A letter to Participants from a proud Volunteer & Mat-Su Resident:
All of us here in Alaska, and throughout the Matanuska Susitna Valley, would like to warmly welcome you to the 2024 Arctic Winter Games! For months, we’ve been anticipating your arrival, and the enthusiasm for the Games can be felt throughout the valley and all across the state.
So many of us dedicated parents, coaches, sponsors, local volunteers, and countless young people throughout Alaska have come together to welcome you to our home–to make the 2024 Arctic Winter Games an experience unlike any other. The old saying rings true, it does literally take a village (ahem, or six) to successfully host an event such as this, and we genuinely hope you have the most spectacular time.
Watching all these buses drive into town, loaded up with so many young athletes ready to play, compete, dance, sing, feast, make friends, and create memories– it’s all just so genuinely heartwarming, and it truly feels like there’s magic in the air as we kickoff this year’s Games. This experience will be the talk of Alaska for years to come and we are so grateful to have you as our honored guests.
So, as the 2024 Arctic Winter Games kick into full swing on Monday, I hope you take a moment to breathe in the crisp winter air and look around; discover a sporting event that excites you, an artist that inspires you, a song that moves you. May this experience bring you a refreshed sense of joy and adventure, and we hope that by the time the week concludes, you’ll consider us not just friends, but family.
Here’s to rising strong, together.
Sincerely,
Patricia Parker, Volunteer & Mat-Su Resident