After 50 states on a unicycle, former Alaska pastor returns

Lars Clausen, a former Valley resident who set two Guinness records for unicycling across the country, is returning to the Valley this weekend to give a motivational talk.

Clausen did an internship at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. He returns there Sunday at 5 p.m. for a slide presentation and book signing.

Clausen is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He and his family now live at Holden Village, an ecumenical retreat center deep in Washington's Cascade Mountains. He travels around the country giving speeches and talks about how people can turn uncertainties and challenges into new possibilities.

In 2002, he unicycled through all 50 states, setting two Guinness records as a result. On June 5 and June 6 that year, he set the record for the farthest distance unicycled in 24 hours, traveling 202.78 miles. His second record was for the longest distance unicycled, covering 9,136 miles in 205 days. He wrote One Wheel Many Spokes in the years following the ride, and he's launching a book tour as it heads to publication.

The official One Wheel Many Spokes book tour starts April 22, the two-year anniversary of the start of his cross-country journey.

He rode as a benefit for Inupiat Eskimos on the Seward Peninsula. Clausen pastored in Nome for four years at Our Savior's Lutheran Church following his internship at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. Money raised went to the Seward Peninsula Lutheran Endowment.

Organizers said the event is a potluck, and the public is invited to attend and meet Clausen. For more information, interested people can visit Clausen's Web site at www.onewheel.org.

Life hurts, God heals

Today is the kickoff for Life Hurts … God Heals, a program for people ages 14-23.

Crossroads Community Church is hosting the program, which indicates "provides healing for physical or sexual abuse, addiction, divorce issues, peer pressure, suicide, pregnancy, abortion, pornography, sexual sin, eating disorders, past occult involvement and any other source of pain."

The kickoff is tonight at 7 at Crossroads Community Center. For more information, interested people can call Jesse at 745-6701 or Denise at 746-7366.