One of the great treasures Show Low had to offer when I came here in the mid-eighties was a publication that Northland Pioneer College published annually called Northern Flight. It was a wonderful incentive to students in English and in the graphic arts and photography.
Elsewhere on this website is a piece I wrote about a year ago, where I said that Northern Flight was still being published by Northland Pioneer College. I spoke too soon. This March, I found out it was gone—possibly forever.
I would like to tell you just why it was so important and why it is bad that it is, to all intents and purposes, defunct.
What Northern Flight Was
Northern Flight was a large format high quality glossy publication in magazine style. It measured 9" by 12" and was printed mostly in black and white with some color, and was thirty-six pages. It gave First, Second, and Third prizes in prose, poetry, painting or other 2D art, 3D art, black and white 
photography, and color photography. As far as I can recall, there was no money awarded with the prizes. It published both winners and others of merit. Sometimes it printed works that did not fall into neat categories.
The cover I show here is from the 1987 issue. That was the eleventh issue. How much longer it continued to be published, I don't know, but it was still being issued in the 2000s.
It is difficult to overemphasize how valuable it was. It gave students something to work towards and probably encouraged them to do better and strive harder than they might otherwise have done. It also put the college on the map; something tangible to represent the accomplishments of the students in the White Mountains.
Something else it did that might not often be taken into consideration, is that it formed a time-capsule of that time and year. Because I would like to show you some examples, but have not been authorized to put them here for you to see, I am going to list the names of those who were published so if it is your work, or if you have the authority to authorize the presentation of that work, you can let me know, and I will show it here.
If you tell me I can show it, I request that you send me the text of prose or poetry. If you cannot do that, I might scan it from Northern Flight, as I will do for artworks or photography.
In the following list, if I have misspelled your name, or missed you, please attribute it to my poor agéd brain. The location after the name is the campus or center it was submitted from. This list comes from a publication that was sold to the general public, but if you want your name removed from the list, please let me know.
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS TO NORTHERN FLIGHT 1987:
Gale Wisdom, Lakeside
LuAnna Dodge, Eager
Sue Moore, Snowflake
William McGrath, Snowflake
Nancy Jane Henderson, Lakeside
Marcie W. Brimhall, Snowflake
Lynna Fails, Taylor
John Sullivan, Concho
Elaine Andrus Watts, Snowflake
Loree Williams, St. Johns
Edward Jellison, Pinetop
Edna Dashner, Holbrook
Dammerich, Snowflake
Charlene Serna, Lakeside
Gina “Calamity” Daidone, Show Low
Cheryl J. Owens, Show Low
Leslie Elzey, Winslow
Jane M. Burson, Snowflake
Dreama D. Howell, Lakeside
Eloise Wycott, Lakeside
Kieth C. Fales, Winslow
Brandee Nice Snyder, Eager
Dorothy Morris, Show Low
Mavra Eileen Langston, Snowflake
Kelly Fetterley, Snowflake
Susan Foster Gluck, Lakeside
Toni Bate, Show Low
Ferral Knight, Woodruff
Elaine Warner, Pinetop
Becky Rubi Kolomitz, Winslow
JoJuana McKean-Raikowski, Holbrook
Donna Rae Medina, Winslow
Ben Chavez, Show Low
Esther Custis, Pinetop
Vincent Dawes, Winslow
Anne M. Abbey, Pinetop
Obviously, since this list is just two years shy of thirty years, things change, names change, and sadly some are no longer with us. But this represents a year that once was in the White Mountains. We can be thankful that those in the list shared their talent, and at times, their wisdom with us.
As a sample, I have attached a poem of mine that appeared on page 32 of that Northern Flight of long ago.
Email: contact@ericaitken.com
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