A month in, and it keeps getting better

This weekend marks a month since I arrived in the Mat-Su Valley, and day after day I’m more and more impressed with the scenery and with the people.

It’s a month that I’ve spent largely getting out and meeting as many people in the Wasilla-Palmer area as possible, and everyone I meet seems warm, engaging and intelligent. Everybody here, it seems, can get, make and take and joke, and In fact — and somewhat shockingly — I’ve yet to have a truly bad conversation; you know the kind of conversation you get stuck in when you wish your phone would go off or Godzilla would stomp on the building you’re in just to end it all.

I’m sure that luck won’t keep up, but I’m off to an unbelievable hot streak.

Along the way, I’ve also tried get a reading on just how people in the area view The Frontiersman. My best assessment is that The Frontiersman is a hometown newspaper they want to like; they just don’t really know what to make of it; they don’t know exactly what it’s trying to be. I get the feeling it’s probably been this way for some time.

Maybe I’m projecting — I’ve been known to do that — but to get a clearer and more scientific sense for what the community wants in its newspaper, I wrote a column a couple of weeks ago offering invitations to join a Readers Advisory Board. This board would meet monthly to discuss what they like or don’t like in the paper, and what kinds of stories and features they’d like to see more of — or less of.

The response has been remarkable, and I’m excited to say that by this week’s end I’ll be sending out e-mail invitations to all who responded to me to launch our first Readers Advisory Board meeting in the last week of this month.

If you’d like to be part of this, there’s still time — there’s always time — just send me an email at matt.hickman@frontiersman.com, or news@frontiersman.com, and I’ll add you to the list.

We’ll probably try to do these on Saturday mornings here at the office. I’ll bring the coffee and donuts; you bring the good ideas and constructive criticism.

You’ll want to get in on this first meeting because that group will get a sneak preview of our radical metamorphosis coming Sept. 4 that you might have seen teased on our marquee at the offices here, vaguely promoted with the slogan, “It’s going to be huuuuuuge!” (extra u’s mine, but the hyperbole totally warranted.)

Another thing that’s impressed me about the area is its elected officials. To be honest, I came here expecting a fair share of fatuous ideologues, but have instead found, in general, serious and articulate leaders who put the good of the community ahead of their projections of how things ought to be, and they do so in a surprisingly articulate and open way.

On that note, election season is right around the corner with primary elections on the state level set for Aug. 16.

I made a checklist of the candidates on the Aug. 16 ballot obtained from the State of Alaska elections web site, and I think I tracked email addresses for, and sent a questionnaire to every candidate for a special section to appear in our Sunday, Aug. 14 edition.

If you’re a candidate on the Aug. 16 ballot and you haven’t received a questionnaire from me, please e-mail me at either of the above mentioned addresses and I’ll send it to you right away.

I need these back by Wednesday. We don’t want anyone to be left out.

Speaking of the upcoming primary elections, the AARP will be hosting a debate on Thursday night at the Mat-Su Senior Services center in Palmer starting at 5:30 p.m.

We’ll see you there.

All the hot local races will be featured with house candidates in District 7, 9, 11 and 12, and senate candidates in District 12, D and F, going head-to-head.