The Tustumena 200 dogsled racers were leaving Tustumena Lodge for the start of the race on Saturday, January 28. Parking lots bulged from Jersey Subs on Cohoe Road to Crooked Creek pull-off on the Sterling Highway. The weather had warmed and cheerful people packed the snow. Weaving through the crowd I ran into the Morris family.
I first met Keith in 1981 when he was a freshman at Ninilchik High School. He asked me for a job on our setnet site. We hired him that year along with two other Ninilchik students, Dave O’Dell and Rene Lindeman. Keith’s parents lived south of Ninilchik back then. Keith married Jennifer Wagoner in 1986. She lived near Virginia Lake (mile 112.5 Sterling Hwy.), her parents having moved there in 1984. After their marriage, Keith and Jennifer settled on their own Virginia Lake area lot which they bought from a couple homesteaders, Clint and Pearl Young. Last time I saw Keith he was getting moose tags at Kasilof Mercantile.
“Did you get a moose,” I asked?
Keith flashed the “peace” sign and smiled. “My daughter got the first one.”
I turned to the young lady. “How old are you?”
“Seventeen”, she answered.
Her name is Lezlee Morris. She graduated from Connections Home School Program last spring, having also attended Ninilchik High School part time. Here’s her hunting story: She was riding four wheelers with a friend and hunting spruce hens in middle of the day. About two miles from the Morris cabin they saw a bull that looked legal, but to be sure they called Keith on a cell phone.
“Describe it,” Keith told them. When they did he said, “Shoot it!”
All by herself Lezlee raised the .300 Browning and down went moosey.
“My friend, Bobby Childers, went over and shot it in the head because I was too scared to go up to it,” she admitted.
Lezlee helped her Dad dress it out. This was her first moose harvest. She’s works at Country Foods Grocery in Kenai as a checker. She’s happy to have the job because she also has horses and needs money to support them. As she stood in the white backdrop answering questions, two proud parents beamed beside her.
Usually the Morris family watches the dog teams from Virginia Lake but Lezlee’s Mom, Jennifer, has a nephew in this year’s race —Tobie Hansen. They came to see him off and hereby wish Tobie’s Dad, Todd Hansen, “Happy Birthday!” on Feb. 9.

Around Town
Kasilof! I need a little help! Write, call or send me a message in a bottle! If I don’t dig up some “around town” gossip pretty soon, the Clarion is going to send me off to cover the dark side of the Healy Coal Mine in the winter time!

            Delightful noises can often be heard coming from the music studio at the Brigham home where Geri Brigham teaches students of various ages to play the piano, as well as the flute, some strings instruments and the saxophone.

            Brigham said she enjoys teaching area kids the various gifts of music. Teaching has also helped her after her own children left to pursue their dreams after high school.

            “My house is still full of kids,” she said.

            Brigham began playing the piano at the age of seven and went on to receive a degree in music from Metro State in Denver, Colo. The Denver area is also where she and her husband, Steve, lived before moving to Nikiski. When the couple was invited to Alaska to visit a school chum of Steve’s, she said they bought land in Nikiski and “that was it.”

            “(It is) a nice place to get away from the city and raise kids,” she said.

            During half-hour sessions, she instructs students about the fundamentals of music, while sharing with them the love of a language that is universal. Brigham also devotes one day a week to teach at Wings Christian Academy.

            One item Brigham is proud of is her baby grand piano. She said it took her many years to get one; the piano was also a dream of her mothers. She bought the instrument on her mom’s birthday and with a laugh, Brigham recalls that called her mom to tell her about the special gift she bought herself on her mom’s special day.

            When she is not teaching, she devotes her time to her music ministry throughout the area and has been on hand at many memorial services and weddings in her twenty years in Nikiski; she even performed the wedding march during my own wedding in 1996.

            “(Music) is a vehicle to get to know people,” she said.

            Around Town
             A Birthday wish goes out to Evangeline Cox who will turn 8 on Wednesday.

            “We cannot command Nature, except by obeying her.”

