Girdwood artist awarded 2016 Art Educator of the

T U R N A G A I N
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VOL. 19 NO. 5
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Serving Indian, Bird, Girdwood, Portage, Whittier, Hope, Cooper Landing & South Anchorage
March 3, 2016
Whittier police
Girdwood artist awarded 2016
continue preparing for Art Educator of the Year
Girdwood transition
A one on one interview with Whittier
Police Chief Dave Schofield
By Ken Smith
Turnagain Times
Dave Schofield, the Director of Public Safety for the city
of Whittier is now entering his
seventh year. With over 14
years total experience as a police officer, he will be facing
one of the most difficult tasks in
his career – developing a new
police department from the
ground floor up to serve both
Whittier and Girdwood.
The transition from state
troopers to a local police force
in the Girdwood Service Area
will officially begin on July 1
– that is if Girdwood voters approve Proposition 9 in the municipal election April 5, allowing for a property tax increase
to pay for Whittier police protection services.
First and foremost, Schofield
has to hire some police officers.
“It’s a little bit of short notice,” said the 46-year-old Schofield. “I feel good now. We are
doing a statewide search and
we will be looking to hire an assistant of deputy chief. We have
some interest with somebody
heading into retirement.”
About six months ago Schofield began the process of building a local police department
for Girdwood, and this past
October he started seriously
looking into it. He determined
that four full-time police officers needed to added to the existing staff of four in Whittier.
The budget is around $650,000,
$615,000 for four full-time officers for Girdwood, with two
on-duty in Girdwood over a 24hour period.
“This would allow us the
same flexibility we currently
See Back Page, Whittier Prepares for Transition
By Gretchen Matt
Turnagain Times Correspondent
The National Art Education Association (NAEA) has
awarded Girdwood School’s
art teacher, Thalia Wilkinson,
the 2016 Alaska Art Educator
of the Year.
The award is celebrating
Wilkinson’s 18 years of experience as an Anchorage School
District art educator as well
as her service with the Alaska
Art Education Association
(AAEA). She was the AAEA
awards chairperson for six
years and has organized two
state conferences recently.
Wilkinson will receive her
award at the Spring NAEA
conference March 17-19 in
Chicago, Ill.
Wilksinson, 50, has an impressive background in the
Anchorage School District and
is dedicated to Girdwood’s art
community. After earning a
Bachelor of Arts in Education
from the University of Alaska
Anchorage and a Master’s
degree in Art Education from
Ohio State, Wilkinson started
her Alaskan career in art education in 1998. Having worked
in a total of 12 schools within
the Anchorage School District,
Wilkinson now divides her
time between three schools.
In Anchorage, K-6 students are only required to receive two hours a month of art
education, which means that
Wilkinson must juggle a complex monthly schedule to meet
all her student’s needs and to
work full time. She teaches
eight classes twice a month
at the Girdwood School, 11
classes twice a month at Inlet
View Elementary and 18 classes twice a month at Trailside
Elementary.
Wilkinson has been with
Trailside Elementary since it
was first opened in 2000 and
has been teaching at Girdwood
since 2007.
“For 16 years I have been the
art teacher at Trailside Elementary and it’s great watching the
Photo courtesy of Yvette Galbraith
Thalia Wilkinson works
on a silk painting in
the Cooper Landing
Community Center last fall
during a workshop created
to promote community art.
See Page 7, Girdwood’s Thalia Wilkinson
Girdwood skiers to compete in the Arctic Winter Games
By Jon Scudder
Turnagain Times
Three Girdwood Alpine Skiers of Team Alaska will make
the trek to compete in Alpine
Skiing at the 2016 Arctic Winter Games, held March 6-11,
in Nuuk, Greenland, with the
hockey portion of the games
held in Iqaluit, Canada.
The 2016 Arctic Winter
Games focuses global attention
on Greenland, strengthening
ties with other Arctic nations.
The event is a circumpolar,
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multi-sport winter event held
biennially and is one of the
most admired amateur sporting
events in the world. In the Arctic Winter Games, fair play and
sportsmanship are as important
as the athletic competitions.
The athletes are between the
11 and 18 years of age. The 12
alpine skiers will be led by head
coaches Steve Mashburn and
Kate Bragg, for the men’s and
women’s teams respectively.
The three Girdwood skiers
are Nolan Quigley, 12, Talia
Halverson, 14, and Kai Penn,
Inside this Issue
The Girdwood Scene..........................2
Paddy Waggin’...................................3
South Anchorage News......................4
Spoonline Market..............................6
Cooper Landing News........................7
Lively Arts..........................................9
Trooper Report................................10
Powder Hound.................................11
13. The other nine team Alaska
skiers are Maya Stevens, Lexi
Patten, Emma Wrigley, Chloe
Austerman, Hannah Kragt,
William Wrigley, Cedar Miles,
Jake Marnon and Jonah Folds.
The skiers are from the Alyeska
and Juneau Ski Clubs.
The skiers will compete in
slalom, giant slalom and parallel slalom races, similar to Alyeska Resort’s Town League.
Each athlete will be vying for
the top three awards, the gold,
silver and bronze Ulu medals.
The unique Ulu medal, modeled
after the traditional all-purpose
knife of the Inuit people.
Approximately 450 athletes,
coaches and volunteers will
comprise Team Alaska. More
than 15 sporting events will
take place with exhibitions and
See Page 11, Girdwood Skiers
Artic Winter Games
Jon Scudder/Turnagain Times
Three Girdwood Alpine Skiers of Team Alaska will make
the trek to compete in Alpine Skiing at the 2016 Arctic
Winter Games to be held March 6-11 in Nuuk, Greenland.
From left to right: Men’s Head Coach Steve Mashburn,
Nolan Quigley, Kai Penn and Talia Halverson.
Page 2
Turnagain Times
March 3, 2016
The Girdwood Scene
By Gretchen Matt
Turnagain Times Correspondent
Deadheads rejoice! The
David Nelson Band is playing three shows at The Sitzmark, March 3-5. I had the
opportunity to speak with the
band’s guitarist Barry Sless
and get the inside details on
The David Nelson Band.
The band, often referred to
as DNB, is comprised of David Nelson, Sless, Mookie
Siegel, Pete Sears and Wally Ingram. Each band mate
weaves a rich history of relationships between several renowned jam bands.
Sless explained David Nelson’s remarkable history with
The Grateful Dead.
“He met and started playing
with Jerry Garcia in 1962,”
Sless said. “They played in
various bluegrass bands together, he’s on three Grateful Dead albums – the most
notable two being American
Beauty and Workingman’s
Dead. He was also in The
Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band.
They played a bunch of gigs
in 1987 together.
“I have to say, he is one of
the last of the original San
Francisco guys that came up
in that scene that sort of developed from the folk scene
to the rock and roll to psychedelic. He is one of the
last original guys that is still
around writing and performing new original music. He
writes with Robert Hunter,
the lyricist for The Grateful
“I have to say, he is
one of the last of the
original San Francisco
guys that came up in
that scene that sort of
developed from the folk
scene to the rock and
roll to psychedelic.”
–Sless
Dead, they’ve got a bunch of
songs written together that
we play.”
Nelson, aged 72, is still
performing with The David
Nelson Band as well as his
legendary band New Riders
of the Purple Sage. Among
several other notable bands
and associated collabora-
tions in their past, Sless and
Sears currently perform in
Moonalice, who visited the
Sitzmark this past January.
The next thing fans need to
know about The David Nelson Band is that they have
not played in Alaska in a
very long time.
“The last time we (The
David Nelson Band) played
in Alaska was the day Jerry
Garcia died,” Sless said.
“We were up there; it was
1995, Aug. 9. We had just
gotten there the night before
and we had a couple shows
over the course of a couple
days in Haines for the South
East Alaska State Fair.”
Sless went on to say that
even though Nelson was
grieving, he still carried on
with his shows.
These days, DNB plays
mostly in California and Hawaii, playing about 20-25
shows per year. This past
January marked the tenth
consecutive year of playing
their Hawaiian tour.
