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One of the most cherished traditions in the world of baseball began as a bar bet between two saloon owners at the turn of the last century when Fairbanks was a small gold rush town. The stakes? Bragging rights for the entire winter. According to local lore, the first "High Noon at Midnight Classic" was played on June 21, 1906, between the Eagle's Club and the California Bar. Led by Eddie Stoecker, who became known as "Father of the Midnight Sun Game," the score ended with the Eagles falling to...
The infant town of Anchorage, only a few years old, had always been interested in America's favorite pastime when William F. Mulcahy, later known as "Mr. Baseball," blew into the lusty, young railroad town in 1922. Everyone turned out to watch the games played evenings after supper and weekends. As far back as 1916, Anchorage had a regulation baseball diamond, built by the Bridge Engineers, located in what was known as Recreation Park in the railroad yards north of Ship Creek. A press box, with...
If you have a special talent or skill that may benefit a charity or organization, then now may be the ideal to offer your services or ask how you can be of help. April is National Volunteer Month and it is dedicated to honoring all of the volunteers in our communities as well as encouraging volunteerism throughout the month. For many of us, volunteerism was instilled at a young age. Scores of organizations in small towns, rural counties, and the largest cities would not function without...
When you were a kid, there was a standard protocol for choosing sides in a pickup game. The two best players—and everybody knew who they were—did some little contest to see who would pick first. If it was basketball, whoever made a shot first got to choose first. In baseball they did that funny thing where they went hand over hand on the bat. And then they took turns picking the players for their team. Of course there were only a limited number of choices for each pick, namely whoever was sta...
Perhaps you remember her as TV mom Marsha Owens in ABC's popular 80s sitcom "Mr. Belvedere," starring alongside baseballer-turned-actor Bob Uecker and British actor Christopher Hewett in the title role. But Ilene Graff is also an established singer whose career began in musical theater. In recent years her live festive Christmas special, "The Ilene Graff Holiday Show," has delighted audiences at 54 Below, a supper club in the basement of New York's famed Studio 54 theater. "We couldn't do it...
A friend of mine recently sent me an excerpt from "Open: An Autobiography," by Andre Agassi, the retired tennis professional. In it he talks about the mental battle he learned to fight after finding a new coach who helped propel him to do remarkable things in tennis. My friend saw parallels in my own thought process: "The tyranny of perfection". Growing up playing tennis with a father who (most of the time) gently taught my brother and me the needed skills, I was still subconsciously motivated...
The following selections were published in Alaska newspapers July 1922. Nonstandard spelling and punctuation are presented as found in the original articles. Glorious Fourth Nome Nugget, July 8, 1922: At one o'clock, notwithstanding the various handicaps [bad weather and a flu epidemic], the Square presented a lively appearance, many adults braved the inclement weather while the children formed the majority, the enthusiastic element of the days celebration. Taking it all in all the day was...
Technically speaking, Anchorage was born in November 1920. According to information gleaned by the League of Women Voters many years ago, it was eligible to become a first-class city because it had a population in excess of 400 – provided that two-thirds of the voters were ready to assume responsibilities of city government for its 2,500 residents. A group of interested citizens filed a petition with the U.S. District Court at Valdez, which was the headquarters of the Third Judicial Division. T...
Baseball fans love to nickname things. A home run can be a simple “homer” but it can also be a “tater,” a “dinger,” a “jack” or “going yard”. In fact, there are dozens of nicknames for the baseball fan’s favorite play. One thing nobody in baseball likes to see, however, is a “comebacker”. That’s when the ball is hit directly back at the pitcher. Because the pitcher is off-balance after throwing the ball, he may not have a chance to get his glove up and protect himself, so a comebacker ca...
The old baseball star Satchel Paige is supposed to have said: Age is a question of mind over matter. If you don’t mind it does not matter. On Capitol Hill, old seems to be the new young. In the House of Representatives, the top three leaders are all seniors. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is 79 years old. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., is 80, and Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., is also 80. While you can actually start serving in the House at age 25 and age 30 in the Senate, the 2018 elections brought in a much younger group of l...
