Alaska is 50 years old

Sorry my image didn’t take — it looked fine on the preview . . .. anyhow, read about our big Statehood Anniversary Weekend below.

Statehood arrived in Alaska, for Alaska, 50 years ago, and a big celebration it is here, because they have been combining local forces with the military forces for a big weekend.  They chose the term, Arctic Thunder, as the Thunderbirds are also ‘performing’ . . . When the Judds sang with the military choruses and bands, they drew a crowd of over 10,000, which is big for Anchorage!  Elmendorf AFB is with a mile of downtown, and it’s pretty large and active.

After the concert, there was a huge bonfire, and the flames were visible for some distance.  The local NBC TV station carried the whole concert, so for some of us, we had the opportunity to do something else to not fight the crowds.  Eight of us went to the “Last Friday” band appearing at the Petroleum Club, which wa also crowded.  Summer seems to bring everyone out.  So start planning your trip to Alaska — it’s THE place to visit.

Vandalism in Alaska

I think I’m losing my mind — I posted an article before on this, but I don’t see it . .. . so this may be a repeat ..
The Anchorage Bucs Baseball Club has a bus they use for travel to away games, and we also share it . … rent it? . .. to the Fairbanks Goldpanners, so we can get all our travel in. We keep it parked at Mulcahy park in downtown Anchorage when it’s not in use during the 6 week ball season. You guessed it. Someone or more than one vandalized the bus totally. At first it appeared to just be the fuel tank, but it was more than that. They removed the license plate and took out the engine, transmission, torched it, and more than I can describe. This is a picture of the bus when they found it the next morning.
But even sadder if the local government. First, a phone call to the police department, who said if it was a fire, we should call the Fire Inspectors, so that call revealed that the two fire inspectors were unavailable indefinitely, as one was on vacation, and the other was fishing. So back to the Fire Department, and they said, don’t move anything, and just leave it as is until it could be inspected. The phone call to the Police Dept had the policeman saying move the bus, and we said we were told not to move it, then he said he would return the call. Oh, along the way all of these people were supposed to ‘return the call’ and no one did. Anyhow, it is still sitting out there looking just awful, and our manager had to search up and get a new bus. The story is not over, but I’m thru with it myself.
By the way, we beat AIA Fire tonight (that’s Athletes in Action) – so there!

Baseball Season Strikes Anchorage

  The Alaska Baseball League is starting its season. . . woe upon us with the gasoline prices so high . . . it makes traveling around Alaska quite expensive as our bus gobbles up the fuel, but we will toe the line and make it a great season. 

To learn more about the team, see the entire roster, history, etc. link here and enjoy the work of our webmaster, Gary Lichtenstein.

While a tourist would hardly come to Alaska just to watch baseball, it is a peripheral option to enjoy sandlot ball, sit in the boxes with friends and have a beer. Some even watch the whole game.

In recent years, the city has made it easier for the tourists to ‘experience Alaska’ within Anchorage. Although downtown has turned into another ‘chrome and glass’ city, there is a new Heritage Center, not unlike the one north of Honolulu, where you can see replicas of the homes and demonstrations of the native crafts of the entire state. They have built this around a lake, and the stroll around the lake invites you to visit the huts and homes of the tribes. One way I remember the names of the tribes is by using the anagram, Tahaina, for Tshimshan, Aleut, Haida, Tlinket, Athabaskan, Eskimo — whoa, I’ve forgotten the whole thing, but maybe some reader will comment and remind me how it goes. Well, I’m off to the baseball game, so I’ll edit this when I get back. When you have beautiful weather, as we’re having now, you just don’t stay indoors. Come visit Alaska and you’ll see what I mean.