Giving it all, not giving it up — Mom donates time, energy, money to fight pediatric cancer

By Jenny Neyman
Redoubt Reporter

Marcia Jacobs would give anything to not know what it feels like to lose a battle against children’s cancer. So she gives everything she can in the hope that no one ever has to know that feeling again — least of all her or her remaining daughter.

“I know that as a mom of a child who died of cancer, that does not inoculate me from my second child getting it. I wish it did, but it doesn’t. I know in a very visceral sense that I’m not safe, so to speak. The cancer mom stork could come knocking on my door at any time, just like it could any of us, so it makes me even more committed,” said Jacobs, of Soldotna. “I don’t want anyone else’s child to be diagnosed, and if they are diagnosed, I want them to be cured quickly, without losing a lung, without losing an eye or a leg or the ability to have their own kids someday. When my daughter grows up, I don’t want her to be the mom of a baby with cancer.”

In October 2000, just before her fourth birthday, Jacobs’ daughter, Anjuli, was diagnosed with an aggressive, incurable form of brain stem tumor called intrinsic brain stem glioma. In the next eight months the cancer robbed the happy, ever-smiling toddler of increasingly more of her health and mobility. In June 2001, it robbed Anjuli of her life and robbed Jacobs of the light of hers.

Through it all, the cancer never stole Anjuli’s love of life or her positive attitude.
Anjuli loved to paint and do artwork. When the cancer paralyzed her right side, she started painting with her other hand.

“She just switched from painting with her right hand to her left. She said her right hand just went to sleep, so she just switched,” Jacobs said.

“Though the cancer stole all of her abilities and bodily functions, Anjuli never complained. Medical staff continually marveled at the bravery and courage of this darling little dancer,” Jacobs wrote about her daughter on a Web site she started.

Even at 4 years old, with the pain and scariness of hospitals and medical treatments and paralysis, Anjuli never gave up. So Jacobs won’t either.

“They told me that the moment they diagnosed her there was no hope. I refused to accept that there was no hope, so I fought hard to get experimental treatments and that didn’t work. I decided, though, soon after her passing, that I was not going to let her suffering and her life be in vain, and that I would dedicate the rest of my life and every breath and every cent to the cause of finding a cure.”

‘Momma love’ on a mission

Jacobs was a single mom living in Washington without family when Anjuli died. She was drained emotionally and financially, with $300 left in her bank account and in danger of losing her house, she said.

None of that was enough to keep her from her mission. She started making art kits for kids fighting cancer in the hospital. Each month had a different theme — Disney or pirates or the ocean. Art was something Anjuli loved, and it was good therapy for the kids, especially the ones too sick to go to the playroom, Jacobs said. She had some parents and family members tell her the last Christmas card or Valentine’s card they got from their child was made from Jacobs’ art supplies.

She also established an endowment in Anjuli’s memory at Seattle Children’s Hospital that funds pediatric brain stem cancer research. It’s amassed over $30,000 so far, Jacobs said.

“It’s in perpetuity. Since my daughter didn’t get to live very long, at least her endowment does,” Jacobs said.

In 2002 Jacobs devised a memorial to raise awareness of brain cancer. She collected hats from the families of brain cancer victims from around the world, including one of Anjuli’s. She took the memorial to Washington, D.C., and it was displayed in the Capitol. She met with her congressional delegation in 2002, and again in 2005, to encourage them to not cut funding for brain cancer research. Meanwhile, the memorial has gone on tour, being displayed at brain cancer fundraisers and awareness events across the country.

Jacobs also raised money for the Make-A-Wish foundation, which paid for Anjuli to have a trip to Disneyland two weeks before she died.

In 2005, Jacobs moved to the central peninsula with her then-husband. She’s since had another daughter, Emily Grace, almost six years to the day that Anjuli died, Jacobs said.

Even though she’s a single mother again, working in the billing department at Central Peninsula Hospital and raising her daughter, Jacobs still seeks out ways to fight pediatric cancer.

“Working full-time and being a single parent, it’s hectic. I’m a big caffeine mother. I think the most powerful force in the universe is love, and for me nothing is more powerful than a mother’s love for her child. So it’s caffeine and momma love, that’s what powers me,” Jacobs said.

