KIYU in Galena, Alaska raises $2,000 for Celiac Charty for the Burrito Reindeer!
Internet Technology brings Christmas Cheer to Remote Alaska Villages

So I've had my Controllable Christmas Lights for Celiac Disease up for several years and raised over $30,000 for the University of Maryland.. There's a bunch of zany things in my Christmas Display including Elmo, Frosty, Santa, SpongeBob, and Homer Simpson - D'OH! ;-)

I've also had one of those mechanical lighted reindeers (the head goes up & down) and for 2007, I positioned it next to the cross-country Polar Bear. I didn't think anything of this until after a heavy snowfall, "Shadow" mentioned in the Christmas Messages Chat Room that it looked like the reindeer was ... ummmmm ... passing gas! It was then theorized that perhaps the reindeer had eaten a bad burrito - watch the time-lapse video - Double D'OH! ;-)

It turns out that "Shadow" is the General Manager of KIYU in Galena, Alaska. We're talking wayyyy up North & wayyyy inland ... and more moose than people. They provide the main radio link to the outside world for this extremely rural area. Pretty darn neat that technology can provide some Christmas Cheer to such a remote places.

Shadow Steel (and his listeners, plus the many moose) enjoy the remotely viewable/controllable Christmas Display so they raised $1,000 for the Univ of Maryland to help fight Celiac Disease, pushing the total to over $25,000 - how cool is that! So it's now the KIYU Burrito Reindeer! ;-)

2008 Update: They donated another $1,000 to Celiac Charity for 2008 - thank you Galena, Alaska.

Alek "lights a match" behind the KIYU Burrito Reindeer - D'OH!`

burrito reindeer

At certain times, it really does look like the snow is on fire

burrito reindeer fire

Canon 40D DSLR picture from the same perspective as the webcam

burrito reindeer canon 40d

The 10MP Canon 40D has a bit more pixels & image quality than the webcam!

burrito reindeer canon 40d

Burrito Reindeer, Polar Bear, and rest of the house

burrito reindeer canon 40d

Another closeup of the KIYU Burrito Reindeer

burrito reindeer

Closeup of the Cross Country Skiing Polar Bear

burrito bear

The "Burrito Reindeer" in 2009

christmas burrito reindeer

christmas burrito reindeer

christmas burrito reindeer