Manny Kagan

www.pacificbayfinancial.com

Cheers,

Manny Kagan, Ph.D.
President

NMLS #205637
BRE #00874630

Pacific Bay Financial Corporation
355 Gellert Blvd., Ste. #230
Daly City, CA 94015-2669

Work: (415) 592-0995
Cell: (415) 225 7920

[email protected]

www.mannykagan.com

Why Turkey?

The Thanksgiving holiday is usually the time when families gather around the table with a bountiful meal, which traditionally includes turkey. Have you ever wondered why? You may have heard that this has something to do with the Pilgrim settlers at Plymouth Colony and their supposed meal with the locals, the Wampanoag Native American people, in 1621. However, there is no proof the “foul” they ate was turkey. Some historians think it was probably ducks or geese on the menu; a more familiar dish for the settlers from England. The Thanksgiving days were an expression of gratitude for the autumn harvest. The reason the turkey became a popular dish is probably because it was plentiful, the second reason was that they were easily grown on farms, and the very large birds could feed a family.

Personally, I enjoy celebrating and expressing my gratitude every day, and there are a lot of people who enjoy Thanksgiving holiday regardless of their dietary preferences, including myself. As a pescatarian, I do not eat turkey. If you do, and are reading this post on Friday, please enjoy cold turkey (which has its own meaning).

Turkey which is a wild bird, not only evolved as the source of protein grown on farms, but also for some people it became a family pet, as you can see in these images.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Enjoy and Share!

Cheers,

Keep Going

The name of our journey’s next stop in Alaska was Petersburg. It was named after Peter Buschman, who was born in Norway in 1849, where he made a living from fishing salmon. In 1891 together with his wife and eight children they came to America, and after stops in Tacoma and Seattle the family moved to Alaska, where he founded “Little Norway”. First he built a sawmill and cannery. He sent a word to his friends and family to Norway and many came to work. Peter realized that by using ice from the Le Conte Glacier he could ship barreled halibut as far as Seattle.

After successfully operating several cannery operations for ten years, he sold his business to the larger company and was paid in common stock. When the company went bankrupt only a year later, he lost everything. Being overwhelmed with the responsibility that he encouraged others to invest in his company, in 1903 he took his life. His children continued in their father’s footsteps, and in our days Petersburg is one of the major fishing ports in the United States, which keeps spirit of “Little Norway”. For me the lesson from this story is keep going regardless life’s setbacks.

From the three images you can see how the memory of Norway persists for over 170 years in a small place in huge American Alaska to attract 50,000 tourists every year.

Enjoy and Share Love!

Cheers,

Have You Heard About Wrangell?

As our ship continued its journey, it arrived at the island called Wrangell, which has a very interesting history. For five thousand years before the arrival of outside people, it was occupied by the Tlingit Native Americans. It was Russian Czar (Emperor) Peter the Great, whose colonization ambitions brought the Russians there. The purpose was to find new sources of furs, which were sold to China in exchange for tea, that traded currency with the British, which in turn led to the development of the town known today as Wrangell. This started in 1725, when Vitus Jonassen Bering, a Danish cartographer and explorer in the Russian service, was sent to what became known as Alaska. The first voyage was foiled by ice and fog.

The second, known as the Kamchatka Expedition, lasted from 1733 till 1743, under the guidance of two Russian Empresses – Anna and Elizabeth. In 1741, Bering was able to reach what became known as Russian America. New maps allowed Europeans to discover Alaska as well, which in turn led to future historical developments. In 1867, to prevent the British, who were Russia’s enemy during the Crimean War, from getting hold of Alaska, the Russians, who ran out of money, decided to sell Alaska to their “friend”, America. Perhaps there is some inaccuracy in my description of the process; nevertheless, in 1849, the Russians discovered an island, which is today considered the largest in the world.

When it became American territory in 1867, it was named after Baron Wrangell, the last Russian Governor of Alaska. It was born in furs, raised on gold and today its economy is based on fishing and tourism and has a population of about 2,500.

These three images share a little bit of our experience.

Enjoy and Share Love!