, ‘Kindergarrrten Bus’
YORKTOWN, N.Y. – Even pirates get the blues. “Kindergarrrten Bus,” a new children’s picture book authored by Yorktown resident Mike Ornstein, details the trials and tribulations of a pirate, his parrot, and a school bus full of kindergartners. At first, the pirate driving the bus is rough and tough on his young sailors, whose anxiety about their first day of kindergarten is heightened by the pirate’s demeanor. They long for their teddy bears and moms, which the pirate sees as a weakness.
In Pursuit of Our Political ‘Better Angels’
Sadly, since the 2016 election, and increasingly as well in the years leading up to 2016, politicians and some media have pushed the political arguments to the margins where it is impossible to find middle ground and any hope for agreement between the political divide. The fire was lit before President Trump arrived on the scene, and unless the flame is quickly returned to a manageable level, I’m afraid that this country will burn with its own hatred.
Randy Freeman - wpnews.com: Obituaries
Grateful to have shared his life are his wife, Tricia, of the home; children, Shamus Freeman (Emily), North Liberty, Iowa and Mackenzie Freeman, Brooklyn, N.Y.; his grandson, Jackson Freeman, who was his pride and joy; brother, Bobby Freeman (Jeannene), Topeka; sister, Mary Clearwater, Topeka, and numerous nieces and nephews. Mass of Christian burial was celebrated Wednesday, June 29, 2016, at Mother Teresa of Calcutta Catholic Church. Burial followed at Mount Hope Cemetery.
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