In 2008, Jacobs stumbled across an opportunity that turned her head — possibly because it involved about 100 bald ones.
Jacobs heard about last year’s fundraiser for Saint Baldrick’s Society, where people collect monetary pledges to shave their heads, just four days before the second annual event. It wasn’t in enough time to help organize it or raise money, but she went anyway to see if there was any way she could help. She ended up being invited to share her story of Anjuli and her dedication to fighting children’s cancer. Her speech was so moving that the organizers of the local Saint Baldrick’s event, which will be Saturday at the Soldotna Sports Center, sought out her help this year. She happily obliged.

“I just jumped in with both feet doing whatever I can to help, because anything raising money for childhood cancer is great,” she said.

She particularly likes that money from Saint Baldrick’s goes to pediatric oncologists.

“The best and the brightest, in the lab and providing clinical care. Some of the most innovative, important, crucial advancements are coming from researchers that are like that — clinicians. They call it bench-side to bedside research. It’s amazing the things these researchers do,” Jacobs said.

Jacobs has made the rounds of chambers of commerce meetings, Rotary clubs and other civic organizations to spread the word about Saint Baldrick’s. She’s been recruiting people to shave their heads and gathering donations. She also will help set up and clean up at the event, and plans to speak at it again this year.

“Oh my gosh, the more I read and learned about Saint Baldrick’s the more important I thought it was. I thought, ‘I could seriously go put my heart and mind into this,’ so that’s what I’ve done,” Jacobs said. “It did this mother’s heart good, and this year is going to be even better to see all these people stepping up for kids with cancer. I don’t know them but I love them. I’m hugging everybody and crying.”

Fighting children’s cancer is a personal issue for Jacobs, but it’s unfortunately one that’s familiar on the central peninsula. In October, there was a girl in Jacobs’ daughter’s daycare program that died of leukemia a week before she turned 3, Jacobs said. Each year, 12,400 kids in the United States are diagnosed with cancer, and 2,500 of them die of the disease every year, Jacobs said.

“We really need everybody’s support. We know that it’s a recession, but cancer doesn’t care that it’s a recession. It’s still going to get 12,400 kids; it’s still going to kill 2,500 this year. That research helps every kid with cancer, no matter where they live.”

Heads together for cancer cure — Shavees bare it to raise money for Saint Baldrick’s Foundation

By Jenny Neyman
Redoubt Reporter

Even though hair is being buzzed into oblivion, going bald to support children’s cancer research is a growth experience. For the shavees, as they’re called in the Saint Baldrick’s fundraiser, the literal physical transformation is mirrored by psychological ones. They get a glimpse of what it’s like to deal with a common side effect of cancer treatment and they learn about their own capacity for empathy and for making a sacrifice for the good of others.

Brain Heath, a paramedic/engineer with Central Emergency Services and one of the organizers of the local Saint Baldrick’s event, learned one more valuable lesson about himself when he dared to go bare — he really doesn’t look good bald.

“I really was afraid. I thought my head would look a lot better bald than that. It was pretty traumatic for my wife,” he said.

Heath helped launch the first Saint Baldrick’s event on the central Kenai Peninsula three years ago, as part of the local FOOLS of Fire chapter. The Fraternal Order of Leatherheads Society is a nationwide firefighters organization, and chapters often put on fundraisers for Saint Baldrick’s, where people collect monetary pledges to have their heads shaved.

Money raised for the Saint Baldrick’s Foundation goes to fund pediatric cancer research. Since the foundation began seven years ago, Saint Baldrick’s events have raised more than $51 million with more than 73,000 shavees in 48 states and 18 countries, according to information from Heath.

On the central peninsula, local firefighters, public safety and law enforcement personnel have embraced the Saint Baldrick’s cause. Not only is it raising money for a vital purpose, but also it’s also a unique event to be involved in, Heath said.

“It’s fun and it’s an outgoing event. There’s lots of stuff going on,” he said.

“Another thing is, with the shaving of your hair, it’s kind of a personal thing that you can go out there and show people, and people will ask about it. People will notice that there’s 15 people that are standing around with their heads shaved and they start to wonder why their heads are shaved and you can talk about it. ‘Great, this about Saint Baldrick’s Foundation, this is what it does to support research in children’s cancer,’ and that’s something that I think people can get behind.”

About 50 people stepped up to the clippers for the first event held here three years ago, and hundreds more stepped up financially to encourage them. The event raised $18,000, when organizers were only shooting for $10,000. Last year’s event raised $27,000 surpassing the fundraising goal of $20,000. This year the bar is set at $30,000.