“Over all the years of doing it, we have developed
a strong fan base on the is-
Photo courtesy of Bob Minkin
The David Nelson Band is coming to Girdwood March 3-5
as part of their 2016 Hawaiian tour.
lands, Big Island and Maui,”
Sless said. “And now some
of those people are starting
to show up at our Northern
California gigs. We’ve got a
bunch of our Northern California fans that come see us
in Hawaii are also coming to
see us in Alaska.”
Grab your tie-dye because
the first show on Thursday,
March 3 will be themed “the
summer of ‘69”. Thursday is
also ladies night; otherwise,
all shows are $10. After each
show a K2 ski pair and snowboard will be raffled away to
lucky fans.
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Turnagain Times
March 3, 2016
Opinion
PADDY WAGGIN’
I was watching Casablanca
last night and I thought to myself, “What happened to being classy?” People back then
were educated, respectful and
dressed appropriately. Ingrid
Bergman and Humphrey Bogart were the epitome of cool
and class. Today, if you say
please and thank you or act
nice people almost seem to
be in shock. It’s a special day
when you actually see a man
hold open a door for a woman.
I don’t know what our problem is in this world, but we’ve
lost all our manners and our
temperament as well.
Think about your grandparents for a minute. Think
about how you were simply
loved and taken care of by
being spoken to and smiled
at while having dinner with
your family, cousins included.
Now, think about the anger
of today’s society, the wise
comments made by women
that you never thought acceptable because you didn’t grow
up with such rudeness, and of
course the guys who always
seem angry and ready to explode if you look at them the
wrong way.
Social networking hasn’t
helped as kids harass and bully one another. We moved too
Paddy
Notar
fast and it wasn’t technology
that killed the family structure and classy people, it was
people themselves by expecting their kid’s phones do the
upbringing that they should
have done. “Where’s the App
“Always hold a door
for a woman and if
you ask them out on a
date you better pay
for everything.”
–Paddy’s mom
for child rearing?” will be the
question parents will be asking themselves soon enough.
I’m not saying that we never had problems in the world
with manners or bad parents
and kids when I was growing
up. It just seems to be so much
more prevalent today. There
were always people that were
immature and acted like jerks,
but they were the exception
not the rule. Every neighborhood had a family that was at
each other’s throat. I’m sure
you remember one when you
Letter to the Editor
Municipal Liaison position is needed and necessary
To the Editor:
I am writing in response to
the letter to the editor submitted by Paul Wharton in
the Feb. 18 issue suggesting
that Girdwood needs to make
reductions to non-essential
programs and that we should
start by eliminating the Municipal Liaison position.
Our current Municipal Liaison, Kyle Kelley, rises early each morning to coordinate
with the roads contractor.
He manages the Girdwood
budge, and managed a no
growth budget for roads for
the past three years. He is responsible for oversight of the
Trails Committee, Land Use
Committee, and Girdwood
Board of Supervisors. He is
for all practical purposes,
our City Manager. Frankly,
I would have never agreed
to run for GBOS were it not
for the Municipal Liaison and
the Administrative Officer,
Margaret Tyler. They make a
huge difference in the effectiveness of the local boards,
budgets, projects, and volunteers.
As the state budget shrinks
more services will be delegated to the local level or
eliminated. Small towns will
have to prioritize and decide
what services they wish to
retain. It is unreasonable to
expect local volunteers to
fulfill these duties and responsibilities. Quality of life
is important. These two paid
professionals generate huge
savings for our community
and insure that volunteers
are productive, engaged, and
willing to serve.
Sam Daniel/co-chair
Girdwood Board of Supervisors
were younger. Walking by
their house was always scary
because you’d just hear yelling and later the kids took on
the same rudeness that was
displayed in front of them.
Parents have no idea how
much their children observe
and take in everything that
they see and hear in the home.
I was brought up and told
flat out by my mother, “Always hold a door for a woman and if you ask them out on
a date you better pay for everything. And I never want to
hear any mother saying that
you were aggressive with
their daughter or I’ll castrate
you.” That was my mom and
dad felt the same way but
they didn’t beat it into us. It
was taught to us by example.
My parents had no problem
dragging any one of us over
to someone’s house and making us apologize if they heard
we were rude to their parents.
If you talked back to a teacher you apologized and spent
the weekend writing a book
of why you were wrong as
well as raking all the leaves.
No football, no soccer, no
nothing except reflecting on
your poor behavior.
I enjoy watching old films
because it’s almost like liv-
ing in a dream world where
people were just nice to one
another and they actually
cared about how they looked
and behaved. My father used
to tell how the 50s were very
similar. I thought the 70s and
80s were a lot of fun and no
one ever pulled out a knife let
alone a gun while at school.
Then again, back then women stayed home and raised the
kids while men worked. Today, it’s almost financially
impossible to have that same
structure. It’s frustrating to
watch the world turn into a
giant reality TV show where
people have no real identity.
They’re just fake and hostile. I am looking forward to
a day when technology gives
us simulators where you can
become part of a society of
your choice, maybe even one
that you create. That would
be wonderful.
Until then, we’re stuck hoping that some miracle happens and we all wake up to a
more stable world where kids
are brought up to believe that
violence is dumb. The Irish
novelist Laurence Stern was
right when he said, “Respect
for ourselves guides our morals, respect for others guides
our manners.”
Page 3
Page 4
Turnagain Times
March 3, 2016
South Anchorage News
By Amy Newman
Turnagain Times
South Anchorage Correspondent
Aloha, Alaska! While you’re
reading this week’s column, my
husband and I are celebrating
a child-free 12th wedding anniversary on the sunny beaches
of Kauai. Although Anchorage
hasn’t been lacking for sunshine
lately, the warmth, coupled with
the lack of dirty slush on the
ground, is definitely welcome.
Spring break is just around the
corner, which means adventure
camps are back at the Alaska
Zoo and the Learning Farm to
keep the kids entertained. And
don’t forget to set your clocks
ahead one hour before going
to bed on Saturday March 12 –
daylight savings time begins on
Sunday the 13th at 2 a.m.
Get Schooled at South:
Stocks and Sauces
Stocks and sauces are an
important, yet oft neglected,
component of creating delicious meals. Without a wellseasoned stock, a bowl of soup
is nothing more than hot water
with some meat and vegetables
thrown in. The ‘mother sauce’
is the jumping off point to many
other sauces, adding flavor and
a sense of refinement to any
dish – and gives you the perfect
excuse to grab a crusty loaf of
bread to sop up every last drop
of deliciousness.
This month at South, learn
the ins and outs of sauces and
stocks, along with other tips and
techniques that will elevate your
dishes at the Stocks and Sauces
class on Saturday, March 12.
Tickets cost $75 per person, and
space is limited; call 770-9200
to reserve your spot.
IditaZoo™ at the
Alaska Zoo
There may be no snow on the
ground, but that can’t stop Iditarod® fever from hitting Anchorage. The Alaska Zoo is doing its part to support Alaska’s
state sport with IditaZoo™ on
Saturday, March 12. Checkpoints set up throughout the zoo
will have fun facts about dog
mushing and the history of the
Iditarod®, as well as plenty of
hands-on opportunities to examine the different equipment
musher’s use during the race.
Visit the greenhouse for crafts
throughout the afternoon, along
with a sled dog story time at 2
p.m. But the big draw (for my
kids, anyway) is the sled dog
teams that are just waiting to be
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In the TESORO MALL
Open 7 days a week
Sunday through Thursday 11am-10pm
Friday and Saturday 11am-11pm
Deliveries after 3pm everyday!
pet. IditaZoo™ runs from noon
to 4 p.m. and is included in the
regular cost of zoo admission.