Bob Burrus is channeling John Travolta. He enters Lenny's Pizza in Brooklyn and orders a slice. After devouring the snack, he emerges onto 86th Street and struts down several blocks as the song "Staying Alive" plays in his head. Bob is reliving the opening scene of the 1977 motion picture Saturday Night Fever. And he's not alone. As he mimics one of his favorite movie sequences, others around the country are fantasizing theirs. From Maine to Hawaii, locations where movie scenes were filmed...
The American Legion was chartered and incorporated by Congress in 1919, as a patriotic veterans’ organization devoted to mutual helpfulness. It is the nation’s largest wartime veterans service organization, committed to mentoring youth and sponsorship of wholesome programs in our communities, advocating patriotism and honor, promoting strong national security, and continued devotion to our fellow service members and veterans. Hundreds of local American Legion programs and activities strengthen the nation one community at a time. American Leg...
True story: My husband and I are walking our two dogs on leash. Another couple is walking towards us with an unleashed dog. We step off the trail, heading slightly uphill. I place my dog in a sit and have treats to keep her occupied as the loose dog walks by. I turn to my husband to see if he has treats too and at that moment the loose dog runs toward us. I don't see it because I have taken my eyes off my dog so I also don't see her sudden movement forward which pulls me downhill and I fall....
More than four decades ago Congress enacted the Alaska Native Land Claims Settlement Act, which conveyed about 40 million acres to Alaska Native-owned corporations and settled aboriginal land claims. President Richard M. Nixon signed it into law in December 1971. Why was the Native land claims such a big issue after statehood? The Alaska Statehood Act said the new state could choose more than 103 million acres of its land – an amount larger in total area than California – to build its eco...
We roared out of Bennington, Vermont, to cover 977 miles the first day and somehow avoided speeding tickets. This after deciding we did not like Bennington and would return to my mother's home town of Gloucester, Massachusetts, and so put the house up for sale. We worked on the house for over 10 months and it was high time to go on an adventure. And that would be to Dawson City, Yukon Territory, to participate in the Dawson City Riverside Arts Festival and then on to the family cabin across the...
Baseball has long been a staple of summers in Alaska. And when Anchorage baseball fans wanted a semi-pro team in 1969, they knew they could count on George "Lefty" Van Brunt to coach the boys of summer from the first base side of the plate. Lefty's career with the Anchorage Glacier Pilots began that year when the Anchorage Community got serious about baseball because the adult league's all-star team could never beat the Fairbanks team. "The Gold Panners used to come down and kick our butts,"...
Q. Is it possible to talk with Siri on non-Apple devices? A. The short answer is no, Siri is a feature only available from Apple. For readers who may not be familiar with that name, Siri is the voice-controlled Intelligent Personal Assistant installed on Apple devices. Controlling devices with voice commands is hot right now, and Apple Siri has plenty of company. Microsoft has Cortana. Google has Google Voice. Samsung has Viv. Amazon has Alexa. There are many others. Each of them has a common set of abilities, along with capabilities unique to...
As the days get longer and winter begins to wane, it's safe to assume that the boys of summer are preparing for another awesome season of baseball – a mainstay in Alaska for generations. Before Anchorage had plotted out its main street on Fourth Avenue in 1915, baseball teams faced off near the mud flats to put bats to balls that Fourth of July. Following statehood in 1959, Alaska attracted a multitude of collegiate players who played for teams like the Anchorage Bucs, Alaska Glacier Pilots, Pen...
The infant town of Anchorage, only a few years old, had always been interested in America's favorite pastime when William F. Mulcahy, later known as "Mr. Baseball," blew into the lusty, young railroad town in 1922. Everyone turned out to watch the games played evenings after supper and weekends. As far back as 1916, Anchorage had a regulation baseball diamond, built by the Bridge Engineers, located in what was known as Recreation Park in the railroad yards north of Ship Creek. A press box, with...
Many Alaskans I know say that Chicago is a great city and they love to visit. Traveling there in April for my son's wedding, I had a hard time adjusting to the fact that this is a city with a capital "C." It's really big. Think of it this way: Anchorage has a little over 300,000 people. Chicago? Close to 3 million – more than the entire state of Alaska. Unlike New York, with its landmarks of Central Park and the Empire State Building, I grasped for a sense of direction, some guide post, some f...