The number of people involved has grown each year, as well. Last year saw about 100 people waiting to be shaved, and the conference room at the Soldotna Sports Center was packed with people there to watch and donate, Heath said.
Seeing the variety of people wanting to be involved has been the most memorable and moving part of Saint Baldrick’s, he said.

The first year, a grandfather with long white hair brought his grandkids to watch him get his hair shaved off, which he then donated to Locks of Love, which makes wigs for people who’ve lost their hair from cancer treatments.

“They said they didn’t recognize him. Their whole life he’d had really long white hair and they didn’t recognize him,” Heath said.

Then there was a former assistant fire chief, who said he was going to grow his hair really long when he retired. He did, then had it shaved and donated to Locks of Love.

“We’ve just had people who have heard about it and wanted to come in. One guy had some really nice dreadlocks. He said he heard about this yesterday and didn’t raise any money. He brought in like 25 dollars, but he decided he wanted to do that. We ended up raising a few hundred right there, like $300 just for that guy, just for his hair from passing around a hat,” Heath said.

There have been at least two women each year who have shaved their heads, including one woman who drove all the way from Valdez both years to participate, then she got back in her vehicle and drove home the same night.

“Every year there’s something pretty amazing in there,” Heath said.
Groups of school kids have also gotten shaved, some because they have classmates or friends who have cancer.

“It’s not a really big area, we all know that, but there are quite a few kids that are undergoing cancer treatment or just had their cancer in remission that are in the local area,” Heath said. “We’ve had kids that had their friends going through cancer treatment, so that was a big thing for them to come out and raise awareness and support for their friends.”

Heath had his head shaved the first year.

“It is really a strange change. I’ve had my hair short usually for most of my life, but the bald part is really, really different. Just the way everything feels. It’s way colder, amazingly colder, like walking around with a hat off. Yeah, it’s weird. Your whole identity kind of changes.”

Heath had long sideburns for many years, and several other firefighters getting shaved that first year left their facial hair intact.

“We looked like monks,” he said.

Off came the sideburns and beards, even for a friend who didn’t want to go totally bare.

“He walked around like that for a while before the rest of us forced him to go back and shave it off,” Heath said.

A cadre of local, professional barbers and hairstylists donate their time to do the clipping. Anyone with hair 10 inches or longer can donate it to Locks of Love at the Saint Baldrick’s event when they go up to get their head shaved. People can sign up to be a shavee and gather pledges in advance, or go to the event to get shaved or make a donation. There also will be a raffle for donated prizes. To sign up to volunteer or to donate in advance, visit the event’s Web site, http://www.stbaldricks.org/events/event_info.php?EventKey=2009-56.

Heath said there’s always a need for volunteers, even if it doesn’t involve becoming bald. There’s also a pressing need to spread the word and encourage donations this year.

“I can definitely see — pretty much everyone across the board can tell — people’s ability to donate to things has decreased significantly the last six months to a year,” Heath said.

This year’s Saint Baldrick’s fundraiser will be held at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Soldotna Sports Center conference room. Heath hopes, in spite of trying financial times, to meet the group’s fundraising goal and to have at least another 100 people come face to face with their own, newly unobscured faces.

“The event itself is really what makes it so much fun,” he said. “It’s so amazing to watch all these people go up and come away physically changed in just a few moments. You definitely remember it afterwards.”

Deb's web — Fellow cancer patients demonstrate how Sterling woman touched lives

By Jenny Neyman
Redoubt Reporter

John Clonan knew how special his wife, Debbie, was to him, their daughters, and their family and friends. He knew her social network was extensive, because to Debbie, a stranger was simply a new friend she hadn’t met yet.

He even knew she was considered an inspiration to many in the way she battled breast cancer and helped others fight the disease. But when she died Jan. 25, at their home in Sterling, he didn’t grasp just how far his wife’s sphere of influence, love and support reached.

At her memorial service Jan. 31 in Soldotna, it became abundantly, sweetly clear — represented by a mass of about 200 pink roses sent by women across the world.

Each flower represented how Deb touched someone’s life.

One from Glenview, Ill.: “I always admired Deb’s spirit, and her humor. She will be so missed, and my heart goes out to her wonderful husband and her much loved girls. She was a truly beautiful person, and touched so many lives that her memory will always live on.”

Another came from Saratoga, N.Y.: “She was such a marvelous woman. Her spirit will live forever with those of us who knew her. My heart breaks for her family. She was one in a million. She raised all of us up with her words of encouragement and hope.”