Community Chef Dinner
at South
With its eclectic mix of restaurants and cuisines, Anchorage’s dining scene is an attraction in its own right. And many
of the chefs helping shape
Anchorage’s foodie reputation learned their way around
a kitchen at the University of
Alaska Anchorage’s Culinary
Arts program. Get a taste of
what the program offers when
UAA assistant professors Chef
Naomi Everett (a program
graduate herself) and Chef
Vern Wolfram join Chef Shane
for South’s monthly community chef dinner on Tuesday,
March 15.
As always, a selection of
wines will be carefully selected
to complement the multi-course
meal. Call 770-9200, or visit the
front desk, to reserve your spot.
Tickets cost $125 per person
and are non-refundable.
Spring Break Camps
Spring break is just a week
away, and both the Alaska Zoo
and The Learning Farm have
day-long camps to keep the
Photo courtesy of The Learning Farm
Children will have the chance to feed, water and play with
the animals at The Learning Farm’s spring break camps.
kids busy.
Children will get the chance
to feed and brush the animals,
gather eggs from the chicken
coop, make their own cheese
and butter and perform other
farm chores at The Learning
Farm’s spring break camp,
which runs March 14 – 18.
When the work is done, there’ll
be plenty of time to play with
the animals and ride one of the
farm’s horses. Camp prices are
$100 per day, or $60 per half
day. For more information or to
register, e-mail thelearningfar-
mak@gmail.com or call 2290359.
A different adventure camp
is available each day at The
Alaska Zoo, beginning Fri.,
March 11, which is a no school
in-service day. Each day long
camp includes hands-on activities, zookeeper chats, a
snack and lunch. Camps are
open to children ages 6 – 12
and cost $70 for zoo members, $85 for non-members.
To view the camp schedule
or to register, visit alaskazoo.
org/adventure-camps.
Turnagain Times
March 3, 2016
Page 5
Hope Happenings
By Jeannine Jabaay
Turnagain Times
Hope Correspondent
Hope and Sunrise Fire
Department Looking
for Volunteers
Hope’s volunteer fire department and EMS are currently
looking for new volunteers of
all skill levels to join the firefighting and emergency medical responder team. Training
may be available for ETT,
EMT1, Wildland Firefighter
and Firefighter 1. Join the HSVFD meeting on Thursday,
March 3 from 6-8 p.m. held at
the fire station. Training and department equipment procedures
will be discussed. For questions
or more information, contact
Kristy at 971-241-5222.
The Discovery Café
stages Live Music
Spring is nearly here. And
until then, local and visitors
alike are invited to head down
to Tito’s Discovery Café for
weekend treats. Tito's winter
hours continue to be Fridays,
Saturdays and Sundays from
9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will occasionally be open late for
dinner on Saturdays. Dishes
include homemade soups
and pies, some breakfast and
lunch items, and a full beer
and wine selection.
For an extra special delight, the ever-popular Andy
Mullen will be playing tunes
for a Saturday evening onenight-only event on March
11 starting at 7 p.m. Join
Andy and the rest of the
Hope residents for a night to
remember. Be sure to follow
the Discovery Café on Facebook for the most current
information. Call 782-3274
or make contact through the
Tito's Facebook page.
Church News
The Hope Church welcomes the community to join
them in their weekly interdenominational worship services held on Sundays at 3 p.m.
Coffee and dessert immediately follow each service,
and a highly anticipated allchurch potluck is held on the
third Sunday of every month.
The Hope Christian Church
has launched its ladies’ Bible
study on Wednesdays at 11
a.m. This fellowship time is
open to any and all women
who would like to join. The
location will be in a different lady’s home each week,
so call Dovie at 782-9733 for
this week’s details.
Additionally, the church
offers a food bank ministry on Thursdays at noon. A
general Bible study follows
the food bank at 3 p.m. each
Thursday. For more information, visit facebook.com/
HopeChurchAlaska.
Hope School News
Tiny Tots Hour is a great
time to bring your preschooler down to the Hope School
for a time of music, stories
and easel paintings. The
students love to see Hope’s
littlest community member
share the building and get a
taste of what school life in
Hope will be like for them in
the near future.
And they're off! Well,
soon they will be, anyway.
The Washington D.C. trip
has been paid for in full,
and tickets for April 17 have
been purchased for 4 of
Hope School's students to be
part of a one-in-a-lifetime
experience in our nation's
capital. A huge "thank you!"
to all who pitched in to fundraiser and donate to our
town's kiddos.
The Hope School PTS-
Photo courtesy of Barb Rawal
A mesmerizing view along Turnagain Arm.
CA invites the community
and families to join in the
monthly planning meetings.
These meetings take place
on the second Tuesday of
each month at 3:30 p.m. at
the Hope School. Addition-
ally, a leadership group has
started for middle school
students on Wednesdays at
11:30 a.m. These meetings
take place in the library.
Contact Ms. T. or Mr. Yoter
for additional information.
The Alyeska Snow Classic
is almost here! This annual
split-the-pot
fundraiser
is a fun way to play while
supporting Four Valleys
Community School. Tickets
will be available throughout
March at local Girdwood
businesses
and
from
Four Valleys Community
School board members.
Submit your guesses of
snow depth March 1-31 for
measurement on Alyeska’s
closing day. Check out
Alyeskasnowclassic.org for
more information and look
for this sweet Snow Classic
logo by Dawn Gerety around
town.
graphic design
WWW.OPUSTUDIO.COM
Page 6
Turnagain Times
March 3, 2016
Spoonline Market opens in downtown Girdwood
Recipe for success:‘Grab-n-go’ food cooked with fresh, healthy and nutritional ingredients
By Jon Scudder
Turnagain Times
Spoonline Market in downtown Girdwood had its soft
opening Tuesday, Feb. 23.
The take-out restaurant located across the street from
the Crow Creek Mercantile
is sure to delight those who
love luscious aromas wafting through their home but
are not a big fan of spending
time in the kitchen.
Proprietor
Alexandra
Fletcher who has been an icon
in the Girdwood’s catering
business since 1999 decided
the time was right to expand
Spoon Catering to provide
a medley of great-tasting,
wholesome cuisine providing
“grab-n-go” convenience coupled with good nutrition.
“It was just time to do
to 10 a.m. and 3 to 6 p.m.,
and on the weekend 8 a.m.
to 3 p.m. Patrons can call in
their orders on a first-come,
first-serve basis.
Fletcher’s business was
bustling this past Sunday
with people coming and going as they eagerly picked
up their waiting food. All the
while, this reporter was asking her questions while enjoying a warm blueberry and
orange pear muffin as Fletcher mixed organic ingredients
for gluten-free, banana-custard bread and muffins.
“It’s one of the best things I
make,” said a smiling Fletcher. “We make really good
muffins and baked goods.”
The Michigan native’s fascination with food began at
an early age. “My brother
(Tait Fletcher) and I always
Jon Scudder/Turnagain Times
Cook Laura Deatherage of Spoonline Market takes the
temperature of a slice of polenta quiche. The vegetable
quiche features sautéed char, artichoke hearts, roasted
peppers and goat cheese.
something new.” said Fletcher. “I wanted a new challenge. My son is in school
now so I have a little more
time. It just seemed like a
natural progression.”
The adage “good things
come in small packages” describes the eclectic Spoonline Market nestled in a nook
next to Glacier City Realty.
Spoonline Market is open
during the weekdays from 7
cooked for ourselves,” she
said. “We had nights we
would cook dinner.”
She said she got serious
about it as a teenager and
after graduating college assessed her skills and cooking
rose to the top, and she enrolled in the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, Cal.
As a classically-trained
chef, Fletcher studied and
worked at premier restaurants like Acquerello in San
Francisco and Krabloonik in
Snowmass, Col. before making her trek north to Alaska
where she fell in love with
the natural beauty of the
state. She settled in Girdwood, which was a perfect fit
for her. “I love to ski,” she
said. “Girdwood’s a great
town.”
Fletcher said Spoonline
Marketing specializes in
healthy, creative dishes filling a niche in Girdwood with
an emphasis on Paleo and
gluten-free cooking.
She jokingly referred to the
“What’s for dinner?’ question asked daily around the
world as providing her the
business idea for Girdwood.
