by Peter Twitchell
I have fond memories of Bethel Broadcasting Inc. fundraisers in the early days of KYUK Radio, two years before the BBI Board of Directors worked with Senator George Hohman in the Alaska Legislature and Senator Ted Stevens in Congress to get funding for KYUK’s television station.
In a short time the Kuskokwim region and Yukon region had a satellite dish in Saint Mary’s. Whenever it snowed Don Porter had to jump in his Cessna small airplane and point his plane towards the Yukon.
One day at about 5pm I got a call at home. It was Don. He wanted to know if I would fly with him to Saint Mary’s to clean the satellite dish. I said, okay I will. My wife asked me if she could come along. I said I’ll ask Don. Don said, “The more the merrier.”
We lived in ASHA housing and I could barely see the airport lights! I asked Betty, “You sure you want to go? It’s snowing out.”
She said, “Lets’ go!”
The three of us piled into the small aircraft and away we went in total darkness and the only thing we could see was the snowflakes hitting the window.
I thought, what did I get me and wife and I into?
When we finally returned to Bethel I thought, Almightly God was in that small aircraft with us!
I never asked Don but I have a feeling he kept his eyes on his instruments panel! What a relief it was when Don said, “We’re coming up on the Yukon.”
I could barely see a couple lights below us! It never stopped snowing. When we landed in Bethel, talk about relief!
In my opinion, Don Porter was one of a legion of great bush pilots! More on the KYUK fundraisers next week, March 10, 2025.
