Gerilyn's summer started off with a boat ride down to Pilot Station.

"That was one of the first places I went to by boat," she said. "We went down on a Friday, stayed until Sunday, then we came home. We went down for a fund raiser the churches sponsored. The day after we came back, we went out camping. I would say that this year wasn't as much fun as the other years I've gone camping because we stayed at camp for only a few days. When fishing started I was babysitting for my auntie. I made some money doing that job, and that money paid for my vacation trip to Bethel for the fourth of July. I went on a charter plane with my cousins and auntie Ruth.

"The trip was so much fun that it was worth all the money spent on it."

After she came back from Bethel she helped her mom cut fish a couple of times. After the house work was all done she would also go out and check the fish net with her brother Jerry. They continued that until the fish house was full. Then she was introduced to rod and reeling. At first she thought it was boring, but she found out it was more fun than she had expected. One day she claimed there was fish all around the boat and she had so much fun she didn't want to return home. Every day after that she never wanted to stay home and she would always ask one of her brothers to bring her out.

During the middle of July Gerilyn went to Mt. Village with the fiddling band from Marshall. When she returned here, she found her sister Caroline had come home. It was the first time she had seen Caroline's little boy Cory. She was so happy to see him she spent all her leisure time with him. After he and his mother left for Fairbanks, she also spent time with her auntie Gloria and her two youngest children Shannon and Donald. So Gerilyn's summer didn't turn out so bad after all.

Story by: Gerilyn Fitka

Interviewed by: Maureen Fitka