Hi Boys and Girls,
Now that the race is over- what’s next??? Many of you are busy writing the musher you followed in the race. I know you are really excited about that and many of you are hoping for a return letter and maybe even some goodies. Since the request for musher addresses has increased during the past week, I thought this would be a good time to go over some rules for writing.
First, if you ask for musher addresses, you will be emailed a form to fill out. This is fairly new. It will ask your name, school name (if your affiliated with a school), and email address. Please request the addresses by going to: djohnson@iditarod.com
You will not receive the addresses until you return the form.
There is not an address for every musher. Not all mushers are able to receive mail and/or are able to respond to mail. Please respect this. You can still write these mushers by sending their letters to Iditarod Headquarters at Letters for Mushers, Iditarod Trail Committee, PO BOX 870800, Wasilla, AK 99687-0800. Only send letters to Headquarters of the mushers who DO NOT have their addresses listed. Each letter to a musher must be in an envelope with the musher’s name on it and postage on that envelope. Send the envelopes in a larger envelope to the address above so that the letters can be mailed to mushers. Mushers do not go to HQ for their mail, so if you do not follow those directions, letters will not be sent to mushers in a timely fashion. The below tips should still be followed for these letters.
Here are a few tips when writing your letters.
- Make sure your letters are friendly and supportive.
- Don’t ask too many questions. First read the mushers bio on the Iditarod website and if the musher has a website, go there to see if you can find the answers to your questions. If you can’t, pick only one or two questions to ask.
- If you hope for a response you MUST send a self addressed stamped envelope with your letter. If your musher lives in another country (ie Canada, Norway etc), you must have the correct postage for that country.
- Don’t ask for booties, autographs, pictures or anything else. All these things cost the musher money to buy and send. It is unreasonable to expect the musher to send out these items. Some of them do, but don’t expect it.
Please remember that mushers receive hundreds of letters every year. It takes time for them to go through them and answer. Please be patient and realize the response may come during the summer.
I hope that helps everyone. Have fun writing to your favorite musher.
Gypsy
6 Comments
hey zuma have you ever been in a iditarod race.Give me a comment if you can.If you can’t thats ok.bey zuma.
YOUR FRIEND,
PEDRO
Dearzuma,
Did you ever win the iditarod? Brian
Dear Brian and Pedro, I go to all the races. You can read my comments and the comments about the races, dogs, mushing, and Alaska at this blog. Thanks for reading! Lots of Tail Wags, Zuma
Hey,whats up!Will I’m here at school.Were do you and you dog sleep at dearing the race
Hi, During the race dogs sleep at the checkpoints or on the trail. They have beds of straw that are very comfortable. Gypsy
Thanks! I appreciate the information!
Your welcome, I’m glad it helped. Gypsy
Hi Gypsy,
This is Anson again. You must be a very smart dog to be able to write on a keyboard. I typically draw pictures and write poetry about tugboats, but today I wrote two iditarod poems.
Skys are blue,
Ice is cold,
and Polar Bears are free to roam
the next one is:
Sled dogs pull sleds,
Mushers mush
Through the Iditarod they go
Some dogs have white paws
And some have black
Some need booties and others don’t
But they all ride on the Iditarod trail
Veterans know it well
All mushers are good but Lance Mackey is my
favorite!
I am so excited that Lance Mackey won, what type of truck did he win?
Your great friend,
Anson
Hi Anson,
The poems are great. Keep writing and drawing pictures. Gypsy
NICE JOB EVERYONE. I THINK YOUR DOGS ARE CUTE. IT’S CRYSTAL
BY,
CRYSTAL
Hi Crystal, Thank you. We sure enjoy writing to all of you. Gypsy
Hi, my name is Rachel and i was hoping you would answer a few questions of mine. I am in Fifth Grade and well known at playing soccer! In Third Grade we would talk about the Iditarod! It was great, we would say who our favorite person on the Iditarod. I also remember Zuma! My friend Samantha told me about him and i tried to post a comment but it was so hard because i could not type! I got very sad. But then i asked my teacher if i could take typing lessons and she said, “Of course”. i was so excited!! So now i know how to type so i would love to ask more questions to Zuma if you please. You see i am going to a Genisis Account Camp in the mountains so i will be telling my friends about Zuma too!! I think Zuma is a great dog so i am honored to be writing to him!! Please write back so that i know you got this message. Thankyou for your time. Bye!
Thanks for writing! We are glad you’ve got the typing figured out. The K-9 Reporters