Food Bank of Alaska executive director Susannah Morgan called it one of those rare and glorious "all is right with the world" kinds of days.
It's what happens when an active Rotary Club, 42 caring individuals and one generous potato farmer team up on a warm, sunny September afternoon for "potato gleaning" to help provide food for their neighbors in need.
On Sept. 25, Anchorage East Rotary Club members and guests boarded a motor coach donated by the local division of tour company Holland America-Princess Tours and traveled north from Anchorage to the farming community of Palmer. The mission was to glean potatoes left behind during the commercial harvest and give them to hungry Alaskans.
I was one of the fortunate Rotarians who was able to attend the club-sponsored event. I enjoyed being outdoors in the glorious fall weather, the good conversations and friendship on the one-hour bus ride, but most importantly, knowing that I was doing something meaningful to help others.
When we arrived at the farm, I was impressed by potato farmer Adam Boyd. Not only was he very generous in agreeing to donate part of his crop to the Food Bank, but he also had a lot to share with us about his family farm and the uniqueness of farming in Alaska.
I haven't been around farms much in my life. The closest I had ever knowingly come to a potato plant was in a friend's garden a few years ago. He had potatoes growing in several old tires. So, before we headed out to Palmer, I had visions of us pulling up leafy potato plants, or digging with shovels and hoes.
In reality, it was much easier than I had imagined. The mechanical harvester had just been through the field, very little of the leafy green parts of the plants were left and the rich brown soil was soft under our feet.
The harvester had gotten most of the large potatoes; however, many of the smaller potatoes were left behind. Also, there were quite a few larger ones that either didn't get picked up by the harvester, or fell off the machine's conveyor belt.
These potatoes were for our gleaning, our "bonanza" hidden just under the surface or sitting right there in plain sight.
It was a family-friendly event. The obvious delight in the voices of the children in our group upon finding potatoes reminded me of a giant Easter egg hunt. "There's one! And another one!"
My friend Kim and her husband John brought their two kids and a large contingent of their kids' friends. Kim commented, "I was thrilled that my own children really wanted to come along ... and even happier to know that they have the kind of friends who wanted to help out too."
The youngest potato gleaner was 5 years old, and my guess at "oldest gleaners" was an elderly but very spry Rotarian couple visiting Alaska from New Zealand.
International participants also included three Rotary Youth Exchange students from Taiwan, Brazil and Denmark.
Before long, our gleaning group had full crates and burlap gunny sacks full of potatoes. The Food Bank had a truck right there in the field to collect what we had gathered.
Barbara Kagerer is a member of Anchorage East Rotary Club.
By BARBARA KAGERER
Daily News correspondent