“It would be so nice if
someone had the answer,”
she said. “It’s nice to have
options besides going out
for dinner. I want Spoonline
Market to have that answer.”
“We are lucky in Girdwood because there is so
many good restaurants,” she
continued. “We don’t have
a lot food that you can take
out. If your are at home and
you don’t want to cook dinner your options are kind of
limited. This way you can
swing in and pick up whatever we are cooking.
“It’s not processed food,
she continued. “It’s the kind
you would cook for your
family but don’t have the
time to do it. We make a
lot of the basic ingredients
for our food here. It’s pretty
basic food. Its simple clean
food. We don’t’ use any preservatives. It’s made fresh
everyday. We use only coldpressed oils in the preparation of our food and whenever possible we use locally
sourced and organic or GMO
(genetically-modified organism) free product.”
When asked where she
buys her ingredients, she
answered, “Costco has an
amazing supply of organic
and just clean food. Di Tomaso has terrific produce,”
referring to the fruit and vegetable wholesaler who has
been in business in Anchorage for 26 years. “The Korean grocery stores have beautiful basil and cabbages, and
similar items. They’re great
looking and super fresh.”
Some of Fletcher’s favorite
menu items are the breakfast
Jon Scudder/Turnagain Times
Chef/owner Alexandra Fletcher of the newly opened Spoonline
Market in downtown Girdwood prepares the ingredients
for organic, gluten-free banana-custard bread and muffins.
Spoonline Market had a soft opening Tuesday, Feb. 23.
burritos and polenta quiche,
which is made by her cook
Laura Deatherage. “I love
Laura’s polenta quiche,” said
Fletcher. “The crust is amazing and tastes super decadent. She fills it up with eggs
and sautéed vegetables.”
The vegetable quiche, she
said, usually has sautéed
char, artichoke hearts, roasted peppers and goat cheese.
Deatherage, who hails from
Oregon, has lived in Girdwood for three years, and is
equally passionate about the
quality of food they cook. “I
was really excited when she
was opening the market side
of it,” she said. “It provides
another opportunity to offer
more vegetarian and good
foods to the community.”
Spoonline Market’s backcountry breakfast will feature many items; one is the
signature breakfast burritos,
which are a healthy choice
for active athletes and busy
parents. Another is egg and
soup. “This is my favorite
breakfast,” said Fletcher.
“It’s an egg poached in 12
ounces of soup. You can take
that to go. That’s going to
become Girdwood’s favorite breakfast. It’s going to be
awesome!”
To wash down the culinary
cuisine is their very unique
coffee. The warm aroma of
the coffee can’t help but be
captured by your taste buds
as the carafes are just inside
the door.
“We have such great coffee in Alaska,” said Fletcher. She will serve coffee
from local roasts, although
she hasn’t come to a firm
decision on which brand of
roast. From those blends,
she makes her own version
of Caveman-style coffee she
serves blended with raw coconut oil, which creates sustained energy.
Fletcher takes her Caveman-style coffee as seriously
as she does her food. “It’s
this really creamy consistency,” she said. “I think it’s
really delicious.”
Furthermore, she said it is
really good for you. It combines a love for good coffee
with the pursuit of performance in nutrition.
“Coconut oil is a mediumchained triglyceride which
fuels your metabolism and
your
brain,”
explained
Fletcher. “It’s great to have a
cup right before you exercise
or right after. It eases the absorption of caffeine into your
body. I love it.”
Her local blend of Caveman-style coffee has a family
connection. Her brother Tait
Fletcher and Keith Jardine
and Lacey Mackey founded
Caveman Coffee in Albuquerque, N.M.
Caveman
Coffee is a company that
Fletcher said will be sold by
the bag and available on special occasions. “It is not like
any of your typical brews.”
The beans come from a
single family coffee estate in
Colombia, which roasts them
to perfection. The wholebean product is sold in vacuum-sealed bags for freshness. “It’s a single source,
organically grown fair trade
coffee, said Fletcher. “It’s
all the things you should be
looking for in a coffee.”
Turnagain Times
March 3, 2016
Page 7
Cooper Landing News
By Susanna LaRock
Turnagain Times
Cooper Landing Correspondent
Cooper Landing School
3rd/4th Grade Battle
of the Books Team
Competes at State Level
Thursday morning Feb. 25
was a very exciting morning
at Cooper Landing School.
Thomas Gossard, teacher and
Battle of the Books coach, was
preparing snacks for the 3rd/4th
grade team when students
started showing up for school.
Team members were the first to
arrive, enthusiastic about representing the Kenai Peninsula
Borough School District in the
state competition. The other
students got to school with the
same amount of enthusiasm
ready to cheer on their team.
The first battle started at 9
a.m. There were 34 teams, all
the top teams in their school
districts, battling in the first
round. The Cooper Landing
team, known as the Mighty
Lynx, battled for two hours and
finished as one of the top twelve
teams; which qualified them for
the second round. The second
battle was two hours again.
The team members, with
the help of their coach, stayed
focused and answered every
question in the second round
correctly. By the third and final
round the Mighty Lynx were
battling along with three other
top teams for the title of State
Champion. The competition
was intense, and the Mighty
Lynx placed third.
Third place out of all of the
3rd/4th grade teams in the
state of Alaska is no small accomplishment. These three
team members, two 4th graders and one 3rd grader from a
tiny school with only the three
of them in their grade levels,
worked very hard to achieve.
They read the 15 books on the
list of required reading then
they read them again. They
studied practice questions, and
memorized authors’ names.
In the end, all their hard work
paid off; they got to tell all of
their school mates what it takes
to be one of the top three teams
in the state while they had a
post battle ice-cream party.
Call for Proposals
to Change Federal
Subsistence
Regulations
the subsistence harvest of fish
and shellfish on Federal public
lands for the 2017-2019 regulatory years. Proposals to change
federal fishing seasons, harvest
limits, methods of harvest, and
customary and traditional use
determinations will be accepted
through April 1. Submissions
can be mailed to the Federal
Subsistence board or hand delivered at any Federal Subsistence Regional Advisory Council Meeting. Find a current list
of meeting dates and locations
at https://www.doi.gov/subsistence/events.
Swanson’s
Presentation at Cooper
Landing School
In the summer of 2015 the
Swanson family walked 300
miles of the Camino de Santiago. On Friday, March 4 at
2 p.m. Marc Swanson will be
sharing his family’s experience
with the community of Cooper
Landing through a series of
stories, photos, and film clips
presented at Cooper Landing
School.
Video Conference With
Subsistence Alaskan Author
The Federal
Board is accepting proposals to
change Federal regulations for
Tlingit author, Ernestine
Hayes will be sharing her book,
Susanna LaRock/Turnagain Times
The Mighty Lynx enjoy a well-deserved ice cream party after
a third place finish in the 3rd/4th grade Alaska State Battle
of the Books.
“Blonde Indian: An Alaskan
Native Memoir”, with the community of Cooper Landing and
five other communities statewide. Her presentation will be
shared via videoconference at
Cooper Landing Community
Library on Tuesday, March 8
from 7-8 p.m. The community
is invited to learn about the life
of Ernestine Hayes, her grandmother’s stories, Tlingit history, and more. The presentation
will begin at 7 p.m. promptly;
participants are asked to arrive
15 minutes early.
Girdwood’s Thalia Wilkinson
Continued from page 1
kids grow up,” she said. “I get
to see them every year from
kindergarten to sixth grade.”
Wilkinson’s classes integrate a variety of art projects
including drawing, painting,
watercolor,
papier-mâché,
wire sculpture, ceramics and
3-dimensional projects. She
is inspired by Alexander
Calder’s modern wire art and
thinks that everyone should
know his sense of whimsy.
“Art, I think, is just so vital
for developing your own sense
of who you are in the world,”
she said. “Art helps you explore that. It’s a subject, like
music, that reaches the soul or
the spirit of the person. Creative writing is another avenue
for that expression, but everything else is a right or wrong
answer. In art there really
isn’t a right or wrong answer,
there is time to explore, try
new things and take risks. And
that’s why my goal with the
kids is to give them the confidence to try something new.”
