‘ALASKA TURKEY BOMB’ That’s the name of the initiative behind this plane which air-drops frozen turkeys in time for Thanksgiving to people living in remote rural Alaska. —AP
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — In the remotest reaches of Alaska, there’s no relying on DoorDash to have Thanksgiving dinner— or any dinner—delivered. But some residents living well off the grid nevertheless have turkeys this holiday, thanks to the Alaska Turkey Bomb.
For the third straight year, a resident named Esther Keim has been flying low and slow in a small plane over rural parts of south-central Alaska, dropping frozen turkeys to those who can’t simply run out to the grocery store.
Alaska is mostly wilderness, with only about 20 percent of it accessible by road. In winter, many who live in remote areas rely on small planes or snowmobiles to travel any distance, and frozen rivers can act as makeshift roads.
When Keim was growing up on an Alaska homestead, a family friend would air-drop turkeys to her family and others nearby for the holidays. Other times, the pilot would deliver newspapers, sometimes with a pack of gum inside for Keim.
Her family moved to more urban Alaska nearly 25 years ago but still has the homestead. Using a small plane she had rebuilt with her father, Keim launched her turkey delivery mission a few years back after learning of a family living off the land nearby who had little for Thanksgiving dinner.
‘A real good friend’
“They were telling me that a squirrel for dinner did not split very far between three people,” Keim recalled. “At that moment, I thought … ‘I’m going to air-drop them a turkey.’”
She decided not to stop there. Her effort has grown by word of mouth and by social media posts. This year, she’s delivering 32 frozen turkeys to people living year-round in cabins where there are no roads.
Among the beneficiaries are Dave and Christina Luce, who live on the Yentna River about 72 kilometers (45 miles) northwest of Anchorage and have known Keim since she was little.
The 12-pound (5.44-kilogram) turkey she delivered will provide more than enough for them and a few neighbors.
“It makes a great Thanksgiving,” 80-year-old Dave Luce said. “She’s been a real sweetheart, and she’s been a real good friend.”
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Keim makes 30 to 40 turkey deliveries yearly, flying as far as 161 km (100 miles) from her base north of Anchorage toward Denali’s foothills.
Sometimes she enlists the help of a “turkey dropper” to ride along and toss the birds out. Other times, she’s the one dropping turkeys while her friend Heidi Hastings pilots her own plane.
Freezers not a problem
Keim buys about 20 turkeys at a time, with the help of donations, usually by people reaching out to her through Facebook. She wraps them in plastic garbage bags and lets them sit in the bed of her pickup until she can arrange a flight.
“Luckily it’s cold in Alaska, so I don’t have to worry about freezers,” she said.
She contacts families on social media to let them know of impending deliveries, and then they buzz the house so the homeowners will come outside.
“We won’t drop the turkey until we see them come out of the house or the cabin, because if they don’t see it fall, they’re not going to know where to look,” she said.