Seward Stories: Breakup Season

Seward Stories: Breakup Season

By Marissa Amor

With stories about hair loss, angry landlords and fallen sailors, the fourth Seward Stories at Zudy’s Café on Saturday night presented a diverse collection of stories on the theme ‘Breakup season.’

Seward Stories is a community storytelling event put together by Kat Sorensen, a New Jersey native and recent Alaska transplant. She is the editor of The Seward Sun, an online news source for the town of Seward. ‘Trails and Tails’, the first story-telling event took place in November. Since then, she has hosted ‘On thin ice’ in January, ‘Late Nights’ in February, and the most recent ‘Breakup Season’. The subject matter and characters reflect this active, colorful community.

“Giving a small-town community space to share stories is much more than just a chance to talk about yourself.”

                                                                                                                                      —Kat Sorensen

Zudy’s Café flooded just before 7 pm. Attendees mingled gregariously as they chatted about putting boats in the water, wacky hair day at the elementary school, and the new street taco stand that plans to debut this summer. After a streak of bluebird days, the townsfolk seem to have shaken off the dampness of winter in full springtime spirit. The bay side café is mostly windows–the few panels of wall space feature vibrant originals by local artists. Evening light reflecting off the bay enhanced the warmth of the small, crowded room.

At each event, there are a handful of rehearsed stories and time is allotted at the end for impromptu stories. This dichotomy makes the succession of narratives less uniform and creates an opportunity for anyone who is inspired to share. At this particular event, a man named Jim, who moved to Seward just the day before Seward Stories, agreed to share his breakup story after being prompted by his new neighbor, Gillian Braver.

The newcomer stood up before the packed room and said “Hi, I’m Jim, I moved here yesterday.’ He proceeded to tell the story of two very different breakups he experienced when leaving Minneapolis: leaving his job at a pre-school and leaving on bad terms with his landlord. Jim said of the pre-school, “that’s how breakups should be–you should get a big group hug and little handmade cards with kind sentiments and funny pictures’. He contrasted that experience with the story of his landlord, whom he’d been paying under the table, who was upset because he gave three weeks-notice instead of a month as agreed upon. “That break-up resulted in me getting some nasty e-mails expressing her fierce disappointment, asking me for money, and then having to change my number,’ said Jim. Sharing his good-humored story was a great way to get acquainted in a small town.

Deborah Altermatt, of Sailing, Inc., told the story of a particular breakup she sees on a regular basis– between boat owners and their beloved boats. She spoke of the regular seasonal influx of boaters, boaters upgrading to larger vessels, the ones who come and go, but more importantly, the ones who won’t be coming back. Boats sitting vacant in the harbor without their captain. Deb highlighted the names of recently deceased sailors that will be added to the Seward Mariner’s Memorial on the Resurrection Bay waterfront. These breakups were inevitable, she said, but still sobering.

“Okay, here’s the hard one,’ Altermatt said, pulling in a deep breath as she went on to tell the story of 44-year-old Matthew Latham, a first-time boat owner who died in his sleep with his dog when his 30 ft sailboat went up in flames this February. This loss devastated the harbor community. She said when Matthew first called her at Sailing, Inc., he told her he had a dream. He wanted to learn how to sail, buy a boat, and sail away.

“I don’t really know how to weave Matthews boat story into these other breakup stories. But it’s there. Matthews passion and love for his boat didn’t have a traditional breakup, but I know the soul of his boat is no longer there, just as Matthew’s spirit is no longer there. Perhaps they are somewhere together that only the other fallen mariners can explain.’

After Altermatt, Sarah Stokey, a beloved local and 2019 Iditarod competitor, shared her story of her breakup with expectation when her challenging race experience went nowhere near as planned. Stokey ended up walking her team when her last lead dog decided he didn’t want to lead. Her inspirational story was the perfect conclusion to the night’s eclectic collection of narratives.

“Giving a small-town community space to share stories is much more than just a chance to talk about yourself,’ said Sorensen, the events organizer, “It’s a way to see your neighbor in a different light’.

The next Seward Stories will take place in June. If you have an idea for a theme or would like to host, contact Kat Sorensen at editor@sewardsun.com.