Aside from her work as an
Anchorage School District
Educator, Wilkinson is an active member of the Girdwood
art community. She was codirector of the Girdwood Fine
Arts Camp for 10 years. In
2015, in order to focus on her
Girdwood School art mosaic,
Wilkinson, along with Tommy O’Malley, applied and
received a grant through the
Anchorage Parks Foundation
for materials to beautify the
Girdwood Town Square Park
with mosaics.
“The deal that we got was
that we would use the grant
money for materials and then
use all volunteer hours, so the
labor is all volunteer,” she
said. “We’ve been volunteering our time in the summers
for this mosaic project. We
feel like we’re the Gaudi’s
of Girdwood cause it’s really
fun to add color to our town.
So then I wanted to create a
mosaic design to be incorporated into the newly remodeled
Girdwood School.”
Wilkinson’s design propos-
al was accepted and she was
given the contract to create the
piece for the school. Alaska is
one of 25 states that are active
in the Percent for Art Program.
In newly constructed public
buildings in Alaska, the Alaska State Council on the Arts
can utilize up to one percent of
building costs to purchase and
commission artwork for the
building. Wilkinson was one
of six artists selected by the architect and Girdwood School
committee for a commissioned
art piece.
The result, her mosaic “A
Walk in the Woods”, was inspired by the Girdwood forest
understory. The mosaic depiction of cottonwood, alders,
blueberries, dogwood, ferns,
mushrooms, willow, forgetme-not and devil’s club mixes color and texture in what
could only be described as a
labor of love.
“A Walk in the Woods”,
Wilkinson’s largest-ever mosaic, measures 16 by 5 feet and
was completed in 37 panels.
Gretchen Matt/Turnagain Times
“A mosaic is like a jigsaw puzzle, there is a right place for
everything” said Thalia Wilkinson, who created the mosaic
“A Walk in the Woods” inspired by the Girdwood forest
understory. It’s on display in the Girdwood School hallway.
Working on weekends and
over the summer, it took her
seven months and more than
450 hours of labor to complete.
In the end, it is still a mystery
how many pieces comprise the
mosaic. In August 2015 all 37
panels were transported from
her home and pieced together
perfectly to be permanently
on display in the Girdwood
School hallway. Wilkinson’s
mosaic is exemplary of her
dedication and intuitive artistic
talent worthy of the Alaska Art
Educator of the Year award.
Page 8
Turnagain Times
March 3, 2016
Mountain News
By Ben Napolitano
Special to the Turnagain Times
Recover and Restore
with the Spa at
Alyeska
For elite athletes, weekend warriors and anyone inbetween, recovery time is an
absolute must when it comes
to performing your best and
being pain free. One of the
easiest and most effective
ways to help your own recovery time is by using foam
rolling tools and techniques
for self-massage and deep
tissue release.
Foam rolls come in many
different shapes, sizes and
densities. The sole purpose
of the foam roll is to create
a soft tissue response in the
muscle targeted. By creating
elongation of the muscle, increasing the blood flow and
separating the muscle fibers,
the foam roll is able to aid in
injury recovery, injury prevention, and overall flexibility for the athlete.
Foam rolling is not a replacement for proper stretch-
adhesions within the muscle
fibers. Not taking care of
the body can lead to loss of
flexibility and painful movement. It is all about making
and keeping the body healthy
and active. Foam rolling will
help with recovering from a
super intense powder day on
the mountain so you can get
back out and keep going.
Foam rolling is for everyone, of any athletic level,
of any age. The truth is, if
you regularly foam roll and
stretch, you will see and feel
the difference in your body
no matter the sporting activity or athletic endeavor!!
Alyeska Resort is offering
Foam Rolling and Recovery
classes which will be March
16 and 23 at 6 p.m. Classes
are one-hour and will cost
$15 or $45 with the purchase
of a foam roller.
Seven Glaciers – Now
OPEN on Thursday
Town Leaugers and Thursday night skiers rejoice!
Seven Glaciers will be open
Thursday night’s for the re-
Alyeska received 50 inches of snow in two days, Feb. 20-22.
Your journey begins with a
scenic aerial tram ride that
takes you high above The
Hotel Alyeska to 2,300 feet
above sea level. From this
mountain-top perch, Seven
Glaciers is surrounded by
nature from every direction.
This means that every table
features panoramic glacier
and water views for a truly
unique Alaskan dining experience. Chef Aaron Gilman
has carefully crafted the Seven Glaciers’ menus with an
emphasis on locally available
produce, seafood and game.
Seven Glaciers boasts an
award winning wine list and
full bar to perfectly complement your meal. Please leave
room for dessert; the Baked
Alyeska cannot be missed.
Seven Glaciers is also open
Friday through Sunday from
noon to 10 p.m. reservations
are strongly recommended.
Call 754-2237.
Alt/Country Rockers
Lucero Return to
Photo courtesy of Ben Napolitano the Sitz
Alyeska directional signage is getting buried with the deep
base depth, which was 190 inches as of Feb. 26.
ing, warming up or cooling
down, but can be used as a
tool to limit soreness and
tightness through increased
blood flow and flexibility and
get you back on the slopes
quicker. Whether you are a
skier, runner, hiker, biker, or
an athlete of any kind, foam
rolling is a must.
Foam rolling is not a replacement of stretching, but
an addition. Imagine how
much easier it would be to
recover from a long ski day
if your muscles were looser?
Deep compression of the
muscles will allow for proper
blood flow to help aid in muscle recovery, relaxing tight
muscles and relieving any
mainder of the season and
will be operating dinner and
the cocktail lounge from 5-10
p.m. Night skiers will be able
to stop in for a bite to eat, a
Fizz or other beverage while
taking a break from making
laps. But Thursday nights at
Seven Glaciers isn’t just for
the ski crowd so take advantage of an extra night of Seven Glaciers operations.
For dining with a view visit
Seven Glaciers, Alyeska’s
AAA Four Diamond award
winning mountain-top luxury
restaurant. Offering signature
Alaskan entrees in an elegant
atmosphere, the Seven Glaciers experience is extraordinary from start to finish.
It’s been a few years but the
rock/country band Lucero is
returning to the Sitzmark for
a three-night run March 17,
18 and 19. Lucero had their
start in Memphis, Tenn. and
played for the first time in
early 1998. Since 2001, they
have played between 150 and
200 shows a year across the
United States and Canada
and have been called “one
of the hardest working bands
of the last 10 years – on tour
significantly more days than
they are not.”
The members of Lucero
are Ben Nichols (guitar and
vocals), Roy Berry (drums),
John C. Stubblefield (bass),
Brian Venable (guitar), and
Rick Steff (piano, organ, accordion). Todd Gillis substituted for Brian Venable from
Photo courtesy of Ben Napolitano
2003 to 2004. The band also
experimented with guitarist
Steve Selvidge in the early
months of 2003.
Thursday, March 17, a.k.a.
St. Patrick’s Day, will kick
off the three night run and the
crew at the Sitzmark, Jameson Whiskey and Alaska
Airlines will be giving away
80,000 airline miles to one
lucky concert goer after the
first set so make sure to attend
the Thursday show if you
need miles! Tickets to every
show are $20 and shows start
at 10 p.m. Visit TheSitzmark.
com for more details.
laDIeS
Free
THUrSDaYS!
shows start 10pm | full schedule & advance tix online
$10
mar. 3, 4 & 5
David Nelson Band
roots rock & Psychedelic Jam
Win k2 Skis!
mer of
Th ursd ay: “S um
eme
’69” C os tume Th
Free
mar. 11 & 12
Wasteland Hop
Indie Hip Hop
$20 mar. 17, 18 & 19
lucero
memphis’ answer to Bruce Springsteen
tr ic k’s
Th ursd ay: “St Pa
h eme
Day” C os tume T
Win 80k akair miles!
vIP coNcerT PackageS avaIlaBle
Stay at The Hotel alyeska + concert tickets & more!
reserve online or call 907-754-2111
beers on tap | 21 & over | food ‘til late | TheSitzmark.com
*Based on double occupancy. Subject to availability, taxes and fees.
