A family of four that survived a plane crash near McGrath will get financial help. NEA-Alaska president Barb Angaiak says a Wells Fargo account has been set up to take donations to help Don and Rosemary Evans, and their two young children. The family was on their way to Anvik where the two adults were to begin teaching school, when the plane they were on crashed last Saturday evening.
The plane had been chartered by the school district. The Evans spent a rough night awaiting rescuers, who were unable to reach the crash site until Sunday morning.
The Evans’s were on the pay roll of the school district when the accident occurred, although their insurance was not scheduled to kick in until September 1. The Iditarod school board has since changed the start date to August 1, and the family is fully covered, according to Karen Ladegard, superintendent of the Iditarod School District. Ladegard says classes in Anvik will begin on Monday despite the Evans’ hospitalization and the loss of long time Anvik teacher Julia Walker, who was killed in the crash, along with pilot Ernie Chase. Ledegard says retired teachers will work at Anvik on a temporary basis, until the Evans recover from their injuries.
Those who want to help the Evanses can make a contribution to the Evans family fund at any Wells Fargo branch. The account is number 5969770287.
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APTI Reporter-Producer Ellen Lockyer started her radio career in the late 1980s, after a stint at bush Alaska weekly newspapers, the Copper Valley Views and the Cordova Times. When the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, Valdez Public Radio station KCHU needed a reporter, and Ellen picked up the microphone.
Since then, she has literally traveled the length of the state, from Attu to Eagle and from Barrow to Juneau, covering Alaska stories on the ground for the AK show, Alaska News Nightly, the Alaska Morning News and for Anchorage public radio station, KSKA
elockyer (at) alaskapublic (dot) org | 907.550.8446 | About Ellen
