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With a guest list of 310 that included Governor Bill Walker and current and upcoming Anchorage mayors, Dan Sullivan and Ethan Berkowitz, the June 10 "Evening at the Atwood Estate" signature fundraiser dinner and auction was "a wonderful response to a great cause," says Becky Parker, Anchorage Senior Activity Center general manager. "The owners of the Atwood estate have been absolutely generous and thoughtful. Tons of volunteers and community members went into making this happen. We wanted...
Kenai Senior Center will continue its "Mystery Drives" through October, weather-permitting. The monthly excursions are organized by the center's driver, Steve Latz, and riders have no idea where they are going when they get on the vehicle. The May drive took them to the Kenai Refuge Visitors Center; this month's mystery drive is July 21. Call the center to save a seat at 283-8214....
Stories at the Cemetery will be an Official Anchorage Centennial Event this year, and to celebrate the year 2015, the theme will be “Fifteen for 2015… And A Leg!” says Audrey Kelly, along with her husband Bruce. “One of the character’s legs was the only part of him buried!” The self guided Anchorage Memorial Cemetery walking tour on July 12 will feature costumed actors portraying 15 of the notable founders, movers and shakers and early notorious residents of Anchorage. Audrey will play Tilly Reeves, wife of Rob Reeves, founder of Reeve Aleut...
I looked out the window of the small plane as we approached our short runway and saw nothing but olive-green cliffs. They filled the window and I was startled. The bumpy bluffs seemed so close I felt I could reach out and touch all that green, sailing by on my left. It was Mother's Day, a few weeks ago, and a long-held wish was becoming reality. My husband Elliott and I were flying into Unalaska and Dutch Harbor to spend a few days exploring this place, a place like no other. We arrived in a...
Honorary plaque in arms, retiring Skagway Convention and Visitors Bureau Director Carlin "Buckwheat" Donahue regaled a crowd of well-wishers at the Red Onion Saloon on May 1. After 16 years in the position, Donahue can look back at countless plaque presentations to cruise ship captains on their ship's first docking in Skagway, years of seeing hundreds of thousands of visitors using the visitor services the bureau provides, but most importantly, 29 years of the Buckwheat Ski Classic, a cross...
A once-in-a-century theater project is set to run in downtown Anchorage this July through September at Cyrano’s Off Center Playhouse, 4th Avenue and D Street. “Anchorage: The First 100 Years – A Theatrical Tour,” will feature a different team of director and actors each week for 10 weeks, with each week covering a decade in Anchorage’s history. Cyrano’s says its centennial celebration is a series of “living newspapers,” featuring the stories and colorful characters who helped shape Anchorage. The series will include authentic period music an...
Betty Berry settles into a friend's living room couch early on a grey April morning and opens up a journal, "Elberberry Tales," stories told by her father-in-law, Frank Olin Berry. His words had been captured and written down in the 1950s by a family friend. What Betty holds in her lap is a true treasure, a fascinating history of early Anchorage, its pages full of old black-and-white photos taken by her father-in-law, and stories previously kept within the Berry family. Frank's tales begin...
Diners had Navajo tacos as the first of a new monthly feature of ethnic and regional foods at Haines Senior Center lunches. Basic Navajo fry bread, interpreted in different forms around the country, becomes Indian fry bread in Haines. One diner, Marilyn Wilson, taught her daughter and granddaughter to make fry bread with yeast, but she liked the version made with baking powder, she said. Cindy Jackson, manager, said the April meal was to feature Indian dishes: Chicken Tikka Masala, Curry Rice...
The Pioneers of Alaska Women’s Igloo #11 proudly presents “Let’s Tip our Hats to Fun and Fancy” Annual Salad Luncheon and Style Show featuring fashions from “Garden Gate of Palmer.” The event will take place Friday, May 8 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Palmer Moose Lodge. Be prepared for great food, beautiful models, fabulous entertainment and terrific door prizes. Tickets are $10 at the door or in advance from any member of the Palmer Women’s Igloo #11. For more information, contact Pat Gersich at 376-1350 or Dee Brown at 745-3839....
"Where are you from?" "How long have you lived here?" Anchorage is known for its diversity, as a melting pot for people from all over the world, so these questions frequently pop up when introductions are being made. Three women of varying cultural backgrounds decided to submit a proposal to the Anchorage Centennial Committee, focusing on where some of this community's people came from and why they have stayed. Vivian Melde is Filipino and African American. "There is even some Chinese thrown in...
Dear Editor, Thank you so much for the “Jesse Lee Home” article (January 2015 edition). For many years I have wondered what became of the Jesse Lee Home. I was thrilled when my childhood friend, Linda Nystrom, of Anchorage (now Linda Hamilton, in Chugiak) sent me the article. Jesse Lee was my home in the late 40s. Precious memories! I was Alice J. James. Do you know of any meeting group I could contact? If so, anyone with information about the home and its former residents can contact me at my mailing address. Thank you, Senior Voice, for wha...
Anchorage is celebrating its centennial year, 2015, in many ways. One of the first events to come to life, reflecting the community's unique history, was a project of the Anchorage Log Cabin Quilters Guild. A show called "10 Decades and Counting – the Story of Anchorage in Quilts," made its debut in September in the ConocoPhillips atrium. It's an intriguing, stunning display, not only of local quilting skills, but of the colorful history of Anchorage, told through the traditional medium of q...