Turnagain Times
March 3, 2016
Page 9
Lively Arts
By Ron Holmstrom
Turnagain Times Correspondent
I always figured that the
whole purpose of time would
be to keep everything from
happening all at once. This
doesn’t apply to this Anchorage theatre season. There
are a lot of great shows now
playing around town, along
with the usual Rondy and Iditarod activities.
At Cyrano’s, downtown at
4th and D, Toss Pot Productions continues with Good
Men Wanted by Kevin Armento. Set during the Civil
War, Good Men is based upon
hundreds of true stories of
women who posed as men to
fight on either side of that conflict. In the play, five women
leave their identities and the
safety of their feminine domain behind to join the war
effort as men. Mentioned here
last edition, Good Men has
opened to rave reviews and
very enthusiastic crowds.
It is a tale of warriors divided from their true selves
as mothers, wives, sisters, and
lovers, to pose as men to become soldiers. It also contains
one of the best-choreographed
fight scenes, (by Frank Delaney) in recent memory.
Directed by Carrie Yanagawa and featuring a powerful
ensemble cast, Good Men
Wanted plays through March
20, Thursday through Friday at 7 p.m. and Sundays at
3 p.m. Tickets are available
now at centertix.net or by calling 263-ARTS Also, you can
check out Cyrano’s website at
cyrano.org.
The Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare is now playing at Out North Contemporary Art House at 3800 Debarr
Road. This rarely performed
play, presented by RKP Productions and Out North runs
from Feb 26-March 13 Fridays and Saturdays at 7 p.m.
and Sundays at 3 p.m.
King Leontes is blessed
with a beautiful queen, a son
and a baby to-be, but he loses
them all when his mind becomes poisoned by jealousy.
During the bleak spiritual
winter that follows, faithful
friends and a divine oracle
slowly lead him back to sanity and a glorious reunion
with those he lost. This show
contains perhaps the most
famous stage direction in all
of theatre, “Exit - Pursued by
Bear.” How very Alaskan!
Tickets available at the
Photo courtesy of Aaron Wiseman
Actor/Fight Coordinator Frank Delany (Front) “drills the
troops” in Good Men Wanted at Cyrano’s through March 20.
door, at the website outnorth.
org or call 301-5728.
The delightful and very
macabre Little Shop of Horrors is now playing at Mad
Myrna’s, downtown at 550 E.
5th Avenue. If you have never
seen the movies or the play,
this is a raucous romp with
great tunes, wacky characters
and even a man-eating plant
named Audrey. There are
also some scenes to make you
even more freaked-out visits
to your dentist. Audrey, Seymour, Mr. Mushnik, The Ronnettes, the sadistic Dentist,
and that hungry plant will all
be on stage for you at Myrna’s
through March 26.
Will Seymour get the girl of
his dreams? Will Mr. Mushnik save his struggling flower
shop? Will Audrey finally get
enough to eat? You will have
to get tickets to find out.
Little Shop plays Fridays
and Saturdays at 7 p.m. and
Sundays at 3 p.m. For tickets,
go to Myrna’s website at madmyrnas.com or call 276-9762.
Across town, up at UAA,
the Department of Theatre
and Dance is presenting Eurydice.
Based upon the Greek Myth
of Orpheus and Eurydice, author Sarah Ruhl reimagines
the classic myth of Orpheus,
but through the eyes of its
heroine. Dying too young on
her wedding day, Eurydice
must journey to the underworld, where she reunites
with her father and struggles
to remember her lost love.
With contemporary characters, ingenious plot twists, and
breathtaking visual effects,
the play is a fresh look at a
timeless love story.
Making his UAA directorial
debut is Ketchikan native Ty
Hewitt, who joined the UAA
Department of Theatre and
Dance in August. Although
assisting with two fall productions, Hewitt says he is
thrilled to take the reins and
hopes “the audience comes
away questioning the role of
fate versus free will.” This
production takes place on
UAA’s Main Stage.
Running Feb. 26 through
March 6, performances are
Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8 PM and Sundays at
3 PM! For tickets and more information, go to the UAATix.
com or call 786-4TIX (4849).
Of course Fur Rondy continues downtown this week, as
well, and the warm weather is
certain to bring large crowds
to 4th and D for the Ceremonial Start of the Iditarod Sled
Dog Race on Saturday morning. The race starts at 10 a.m.,
but get there early to find a
place to watch from. The Rondy Week and Races always
have a carnival atmosphere
with all the vendors and shops
along 4th Avenue open and
Golden Wheel Amusements
providing rides and thrills on
3rd Avenue, across from the
4th Avenue Marketplace.
On Saturday, March 5, the
Annual Miners and Trappers Ball will be at the Egan
Center on 5th Avenue, replete with the Beard & Mustache Contest and the everpopular Costume Contest.
The doors open at 6:30 p.m.
There are bands, bars and
rooms full of interesting people in outrageous costumes.
For more about the ball, go
to minersandtrappersball,org
Once again, I will be MC'ing
the Costume Contest, this
year with Sarah Page, who is
starring in my dinner theatre
production of Lounge Lizards,
which re-opens on March 25
at the Anchorage Lofts Hotel
at 4th and C Street.
Participate in
Your Community!
The Girdwood Board of Supervisors meets
on the third Monday of each month at 7 PM
in the Girdwood Community Center.
Next Meeting: Monday, March 21
For Agendas, Minutes,
and more information go to
www.Muni.org/GBOS.
See you at the meeting!
Page 10
Turnagain Times
March 3, 2016
Trooper Report
The Alaska State Troopers
reported the following incidents. Any charges reported
are merely allegations and
the defendants are presumed
innocent unless and until
proven guilty.
Theft
GIRDWOOD—February
19 at approximately 12:20
p.m., Eric B. Long, age 35 of
Girdwood, contacted the Alaska State Troopers and reported
that unknown person(s) had
stolen a white MacBook Pro in
a black hard shell case with a
Union Iron Workers sticker on
it, a black leather jacket, and a
black leather satchel from his
vehicle while it was parked at
his residence off of Brighton
Road in Girdwood between
Feb. 13 at 1:30 a.m. and Feb.
14 at 9 a.m. The total value of
the stolen items was approximately $2,088. If you have
any information about this or
any other crime, contact the
Alaska State Troopers at 907262-4453 or Crime Stoppers
at 907-561-STOP (7867).
Motor Vehicle Collision
Mile
107.8
SEWARD
HWY—February 23 at 1:37
p.m. troopers responded to a
report of a motor vehicle crash
with injuries involving two
sport utility vehicles in a headon crash near mile 107.8 of the
Seward Highway. This section of the Seward Highway
is within the Seward Highway Traffic Safety Corridor.
The crash investigation determined Donna Delancey, age
76 of Anchorage, and was operating an early 2000s model
sport utility vehicle traveling
northbound. Samuel Oetinger,
age 51 of Seward, was operating a mid-2000s sport utility
vehicle pulling a 15 foot box
trailer traveling southbound.
Delancey fell asleep at the
wheel and crossed the centerline. Delancey sideswiped
Oetinger’s vehicle. Oetinger
was unable to stop or avoid
Delancey’s vehicle coming
into his lane and colliding with
his vehicle. Delancey and Oetinger were both wearing seat
belts. Oetinger was uninjured.
Delancey sustained minor injuries and refused medical
treatment. Delancey’s vehicle
was a total loss and was towed
from the scene. Oetinger’s ve-
ROAD
PROBLEMS
HOTLINE
Girdwood Service Area
Road Maintanence Department
To report a road problem please call:
343-8374
hicle and trailer both sustained
more than $500 and had to be
towed from the scene. Delancey was cited for the crash.