And from Minnesota: “She was always so full of optimism and cheer. So ready to lend a helping hand to those in need of one. I imagine there is a great party going on up in heaven right now. You’ll be missed, Deb.”

Most were from people Debbie had never even met, yet through the Internet, she was able to touch their lives.

She was active in online breast cancer support groups throughout her battle with the disease — from her diagnosis in 2005, treatment in 2006, remission and the cancer’s resurgence in 2007.

The sites, www.breastcancer.org and www.nosurrenderbreastcancerhelp.org, offer a wealth of information for anyone affected by breast cancer. It’s a place where people can get answers and find information about anything and everything, from new treatment research and drug side effects to tips on drawing in eyebrows after chemotherapy or how to answer whatever uncomfortable questions people may ask.

It’s also a place for people affected by the disease to talk to each other — to share information, fears, humor, anger, support and hope.

It’s that last one that Debbie specialized in.

“You can deal with the reality of it, but she never gave up,” Clonan said. “She never gave up and she never wanted anyone else to give up. She was a resource for a lot of people.”

Her strength, unflagging support and upbeat attitude were well-known on the central peninsula, said Kathy Lopeman, an oncology nurse at Central Peninsula Hospital. Debbie and her team, the Sensational Sterling Superstars, were the top fundraisers for the Relay for Life program, and she was a constant advocate of early cancer screening. Around the hospital’s oncology department, she was also a constant advocate for anyone who needed a boost.

“She always had a good word for everyone else — an encouraging word for all the other patients, a good joke to share with them or something upbeat to go with them,” Lopeman said. “She shared some tears, too, but she didn’t share them with the other patients going through the same thing as her.

“She will always be remembered through her sense of humor and her positive attitude. She was a fighter. She was tough.”

But she needed support at times, too, and she found a lot of it in the online support groups. Clonan said he didn’t always understand why Debbie spent as much time as she did posting and replying to messages online. Eventually, he got it. He, her parents — Lee and Julie Bowman — and her extensive network of family and close friends would do anything they could for her, but they just couldn’t always do what she needed, he said.

They couldn’t tell her about a new drug just out of clinical trials that may help alleviate a side effect she was suffering. They couldn’t answer her questions about why her toenails were turning black, or how she could focus better when her medications were making her foggy. They couldn’t tell her the names and stories of women who had successfully fought the kind of cancer she had when she crept out of bed at 2 a.m., afraid that there wasn’t any hope, but not wanting to burden her loved ones with that fear.

The women on the sites could.

“It got her through the tough times. It got her through things that we couldn’t help her with, even as her family, because we didn’t have the knowledge, and these folks do,” Clonan said.

When Debbie’s doctor in Anchorage gave up on her six months ago, saying there was nothing more doctors could do, she turned to the Internet, and women on the site pointed her to a new drug just approved by the FDA that ended up being effective against her cancer, Clonan said.

“She brought it to the oncologist in Anchorage and said, ‘This is what I want to be on. Find out about it, will you?’” Clonan said.

All along she took an active role in her medical treatment, doing her own research and being proactive in finding ways to stave off or deal with side effects. During the last course of treatment she was on, doctors said she’d be in the hospital three to five times. She was only in once, toward the end when the drugs started to overwhelm what her fragile body could take.

“It’s truly practicing medicine. They don’t have answers in a lot of cases. A lot of it is finding out how your particular body reacts to drugs,” Clonan said. “My impression is that people don’t take charge of their medical treatment as much as they should.”

Beyond medical knowledge, the sites are a forum for sharing general support. People post poems, pictures, jokes and stories. When someone’s having a tough time, the network responds by sending cards or small gifts. Debbie at one point got around 100 cards in the mail within three days of posting a comment that she was feeling low, Clonan said.

“Any way that they can possibly help a person, they do,” he said.

And she returned the favor, signing on as Alaska Deb and sending her own notes, gifts and tokens of support, or even checks for $20 here and there to help a friend be able to afford a prescription. She also attended a get-together in Upstate New York of several women from the site in 2007, which they dubbed Pinkstock — pink being the color of breast cancer awareness.

This winter, Clonan started participating in the sites, as well, forming his own friendships with some of the women close to Debbie, especially near the end when he desperately searched for treatment information and advice.

“When you’re sitting at home by yourself, especially in Alaska, we’re kind of cut off a little bit. It brings everyone together,” he said.