Congratulations to the Alaska International Senior Games (AISG) for their award for "Excellence in Games Promotion" at the National Senior Games Annual Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico in January. "We're very excited about receiving this award for the fourth year in a row," Darnall said. "Our 100-volunteer staff works hard throughout the year to make the games a success for seniors 50-plus." The 2015 Alaska International Senior Games will be held in Fairbanks, August 7-16. More information...
It's the 56th year for the Cordova Iceworm Festival, and for more than half of those years, Barbara Beedle chaired the festivities. Current chair of the annual event, Darrel Olsen, calls her "The Mother of the Iceworm Festival." "It's definitely an 'only in Cordova' event," he comments, laughing, "and Barbara long spurred on all that made it one of the most unique, successful festivals in Alaska." Planned for February 2-8 this year, where else could you find locals gathered with visitors from...
Tod Sebens helped unlock computer mysteries for Haines seniors during January. Following one senior's interest in adding to her skills, he volunteered to teach free sessions at Haines Senior Center on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1 to 3 p.m. After a general introduction of the material, he answered individual questions from the class, which was composed of beginners to more advanced users. Site Manager Cindy Jackson said she was delighted with the enthusiastic reception of the course, the latest...
The New Year, 2015, represents a landmark year for one agency, AK Child & Family. "It's our quasquicentennial," states Denis McCarville, president and CEO. "How many organizations or businesses in Alaska can make that claim?" Hardly any, even if they know what quasquicentennial means. "The agency can trace its roots back to 1890, so it is our 125th anniversary, our quasquicentennial," he explains. The history of AK Child & Family underscores not only its roots as a faith-based center meeting uni...
Author and educator Dr. James Lewis Simpson was another of the early childhood residents of the Seward Jesse Lee Home. Now age 90 and living in Oregon, he shared some of his early stories in a phone visit with me. His memory is incredibly sharp. "I'm one of the main characters of the Home in Seward," he said, laughing. "I was placed there by my father when I was four years old. My mother had left us when we were living in Chickaloon, Alaska. I am Ahtna Athabascan. My dad had heard of the Home...
The Last Frontier Honor Flight is a local chapter of the national organization of the Honor Flight Network. Our mission is to honor and thank veterans – especially World War II, Alaska Territorial Guard and Korean War veterans – by bringing them to Washington D.C. at no cost to them. The Last Frontier Honor Flight has been privileged to do this for 77 veterans since October 2013. Each one of these veterans came home with a renewed spirit knowing that they have not been forgotten and their ser...
"There's a lot of senior volunteer power behind the annual Anchorage-area Christmas Bird Count." That testimonial to senior volunteerism comes from Louann Feldmann. She's education chair of the Anchorage Audubon Society and will head this year's local Christmas Bird Count (CBC). "We coordinate our bird count with the National Audubon Society," she says. "It's a nationwide, continent-wide happening and will take place on Sunday, December 14 this year." She adds happily, "It's free! And for the...
Picking out a new calendar is one of the best treats of the New Year. It doesn't matter whether it's a gift for family or friends or one to use yourself. Some people have calendars in every room. Some have a wall calendar, a pocket calendar and a desk calendar. There may be a picture and a page for every month; every week or every day. And some Alaska seniors are creating their own calendars. Both Mat-Su Senior Services in Palmer and the Ninilchik Senior Services Center are using their own...
The City of Anchorage was founded in 1915. It was what has become known as a "Tent City." One hundred years later we will celebrate her centennial with an amazing skyline. Alaska Artist Byron Birdsall created a "Centennial Print," depicting the modern skyline in contrast to the original tent city. The print was signed by all of Anchorage's living mayors. Artique, a local gallery, marketed 450 numbered prints. The Anchorage Pioneer Home Resident Council purchased Print No. 205 as a gift to the...
"People laugh at me," says Maria James, chairperson of the Senior Veterans Group at the Anchorage Senior Activity Center (ASAC). "I seem able to spot a veteran – often a cap with pins and medals is a clue – and I chase after them." Maria is in hot pursuit because of her compulsion to let them know of their benefits as a veteran, and to encourage them to get to know other veterans at the center. "So many veterans are not aware of the benefits available to them," she says. Known for net...
When Alaska was transferred from Russia rule to the United States, it was up to the Americans to establish a way to deliver mail across its new possession. The Russians had not used a postal system. Communications between Russia and Russian America was handled by dispatch cases transported by Russian supply ships. Russian residents sent and received both business and personal mail through the Russian commanders in their communities. Three months before Alaska was formally handed off to American rule, the first post office in the northern...
While today's television landscape is littered with so-called reality programming, westerns dominated the airways in the 1960s. One of the most popular was "The Virginian," which ran for nine seasons on NBC from 1962 to 1971, and starred James Drury as the unnamed, mystery foreman of the Shiloh ranch, set in Medicine Bow, Wy. Drury celebrated his 80th birthday in April and, far from retiring, continues to travel the country greeting fans at western festivals (see www.thevirginian.net). He is...
"Where's my calculator?" Eyes popping in surprise, Rebecca Parker proclaims, "Yes. It's true. I have been in Anchorage for 41 years!" Becky and I have known each other for most of those 41 years. We'd met long ago as members of Alaska Press Women, now called Alaska Professional Communicators. I am sitting with her in her new office setting at the Anchorage Senior Activity Center, where she has recently been named General Manager. Feeling like old friends who hadn't had a chance to visit in sever...
