Sorted by date Results 301 - 325 of 436
Inheritance is an interesting package. Most of us have had something left to us from family: grandma's apple pie recipe, granddad's tools, an old guitar, a chest of drawers, even a small piece of property you've heard about but never seen. Perhaps the tools and furniture stayed on the family farm at the home great grandpa built. Perhaps only a couple of photos made it north. Perhaps only a song. Every Alaskan has stories to tell: the first moose encounter; that bear; the guy who pulled you and...
At the age of 101, Bettie Upright continues to show her courage to try something new. In 2016, Bettie expanded her sports of Bocce and bowling in the Alaska International Senior Games to include Track and Field. As a child growing up in California, her school had a brief introduction to Track and Field just prior to the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles. Bettie remembers trying the hurdles and other running events, which she enjoyed very much. The schools at the time were showing their students the...
The Alaska United Methodist Conference will host a “Methodist History in Alaska Convention,” to be held at Alaska Pacific University in Anchorage, June 26-29. Presentations and discussion will focus on topics such as the Jesse Lee Home, Nome Community Center, Alaska Methodist University, various church starts and missions, Comity Agreement, and ecumenical networks. Influential Alaskan indigenous people and Alaskan women will be recognized and Outside speakers will highlight Pacific coast and national items of interest. The convention is pre...
There's a magnet for memories in Anchorage. Ask people about the 4th Avenue Theatre and memories come flooding back. They seem to come in two waves. Seniors remember the early movies shown there, some even recalling opening night, May 31, 1947, when excitement ran high for joining the crowd at the theatre's first movie, Columbia's hit, "The Jolson Story." Younger generations, the millennials, have fond memories of high school proms, school fundraising events and weddings held there. I sat with I...
Haines seniors and those with disabilities prepared meals in adaptive cooking classes in the model kitchen of Veterans Village in March, and will complete the free sessions in April. The classes are being sponsored by Southeast Alaska Independent Living (SAIL) and Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC). Haines Care-A-Van provided rides. Food safety, meal planning, and new recipes were among discussions. Margaret Sebens, SAIL advocate, demonstrated adaptive utensils and the model...
The Anchorage Senior Citizens Advisory Commission invites everyone to the annual Older Americans Month Kickoff Event at the Anchorage Senior Activity Center on May 3, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. This free event features refreshments, entertainment, a special keynote speaker and presentation of the Ron Hammett Award for public service. This year’s theme is “Age Out Loud.” Support for the event is provided by the Aging and Disability Resource Center, Anchorage Senior Activity Center, Chugak/Eagle River Senior Center, Older Persons Action Group...
It’s time for spring cleaning and the secondhand shopping that comes with it. The Anchorage Senior Activity Center is featuring a plethora of spring sales this April. The Giant Book Sale will feature an “amazing collection of every title imaginable,” according to the center’s website. Choose from a large selection of mediums including Alaskana, collectibles, puzzles, DVDs, CDs, records, videos and audiobooks. The sale will also feature a silent auction. The book sale will be held at the center on April 29 and April 30 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., M...
April is National Volunteer Appreciation Month, and at Alaska Regional Hospital, we are celebrating our amazing Auxiliary who serve our community. These incredible volunteers give generously of their time and talents to hospital patients, family members, employees and guests. They donated almost 6,000 volunteer hours during 2016. Volunteers serve in crucial roles at Alaska Regional. In almost every department, an Auxiliary member is providing a friendly face and helping hand. They are often the...
When looking back at her career in theater, Diane Benson shares its surprising beginnings. "I wanted to be a diesel mechanic," she reveals with a laugh. "I had no intention, no ambition to be in the theater. "I couldn't get funding to get into diesel mechanics school," she says. She went on to have an illustrious career as a truck driver, one of the first female tractor-trailer truckers on the Trans Alaska Pipeline. Fate took a peculiar turn when the Bureau of Indian Affairs popped up with a...
Every year before the early March start of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race, longtime but now retired Anchorage Daily News photographer Jim Lavrakas goes to South Peninsula Hospital's Long Term Care Unit in Homer and shares a slide show of his times covering the Iditarod. "I covered the race nine times, four times from start to finish, all 1,049 miles from Anchorage to Nome," Lavrakas told his eager audience at last year's slideshow. "At first, I flew in a plane from checkpoint to checkpoint, but...
I'm sitting in the office of Turnagain Social Club, early on a foggy, frigid January morning, and I hear loud chomping. "Not to worry," I'm told by Kori Mateaki, owner and president of the facility. "That's just Bunsy, eating some old paperwork." Finished chewing, the biggest bunny I've ever seen comes thumping across the floor to nibble my shoe. "He's a Flemish Giant bunny," Kori tells me calmly, as if all offices should have such a bunny. He's a giant, all right, and he's wearing paper...
This year’s Fur Rendezvous Festival is celebrated Feb. 24 through March 5. Some of the many events include the Amateur Photo Contest; Charlotte Jensen Native Arts Market; the GCI Snow Sculpture Competition; the Rondy Grand Parade; fireworks show; the Running of the Reindeer; Rondy Melodrama; the Miner’s and Trapper’s Charity Ball; and the annual Pioneer Pancake Feed. The Anchorage Senior Activity Center has its own extensive Rondy activities schedule, including the Fur Rondy Model Contest; art show and reception; and the annual Fur Rende...
