'Blast from the Past' highlights Valley’s history

WASILLA — It is a blast from his past every time Shawn Miller visits the Museum of Alaska Transportation and Industry.

The Eagle River resident grew up in remote areas of the 49th state and recalls the days when trips to more civilized areas of the Last Frontier happened “once or twice a year.” Those special rides were often spent on the fold-down seating inside a 1942 C123 aircraft that also was a vital lifeline for supplies. That same aircraft — which spent 43 years in service in Alaska first under the Civil Aviation Administration, then the FAA — now makes its home at the museum in north Wasilla.

“I remember that I rode in it once when I was a kid, so I have a little sweet spot for that plane,” said Miller, one of dozens attending the museum’s annual Blast from the Past event Saturday. “My dad was working out at Cold Bay at the time and I rode from there to Anchorage, and made a little stop at King Salmon. They also used it as a commissary bird.”

Miller was “about 8 or 9” at the time of his flight in the early 1980s, which would have come near the end of the C123’s tour of duty. Now he volunteers at the museum, which allows for a different perspective being inside the plane decades later.

“It’s really a neat aircraft and I finally got a chance to crawl around inside there,” he said. “It still has the troop seats I sat in. I remember it was kind of neat (when he was young). It was different. Going to town when you live out there, you only got out once or twice a year. And then, the middle of the aircraft was full of freight, and we had to wear earplugs.”

Reminiscing about the C123 was only part of the overall nostalgia of Saturday’s event. On the other side of the museum grounds, a testament to the Valley’s rich agricultural roots was on display by the Antique Power Club of Alaska. Vintage tractors there — mostly John Deeres and Farmalls — were admired by young families and life-long farmers.

Palmer resident Jerry Grape doesn’t farm anymore, but became animated when talking specifics about a vintage 1956 Farmall 400 owned by Denny Purviance of Wasilla.

“Oh yeah, I owned one of those,” said Grape, who spent much of his life farming hay, grain and cattle in Oregon. “Every model was an improvement over the one before — supposedly — and this one had a lot of things that the one it replaced didn’t have.”

Some features many take for granted today, like automatic transmissions and sophisticated hydraulics, weren’t around to make farming easier decades ago, Grape said.

“This one has a power torque amplifier on it, which is a shift-on-the-go so you didn’t have to change gears to drop down in speed. When you’re plowing uphill and you hit a hard spot, instead of changing the main transmission, you just pull that lever back. And by the way, don’t ease it forward; you have to jerk it. Otherwise, you’ll burn the clutch out.”

For Purviance, a Wasilla resident who’s also president of the Antique Power Club, events like Saturday’s at the museum are a celebration of history and a reminder that as the Valley grows and changes, it also needs to preserve its roots.

“I think museums like this are good,” he said. “There’s a lot of old farm equipment that needs to be preserved. How many people today know what a hay loader is or how it worked?”

“I do,” Grape interjects with a chuckle.

“Those are the big, tall things that go up onto the hay rack.” Purviance said. “Basically, the more we can preserve is better, because what happens is a lot of farmers have sold these for junk.”

Chuck Snyder of Anchorage isn’t one to junk an old tractor. Also a club member, Snyder regularly volunteers at the museum and brought his Farmall M Series tractor for a ride, the predecessor of the Farmall 400. He also helped move one of the museum’s significant features — the Breeden Barn — onto the grounds.

“I’m more into the agriculture side of the museum,” Snyder said. “I helped on the move on that (barn). Now it’s been painted up, windows put in it and it’s slowly coming around.

“ It adds a tremendous draw for the Colony era of the Matanuska Valley. Not many of those barns left.”

The barn continues to be a work in progress, said Sherry Jackson, the museum’s executive director. It’s been painted and looks nice from the outside, but the extensive work that needs to be done inside has changed the focus for the structure.

“The barn is still in the process of trying to get an occupancy permit,” she said. “That involves working with the fire marshal and getting it to code. Right now, we don’t have the financing to complete the project. We’re not going to be able to do what we initially wanted to do, and that’s to open it up for community events. That’s because we can’t bring the hayloft up to code. We’re going to be able to use the lower part for exhibits and (to house) some of our tractors and farm equipment.”

While the agricultural exhibits are interesting, Jackson said her favorite exhibit is the C123 Miller talked about. That’s because many visitors have a personal connection to that airplane.

“It transported families around to different stations and locations around Alaska,” she said. “A lot of people come out and say, ‘I rode in that plane when I was a kid.’ It has a lot of history.”

In addition to vintage tractors and aircraft, Blast from the Past includes a model railroad display, vintage car show, aircraft, buses, snowmachines and a historic toy collection.

“We have they toy exhibit with the antique toys, and that’s popular,” Jackson said.

So what’s her favorite toy in the collection?

“I would have to say it’s the John Deere tractors, the little small ones,” she said.

Does Jackson ever sneak out to ride the mini tractors?

“Of course,” she said. “That’s the benefit of being the director here. I have the keys.”

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.