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Health & Fitness

NH native (kind of) finishes 2nd at Iditarod

Ally Zirkle, a New Hampshire native (sort of), finished second in the Iditarod dog sled race for the third year in a row. Off-stage voice: “Wait a minute, Patton. What’s all this ducking and dodging? Is Zirkle from New Hampshire or not?”

I’m sorry you asked me that question, because we get tangled in the complicated question of who’s a native and who’s an “outtastatah” (out-of-stater). Technically, if you are born in a state, you are a native. But, if you leave shortly thereafter and spend the remainder of your life somewhere else, does it make sense to call you a native. Let me give you an example.

I taught for 28 years in the unremarkable town of Indiana, Pennsylvania. Indiana didn’t have much to say for itself except that movie actor Jimmy Stewart was born there. Stewart left Indiana at age 14 to attend a private school, later graduated from Princeton, and pretty much left Indiana, Pennsylvania, in the rear view mirror for the rest of his life.

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Well, Stewart may have forgotten about Indiana, Pennsylvania, but Indiana never forgot about him and clasped his memory in a tight bear hug. The local citizenry wasn’t about to lose its major claim to fame.

In town, a plaque marked the spot where his father owned a hardware store. (According to legend, Stewart’s Oscar appeared in a display window there.) Another plaque marked the location of his birthplace. Stewart’s boyhood home is situated atop Vinegar Hill. A major street is called Jimmy Stewart Boulevard. The local airfield is named Jimmy Stewart Airport. The Jimmy Stewart Museum is located on Philadelphia Street.  A statue of Stewart appears on the front lawn of the Indiana County Courthouse.

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Stewart lived only his first 14 years in Indiana, Pennsylvania, but locals fiercely proclaim him to be a native, perhaps to inflate their own sense of importance. Can New Hampshire be accused of the same failing in the case of Ally Zirkle?

“NH woman finishes second in Iditarod sled dog race,” reads one headline. “Manchester native could be favorite to win Iditarod” proclaims another.

What are the facts? According to the 2014 edition of Iditarod, “Ally Zirkle was born in New Hampshire. She spent her childhood in New Hampshire, Puerto Rico, and Missouri. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in biology and came to Alaska in 1990 . . . She’s lived in Two Rivers (Alaska) for the past 16 years.”

It sound as if Zirkle is much more Alaska than she is New Hampshire. But, what the heck, let’s cut everybody concerned a break. Struggles over the rights to famous people and events are quite common.

For example, Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, a town one hour’s drive north of Indiana, proudly proclaims itself to be the home of the groundhog Punxsutawney Phil. Phil predicts on Groundhog Day whether or not we’ll have six more weeks of winter. Yet, the right to make that prediction is contested by a score of towns throughout the United States with their own prognosticating groundhogs .

So, instead of fruitlessly obsessing about Ally Zirkle’s true “home,” let’s focus on her impressive accomplishment.

WMUR.com reports, “Zirkle is attempting to become only the third woman ever to win the nearly thousand-mile race across Alaska and the first since the late Susan Butcher won her fourth title in 1990.”

A competitor, Dallas Seavey commented in the same article. “Strategically, I will try to find weaknesses in her racing style that I will try to take advantage of, as with every musher that I think is going to be a challenge out there. . . “But I can’t imagine there being a weakness in her character. She is the ultimate competitor when it comes to character. . .”

And that is a whole lot more important than which state is her home.

If you would like to read more about the natives, pseudo-natives, outtastatahs and just generally unusual people who live in New Hampshire, may I suggest you read my new book Outtastatahs: Newcomers Adventures in New Hampshire.

Outtastatahs (as in out-of-staters) can be purchased for $13.99 at River Run Books in Portsmouth; at the Galley Hatch Restaurant gift shop in Hampton; at the Water Street Bookstore in Exeter; at Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord; or on-line at amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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