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Providence Seward Mountain Haven (PSMH) is a long-term care facility tucked away in the trees on the side of a mountain in Seward. I had the opportunity to visit Alaska Native Elders living there on two recent occasions and prepare traditional lunches for them. The staff purchased salmon, vegetables, berries and bread dough and we prepared the food on-site. I chopped vegetables for salmon soup, which included cubed salmon, carrots, celery, onions and rice with salt and a little bit of pepper. Wh...
Cyrano’s Theatre Company in Anchorage is presenting “4,000 Miles,” by Amy Herzog as its September production, playing Sept. 4 through Sept. 28. Although the title may be reminiscent of the classic ‘On the Road…’ films with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby and the play is a romantic comedy, it is most certainly far richer in its exploration of the relationships between young and old. It is the story of a 21 year-old young man who, after a lengthy bike trip, finds himself visiting his 91 year-old grandmother who lives in New York City. They are very di...
Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan and the Anchorage Sister Cities Commission will welcome Mayor Kotaro Yamaguchi and 29 additional honored guests from Chitose, Japan, on Aug. 5 to celebrate the Municipality of Anchorage's 45th Sister Cities Anniversary with Chitose. Chitose is Anchorage's first and oldest sister city, dating back to 1969. Then-mayor Goerge Sullivan, father of today's mayor, was instrumental in establishing this sister city relationship. A transportation hub for Japan's northernmost...
Bethel’s Eddie Hoffman Senior Center is moving out of its home. As reported by Bethel radio station KYUK, Bethel’s tribe ONC runs the senior program and can’t afford to keep it in the building that’s housed it for years. The senior program provides over 80 meals a day, many delivered to homebound clients, and up to 25 to 30 seniors visit each day. Bus service runs members to the post office, grocery shopping and on other errands. The program is expected to be moved out of its building by the end of September. While a new home has not been se...
The Kenai Peninsula Fair takes place Aug. 15-17 in Ninilchik. Admission price is $6 for seniors. Along with the usual exhibits and competitions, there are numerous musical headliner acts, carnival rides, racing pigs and much more. Information is available on the fair’s Facebook page and at www.kenaipeninsulafair.org. This year’s Alaska State Fair in Palmer takes place Aug. 21–Sept. 1. Senior (age 65 and older) admission is $9 weekdays, $10 weekends (discount of $2 if tickets is pre-purchased before Aug. 20). Other pricing packages are available...
"This is the heart of Sitka for so many seniors." Anita VanDyck shared this with me as she was busy serving desserts, fresh fruit cups, to several tables at Swan Lake Senior Center for the Friday noon meal. Anita is a longtime volunteer there. Fridays are Bingo days at the center and site manager Sandi Koval had assured me there would be quite a crowd. About 40 people had gathered there on a bleak, damp Sitka day, but inside there was sunshine. The minute I entered, I felt welcomed, almost as...
This year's Southeast Alaska State Fair in Haines is July 31 through Aug 3, with the theme "Unleash Your Inner Fair." In its 46th year, the fair reflects the cultures and people of Southeast Alaska. Sand wrestling is a new contest this year, but the logging show, fisherman's rodeo, wearable art, Tlingit carving and puppet theatre will be back. Music and performances on three stages; animals and petting zoo; food for every taste; arts and crafts. Contests for loveable dog, horseshoe fans, volleyb...
This year's Alaska International Senior Games will be held Aug. 8-17 in the Fairbanks area. Events range from horseshoes, bocce and golf to tennis, racquetball, archery, cycling, track and field, swimming and trap shooting. Basketball fans will appreciate two new events this year: free throw competition and three-on-three random coed. Complete AISG information including online registration at www.alaskaisg.org. Registration deadline is July 31 (early registration ends July 15). Call...
I followed along as Tim Chinn, fitness director at the Anchorage Senior Activity Center, glided ahead of me. "Try Nordic pole walking," my orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Stephen Tower, had advised, following my three knee replacement surgeries. "It's rather like cross country skiing, minus the snow and the skis." I'd never heard of it, but here I was, giving it a try at the center, under Tim's able guidance. Tim swept along silently in front, poling his way down hallways and across lobbies and through...
The Anchorage Senior Activity Center is looking for information about the historic Swank House, located at the east end of the center’s property. The home was owned by Harold and Gertrude Swank, built at 426 West 8th Avenue in 1937. It was rescued from demolition in 1981 and moves to its present location around 1985. The senior center’s Facility and Equipment Committee is attempting to assemble and trace the history of the movement and ownership of the house from 1981 to when it came under the control of the senior center. If you or som...
An 85-year-old Wasilla woman has been honored as the Alaska winner of the Home Instead Senior Care network's "Salute to Senior Service" award. Gene Chapedos is being recognized for her dedicated community service, including her work at the Wasilla Area Seniors, Inc. campus (WASI). Regardless of the weather, Chapedos walks the quarter mile outdoors to get from her apartment to the center. She has been an integral part of WASI life since 2007, starting out at the front counter and then moving to t...
Skagway seniors who struggle dragging the garbage can out to the street for emptying will be treated to some extra help under a pilot program next winter. City workers will go to their doorstep and take the garbage out for them. Skagway Assemblyman Steve Burnham proposed the program after exploring the idea at several committee meetings, which generated interest, according to the Skagway News. In addition to saving seniors and others with physical challenges from having to deal with ice, the program will also encourage them to not put the...