If I thought I was going to get a quiet, focused interview, I would have been wrong. These guys were here at the Anchorage Subway Sports Centre to play hockey. On this December morning, that was especially true of the star of the day, Howard Hansen, celebrating his 85th birthday. There'd be a surprise celebration for him before the game started in earnest. Howard meant business. I grabbed moments to talk with him, only when he came off the ice for line changes. Then he'd hurdle the boards and...
The 14th Annual Kenai Peninsula Senior Olympic Games will take place Feb. 21to 25 and will feature 12 events ranging from pinochle to ping pong and basketball toss to 8-ball pool, to name a few. The only requirement for participation is that you be 55 years of age or older and sign up with the nearest Kenai Peninsula senior center, says chairwoman, Bonnie Cain. "You do not have to already be part of a senior center to participate," Cain added. "You just need to register with your area's senior...
They were going to work on Monday morning, so they'd had their nails done, and special attention had been paid to their grooming on Sunday evening. Then early on a grey, grim November morning they waited inside the front doors of Anchor Lutheran School, taking up their post as welcoming greeters. Max and Nyxie, two English Black Labs, were jubilant, on the job. They are two of Dennis Morner's therapy dogs, and he has brought them to the school for over five years. He had been the pastor of...
Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) has published "Menadelook: An Inupiat Teacher's Photographs of Alaska Village Life, 1907-1932," which showcases nearly 100 photographs by Inupiat Charles Menadelook that document life in Kingigin (Wales) in the Bering Strait between Alaska and Russia. The book, which was compiled and written by Menadelook's granddaughter Eileen Norbert, gives both a pictorial and Native perspective on Inupiat traditions and historical events, said SHI President Rosita Worl,...
Alaska Railroad (ARRC) will release its 2017 annual poster/print at three public sale-and-signing events featuring the print's creator, Wasilla artist Taffina Katkus, who will sign prints and posters. Folks who drop by can enter a free drawing for rail tickets. Wasilla Nov. 5, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., as part of the Mat-Su Holiday Marketplace event held at the Curtis Menard Memorial Sports Center (1001 S. Clapp Street) Anchorage Nov. 12, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Anchorage Historic Depot (411 W. 1st A...
“Celebrate Senior Veterans Week” returns this year to the Anchorage Senior Activity Center, featuring a week filled with information, recreation, companionship and remembrance. Here is the schedule, Nov. 7 through Nov. 10: Monday, Nov. 7: Information Fair, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8: Veteran Luncheon, sponsored by BP Alaska, Inc., noon to 1:30 P.M. Featuring special keynote speaker. Must have a ticket to attend. Wednesday, Nov. 9: Presentations, guest speakers and social hour Thursday, Nov. 10: Tournaments beginning at 10 a.m. Pool (10...
"I never expected this." That's how Laurel Downing Bill summarizes the turn her life took many years ago when she got a phone call from her sister, Meredith. "I've got some stuff here," her sister told her. "It's papers, clippings, photos from our aunt, Phyllis. You can come over and see what's here. If you want it, great. If not, we can pitch it." Their aunt, Phyllis Downing Carlson, a lifelong Alaskan, had died in 1993 at the age of 84. She'd been a school teacher and research librarian at...
Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) has received a large federal grant to revitalize the languages of the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian in four Southeast Alaska communities. The $927,000 award from the Administration for Native Americans (ANA) will fund four mentor-apprentice teams of Lingít (Tlingit), Xaad Kíl (Haida) and Sm'algyax (Tsimshian) speakers and students in Metlakatla, Hydaburg, Sitka and Juneau to study the languages over three years. The program, "Haa Shuká: Voices of Our An...
Residents of Marlow Manor Assisted Living in Anchorage were joined by an unexpected guest during a day visit to Anchorage's Botanical Gardens in late July. At the entrance, a sign warned guests to beware bears, which prompted lively joking, says Marlow Manor activities director Maria James. "We asked the admissions lady if there were any in the woods. She said yes, but not that day, because they were all fishing." But while the group was walking the trail, taking in the gorgeous surroundings...
"There wouldn't have been a CROP Walk for many years, if Kristi Johnson hadn't volunteered to chair it," says Paul Boling, senior minister of First Christian Church. Paul and his brother, Dave, associate minister at the church, stepped up to chair the Walk this year and last year, when Kristi needed a break. She'd been chair or co-chair for 10 years. "It's such a good event for the whole community," Paul states. "It's a fundraising walk to alleviate hunger, here and around the world. I know how...
Two of the most colorful governors of Alaska ran against each other three times. They were very different in philosophy and temperament but wanted the best possible Alaska for its citizens. “The Ticket” is a world premiere by Cyrano’s resident playwright Dick Reichman and is about an imaginary meeting between Wally Hickel and Jay Hammond. The play opens Sept. 9 at the award-winning historical Cyrano’s Off Center Playhouse at 4th and D in downtown Anchorage, and will continue with 7 p.m. showings on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays...