Debbie’s death served as a rallying point that Clonan didn’t see coming. He said he didn’t even know how to tell the people on the site that she’d passed away.

“I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t want anybody to be discouraged or give up or anything like that,” he said.

He got a phone call from one of Debbie’s online friends, Traci, from Dallas, or “Trip Neg,” as she’s known online, and he asked her to let everyone know about Deb’s passing. On Jan. 26, she posted that “Alaska Deb is our newest angel.” Since then, the post generated 338 responses as of Sunday, from women all over the globe sharing a story of how Debbie touched them in some way. The stories, jokes, photos, poems, memories and tributes form a testament to how one woman, even in little Sterling, Alaska, can have a huge impact on others.

“They started talking about Deb, how sorry they were, how inspirational she was,” Clonan said. “It was amazing how many people have commented since she passed away, and some even said, ‘I didn’t correspond with her myself, but I always read her posts.’”

On Jan. 27, another online friend started a new thread — a topic of discussion — suggesting that people touched by Debbie send a single pink rose to her memorial service. The idea immediately took off. As of Sunday, there were 404 replies posted, resulting in the sea of about 200 pink flowers lining the front of the altar at Soldotna Bible Chapel on Jan. 31.

Debbie’s online friends also contacted Gov. Sarah Palin’s office, asking her to attend the service (she was in Washington, D.C., at the time, an office aide said) and asking her to donate to the central peninsula Relay for Life in Debbie’s name, Clonan said.

The women are also planning a barrage of e-mails to President Barack Obama’s Facebook page on Valentine’s Day, this Saturday, encouraging him to step up efforts to cure breast cancer.

“They’re asking him to put the country’s money where its mouth is and get this solved in honor of Deb,” Clonan said.

He said he’s honored that so many people not only share his recognition of how special his wife was, but that they’d be moved to do something about it, especially with how much they go through in their own lives.

“These people are just awesome, knowing what they put up with, after having gone through this with my wife,” he said. “I was just amazed at the outpouring of support for Deb and the girls and I. It was just amazing, just unbelievable, and the story isn’t even the flowers. The story is the fact that these people go through such difficult times and they come out of it with such a good attitude and can share joys and fun. It’s pretty impressive.”

Donations to the Central Pensinsula Relay for Life can be made by visiting www.relayforlifeofcentralpeninsula.org. Click on “Debbie Clonan” to access the donation form.

Way Out Women ride for life

By Jenny Neyman
Redoubt Reporter

The “out” in the Way Out Women annual fundraiser to benefit cancer patients on the central Kenai Peninsula has several meanings.

There’s the literal, in that women spend a day riding snowmachines way out into the Caribou Hills.

Then there’s the more figurative meaning: The women are a bit “out there” in how they approach the event. There’s the costumes — everything from bees and butterflies to snow angels, beauty queens and characters from “The Wizard of Oz.” And this year, there’s a Wild and Woolly Bra Contest.

Kathy Lopeman, the event’s founder and organizer, said the idea is for all those crafty Alaska ladies out there to put their talents to work creating some unique undergarments to be auctioned off at the spaghetti dinner following the ride Feb. 28.

“Anybody can bid on this (guys included, although the day’s ride is just for the ladies),” Lopeman said. “I suppose if somebody wants to model them they can — a little something extra to raise money.”

The most important “out” of all is the event’s purpose, to raise money for Central Peninsula Hospital’s WOW fund to help out local people battling cancer.

“Every cent and every bit goes back to patients directly in the form of nontaxable grants,” Lopeman said. “Child care, groceries, travel back and forth to Anchorage if they have to have radiation, housing. In the way the economy is, transportation and groceries are big pieces. It’s for anything that takes care of a need that cancer has effected in their life.”

The organization gives out $1,000 grants to people in need, one grant per calendar year to each recipient. Lopeman said 46 grants were awarded in 2008, and the money can be used however the recipient sees fit.

The WOW ride is in its fifth year. In its four previous years the event has raised more than $100,000 as participation has soared from 46 riders the first year to 107 last year.

“If we’re able to raise enough, we want to up that,” Lopeman said. “A thousand is nice but with this economy it’s a drop in the hat when it comes to the giant expenses of cancer treatment.”

Lopeman is hoping for an even bigger turnout this year and an even greater amount raised. She said $65,000 is the goal this year, between the ride, the silent auction and outcry auctions.

