The 78th Golden North Salmon Derby is dedicated to:
Misty Chilton
by Shawn Hooton
Misty Chilton is known to many Juneauites as the current leader of the “Hoochie Mamas” at the Amalga Harbor Derby weigh-in station. As of this year, she has been volunteering there for the past 14 years.
Misty recollects, “Kari Reyes (Bartness) got me involved in volunteering at Amalga. After the first year of the Derby with beautiful sunny days, Kari asked me to come back, and I was in.”
Eventually, when she decided to step down as the head of the Amalga weigh-in station, Misty was more than happy to take over.
One of her favorite parts of volunteering is watching the young families come out to fish year-after-year. Pretty soon the growing children are able to participate in turning in fish for scholarship & Derby prizes.
I asked her what some of the most exciting things that have happened out at Amalga and she said, “One year we had a sea lion come in and was picking up carcasses and eating them right next to the dock.” She continued, “We’ve had bears visit, boats running up on the sand bar, and hitting the rock.”
When asked about the origin of the term “Hoochie Mamas”, she said that it was from the long, bright colored hoochie earrings the crew wears while volunteering at the Amalga station.
Misty recollected some of her earliest memories of the Derby, “We fished the very first year we arrived in Juneau. It was 1987 and we only had a 16-foot Bayliner.” She added that her actually Dad placed in the Derby once in the late 80’s or early 90’s.
Misty continues to be very excited to plan and organize for the Derby every year. She tells the Hoochie Mama’s” (aka: her core crew), “No one gets to do out-of-town weddings or fly kids to college during that weekend.”
And so it is with great admiration that the 2024 Golden North Salmon Derby Committee dedicates its 78th annual Derby to Misty Chilton!
Thanks for your continued devotion, enthusiasm, and service to our community!