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The article about Tony Carter’s visit mentioned Pete, the baker. He was Norwegian, I believe. When he was younger, he owned a Maxwell "runabout"—a little two-seat automobile without cab or roof—not even a canvas top. Instead of a windshield spanning the area in front of the driver, there was a small round glass (about 15 inches) held up by a single bracket—just barely big enough to keep the wind and dust out of his eyes and nose if he didn’t drive too fast. He’d go whizzing into town with his husky sitting erect in the seat beside him. Pete was the best and most creative baker I’ve ever known. He could bake the most delicious breads, cakes, pies! Nothing stumped him. the F.E. Company was a tightwad New England company (incorporated in Augusta, Maine, and headquartered in Boston) and paid stingy wages—but they fed well. They hired excellent chefs and bakers and didn’t stint on grub—or coffee. Some of the chefs were prima donnas and would throw a fit at any criticism. One of them at Ester was jealous of Pete’s abilities and often complained. Pete ignored the chaff. Pete was also very intellectual and curious about everything.—He was a better self-trained paleontologist than Otto Geist (but then Otto got his early professional training mucking out the stables of the Royal Bavarian Cavalry so he was probably better with a shovel?). Rusty Heurlin was another great Ester resident. He wasn’t just a painter. He was a great raconteur—Knew a great deal about everything in Alaska—always eager to learn more—and add it to his visual and verbal repertoire. Needless to say I miss both Pete and Rusty— Still more later, P.S.: In my previous letter I mentioned some of the responsibilities of the elected "Recorder" in a mining camp, including recording marraige contracts. In one camp along the Yukon one miner married a dancer from the local saloon. She not only wanted romance, but a place to live in the winter. It turned out that his cabin was a mite too small and they got in each other’s way too often. Spring came and they agreed to split amicably. They went to the recorder and got him to tear up the contract—then they asked him for the $2 filing fee back… September 1, 2003 Recent publicity about the Bible Baptist Church and their persistently childish sign has prompted me to ponder what other churches could come up with if they were to post their own collective thoughts on reader boards for public perusal. Allow me to present the following suggestions. Catholic: "BOY, OH BOY!" Episcopal: "MAN, OH MAN!" Lutheran: "BIBLE STUDY AND TATER TOT HOT DISH SOCIAL, WEDNESDAY, 6:00 PM." Methodist: "YOU KNOW, COMPARED TO ALL THOSE OTHER CHRISTIANS, WE AREN’T HALF BAD." Presbyterian: "THOU SHALT NOT." Quaker: "DON’T YOU THINK SADDAM JUST NEEDS A BIG HUG?" Unitarian: "HUH?" Zen Buddhist: Hare Krishna: "HEY KIDS, IT’S TEEN BHAGAVAD-GITA TIME! VOLLEYBALL, WORSHIP, SACRED COW TIPPING!" Seventh Day Adventist: "THE TOUNGES WE SPEAK IN ARE ALL VEGETARIAN." Pentecostal: "A SNAKE IN THE HAND IS WORTH TWO IN THE GRASS." Mormon: "TAKE MY WIVES, PLEASE." Jehovah’s Witness: "SO...HEARD ANY GOOD KNOCK-KNOCK JOKES?" North Pole Baptist: "WHO NEEDS GOD WHEN YOU’VE GOT AN ARSENAL?" Evangelical: "WE’RE RICH, WE’RE WHITE, AND GOD LOVES US BEST." Christian Science: "HOW DO YOU SPELL OXYMORON?" And last and certainly least, Bible Baptist: "WHY THINK FOR YOURSELF WHEN PASTOR DUFFETT CAN DO IT FOR YOU?" With Great Regard, September 3, 2003 Due to the repair maintenance and painting of my house last month, I literally ran out of time for viewing videos and then writing about them. It has been one of those Alaska summers, where the rains in July hindered a lot of work. So, like all Alaskans, my husband and I did as much as we could do, then it was time for the old blue tarp. Gosh, how would we survive without those blue tarps? This letter, though, is really in reply to the letter signed by Rash Limbag in the last edition. You called my neighbors nasty, meanspirited names; then you refuse to sign your true name. What or who are you so afraid of? Instead of hiding behind rude, potty mouth, anonymous humor, come on down to the Ester bar and call me names to my face. Are you really afraid of this fifty-three-year-old lady who has to wear reading glasses? I’ll take them off. I believe until we take back our political system from the bleeding-heart liberals and the new-age neo-cons, we will continue to see an erosion of our government. We live in perilous times and we all need to wake up to this fact. I am not a naïve, sweet little old lady with a white picket fence. I see the corruption of the government and the economy that is being done to my nation and furthermore, I see it all getting worse. Things will only get better if we take personal responsibility and are willing to change and compromise in order to live with ourselves and our neighbors. Until then, we are building barricades around ourselves. So take your Adam Sandler humor and feed it your refection in the mirror. I’ll stand and defend my neighbors and my community against the likes of you. When you call them names, you call me names. Ask our firemen the meaning of back draft. September 12, 2003 This is the first time I have ever spoken before a government body, but the events of the past two weeks have compelled me to speak out. I am here to protest this assembly’s failure to remove Rick Solie from the position of Presiding Officer following his recent arrest for drunken driving. It is an insult to our community for this assembly to allow Solie to continue in his present leadership role. At election time we are inundated with messages from you, the candidates, about the importance of personal responsibility. We are told that character matters and that elected officials should be moral examples to us all. We are told that we should demand this from our leaders. But in practice this assembly has opted to completely denigrate the standards it sets for its own leadership. In a few weeks this assembly will consider the issue of whether to install internet filters at the library. This is a moral question. Yet how can this assembly be so presumptuous as to consider itself capable of making moral decisions for this community when it can not even keep its own house in order? As a father I can assure you that there is nothing on the internet as dangerous to the safety and well being of my two small children as is Mr. Solie behind the wheel. Yet here he sits in a position of leadership. Today we mourn the deaths of three thousand Americans on this date two years ago. Yet according to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, some 17,000 Americans died as a result of drunken driving last year alone. A few years ago a valued and well liked employee of this borough had his life cut short by a drunk driver. Children in our community have needlessly died at the hands of intoxicated drivers. Drunk driving is one of the leading causes of preventable death in our society. Drunk driving is a very serious crime, Mr. Solie. Mr. Solie can claim his innocence. But it is breathalyzers that don’t lie. According to police reports, Solie registered a blood alcohol reading nearly two and a half times the legal limit. He could not even keep his car on the proper side of the street. When he got behind the wheel that night he showed his complete disregard, indeed his utter contempt, for every person living in this borough. When this assembly failed to remove him from leadership, it showed the same disregard for the citizens it is supposed to represent, particularly those who have lost loved ones to drunk drivers. Since Solie lacks the moral integrity to resign his seat, it is this assembly’s job to remove him from it. In failing to do so, this assembly has betrayed every citizen of the Fairbanks North Star Borough. Thank you.
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