             – Francis Bacon – 1561-1626

Have you ever seen someone around town so often that you feel like you know them but you don’t know their name? That was the case for me with Betty Randall. I had seen her familiar face at the fairgrounds, at various fundraisers, at the annual Veteran’s Day dinners, and other points around town, but I didn’t have a name to place with her face. After interviewing her, I discovered why I have seen her in such a variety of places. She is the vice president of the fair association board of directors, is a member of the Ninilchik Chamber of Commerce, a member of the American Legion Ladies Auxiliary, and to top it off, runs her family business, Flying Bear Charters & Cabins. She really loves being involved in supporting the community and expressed that she is always looking for new ideas to help promote Ninilchik in positive ways. She said that the State Fair in Ninilchik is a great opportunity for the community to come together and promote events for our youth. Betty is the mother of three sons and grandmother to eight grandchildren. It was a real treat for her to go Outside last fall to Ferndale, Washington where her family got together for Thanksgiving. Betty originally came to Alaska when she was stationed at Elmendorf Air Force Base from 1961-63. In 1970, she dove up the ALCAN from California and upon arrival in Palmer, broke down and cried for joy. “I just loved Alaska from the start.” She said. The small town atmosphere and the way the community pulls together in times of emergency are some things that Betty loves about Ninilchik. I noticed from the VFW bulletin that it was Betty’s birthday on Sunday. Happy belated Birthday, Betty. Thank you for all your work in helping to make Ninilchik a better place to live!
Around Town:
The Ninilchik Traditional Council would like our community’s help with promoting good qualities in their employees by helping to choose an employee of the month. NTC would appreciate it if you would let them know when one of their employees has gone above and beyond their job and have shown exceptional service within the community.
Please call 567-3313 or email Shelley Self at ntc@ninilchiktribe-nsn.gov to submit your comments. If you submit a comment to NTC, please share it with me, too.

Mary (Coursen) Mize and her husband Wayne live on the south end of Robinson loop in the home she grew up in.

“My folks homesteaded here and built this house starting in 1954,” Mary said.

Mary and Wayne have two daughters. Morgan is 24 and returned to live in Sterling after graduating from college. She is currently working at Soldotna Elementary School. Sondra is 22 and is finishing her senior year at the University of Nevada Las Vegas.

In 1996 the family took a four-month trip starting in Sterling and going as far east as Washington D.C. before heading home. Mary said she thinks it is important for Alaskans to travel and see what the rest of the world has to offer.

“I have to tell you though, after that whole trip the view out my dining room window across the hayfield is better than 90 % of what we saw anywhere else,” she said.

Mary’s farm animals have been winnowed down to two old-lady dogs, a cat and two sheep. This summer a brown bear killed 2 other sheep right in their back yard. They tore down fences and made a huge mess.

“In over 50 years of living here we have NEVER had a problem with bears. I don’t think we have ever even seen one on our property before,” she said. Mary said she didn’t want to say Fish and Games tactics were wrong, but that it is obvious that the bear management program is not working.

When I asked Mary what she would like to see change in Sterling she laughed. “You mean other than running the bears out of town?”

Other than that, Mary said she would like to see things stay pretty much as they are now. She wouldn’t ever want it to grow into a city. She likes the sense of community Sterling has. It’s the kind of place where your neighbor will reach out to help before you even ask. We agreed that is one of the traits that many of our mutual neighbors share. How lucky we both are.

  Warm smells of yeast and garlic greeted me at Betsy Cooper’s cozy home. We chatted over lunch of potato soup and freshly baked wheat rolls, joined by her son, Jay (18), and daughter, Heathyr (15), during a break from their home school studies. I had taken part in her Holiday Bread class and wanted to share this busy lady’s story.
    Betsy (Ross) and Gary Cooper were married 22 years ago at the same church in Port Angeles, WA where they met. The Coast Guard brought them to Ketchikan in 1986, then Anchorage. They’ve lived in Soldotna for 15 years. Gary works with Purcell on the Slope.
    As she was growing up, Betsy was a “latch key kid” and often had to fend for herself. Dinners often came from a box - “lots of macaroni and cheese” - she tells me. So it wasn’t until she was married, that she learned to cook. She has been baking bread for just the last 10 years. While her first breads tasted good, she wasn’t always happy with the texture and flavor. Through trial and error she developed a great basic bread recipe and now teaches Community School classes showing many different things that can be made from that recipe.

 Betsy enjoys meeting her neighbors through the classes and says she loves to see the surprise on their faces when they discover they can be successful in the kitchen. Lots of good nutritional information is mixed into her demonstrations. “I’d like everyone to know that bread can taste good and be healthy, too.”
    Betsy also teaches home-school classes to read labels and uses the new food pyramid to train in healthy eating. “There is a balance that we should strive for,” she says. “We should be able to have all of our nutrition needs met by our foods.”
    On baking day Betsy home-mills her grain to assure that she has all of the nutritious parts of the grain - she doesn’t have to add anything back into the bread to make it healthy.
    Watch for future Soldotna Community Schools brochures for her next demonstration. They fill up quickly. In addition to her home-school and Soldotna Community Schools classes, Betsy often donates her time to do demonstrations in the community.
    She is an avid gardener who loves to use fresh herbs in her recipes. She raises vegetables and flowering plants as well.
    In addition to two outdoors dogs, daughter Heathyr is raising a young horse.
———————–
Around Town:
Contact me with your news - birthdays and anniversaries. I will put them and the quote from Spenard Builders Supply into the column as space permits. Remember that I have more space here on the blog than I do in print.

Calling all Bloggers . . . email me with your site address. I would like to write a piece about Peninsula bloggers. Come on - you know you wanna. 