The event begins with a meet and greet event from 6 to 8 p.m. Feb. 27 at the Clam Shell Lodge, where silent auction bidding will begin. Items planned for auction so far include a turned wooden bowl, a pink breast cancer awareness Beijo purse, matching bags, T-shirts and ball caps in cancer awareness colors, pottery, and ivory and beaded jewelry.

The ride starts at 9 a.m. Feb. 28 at the Clam Shell, on trails groomed by the Caribou Hills Cabin Hoppers.

“We take a route that is easy enough that anyone could ride it. Several times we had people who didn’t ride (snowmachines) before,” Lopeman said.

Following the ride is a dinner at the Clam Shell that’s open to anyone. The lodge also volunteered to be smoke-free for the weekend, Lopeman said, and there will be live music both nights. The silent auction will conclude at the dinner Feb. 28, the bras will be auctioned off and costume judging will take place.

Of all the cancer causes Lopeman has been involved with — including the Polar Bear Jump Off for 10 years in a row and starting the Relay for Life event on the peninsula — she’s particularly proud of what WOW does for people with cancer, because the help is so tangible.

“I just feel this is so much more near and dear to my heart because it all goes directly back to patients, and every cent of it does. This is just so much better because everything is donated,” she said.

Sign-ups have been a little slow so far, Lopeman said, but snow conditions in the hills are passable.

“We could use more but we can do it now. I’m kind of worried, you have a party and nobody shows up, but I think we’ll be fine now,” she said.

Lopeman asks that women interested in participating in WOW register by Friday by contacting her at klopeman@cpgh.org, 714-4490 or 283-7602.

Serving plenty — Soup supper fills bowls, peninsula food bank’s coffers

By Naomi Hagelund
For the Redoubt Reporter

Around 400 people will leave Saturday’s fundraiser for the Kenai Peninsula Food Bank with full bellies and empty bowls. The food bank is teaming up with local organizations and volunteers to host the 12th annual Soup Supper and Auction.

The supper starts at 5:30 p.m. at the Kenai Central High School cafeteria. For $40, ticket holders will fill up on locally made desserts, enjoy homemade soup in handmade bowls, bid on auction items and listen to live music.

Soup offerings are vegetarian-vegan, halibut chowder and chili made by various gourmet cooks in the community. There will be Cold Stone Creamery cakes and chocolate fountains, as well as $20 raffle tickets to win $2,000. The food bank is auctioning off items like a trip for two to the proposed Pebble Mine site, airline tickets and a pie made by Kenai Mayor Pat Porter.

All money from the event goes to fund food bank programs.

“It’s a major fundraiser,” said Linda Swarner, director of the food bank. “It’s a fifth of our budget.”

Swarner said that last year’s event raised more than $60,000, thanks to ticket sales and the help of sponsors. This year’s major sponsors include Chevron, BP, Tesoro and ASRC Energy Services.

Tickets are still available, but not for long. The event is usually sold out, Swarner said. Each attendee gets to take home one of the more than 400 unique bowls local artists handcrafted and donated to the event.

Only around a dozen potters are involved in making the donated bowls, said Charles LaForge, a member of the Kenai Potters Guild. Many hours go into the creation of these special bowls. There’s the process of making and trimming the bowls, then they go through one firing before they are glazed, after which they go through a second, 12-hour firing.

“If you were to sit down and throw a bowl on the wheel, it would probably just take a few minutes, but once you apply all the other techniques, it adds up to a lot of time,” LaForge said. “That one little bowl is handled quite a bit.”


The artists have been working since April, finishing most of the bowls in July. Most of the potters threw their bowls at home and built up an inventory early on, waiting to glaze and finish the products for another month or two.

The only thing the food bank requires of the artists is they make the bowls big enough to hold two cups of soup, LaForge said. Four hundred bowls can take up a lot of room, so they are not made very wide. They are crafted into more of a deep, traditional soup bowl.

Not only is the event an opportunity for the potters of the ¬guild to use their skill and time to help the community, it’s also a chance for them to experiment with new designs and glaze techniques.

“All the bowls are in a different style that represents the style of the potter,” LaForge said. “They all put their individual decoration or glaze techniques on the bowls.”

The auction also is a chance for the Kenai Potter’s Guild to get a little advertising.

“We get our name out there, and our product through that,” LaForge said. “We have a show sometime during the year, and hopefully people remember us.”