It's Tuesday morning, and Elise Patkotak is heading off to the Bird Treatment and Learning Center on King Street in Anchorage. She has volunteered for this early shift for 14 years. "I feel so privileged to be this close to the birds, to actually get to handle them," she says. And with her characteristic, somewhat quirky sense of humor, she adds, "I don't know if the birds feel the same way about me." She admits she has long been enthralled with birds. It all started with Adeline – one bird ...
Nora Velez of Anchorage was flipping through archival black-and-white photographs when she came across a familiar face – her mother, Lucy Kelly, who recently passed away. Nora was emotional: She had never seen this picture before. It was taken in Old Harbor in the 1940s and showed her mother as a gradeschooler wearing a jaunty cap and a shy smile. The image was taken by teachers Etta and Foster Jones. After Etta's death, the Anchorage Museum acquired the couple's photographs. The image of L...
Thirty-two years of teaching seemed like a long stretch to Chris Walker. Time to try something new? She pulled the plug on her teaching career and looked forward to retirement. "I was happy. I decided to do all those activities I'd put on hold but had never had time to do. Here I go," she thought. That lasted a relatively short time. "I volunteered at the Palmer Library and for Girl Scouts and my church boards. I tried gardening; my back didn't like that and talked back. I tried yoga and...
Seward Senior Center's Annual Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon on Feb. 14, with a theme of "Dapper Trapper," became an afternoon of delightful laughter. Mike Little's famous fish fry and volunteer baker Beth Johnson's Gold Nugget Brownies and Klondike Gold Bars were only the beginning. Following lunch, the camera lights came on, grips ready to hand over props, and the dressing room was busy with wool felted hats, buckskins and fur shawls being passed around. Ready! Camera! Action! "Volunteers...
Lifelong farm researcher Sig Restad was awarded the "Life-Time Achievement Award" by the Mat-Su Farm Bureau at its annual meeting in Palmer on February 19. The Mat-Su Farm Bureau is organized to improve the economic well-being and expansion of agriculture in the Mat-Su Valley with a focus on enriching the quality of life for Alaskan farmers. Sig Restad worked as an Agriculture Extension agent in Minnesota when he received the opportunity to relocate to and work in Alaska in 1958. Restad...
Dorothy Dickson McLaren, child-resident of Alaska and daughter of one of the state's pioneer bush pilots, recently glimpsed a picture taken from the 1938 Fur Rendezvous. Memories of that wonderful day remind Dorothy of leading the Queen's procession and fur style show at the 1938 – "biggest and best" – Third Annual Anchorage Fur Rendezvous. Now a senior citizen, Dorothy recalls the excitement surrounding the coronation of the Queen of the Fur Rendezvous, Miss Grace Bailey. Indeed, Grace wen...
For Alaska Native Elders and those with disabilities living in nursing and assisted living homes in Anchorage, the holidays are often spent away from family, friends and loved ones. Thanks to a partnership between the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC) Elder Outreach Program and the Southcentral Foundation (SCF) Waiver Care Coordination Program, along with the generosity of ANTHC and SCF staff, 150 Alaska Native Elders and disabled people received gifts this past holiday season....
Bill pulled his hat over his ears. He fastened his jacket shut. Then he hurried along the dark, wintry streets, so that 105 customers received their Anchorage Daily Times, quickly. The rushing warmed him. Three miles to go. In his first job, Bill Gamel, age 10, intended to succeed. He'd already added nine new customers. On Saturday, the bars along Fourth Avenue provided profitable, extra sales. The independent salesboy earned money to buy sports gear and pay for scout activities. Bill was...
Sheer canyon walls rose vertically on either side of the Colorado River as we approached the churning white water. Dick Griffith and I knelt on the floor of the inflatable raft, a position where we were less likely to be swept overboard. The next moment a cold wave crashed over us. I gasped for breath as one wave after another pummeled us. It felt like being flung around inside a washing machine not knowing which side was up. The raft was hung up on a rock with water pouring over the top. When...
Sitting in the Barrow Senior Center after lunch, Rossman Peetook of Wainwright looked back on his movie career with no trace of ego, something surely remarkable in an actor. "They were making movies here in Barrow in 1969, a Walt Disney movie, and they were looking for actors," said Peetook. "One preacher's wife came from Wainwright to Barrow, and said, 'there's a man you have to see,' and they sent for me." That started him off, and he went on to do three other Hollywood films. In 1970, he was...
Alaska Senators Lisa Murkowski, Mark Begich and Congressman Don Young recently honored members of the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska and 32 other tribes from across the country for their critical service and unrecognized role as Code Talkers during both World Wars. Five Tlingit Code Talkers were the recipients of the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest Congressional honor, during a Nov. 20 ceremony at the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. The Tlingit and Haida...
Jean Kaufman was named this year's Outstanding Volunteer in Philanthropy at the Association of Fundraising Professionals Alaska Chapter annual meeting Nov. 7 in Anchorage. Kaufman, 94, has volunteered for 54 organizations in Anchorage since she arrived in Alaska in 1953 and she continues sharing her time and resources throughout the community. She presented her award during the annual meeting luncheon and awards at the Hotel Captain Cook. For many years, Jean volunteered at a different...