If you ever see a sleek cycler on a snazzy bike zooming along on one of our new  bike paths, there’s a distinct possibility that it could be Todd Wortham. A Lance Armstrong wannabe, Todd can bicycle with the best of them. In his spare time, he moonlights as a dentist at River City Dental office in Kenai.

One of the cheeriest people I have met this year is a gal by the name of Tracy Prior. Tracy came to Alaska in August of 1991 to visit her in-laws, supposedly for a two-week visit, and never left because they fell in love with this area and it’s people.

If you are ever having one of those days where you need a quick burst of energy my advice is to spend a few minutes with a young man named Jode Sparks. If you can get him to slow down long enough, you are bound to have a one-of-kind conversation that will brighten your whole day.

After a recent 4-H meeting, Jode took time out from building cracker and peanut butter sandwiches to have a little chat with me about his life in Sterling.

Jode was born in Soldotna and has lived his whole life in Sterling with his mom Connie, dad Rob, and brother Bud. They also share their lives with a coop full of chickens, 32 sled dogs and one cat named Sphinx.

“Sphinx likes to sleep with me, but only sometimes,” he said.

Jode’s favorite pet is his dog Spike. When I asked why he was Jode’s favorite he gave a long, drawn out, full body giggle and informed me that Spike was a SHE not a HE. Of course Spike is a girl, silly me.

Jode turned 6 years old on Dec. 18^th and is a kindergartner in Mrs. Lora Taylor-Sterling’s class at Sterling Elementary School. When I asked him what he likes best about school his immediate answer was, “Books. Lots and lots of books.”

Jode says he likes living in a small town. He doesn’t like cities because they’re dirty. The one thing he wishes we had in Sterling is a mall.

“I would go every week and buy lots of things,” he said. “Pewter dragons and Neopets cards.”

Jode is busy these days practicing to be a performer for the opening ceremony of the Arctic Winter Games.

“I get to be the dog musher,” he said with another giggle. “But instead of having dogs a bunch of my friends and my brother Bud will be dressed up like dogs and pull my sled. It’s going to be fun!”

I already have my ticket to go watch, and I bet it will be a blast. With a great kid like Jode playing one of the star rolls, it’s bound to be.

Ward Romans shared with me recently that the three most important aspects in his life are his family, his faith and his career as a teacher and coach

         Romans came to the Kenai Peninsula from Fairbanks in the fall of 1987 to be one of the first teachers at Nikiski Middle-Senior High School. He came to the job with a degree in physical education and humanities and the first year he taught six classes while coaching the school’s first football team.

            Romans and his wife were welcomed into the community with open arms.

            “Everyone I ran into was so helpful,” he said. “It was a neat experience.”

            While teaching and coaching take up much of his time, Romans said his is devoted to his family. Since becoming Nikiski residents, the couple has become parents. Their daughters; Rachel, 14, and Brittany, 8, both attend Nikiski schools and are active in other activities in the community. His wife is the lead accountant at Agrium.

            Romans said his Christian faith keeps him focuses in both his family and his career.

            “I know I am here for a specific reason,” he said.

            Romans and his family attend the Nikiski Church of the Nazarene. He is on the church board and helps run the soundboard.

            “(My faith) bring clarity to my whole life,” he said.

            Today, after 17 years, Romans teaches seventh- and eighth-grade history at the school. He enjoys the challenge of teaching and mentoring young people.

            “I am called to it,” he said.

            He said he understands the changes students undergo in junior high, including taking on more responsibility and switching from one class per day to six.

            “It can be a challenging time,” he said.

            “I hope all students I have know how much they are cared about each day in the class,” he said.

            Romans is a junior varsity football coach and a varsity girl’s basketball coach.

            With personal ties within the community, Romans said he is glad to be a Nikiski resident.

            “I think we are the best kept secret on the Kenai Peninsula,” he said.

            News around town:

            There are so many birthdays this week. In advance, Happy Birthday to you all!!

            Taylor Moore, McKenna Leighton and MaryAnne Cowgill on Tuesday,  

            Kim Foley and Bill Perrigo on Wednesday,

            Delores Harrison on Thursday,

            Paul Carlson on Friday,

            Bryce Leighton on Saturday

            Steve Black,  Ardie Trail, Kathy Grimm and Doris Porter on Sunday

            Kole McCoughey on Monday

            Sherry Collinsworth on Tuesday.

            Also, McKenna and Bryce would like to wish their daddy a Happy Birthday on Thursday. Hope he has a good day, though he is away.

            Carissa Beckley will also celebrate her 6^th birthday on Thursday. Her mom, Joy, wishes her a great day.

           The Nikiski Chamber of Commerce Awards Banquet will be held Saturday at the Agrium Camp. For more information, call Judene Van Cleave at 776-5551.

            If you want to add information about Nikiski, special days or anything else, call me at 776-8115 or e-mail me at

szsmith@ptialaska.net

            I am looking for any group information, i.e. girl scouts, sewing clubs, etc.

            - Sara