DUI
GIRWOOD—February 26
at approximately 5:21 p.m.,
troopers responded to mile 60
of The Seward Highway for
the report of a single vehicle
collision into the guardrail.
The investigation revealed
Charissa Faye Shockey, age
29 of Wasilla was driving a
2010 Kia Optima sedan that
had ran off the roadway and
struck the guardrail causing
approximately $5,000 damages to the rail and approximately $4,500 damages to the
front of the vehicle. Shockey
was found to be driving under
the influence of alcohol and
was arrested for DUI. Shockey was later transported and
remanded to the Anchorage
Jail, held on $5,000.00 bail
plus CATP.
Suspicious
Circumstances
COOPER
LANDING—
February 13 Seward AWT,
while on patrol, located a large
frozen bloody spot on the road
behind the Dave’s Creek substation at mile 40 of the Sterling Highway. Upon closer
inspection it was revealed it
contained a lot of moose hair.
Due to the amount of blood
and hair present it was suspected someone butchered a
roadkill moose at the location, or illegally harvested and
butchered a moose at the location. A check with dispatch revealed there were no reported
road kill moose in the area
recently. If anyone has any information, it can be provided
to the Seward AWT Office at
(907) 224-3935.
Search and Rescue
GIRDWOOD--On Feb. 28
at approximately 12:35 p.m.,
troopers were notified by the
Anchorage Police Department
of an avalanche near Little
O’Malley Peak in the Glenn
Alps outside of Anchorage,
in which it was reported that
one person had been swept
away. Cell phone data placed
the caller on the ridge between
Little O’Malley and False
O’Malley Peaks. Troopers
along with an Alaska State
Parks Ranger, Alaska Mountain Rescue Group (AMRG)
and Alaska Search and Rescue
Dogs (ASARD) responded to
the scene. Helo-2 was requested an were unable to fly due to
weather conditions. A search
of the area by all involved revealed no signs of the caller
and a small avalanche debris
field was located. Additional
investigation by Soldotna
Public Safety Dispatch revealed new cell phone data at
a residence in Anchorage.
The Anchorage Police Department responded and contacted The complainant, a 16
year old of Anchorage, at her
residence. The complainant
stated that she called 911 after
witnessing an avalanche, but
that she could not call back
to update anyone of her location or answer repeated phone
calls to her number. She stated
she had made a mistake and
no one had been swept away
by the avalanche. Further
searches of the area in relation to this incident have been
suspended and no reports of
overdue hikers have been received. All searchers exited
the field safely.
Classified Advertising
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Email: info@turnagaintimes.com
Tel: (907) 783-1135
P.O. Box 1044, Girdwood, AK 99587
All classified ads must be paid in advance either by including payment when placing the ad or
charging it to a VISA or Master Card. Please mail, email or fax your order with payment.
Spend your summer in beautiful Hope: Fulltime kitchen and serving positions available at the
Seaview Café from mid May through mid-September. Send resume to PO Box 110, Hope, AK
99605 or email seaviewinhope@hotmail.com.
Furnished apartments for rent in Whittier: Studio $900, 1BR $1,100 , 2BR $1,450,
3BR $1,800. Utilities included. Call (907) 472-2398.
Girdwood Lots for Sale: All utilities, in flat, sunny locations with best views.
Call Tim at (907) 632-8467.
Turnagain Times
March 3, 2016
Page 11
Powder Hound
By Kirra Sherman
The skiggles, expectation
hangovers and the
rainstorm blues
Monday, Feb. 22, 2016 will
go down into my memory
as the smallest 50 inches
ever skied. It was not a
sleeper powder day. It was
a ‘everyone in Anchorage
got the memo that there
was snow, and much like
great hype, we all bought
it, myself included, though
perhaps just out of curiosity.
All I could think as we
all lined up on a Monday
morning was, but wait, this
is a Monday morning. I even
ran into family friends from
Anchorage. But with hype,
comes fun commentary.
Matthew Murphy, who is
away at the Tordrillo Ski
Lodge, wrote that day on
my Facebook to ask how it
really was. My response:
#expectationhangover
Between the long lines and
catching more people face
down skis crossed off trail
than people actually skiing
in any given moment, myself
included, I just laughed. It was
pretty hilarious. Expectations
were high, and that’s when
you have an experience of
expectation hangover, but
because there was so much
stoke on the mountain, I don’t
think it lasted very long. The
groomers made the day, and
the lifties win the stoke of the
day award, you know who
you are. Thanks for all that.
I still ended up skiing for
three hours, and at the end,
smile on my face; I had
ski-brain and the skiggles.
Ski brain is the inability
to function properly and
skiggles are of course the
giggles; both induced after
any amount of skiing.
Somehow, everything is
more clear, yet foggier with
ski brain, and everything is
more funny and jovial when
I have been skiing a while,
so I get the giggles. On that
note, I also get bike brain and
the biggles after a long ride,
but it does require a longer
ride, whereas with skiing, it
happens much more quickly.
You can come get bike-brain
and the biggles at Powder
Hound now too; we have our
fat bikes out and ready to roll.
And while I know we aren’t
suppose to say the “R” word,
we sure are getting a lot of it. I
heard a fun fact about storms
in Alaska last night that made
me chuckle, how hurricanes
back east get names, but
ours are so vast and part of
our lives that we don’t even
bother naming them. That’s
what I love about Alaska,
hurricane Irene, ba! But if
I’m honest, and I am, this
storm’s brought me a case
of the winter time blues as
we’re all observing the base
of the mountain disintegrate
slowly, washing away like
a fading painting. Don’t get
me wrong, I know, it’s still
Photo courtesy of Kirra Sherman
Lift lines were abundant for the 50-inch powder day Feb. 20.
powder on top, and I’m still
stoked to be out there every
day, but I sure could use a
big fat dump on the actual
ground to cheer me up.
Look out for my next
article, because I’m testdriving all Powder Hound’s
skis and going to give a full
fun report.
Girdwood Skiers Artic Winter Games
Continued from page 1
slalom, giant slalom and parallel slalom races, similar
to Alyeska Resort’s Town
League. Each athlete will be
vying for the top three awards,
the gold, silver and bronze
Ulu medals. The unique Ulu
medal, modeled after the traditional all-purpose knife of
the Inuit people.
Approximately 450 athletes, coaches and volunteers
will comprise Team Alaska.
More than 15 sporting events
will take place with exhibitions and performances that
showcase the unique northern culture with nearly 2,000
athletes and 1,500 coaches
and volunteers.
Delegations include nine
contingents from regions of
Russia, Canadian provinces
and territories, Scandinavia,
Greenland and Alaska. The
games provide an opportunity
to strengthen the development of sports in the Arctic,
promote the benefits of sport,
build partnerships and friendships, and promote culture
and values.
This will be the 24th Arctic Winter Games. It is set in
a different location each year
with this event to be the largest event of its kind in the history of Greenland. The first
Arctic Winter Games took
place in 1970 in Yellowknife,
Northwest Territories.
The last event was held in
Fairbanks, Alaska in 2014
where Team Alaska finished
first in the overall medal count
with 202 Ulu medals. Mashburn last took Team Alaska to
Canada in 2012.
“This is an international
event which will give my athletes the international experience that will enlighten them
for future competitions,” said
Mashburn. “These skiers are
going to come back from an
international competition with
more confidence and belief
in themselves. They will take
their international experience to become even stronger
Western Region racers. It’s an
important step,” added Mashburn, who has coached Alyeska Ski Club for the past 16
seasons. When you are there,
you are an ambassador. I expect my skiers to dominate,”
He said his athletes have
spent their life getting ready
for competitions such as 2016
AWG.
“To them, this is the biggest
year of their lives,” Mashburn said. “These athletes
have grown up, skiing and
training since day one. I was
13 months when my dad put
me on skis. These skiers have
been training since day one.”
And Halverson agreed with
her coach. “My family has
been skiing ever since I can
remember. My brother is a
professional skier and my
dad’s a great skier. It’s part of
life, I love it.”
