I’ve been expecting to learn new things from our son’s education, mostly new discoveries and events that have taken place since my time in school. I’ve found that I’m also filling in gaps in my knowledge, even though he’s only in preschool. Today he brought home a book about Balto, the sled dog who led the final two legs of the “serum run” that brought diphtheria antitoxin from Anchorage to Nome. Balto became the hero of the 1925 serum run, keeping to the trail in blizzard conditions and avoiding cracking ice on the river. There’s a statue of Balto in New York’s Central Park. I was a little creeped out to find out that his body was turned over to a taxidermist after he died and is now on display at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History (try explaining that to a four year old — who now wants to visit stuffed Balto). Although Balto and his musher Gunnar Kaasen received all the immediate media attention, Togo and musher Leonhard Seppala actually ran the most difficult and longest leg of the relay. The other relay teams received even fewer accolades. The Iditarod race, while not inspired entirely by the serum run, does commemorate its participants. Stuffed Togo is on display at the Iditarod headquarters in Wasilla, Alaska (nowadays more famous for a certain former mayor).