Halverson and her fellow
Girdwood skiers credit their
parent’s for their skiing success.
Bragg, who coaches the
women skiers, shares Halverson’s enthusiasm, “I am excited for the athletes who will
be representing Team Alaska
in the Alpine Skiing events at
the 2016 AWG.”
She added, “What a great
opportunity for international
competition at such an young
age! These athletes have
worked hard to qualify and
I expect they will do their
very best to bring home some
medals. These athletes have
trained hard to this point and
overcame Mother Nature’s
new definition of winter.”
She said they would continue to focus on their skiing,
ski prep, tuning and waxing of
race skis, and dry land, muscle
strength training, to represent
Team Alaska as best they can.
The three of them have
participated in several local
and out-of-state competitions
qualifying them for the trip to
Greenland. Besides the 2016
Arctic Winter Games sports
contestants, each of the nine
delegations also brings cultural participants.
“I am really excited,” said
Halverson. “I am going to be
the first person in my family to
ever go to Greenland. I think
that’s a once-in-a-lifetime trip
since its pretty hard to get too.
Sharing cultural values with
other athletes from around the
world is also an important part
of the competition. I am really
looking forward to seeing the
other cultures. That’s one of
the main things I am looking
forward too.”
Penn shared his teammates
enthusiasm. “I think its going to be interesting and a
life-changing experience,” he
said. “I don’t know what the
competition is like there.”
Penn and the other two
young Girdwood skiers said
their goal is come home with
a medal.
Mashburn said another
significant difference in the
international competitions
is the communal aspect. The
team will living, eating and
living as a team during their
stay versus events in the
U.S. where they may be assigned to separate hotels or
other lodging.
“We are together, 24/7 for
about ten days,” said Mashburn.
Bragg said the Arctic Winter Games is not just about
winning but developing character and appreciation and re-
spect for sportsmanship.
“These athletes will shine
not just on the slope but off as
well,” she said. “Each athlete
on the team represents positives sportsmanship, leadership and our community.
They will have a chance to
showcase these values because Team Alaska has a goal
to bring home the Hodgson
Trophy.”
One of the most prestigious
awards presented at the 2016
Arctic Winter Games is the
Hodgson Trophy, which is
presented to the delegation,
whose athletes best exemplify the ideals of fair play and
team spirit. Team Alaska last
won the award in 2010, and
three previous times since the
games beginning.
“It will be my focus as their
coach to help them come
home from Greenland experiencing the guiding principals
of the games, by supporting
them not only in competition, but ensuring they share
and experience cultural values
from the countries and regions
across the North,” said Bragg.
Speaking for the Alyeska
Ski Club coaches, Mashburn
added, “We are extremely
proud of these athletes. They
are absolutely stellar individuals I couldn’t ask for a better
12 athletes to bring out of the
country with Kate and I.”
Page 12
Turnagain Times
March 3, 2016
Whittier Prepares for Transition
Continued from page 1
“At this point my expectations would be that we
would basically be looking at something just south of
Bird between all the way up basically into Whittier, although we’ll be patrolling Girdwood a bit more than
you’re seeing the troopers doing it. I expect you’ll also
see us out on the highway. Looking at the statistics the
troopers gave us, it just doesn’t make sense make sense
for an officer to solely be spinning on the Alyeska
Highway in Girdwood proper, especially since we’ll
probably see less presence on the highway than we do
now for law enforcement. So as long as we’re staying
close to Girdwood, I don’t expect that we’ll see any
resistance for us being out on the highway for a bit.”
Schofield said Alaska is unique in that officers have
jurisdiction statewide, which gives them latitude to patrol the highway.
“I think the bigger issue is that we have a working
relationship with the troopers,” he said, “to make sure
that they don’t feel like we’re stepping on their toes,
which would not be our intention.”
Thus far, Schofield said they have had brief conversations with the troopers, but until the election is held
and the proposition is approved, he did not want “to
take up everybody’s time.”
Another logistical challenge is acquiring additional
police vehicles.
“We have some cars now, but I have been looking
at the state surplus for low mileage, reliable vehicles,”
he said. “Most of our vehicles I’ve been able to obtain
from the state that they decommissioned and basically
put them back on the road. I’m currently on the search
for two vehicles to bring into the fleet. So presently we
own six vehicles with the Whittier Police Department.”
Then there is the issue of communications. For police response calls, the Whittier number is the one
Schofield will rely on at the start. Presently, Schofield
explained, if somebody dials 911on a landline it goes
to the Anchorage Fire Department, and police service
calls on cell phones go to Soldotna.
“We will be an additional option on the Soldotna dispatch and Anchorage Fire Department board,” he said.
“I don’t think the residents will see a significant change
in how they call out.”
At a recent Public Safety Task Force meeting
in Girdwood concerns were expressed regarding
radio communication problems that occurred between the Girdwood Fire Department and Whittier
police department.
“The problem is they (Girdwood responders) were
not able to find the Whittier tunnel frequency when
they come through,” Schofield said. “The biggest issue is procedure clearance issues for the Girdwood Fire
Department, which came up when they had to respond.
I’m working with them to get Girdwood zones for radios programmed for Girdwood and the Anton Anderson
Memorial Tunnel crew because they are updating there
radios to a new frequency.”
When asked how he felt about overseeing the process
of providing police service to another community that
is much larger than Whittier, which has a year-round
population of around 200 compared to Girdwood’s approximately 2,000 residents, Schofield was confident.
“I feel good now,” he said. “It’s certainly not something I would have wanted to take on in my first year
or two, but I feel pretty confident that we can handle
it now.”
©simonevans
have with the troopers,” Schofield said. “Thursday’s
will be our rotation day with four officers total on location. We have accepted some applications, and we are
looking for seasonal hiring because we don’t have a
approval of the vote yet.”
Waiting for the election result is only one of the many
challenges Schofield faces, not to mention that the transition would come during the weekend of Forest Fair
(July 1-3) in Girdwood, the largest annual event of the
year for the community. Then the Fourth of July celebration begins in Whittier, which is the city’s busiest
event of the year.
“We typically run our Fourth of July with all hands
on deck,” Schofield said. “All the officers are working
that week. Between Whittier and Girdwood, we’ll have
everybody on shift. That’s one of our a big overtime
weekends historically even when we’ve just been doing Whittier. I’m expecting we’ll be doing the same
thing for the Girdwood side, it will just be a big overtime weekend for the officers.”
Currently there is no local police office planned in
Girdwood, one more challenge for Schofield to overcome. Real estate was not in the current proposal, he
said. The troopers currently occupy space in the Tesoro Mall, but that will be vacated when they depart
June 30. Schofield said ideally they would eventually acquire some office space in Girdwood, but they
would not need something as large as the troopers’
current occupy.
As for the police service they will provide, Schofield
anticipates operating in conjunction with the troopers
to patrol the highway, but it will be the responsibility
of the local police to patrol Girdwood.
907-754-2111
AlyeskAResoRt.com
open foR spRing bReAk
©hagephoto
mARch 15 & 16 | 5 - 10pm
select cuts, sides & fresh greens salad bar
located in the hotel Alyeska, 2nd floor
Reservations: 907-754-2237
noW open thuRsdAys!
Winter hours
thursday: 5 - 10pm | friday - sunday: noon - 10pm
complimentary tram ticket with advance reservation.
spRing bReAk cAmps
gummy Worm camp
sAkuRA lAte night
sunday night prix fixe special
for skiers Age 4
march 14 - 16 | 10:30am - 3:15pm
3 courses | $49
Reservations: 907-754-2237 or book online.
mini camps
for skiers Age 5-12 & snowboarders Age 8 - 12
march 14 - 16 & march 17 - 19 | 10:30am - 3:15pm
©Ralphkristopher
package options include lift, lesson and/or Rental.
book now with the mountain learning center
907-754-2280 or AlyeskaResort.com
fRidAy & sAtuRdAy 10-11pm
special menu & late night cocktails
...
open friday - monday 5 - 10pm
happy hour: 5 - 6pm